Ready To Love Again (5 page)

The house was old, built in 1913, and needed upgrading. The single level, barn-style home was painted a brick red, except for the white trim that decorated the windows and doors. Blooming purple bougainvillea climbed up the side of the house, where French doors opened to the patio from the living room. Katie loved the old-fashioned feel of the home and the wavy texture to the hundred-year-old glass in the windows, and winters in Carmel didn’t get cold enough to worry about insulation. They lived in a beautiful area, surrounded by trees and with room for Buddy and Shawn to run. The house was outside the Carmel city limits, which made it far enough inland to avoid the fog that rolled off the ocean, yet close enough to go to the beach whenever they wanted.

She brushed her teeth and ran her hands through her dark hair. Pulling it back into a ponytail, she wondered if she should go with more highlights. It had been a couple of years since she had them done. Victor had always insisted she get them done when they were together. She hadn’t cared one way or the other at the time, but now it almost felt like bending to his will if she got highlights again.

Glancing at herself in the mirror, she realized how much she had changed since the separation. The strain of the first year had killed her appetite, and she’d lost a lot of weight. While she didn’t mind losing the last few pounds of baby fat she could never get rid of, she didn’t like how it happened. Since she decided to move on with her life, she’d managed to gain back enough weight to put her where she was in college.
 

Making her way back to her room, Katie threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater. She thought of the handsome man she’d met on the beach and wondered if maybe she should wear something a little nicer, just in case she ran into an attractive single father at the school.

It had been forever since she’d considered trying to draw the attention of the opposite sex. The notion that she could catch a man’s eye made her laugh. Even though she wasn’t anxious to date, she wasn’t opposed to the idea if the opportunity arose. Now that she’d had a couple of years to get used to her marriage being over, it was easier to consider.

Katie hurried Shawn out of the house, and they made the short drive to the public elementary school located behind the Carmel Mission. When they pulled up to the school, Shawn’s eyes grew wider, and he began to bite his nails.

“What if they don’t like me?” he whispered.

Katie resisted laughing at his question. Shawn never had problems making friends. If anything, he attracted children to him like the Pied Piper.

“Just be yourself, honey. I have no doubt you’ll have more friends than you know what to do with by the time the day is over.”

Shawn nodded and put on a brave face while they made their way to the office to take care of the paperwork. Once everything was settled, the office assistant pointed them in the direction of his new classroom.

Katie glanced down at her son when they reached the room. He still gnawed at his fingers, so she pushed his hand away and pulled his chin upward until he looked at her.

“You’re going to have a great day. Just remember to be nice to everyone and don’t tease the girls.”

Shawn’s eyes brightened, and an impish grin appeared. “I like teasing girls.”

Katie rolled her eyes and gave his chin a shake before releasing it. “Behave.”

Shawn opened the door, and they both stepped inside. The children were sitting at their desks, reading to themselves. Mrs. Morris, Shawn’s new teacher, came over to greet them. She directed Shawn to a table with three other children, and Katie stood back and watched him hesitate before sitting in an empty chair. Mrs. Morris introduced him to the group with whom he would sit and then knelt down beside him while she filled him in on the schedule.

A little boy with dark strawberry blond hair stuck his hand out for a formal handshake, and Katie giggled at the bemused look on her son’s face. He reached out and took the small boy’s hand, giving him a wide smile once his initial confusion wore off.

“That’s Anthony O’Donnell.”

Katie turned to face the woman who stood next to her. “Excuse me?”

“The little boy who shook your son’s hand is Anthony O’Donnell. His father’s a sexy surgeon up at the hospital. What I wouldn’t give to . . .” She trailed off, and her eyes rolled back into her head while she embraced her fantasy.

Katie took inventory of the woman beside her: tight Capri pants and a bright pink halter top that showed more cleavage than was appropriate in a third grade classroom, red hair nearly the color of a scarlet macaw, pouty lips that looked collagen enhanced, and acrylic fingernails so long they reminded Katie of bird claws. Katie doubted she was a teacher. She must have been the parent of a child in the class.

The shiny rock on the woman’s finger made Katie cringe. Why would she divulge, to a perfect stranger, her fantasy about a man who wasn’t her husband?

“It’ll be good to have your son be friends with him.”

She smiled at Katie as if she had done her a huge favor. Katie had a hard time not telling her off since she had little tolerance for women like that. Having had enough, Katie walked over to her son and kissed him on the cheek. He grimaced and wiped at the spot.

“Yuck, Mom.”

Anthony had an almost wistful look on his face while he watched their exchange. She gave him a conspiratorial wink, and he smiled before winking back.

“Have fun today, Shawn.” Katie tried to go in for another kiss, but he was faster, holding up his hands in defense.

“Okay, Mom, you can go now.”

Straightening up with a smirk, she headed for the door, chuckling to herself.

The day went by at a snail’s pace while she continued to unpack box after box. When she went back to the school to pick up Shawn, he ran to her and hugged her around the waist.

Smiling down at him, Katie felt grateful he’d forgotten for a moment that displays of affection weren’t cool. “How was your first day of school?”

“It was so great! I have a new best friend, and he plays baseball, and I want to play, too, and he has a sister, but she’s not very nice to him, but he’s really nice, and he shared a peanut butter cookie with me, and I liked it. Why don’t we ever have peanut butter cookies?” He spoke so fast that all his sentences ran together.

“We didn’t have peanut butter cookies because your father’s allergic to them,” she answered the last question. “So who’s this new friend?”

“His name’s Tony.”

