“Sure… I… uh… like kids just fine.”
“Oh, I get it,” she giggled. “You’re not married.”
“No,” he admitted, hearing another giggle from behind him, and he turned to see Charlie crinkle his nose. Glad that the kids had moved from their heavier emotions but not sure he wanted to be the focus of their attention, he tried to step out of the room again.
“Do you got a girlfriend?” Charlie asked.
“Ah… no… listen, kids, let’s go back downstairs—”
“I don’t either, but Rosalie is always trying to kiss me at recess. I don’t even like kissing!”
Eyes wide, he placed his hands onto Charlie’s shoulders and mumbled, “Well, you’re a little young for kissing.”
“Yeah, but you’re not,” Lily stated, her hands now landing on her hips, a stance he’d seen Violet take when she was exasperated with her kids. “Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“I… I haven’t met anyone… well, that’s to say, I haven’t been in town long… but not that I was looking…” Feeling a drop of sweat run down his back, he recognized an inquisition worthy of Babciu. “Listen, we need to get back to—”
“You should look at the bathrooms up here, too,” Charlie said, walking into another room. “Our cabinets aren’t nicely painted like yours.”
Ben wondered if it was possible to suffer whiplash from their quick-changing conversation topics, although he was glad to be off the topic of his lack of a girlfriend, which only served to make him think of their mom in a definitely non-mom way. He followed Charlie then skidded to a halt when he realized he was in Violet’s bedroom. Backing up again, he ran into Lily behind him. Damn, I can’t get away!
“Her bathroom is over there.” Charlie pointed to an open door.
“Guys, I’m not sure your mom would appreciate me being in her room without her knowing—”
“She won’t care. She’s always complaining that the shower drips and her toilet flushes weird.” Charlie led the way into the bathroom and against his better judgment, Ben followed.
The space was not large but neat. Violet’s makeup was in a storage basket on the counter next to the sink. A wicker rack contained clean, folded towels. The scent of her floral shampoo permeated the room, and he dragged in a deep breath, loving the smell. He pulled back the shower curtain over the tub and noted the drip from the showerhead. The sound of the toilet flushing behind him caused him to turn quickly, seeing Charlie grinning.
“See… it makes a funny noise,” Charlie said, laughing.
Having seen enough to know what could be accomplished in the room, he led the way out, peering around at Violet’s bedroom despite his best intentions to get out quickly. Just like the bathroom, the room was neat. The bed was covered in a deep purple and blue comforter, matching pillows at the head. A dresser sat on one side, a small jewelry box sitting on top. He’d never seen her wear much jewelry, just small silver hoop earrings or studs.
A framed photograph on her nightstand caught his eye. It was of Violet, Charlie, and Lily. She was smiling, her arms around the children. It appeared to be fairly recent, which meant her husband was already deceased. Curious, he glanced around the room but noticed the other pictures that lined the dresser mirror were also of Violet or the children only. None of her husband from years past… no wedding pictures, none with the whole family.
Suddenly, he felt like an interloper invading her private space and winced, turning quickly. “Come on, kids. I shouldn’t be in here without your mom’s permission. Let’s go back to my house.”
Grateful they didn’t argue, they bounded down the stairs, now excited to name the dog. Ben followed but cast his gaze toward the living room, once more noting there were no pictures of the whole family together. Where are their dad’s pictures?
“Come on, Ben! The dog is waiting for us at the fence!”
He jogged after Lily, seeing Charlie already bolting out the back door. Making sure to lock the door behind him, he followed them to the fence, grinning at the dog now jumping up and down, its tail wagging in circles.
Charlie had already climbed the fence and dangled his hands over the other side, laughing as the dog licked his fingers. Ben scooped Charlie over, setting his feet on the grass next to the dog before turning back and doing the same with Lily. Hopping over himself, the group headed to his back door, the dog determined to come inside with the others.
While his grandmother settled the kids at the table to start their homework, he jotted down notes from Violet’s house, making a list of what needed to be completed. His pen stopped scribbling as he thought of the photographs in the kids’ rooms providing a daily remembrance of their father… and none in Violet’s room.
Laying down his pen as he struggled to finish the list, he turned to see Lily staring at him, an indescribable expression on her face giving no indication of her thoughts—as though she could see the interest he tried to hide.
10
Irritation roared through Violet as she walked out of the office, waving to Robert and barely nodding toward Fred. Robert’s presence kept Fred from asking her for drinks, something she simply would have denied as she always did. Her stomach growled because she refused to spend money on sandwiches for dinner when she could eat at home. Fred had scowled at her recalcitrance, but she had worked while he ate, telling him that she was leaving as soon as she had her part of the report finished.
She tried to hurry but the traffic seemed to mock her efforts to get home and relieve Anna of Charlie and Lily. She hoped the evening had not been too strenuous. She’d never had to rely on Anna to babysit often, but on the occasions she had used her, it appeared that Lily, Charlie, and Anna all enjoyed themselves. The kids saw her parents when they visited, but Matt’s parents were more of the send-a-card-with-money grandparents. While she would never deny them the chance to be with the kids, they’d moved to Florida to be nearer Matt’s sister. In truth, that was fine with her. Less pretending that all had been normal.
Shoving those thoughts to the side, she focused on finding a parking spot near her house, then decided since she had to pick the kids up at Anna’s, she might as well pull around to the side road that ran along their combined backyards.
While Anna was much stronger, Violet was glad that Ben was home also to assist. Just as the thought of him struck, her lips curved. She hadn’t allowed herself to be attracted to a man since… well, for a very long time. He was handsome, but she knew that there was more to a man than appearance. While he’d never given any indication that he was interested… A snort escaped. Interested? He could get any woman he wanted. He certainly wouldn’t look twice at a single mom with a mortgaged house that needed repairs.
Finally, she pulled into a parking space next to her townhouse. The sun was setting, giving more evidence that she’d missed her evening with her children. Now parked, she hurried out of her car and headed toward Anna’s house, entering the backyard through the side gate. She noted the Popovich garbage cans neatly sitting on the sidewalk just before noticing hers were sitting outside her gate, too. Crinkling her forehead, she wondered if Ben had taken out her garbage cans.