Page 9 of Somewhere We Belong

I choked on my saliva remembering the last time we needed batteries for her toys we took them out of the remote and coincidentally that was the same day she found my toy.

“Are your toys like my Pony? I know that takes a lot of batteries,” she said, laying close to me.

“So, are you going to cook us something?” I pulled the covers over us, snuggling close to her, hoping I could steer the conversation away from batteries and my embarrassment.

“Mommy, you cook; I’m just a kid,” she giggled, burrowing deeper into my arms.

“Nah, it’s time you started contributing,” I said, squeezing her tightly. “You’re almost six, practically an adult.”

“Mommy!” she squealed. “I just turned 5!”

I blew raspberries on her cheeks as I tickled her. Her infectious laughter was music to my ears.

“Alright, you wench, let’s get you fed so we can be ready for our ride,” I said, pulling the cover off of us.

Mornings were always the hardest part of the day. It was like Sol wouldn’t go faster than a turtle when it came to getting ready and no matter how early we started, she thought she had all the time in the world.

My phone rang as I finished getting ready.

“Hello,” I said.

“Nova? Hey, it’s Marv,” he said.

“Hey! Do you need me to leave the key?” I walked around the house picking up laundry.

“We aren’t going to be able to make it today and we won’t make it till next week,” he said.

“Marv, that’s what you said last week. It’s supposed to rain this weekend,” I said, closing my eyes.

“Look, buy a tarp from AJ’s and throw it over the roof and I promise we will get there next week. Thanks for understanding,” he said, ending the call.

Fuck. I glared at my phone, cursing Marv for putting me in this position. This was the last thing I needed. Looks like I needed to fucking fix things myself, again.

We were ready just as a car pulled up, and my heart sank. It was an old Nova that had been recently restored. The enginepurred beautifully, but I knew the owner wouldn’t sound as nice. Ironic that this man loved his Nova, but disliked me.

Why did Theodore have to do this to me?

“Come on, honey, let’s get our things,” I said, as nerves danced around in my chest.

Pounding on the door didn’t help with the turmoil I was feeling. Sol opened the door, her face transforming into a big smile.

“Colt!” she yelled, throwing herself at him.

He caught her in his big arms, giving her a hug that I was not jealous of, but I loved that he was always so nice to my daughter. His piercing green eyes looked up at me as he set Sol on her feet.

“You ready?” he asked, like it was killing him to be nice.

“Yea, sorry I thought Theodore was coming,” I said, feeling flustered.

“A calf was born this morning,” he said, like I knew what that would mean.

“Mommy, can we go see the baby cow?!” Sol shrieked, and I winced at the loudness.

Sol was an animal lover through and through. It didn’t matter what kind of animal it was, she always fell in love with them. She almost brought a racoon home a few months ago, but thankfully, the moment it saw me it ran away. I swear that child was like a real live Snow White.

“We need to ask if we can go see the baby,” I said, grabbing the car seat.

Colt took it from me, striding to his car to put it in.

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