Page 32 of Rip Ryder's Second Chance

“I don’t really need a house that big.”

“Right now, maybe not. But what about in the future? What about opening an office on the property? The cottage could make a comfortable spot to see clients.”

The area between her brows scrunched. “But you’re living in the cottage.”

He shrugged. “I can’t live there forever. It was only ever meant to be temporary anyway.”

“Are you finished, Ollie?”

“No,” he said clearly, still going to town on the frozen treat. Then he said, “Yes.”

“It’s time to go, buddy.” She took the bowl that had less than a bite left at the bottom and wadded the napkin inside the cup. “Let’s go throw our trash away.”

“Me do it,” Ollie ran to beat her to the trash can. She picked him up so he could reach. He happily dumped the cup and napkins inside. “Me did it!” He clapped his hands. She loved that such little things could give him joy.

When she came back to the table, Rip was standing. Some awkwardness has returned between them.

“Thanks again for lunch,” Noelle told Rip.

“Thanks to you and the kiddo.” He bent to one knee so he was closer to Ollie’s height and held up his hand. “How about a high five, buddy?”

Ollie eagerly slapped Rip’s hand. “Five.”

“Keep things real, little dude.” Rip rustled Ollie’s hair then straightened. “He has a strong high five. We need to get him out on the baseball diamond or basketball court. He’ll have potential to become pro.”

There were two things to Rip’s statement that caught Noelle in the center of her chest. One, the casual way he used the pronoun “we” when he talked about doing something with Ollie. And two, although he was only assuming that Ollie had star potential, she found it nice that Rip said it in importance.

“Bye, Rip,” Ollie said plainly then dove in to wrap his arms around Rip’s legs.

Noelle wanted to shed a few tears. She’d always been careful who she introduced into Ollie’s life because she never wanted him to suffer any pain of loss. Yet her son had taken up with Rip so quickly that it shook Noelle to the core.

Chapter 11

“I don’t eat meat. I refuse to be a part of murdering innocent animals.”

Noelle stood on the other side of the door, staring back at the girl with two braids, large glasses, and freckles. “Hi. Do I know you?”

“Sorry. My mother says I always forget to introduce myself. I’m Harley, twelve years old. Derry and Parker Lutz are my parents and we live next door. Bea, the woman who lives here, came to my house this morning and was talking to Mom. She said you don’t like meat. Like I said, I don’t either. Anyway, seeing that we have so much in common I thought I’d come over and introduce myself. Bea said you have a baby. I like kids. I babysit a lot. Plus, I have two brothers and two sisters I help take care of. Do you think you might need a babysitter?” Harley took a deep breath.

“Nice to meet you, Harley. I’m Noelle.” She held out her hand.

The girl gave a firm handshake. “Can I come in? Oh…sorry again. Mom said I’m not supposed to invite myself into anyone’s house. It’s rude.”

“Would you like to come in? Is your mom with you?” Noelle craned her neck to look around the porch. The girl was alone.

“No. She’s busy changing my baby brother’s stinky diaper. He ate a lot of sweet potatoes,” Harley said as she crossed the threshold into the house. She spotted Ollie sitting on the living room floor and she immediately went and sat down with him. “Hi. I’m Harley.” She gently tickled his chin.

“This is Ollie,” Noelle said.

The toddler broke out into a wide grin. He liked Harley, especially her braids that he tried to grab ahold of, probably to stick in his mouth.

Harley smiled, showing off metal braces. “He likes me. See, I told you. I’m good with kids. Mom told me I shouldn’t brag about myself because people think it’s egotistical. I’m not bragging though. I’m being factual. I learned that word at school. Factual. It has a nice ring to it, right? You know, an alligator once almost ate me. We were in Florida on vacation. We were on a boat ride and I spotted an alligator. It was in the water but it could have eaten me.”

“Oh my. That would be scary,” Noelle responded.

The girl scooped up a fire engine and made revving noises. Ollie laughed, finding the girl fascinating. “I don’t get scared too often. My brother, Donovan, not the one in diapers, he’s ten, says I’m brave because I hold his hand to cross the street. Leah, my sister, is a pest. She’s scared of spiders. So is Donovan, although he won’t admit it. One time a big furry black one with big eyes crawled across his hand. He screamed like a girl.” She giggled, but didn’t miss a beat. “But I’d probably scream like a girl too if I was him. But I am a girl. Anyway, I like to sleep until noon on the weekends and I hate cleaning my room. Mom told me if I don’t clean, I’ll get bugs. What kind of bugs? I really don’t know because any bug is unwanted.”

“Cleaning your room is important.” Noelle didn’t think the girl heard a word.

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