Bachelor Dad. Roxann Delaney
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That won’t help you during the day.”
“I’ll find someone.” At least he hoped he would. He didn’t know what types of day care were available in Desperation. He’d never needed to know.
“One more thing,” Paige said. “As soon as you can, have Jules talk to her. This whole thing sounds terribly traumatic. I’m not all that surprised that she isn’t talking.”
“I will.”
She gave him a quick hug. “You may not think so, but everything will work out. Give it time.”
He thanked her, and then he retrieved Sophie and headed for home. They were a block away when he realized there might not be anything in his house for dinner. Too often he didn’t think ahead and simply grabbed something at the café or at Lou’s. He was going to have to learn to do some real shopping. Cooking, too. Not that he didn’t know how, but cooking for one had never excited him, so he didn’t do a lot of it.
He slowed to a stop when Vern Isley stepped out between two parked cars to cross the street. Even when the eighty-something gentleman was all the way to the other side of the street, Garrett remained stopped. He chuckled to himself. Where there’s Vern, there’s Esther.
Sure enough, Esther Watson stepped out between the same two cars and hurried across the street, several yards behind Vern. “One of these days …” Garrett said, the car now in motion again.
Glancing in his rearview mirror, he tried for a cheery voice. “You’re in for a real treat, Sophie,” he said, while making a U-turn at the end of the block. “I’m going to take you to the Chick-a-Lick Café for dinner. You can’t ask for much better than that.”
From the used booster seat that Tootie had managed to find and was now attached in the backseat, Sophie watched him. The sky was darkening as dusk began to settle in, but he could see his daughter’s solemn expression. He hoped that would soon change. She’d come to him with a small suitcase, a battered teddy bear and a lot of questions that might or might not be answered. He had a lot of work to do, but he didn’t have a clue where to begin.
LIBBY PULLED INTO AN EMPTY parking spot at the sports park and shut off her engine. The view from her car made her smile. A dozen or so nine- and ten-year-olds, dressed in football pads and helmets, were gathered in a huddle in the middle of an unmarked, grassy field. She watched as they stacked their hands in a pile, then shouted, before breaking up the huddle and taking their places in the lineup.
It wasn’t difficult to find her nine-year-old in the midst of the others. He was the one making encouraging signals to the others. It was only a practice, but Noah didn’t let anything stop him from trying to inspire his fellow players with the will to win.
Leaning her head back against the seat, she closed her eyes. Life hadn’t been a bed of roses since she and Noah had left Phoenix in the middle of the night barely eight months ago. Even so, it was better than it had promised to be if they’d stayed. Living in a small town in Oklahoma had never been a part of her plans, but nothing she had planned had worked out well. And she liked Desperation. Noah did, too. So she prayed they wouldn’t have to leave, but neither did she count on staying.
A knock on her window jerked her out of her reverie, and she opened her eyes, then sat up with a smile.
“Hey, Mom,” Noah said, peering into the car with his own smile.
She rolled down her window. “Is practice over?”
“Yeah, we’re quitting early today.” He looked around at the other boys, who were drifting away in twos and threes or climbing into cars with a parent or two. “I didn’t expect you to be here, and I told Kirby we could hang out until you got here.”
Libby hated disappointing her son more than anything, but it couldn’t be helped. “I’m afraid not, honey,” she told him. “I came to pick you up because I thought maybe we could stop at the Chick-a-Lick for dinner before I go to work.”
His eyes lit up, then quickly dimmed, before he ducked his head. Without looking up at her, he asked, “I guess he can’t come to the café with us?”
She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She’d thought he would be excited to have the chance to eat at the café. They so seldom were able to enjoy even the small things. But she’d worked the extra hours and had a few extra tips, so they could afford—
She stopped herself, suddenly realizing that she was having a pity party for herself, and her selfishness surprised her. How much could a nine-year-old boy eat, anyway? She knew the answer was that they could often be a bottomless pit, but it shouldn’t matter.
“Sure, Kirby can come along, too,” she said. She’d make up for the little extra somewhere along the way. Giving Noah the chance to spend time with his friend was worth it.
She heard a shout, and Noah turned to look. She looked, too. A fancy sports car had pulled up, and Kirby was headed for it, waving at Noah as he walked toward it.
“It’s okay,” Noah said. “Looks like Mac got here early, too.” He turned to his mom. “So we’re going to the Chick-a-Lick?” he asked, without a hint of disappointment.
Libby looked at her watch. They had less than two hours before she had to be at work. Just enough time, if they hurried, to enjoy dinner at the café. “I worked a few extra hours this morning,” she explained. “Get in. You can order anything you want.”
“Cool.”
She laughed as he circled the car and opened the back door to get in. How did she get so lucky to have such a good kid?
When Noah was settled in the backseat, she drove the two blocks to the café, thinking about how things might have been. Before she’d divorced Noah’s father, there’d been enough money to take an entire boys’ football team to a fancy restaurant—after every practice. In fact, Noah’s third birthday party had been held at Chase Field. More than one hundred guests had attended, most of them friends and business associates of her ex-husband and his family. She often wondered if Noah remembered it, but she’d never asked. It no longer mattered. They weren’t the same people they were then.
Those were the times Libby didn’t want to think about, so she concentrated on parking only a few spaces down from the café. Luckily the dinner crowd hadn’t yet arrived. “Any idea what you’re going to order?” she asked, as they stepped up onto the sidewalk.
“That depends,” he answered.
“Really? On what?” She reached for the door to the café to open it, but Noah beat her to it. Surprised, she thanked him with a smile as she passed inside.
“You know.”
She did, and it hurt her heart and her pride. Noah rarely complained when there wasn’t enough money left over at the end of the month to do something special. It was the price they paid for safety. She’d done her best to explain it to him when they left Phoenix, and he must have understood at least part of it.
She leaned down and spoke in a quiet voice. “You can have anything on the menu.”
He looked up at her as she straightened, a sparkle in his dark brown eyes. “Anything?”
The café was more than half full, and she nodded to answer him while they made their way to one of the smaller booths in the back. She’d just slid into the booth when Darla appeared to take their order.
“It’s good to see you two,” Darla greeted them. “Would you like menus?”
“Please,” Libby asked, winking at Noah.
Darla handed them each a menu. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes with your water and to take your orders.”
After Darla walked away, Libby noticed that Noah was propping his menu on the table and apparently studying it closely. “Everything looks good, doesn’t it?” she asked, looking at her own.
“Yeah.”
Darla