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“You do?”
“Yeah. We got an A on the project the second time.”
“Yay! Congratulations!” I was relieved and happy for him. Relieved because I knew how hard he was on himself when he did anything less than he expected.
Sly’s smile slipped a little, but he looked pleased with himself and I was glad. I stepped to take the second set of hand grips to steady the augur, and we got to work. I mostly made sure the big thing didn’t topple over or put a hole where it wasn’t supposed to while Sly manhandled it down the fence line, leaving holes big enough to sink posts into concrete.
Sly had convinced me to ask Violet to pick up Katie, and by the time she was skipping across the yard from the car, we were just finishing the last hole.
“Hey little bear!” I called.
“Mommy!” Katie wrapped her arms around me, and my heart soared as my eyes met Sly’s. It felt like everything in my life had shifted gears in a very short time, and even though part of me was afraid to trust the happiness I felt, I didn’t want to waste a second of it.
“What are you doing?” Katie’s voice held a clear note of appreciation as she ran a hand over the hefty machine we’d laid on the ground. “This is so cool.”
“It’s an augur,” Sly told her. “Digs big holes.”
Katie continued to inspect the device and I tried not to be too obvious about my desperate attraction to the man who took everything she did in stride.
“Thank you for letting me pick up Katie once more, Clara,” Violet said, crossing the lawn. “Oh my, you two have done a lot of work out here.”
“Thanks so much. Sly did most of the work. I just made sure he didn’t get hurt.”
Violet beamed at me, then looked up at her son. “Dad didn’t come back out?”
Sly shook his head and I could sense the worry pass between them. “Just tired, I think.”
A tiny sigh escaped Violet before she offered me a sweet smile. “Will you and Katie stay for dinner? I made chili and cornbread, and there’s way too much.”
“Cornbread!” Katie cried happily. “Yes!”
I smiled at my neighbor. It would surprise no one to learn that I hadn’t planned for dinner yet. “I think we’d love that. What can I bring?”
“Just yourselves,” she said. “But give us a half hour. Sly needs to clean up.” She wrinkled her nose as she took in Sly’s sweat-soaked cap and glistening chest.
Whatever she saw was definitely different than what I was seeing, which was probably for the best.
“I do too,” I agreed, feeling the sweat sticking the back of my T-shirt to me and matting my hair to my neck.
“See you soon,” Violet said, turning and heading into the house.
“Good day?” Sly asked Katie.
“Mmm-hmm. Why are you digging holes?”
Sly patiently explained how he was going to build the fence, leading her down the line and explaining the whole process as she asked questions. I watched them, loving the way he was with her, the way she looked up so clearly to him. I found myself wishing for things to be so much more than they were, but cautioned my rollicking heart to take it slow. I still had no idea what this really was. Soon, Katie and I went inside so we could get cleaned up.
Sitting across the table from him at dinner was a sweet kind of torture, knowing that the next night we’d finally be alone. I wasn’t sure what his parents knew, or what Katie had figured out. Not that there was much going on, not really. But I luxuriated in the newness of whatever it was, in the satisfaction of a years-old longing inside me. And the anticipation of what might happen the next night, when it was just the two of us, had me equal parts nervous and giddy.
* * *
I slept in on Saturday morning—as much as that was possible with Katie around. She tended to get up around six every day, regardless of anything at all. But that morning she came to my room, bringing at least sixteen stuffed animals and thirty-seven books with her, and she read quietly in my bed while I snoozed.
When I finally felt like it was time to wake up, I pulled her close to me and held her in my arms, snuggling in her little-girl sweetness as the sun brightened the shades on the windows.
“Happy Saturday, little bear,” I whispered.
“Happy Saturday, Mommy.” Katie wasn’t often still, so I relished the times when she let me cuddle her, knowing that these days would vanish rapidly and I’d be left with a big kid determined to assert her independence, and I’d miss the little girl who thought I ran the world.
