Page 59 of Well Aware

She was having the time of her life, but she’d stopped to ask me about Beau twice today.

And each time, I’d said the same thing: he’s busy.

Except, he wasn’t, was he?

He’d invited us out.

“Iris?”

She looked up from her episode about nurse sharks.

“Yes?” she signed.

She’d been speaking on and off today.

Several times she’d asked me about Beau, and I hadn’t been paying attention to her hands so she’d been forced to speak.

Maybe I should do that more often…

It might encourage her to speak more.

“Do you want to go to Beau’s friend’s ranch and see Beau?”

Iris was off the couch and standing by the front door in the next second.

I eyed her bright pink Crocs and off-white sweatsuit set.

“We’ll probably have to change into something a little…darker,” I suggested. “We don’t want to get those filthy.”

She walked to her room and started to yank out every piece of clothing in her dresser. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

She paused and looked over her shoulder at me, waiting.

“Jeans,” I said. “With maybe some leggings underneath since it’s pretty cold out today.”

She pulled out a white pair of leggings, and I chose to let it happen.

Her black glitter jeans were next, and again I didn’t argue, even though they were the nicest that she owned.

I walked to her closet and pulled out the little Carhartt jacket that had shown up in her cubby one day a couple of months ago. No one had claimed the jacket, nor admitted that it was a gift, but I knew. Beau had bought it for her. It was pink and represented everything that Iris loved.

She may not outright tell you that pink was her favorite color, but there were definitely signs.

She slipped everything on, leaving the jacket for when we got to Denver’s place, and headed to the front door where her cowgirl boots—the ones she wore to every one of my games—waited.

She slipped her feet into them and then pushed open the door.

“Wait, wait.”

She looked at me impatiently.

“I have to get dressed, too!”

She crossed her arms and all but glared at me.

My lips twitching, I hurried from the room and got dressed in leggings, overalls, and my least favorite sweatshirt. When I got back, Iris was tapping her foot and checking the time on her watch.

A watch that, subsequently, Beau had also purchased for her.