Page 24 of The Sweet Part
“That’s my favorite too. I love Italian food.”
May nods once. “Great. Dinner it is.” She looks between Sophie and me. Sophie’s looking up at me with a wide smile, her brown eyes shining. Dad’s warning about dating a single mom and how impressionable a young girl can be rings through my head.
Sophie tugs on my sleeve. “Come on, we can watch TV until dinner. I haveTwinkle Fairiesrecorded.”
May covers a laugh and returns to the kitchen.
Sophie’s not waiting for an answer. “You’re going to love them.” She pulls me toward the family room in the back of the house. “My favorite is Dixie. She has the power of fire, and her hair is rainbow. My next favorite is Rose; she has the power of invisibility…”
There must be twenty fairies, and she knows each one down to the last detail. My head’s spinning from the rapid input of nonessential information.
I flop down on one end of the floral sofa, and she sits cross-legged in the middle. She puts a recordedTwinkle Fairieson, an animated show with twinkle special effects. Sophie narrates so loudly over it that I can’t hear the dialogue. Not that I want to.
When’s dinner?
* * *
May
We eat dinner at our small rectangular kitchen table with Sophie in the middle and Mason and me at opposite ends. Mason digs into his ziti with gusto while Sophie chatters on excitedly about her favorite show,Twinkle Fairies. There’s a different energy with Mason at the table. He seems to fill the space. I’m drawn to him, watching his expression, the way he tries to keep up with Sophie’s monologue directed only at him.
Mason gives Sophie a few well-timed nods and says “uh-huh” just enough to keep Sophie satisfied. He’s patient and kind.
He catches my eye, and my heart beats a little faster. “This ziti is so good. Did you train as a professional chef?”
Sophie finally returns to eating her dinner.
I smile at the compliment. “Nope, not professional. I just enjoy cooking.”
“What did you do before you got into the inn business?” he asks.
“Mommy worked for a soul sucker.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “I worked in a job that was soul sucking. I didn’t work for a soul sucker.” I turn to Mason. “I used to work in financial services. It was a lot of quarterly reports and number crunching.”
He makes a face. “That does sound soul sucking. What did you want to be when you grew up?”
A mom. I keep that to myself. I love babies and little kids. “I worked as a summer camp counselor in high school and college. They always gave me the youngest group of three- and four-year-olds. They were fun and tiring at the same time. I think it gave me patience for the real thing.”
He spears another ziti. “So that’s what you wanted to do? Run your own summer camp?”
“Oh God no. Then you have to deal with all the demanding parents. How about you? What did you want to be when you grew up?”
He points his fork at me and gives me a knowing look. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you sidestepping the question. We’ll circle back to that. I wanted to be a professional baseball player. So did all my brothers. We thought we’d be the first set of four brothers to make it to the major leagues.”
I smile. “That would’ve been something. So how’d you get started onHot Finds?”
“Dad was already on the show with my uncle Ty. Dad’s the expert mechanic; Ty was just the host. When Ty stepped down, I stepped in. Dad taught me everything he knows. He can fix anything mechanical from a plane to a car to a motorcycle.”
“Wow, a plane?” I ask.
He inclines his head. “He used to be a mechanic in the Air Force. Anyway, I love my work, and it’s fun to work on the show too.”
“It’s great that you love your work.”
Sophie eats her salad in between firing questions at Mason, wanting to know all aboutHot Finds. Like, who picks their outfits? Does he drive the cars home really fast? How does he pick a car color?
He answers every question with a straight face with the occasional near smile breaking through. I didn’t expected him to be so good with Sophie. It’s nice.
