AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Though Jackson was closest to Gareth, Jay and Will had been the two—aside from Jackson—that Blake had interacted with the most. He was grateful for their friendship, and they definitely had helped him feel more connected to his new hometown. And he knew Amelia felt the same way about Layla and Peyton.
“I think we can go to the game,” Blake said. “At least this time.”
After they got home, Blake got her a snack of strawberries, then went to shower and change. He’d told her to change once she finished her berries, leaving her outfit choice up to her. She didn’t have a ton of clothes, but she had her favorites that she tended to wear frequently.
He didn’t have a lot of clothes either, and what he did have consisted mainly of jeans and T-shirts, though he’d needed to buy them both a couple of sweatshirts recently since the weather had turned cool. The evening temperatures had started to dip into the jackets are necessary zone.
There was no rush to head out because he didn’t want to be the first person to arrive at Charli’s. If they were on better terms, he definitely would have shown up as soon as he could. Since they weren’t, he usually waited until he was sure at least a couple of other people had arrived before them.
After Amelia was dressed in warm enough clothes, Blake redid her ponytail, since it had gotten messy during her day at school.
“Can we go now?” she asked when he was done.
“In a few minutes,” he told her. “Do you have homework this weekend?”
She brought her backpack over to the table and together they went through it. He set her lunch box on the counter to clean out when they got home from the game, then looked through her folder. Charli had sent home a new reader, along with a laminated bookmark that she’d use to mark off what stories Amelia completed.
He was very glad that Amelia enjoyed reading, and she picked up new words quickly. He wasn’t as much of a reader, so it was good she hadn’t taken after him.
Charli had proven to be a great teacher for Amelia. Amelia hadn’t been all that excited about school the previous year, but she was definitely enjoying school in Serenity. She’d gotten to where she happily shared what was going on in her class, and she never complained about doing the little bits of homework Charli gave her.
“Go ahead and get your shoes and jacket on,” Blake said once the backpack was empty.
“Yay!” Amelia ran to the closet by the front door to do as he asked.
Blake couldn’t believe the changes the past several weeks had brought about in Amelia. Her excitement for things made him smile, simply because she’d never shown much excitement about anything before.
It was like she’d finally realized that she was allowed to be excited. To be happy.
So far, since coming to Serenity, the only thing that concerned him a bit was that she very rarely spoke about her mom.
Not that she’d talked a lot about Lauren even before coming to Serenity. She’d definitely internalized whatever she thought or felt about her mom. It was unfortunate that most memories she had of Lauren were likely of her struggles with addictions.
As they left the apartment building, Amelia skipped beside him and happily scrambled up into the back seat of the truck. Blake watched her as she buckled herself in, then shut the door.
The drive to Charli’s didn’t take long, and soon, he was pulling to a stop behind Jay’s SUV. Amelia was out of her seat and standing on the sidewalk by the time Blake got out and rounded the hood of the truck.
“Can I ring the doorbell?” Amelia asked as they climbed the stairs.
“Go for it,” he told her.
Not long after she did, the door swung open to reveal Will. The man greeted them with a smile, then held his hand up for a high five from Amelia.
Blake appreciated that the adults in this group didn’t just dismiss Amelia. Each of them had been caring to her during their time together.
“Are you ready to eat fast tonight?” Will asked as they followed him through the foyer. “We’ve got a game to go to. Are you coming?”
“That’s the plan,” Blake said.
As they stepped into the kitchen, Blake’s heart gave a thump in his chest at his first glimpse of Charli. It happened every time he saw her.
Over the past few weeks, he’d gotten used to the reaction… and even welcomed it.
Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that Charli didn’t feel the same way when she saw him. And he didn’t blame her for that.
The kids greeted each other enthusiastically, reminding Blake of why he’d braved Charli’s displeasure.
The connections Amelia was making with Layla and Peyton were so important. She had a couple of friends at school now, who were also in her Sunday school class. However, even after two months, Layla and Peyton remained the most important to Amelia, likely because they were the first to have reached out to her.
