“We want a hug, too, Daddy!” Evie said.
“Yes, a hug!” Beth said.
Sam winked at Katie, then grabbed Evie and held her sideways on his hip.
“A hug like this?” he asked, and gave her a squeeze.
She dissolved into giggles.
“No, Daddy. Not like that,” she shrieked.
He put her down and grabbed Beth and threw her over his shoulder and started hugging her little legs hanging down across his chest.
“Then a hug like this, right?”
Beth was giggling.
“No, Daddy! I’m upside down,” she said.
He put her down, then stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head.
“I’m all confused,” Sam said.
And then Katie joined in. “Like this!” she said, and picked up both little girls and started hugging them tight.
“Oh! I can do that,” Sam said, and wrapped his arms around all of them, and while the girls were poking at each other and laughing hysterically, he stole a kiss from Katie. “Maybe there are other things Miss Katie can teach me,” he said.
Katie blushed. “Here, take these little wiggle worms before I drop them. I have to finish peeling potatoes.”
“We’re wiggle worms!” Beth cried, as Sam took them out of Katie’s arms.
“Yes, and you’re both going to wiggle on outside and play so we can finish making dinner.”
“Can we wiggle in here with you if we wiggle quiet?” Evie asked.
Katie didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Go get your coloring books and crayons. You know where they are. And you can color here at the kitchen table until we’re ready to eat.”
“Yay!” they said, and ran.
Katie glanced at Sam. “They’re beginning to sense the connection between us, and it probably makes them a little insecure. I don’t ever want to be the cause of that happening. The more they are included, the less threat they will perceive.”
Sam sighed. “You are so damn smart about little kids. Every parent should have an early childhood education before they’re allowed to have babies. It would save some children from a world of hurt.”
Katie shrugged. “Or at the least learn how to function on common sense. And…here they come.”
The girls marched into the kitchen, each clutching a box of crayons and a coloring book. And so the evening continued.
But long after the day was over and Katie was lying in bed, trying to unwind enough to sleep, she couldn’t get Justin Tiller out of her head.
Chapter Twenty-One
Justin Tiller’s grand ideas were not panning out. He still didn’t have a job, but after wandering into a bar and running into Mitch Lewis, an old friend from Borden’s Gap, he now had a place to stay. Granted it was on Mitch’s couch, but it was out of the weather, and Mitch knew enough people needing day workers for Justin to pick up some work.
But the longer he stayed in Jackson, the more he missed his old way of life. Frieda working. Him staying home with the kids. He was saving up money to get a car. Even if it was a junker, he was sick of being afoot.
***
The days were getting shorter and the weather cooler. There were no more yards being mowed, and Katie often had her gas fireplace going at night.
It was coming up on Halloween, and costumes for sale hung from almost every window in town. The UPS truck was all over town making deliveries, as was the Amazon Prime van.
The girls wanted to be fairies with wings, and have flowers in their hair, and magic wands that could change flowers into pink frogs with googly eyes.
Sam was at a loss, so while the girls were playing in their room, he called Katie. The moment she said hello, he unloaded.
“Katie…honey…where the hell do I find fairy dresses and wings?”
Katie laughed.
“So is that the final choice?”
“Oh yes…fairies with wings and magic wands that can turn flowers into pink frogs with googly eyes.”
Katie empathized with the panic in his voice. “Don’t worry, love. I got your back on this. I’m a boss at online ordering.”
“Oh my God, I owe you big time. I’ll bring a credit card right over.”
“No…I’ll walk over to get it. Just hand it to me at the door, and the girls will never know I’ve been there. I’ll find the stuff and order it tonight,” Katie promised.
“Deal,” Sam said, and so she did.
He met her at the door with the card and a kiss.
“Just so you know, you continue to become irreplaceable in our lives.”
“My dream job,” she said, then shivered when a chill wind blew up the back of her shirt, and hurried back across the street.
Looking for fairy costumes became her entertainment for the night as she snuggled close to the fire. Finally, she placed the orders, then got up and dug through her closet for a heavier jacket to wear to school tomorrow. She had playground duty and didn’t want to stand in the wind and be sorry she hadn’t dressed more warmly.
After packing up her school cart, she began turning out lights and locking up. She paused in the living room and looked out at the house across the street, knowing one day they’d be doing all this together, then turned around and went to her bedroom.
This life, this house, this job. It was all so familiar now. A far cry from a few months ago when she’d spent her first night here in a sleeping bag, racked with nightmares and afraid of her own shadow.
Sam had been her first visitor, even then offering his help.
She crawled into bed, set the alarm, and then rolled over on her side and fell asleep. Her dreams were troubled, and she tossed and turned without anyone beside her to turn off the panic, then woke up to a whole new day and called it good.
***
Justin Tiller had been in Borden’s Gap all day, driving his car around, waiting for Frieda to get off work. He’d parked in the back of the parking lot at Hillbilly Pizza, knowing she’d never spot him in the old Ford Focus he’d just bought or see him through the tinted windows. He wanted to talk to her again, but he couldn’t, so he opted to stalk her instead. He wanted to see his sons. He wanted them to see him sober and with money in his pocket. Unfortunately, all of Justin’s wants and desires hinged on pride and not love.
Then he saw her car coming out of the employee parking behind the building and saw Frieda at the wheel, and tensed. She looked pretty. And he was horny. They were still married. This should be so easy, just to walk up to her and have a conversation. But hell no. She’d involved the law. He watched her leaving the parking lot, then pulled out a distance behind.