Katie nodded. It looked like the cute little surgeon’s son had made an impression on Shawn. She hoped he wasn’t a mischief-maker, too—that could be a disaster waiting to happen. Shawn didn’t need any encouragement.

“So, Mom? Tony told me all about baseball, and I want to play. He said tryouts are this Saturday, and I really want to go. Please, please, please?” When Shawn looked up at his mother with puppy dog eyes, she couldn’t have refused even if she wanted to.

Her only worry was how she would get him to practices and games if she had to work. Being a single parent without friends in the area would prove to be more difficult if her son decided he wanted to engage in extracurricular activities. However, she couldn’t deny him when he looked so happy.

“Sure. If that’s what you want, we’ll make it work.”

Shawn talked nonstop on the way home. He recited baseball rules and filled her in on strategy. She was a bit shocked at the depth of his knowledge since they’d never been much into sports in their home.

“Where did you learn all that?” she asked after he told her, in detail, how to throw a curve ball.

He shrugged. “Tony. He’s a pitcher, and I want to pitch, too.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell him that he needed someone to practice with to be a pitcher, and Katie was ashamed to admit she was not an athletic person. Times like these made her wish she hadn’t moved away from Victor. Even though he didn’t necessarily enjoy baseball, he had more experience than she did.

~*~

Gina showed up bright and early, even though Chase had told her he could handle getting his kids ready for school. He’d had to shove her out the door to spend time with Daniel the night before, accusing her of having so little faith in his ability to handle the simple task of caring for his own children.

It was rare that she spent the night away from the kids, which was another source of guilt for Chase. Of course, the one time she wasn’t there would be the day when no one could find Tony’s missing shoe. Chase was in the midst of searching the laundry room when Gina pranced in.

“What are you doing? You should have left five minutes ago.”

Chase tossed the empty laundry basket aside and rummaged through Tony’s dirty clothes. “We can’t find one of Tony’s shoes,” he said.

“Where was the one you found?”

“In the family room.”

“Then that’s where the other one is.”

“I’ve already looked everywhere in there,” he grumbled. She ignored him and made her way into the family room, mumbling to herself. He heard her moving things around while he continued to dig through the pile of laundry, hoping the shoe had been tossed in there when Tony brought down his dirty clothes.

“Aha!” Gina called. “I found it!”

He left the laundry on the floor and walked into the family room, yelling up the stairs for Liz and Tony to get in the car. “Where did you find it?” he asked, puzzled because he’d searched the room three times.

“Under the couch.”

“I looked under the couch.”

“Yes, but you were looking with your man eyes.” She smirked and shoved him out the door.

Chase drove quicker than he should have to the school and pulled up in front of the office. Still angry with him over their argument, Liz got out of the car without saying a word. Tony followed but stopped and gave Chase a cheery wave before he ran off to class.

“Aunt Gina will pick you up after school,” Chase called out the window before they disappeared around the corner of the building. He hoped that Liz would get over her hostility, but he wouldn’t hold his breath for it to happen anytime soon.

As the window slid closed, he caught a glimpse of the woman he had met on the beach a few days earlier. She was speaking with the office assistant. He grinned at the memory of their encounter until a honk from the car behind him pulled him back to the present. Chase waved in apology and pulled out of the drop off point, while he wondered if her dog had given her any more trouble after their meeting.

His stint in the ER went by with nothing more dramatic than a couple of sick children and a few broken bones. Chase rolled into the driveway a little after eight o’clock, just in time to participate in the evening ritual. Tony was already curled up in his bed reading a book when Chase walked in. He smiled at his father and patted the space next to him, inviting his dad to hang out.

“How was your day, slugger?”

“Great! I made a new friend.”

“Really? Tell me about him.”

“He’s so cool. His name’s Shawn. He didn’t know anything about baseball, but I filled him in. He’s excited about tryouts Saturday, so can you try to get him on our team?”

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“He moved here from New Mexico and has a dog, and it’s just him and his mom. His parents got a divorce. I can tell he misses his dad. I shared my peanut butter cookie with him, and he said he never had a peanut butter cookie before. Can you believe that?”

The doctor side of Chase thought about all the problems that could have arisen from Tony sharing his cookie with his new friend, but since Tony didn’t go into a long explanation of anaphylactic shock, he figured it was fine.

“Well, it sounds like you had fun today.”

Chase often worried about Tony’s lack of assertiveness. He was shy when it came to making friends, and Liz said she always saw him wandering around the playground alone. He didn’t seem to mind his self-imposed isolation, but Chase had hoped he’d find a friend who would help pull him out of his shell.

“I did. He’s really nice and funny. He’s got frogs and snakes, too. Can I take two peanut butter cookies in my lunch tomorrow?”

Chase chuckled at the randomness of his son’s thoughts while he held Tony’s covers back.

“Sure thing, slugger.” Chase kissed his forehead, and Tony wrapped his hands around his dad’s neck, pulling him in for a hug.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Chase made his way to Liz’s room and stopped short when he heard crying on the other side of her door. She had been like this for a few days, and he reminded himself that this happened every year around the anniversary of Terri’s death. Knocking, he opened the door to find Liz sitting on her bed with her face in her hands, sobs racking her small body.

“Aunt Gina is leaving us, too.”

Chase sat down on her bed and pulled her into his arms, rocking her until she calmed down.

“She’s not leaving us. She’s just going to live with Daniel. You’ll still see her almost as much as you do now.” Liz’s crying turned into hiccups, and she clutched at the front of his shirt. “You still have six months to have her all to yourself, but then we need to let her be happy with Daniel. She mentioned letting you help her plan the wedding—would you like that?”