Page 57 of Single Dad Dilemma
“And you’re welcome,” I told her. “For the cookies and watching the kids. It was no trouble, really.”
Effusive praise for both of the children threatened, but I swallowed it down because she probably already thought I was weird. There was a slight pause, and I could only imagine that she wanted to get back inside; she was wearing a sweatshirt, whereas I had my puffy black coat, gloves, and winter hat on. Actual waterproof winter boots.
Why I’d bought them was a mystery I did not want to delve into, but they were just there on the shelves when I went shopping the day before, and I thought about Bryce’s little face when he’d been so concerned about my feet getting wet, and they’d hopped their ass right into my cart.
“It was nice to meet you,” I told her. “Tell the kids I said hi.”
Her face fell. “Oh, you’re leaving already?”
My brow furrowed. “Did you want to stand outside in the freezing cold much longer?”
Robin laughed. Like it wasn’t a serious question. “I don’t mind the cold. We might live in Arizona now, but our whole lives we were in Michigan. That’s where the boys grew up. Got the same lake-effect snow in the winter that they do here, so not much about hard winters faze us.”
I leaned closer. “Everyone keeps saying that, and I genuinely don’t understand the difference.”
Her eyes gleamed. She found me funny, and I couldn’t figure out why. “You’ve been here a couple weeks, right?”
I nodded.
“The Great Lakes are amazing, Lily. Absolutely nothing like them in the summer. But in the winter, they can be merciless too. All of a sudden, you get these great big fluffy flakes, flurries that seem to come out of nowhere. Or a storm front that you hardly get one day’s notice, and all of a sudden a foot or two of snow gets dropped right past the lakeshore.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Ew.”
“It’s an acquired taste,” she said as she smiled. “We love it in Scottsdale, but I do miss winter.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s beautiful.” She shrugged, looking around. There was still snow on the ground, but with a few days of above-freezing temps, a lot had melted too. “I’ve always thought it was a little bit magical to sit and watch it snow. Everything slows down. You have the perfect excuse to cuddle under blankets and watch movies and play games. Notgo anywhere. Not rush from place to place. Just ... enjoy that magic for a few days.”
To my horror, my eyes felt gritty and my nose burned. I coughed, looking down at Larry while I blinked rapidly.
“You okay, honey?”
I glanced up, not really able to make eye contact. “Fine. Yeah, I’m ... I’m fine. I think I got something in my eye, is all.”
“Lily!” Maggie came running down the driveway, and she was also not wearing a coat.
“Where is your coat?” I asked her.
“It’s not even that cold out.” She scratched the top of Larry’s head and smiled when he sniffed her fingers. “I think he missed me.”
“Undoubtedly,” I murmured. “He’s sick ofme, that’s for sure.”
Maggie laughed. “You met my grandma?”
Robin wrapped an arm around her granddaughter. “We were just getting to know each other a little bit. I can see why everyone likes her so much.”
Robin must have low standards for conversations with strangers. Instead of telling her that, I nudged Maggie’s arm. “You use your mixer again?”
“A little,” she said. “We made some muffins the other day; I forgot to send you pictures. And I tried cookies yesterday, but they were really crumbly.”
“Ah. You probably added too much flour.”
Robin clucked her tongue. “I told you that might be the problem. I was never the baker, unfortunately. I can make a mean casserole, and I love my Crock-Pot, but I’ve never quite mastered cookies. It’s too precise.”
“Can you come over tomorrow and help me?” Maggie asked.
“I could, yeah.”
