Page 9 of You Know You Wanna

I chuckled and slid an arm around her shoulders. “Of course, you are. I run the place and you’re my guest. Let’s go. You’re going to love it. It’s so calm and serene.”

Surprisingly, the girl leaned into me a little after stiffening at first contact. My immediate thought was that she wasn’t used to affection from adults, but that couldn’t be right. She was a kid. Kids loved hugs.

Putting it out of my head, I showed her the studio, noticing her light up when she saw the bar along the full-length mirrors.

“I thought this was only a yoga studio! Do you offer ballet here too?”

“There’s a barre class a few nights a week if you’re interested. You’d be the youngest by far, but you’re welcome to come if it’s okay with your parents. It doesn’t run too late, so⁠—”

“Oh, that’s okay,” she said bluntly. “My parents are divorced and my mother doesn’t even know or care where I am. I’m here with my dad, but he doesn’t really care what I do either. It’ll be fine. Just tell me when and I’ll be here.”

“Uh, okay. I’ll let you know. I just need to check the schedule for this week.” I could tell she was upset about something, but I’d only just started getting to know the girl.

I didn’t want to pry, but at the same time, it seemed to me that she was in desperate need of some real attention. While she was here, I wouldn’t mind spending some time with her, but it wasn’t my attention she needed.

It made me wonder about her dad, the hot asshat with the imposing build and the piercing eyes. She’d mentioned a divorce, which explained why I hadn’t seen a ring yesterday, but I wondered if that was what had kept him so busy that his daughter seemed to have lost all faith in humanity. Grown-up humanity, at least. I had no idea what she was like with other kids.

After I showed her around a little more and had her help me fix the dangling sign, I took her back to the Kids Camp for a snack and found her father waiting for her. Laurene scowled when she saw him, and he scowled when he saw me.

Funny how that look seems to run in their family.

I almost scowled too, just so I didn’t feel left out, but they wouldn’t understand. Instead, I pasted a wide smile on my lips and introduced myself. “Hello, again. I’m Birdie and I just had the honor of spending some time with your daughter. I’ve got to say, sir, she’s amazing. We had a fun walk together.”

Those cool blues lingered on mine, an eyebrow arching. He gave me a fairly obvious once-over. “Birdie, you said it was?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, mentally grating my teeth over the haughty tone of his voice. “And with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

He didn’t notice that I was teasing him about the overly formal way he’d addressed me. “Remington Ford.”

He also didn’t hold out his hand to shake mine. How could he be so stiff and still have terrible manners?

He looked down at his daughter. “It’s time to go. We’re going to explore this Bluebell Hollow for a bit.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” I said, digging deep into my helpful, hospitable nature to be good to this guy even if he was extremely dismissive. “You should visit the museum and the swinging bridge. Everyone loves those.”

Mr. Fancy Pants Remington Ford didn’t seem interested in what I’d said at all. He jerked his head toward the exit, still looking at his daughter like she was an employee. Then his phone rang and he answered it, turning away from us both to take the call.

Laurene sent me an apologetic wave and a shy smile before she followed him, head down and shoulders slumped.

I sighed as I watched them go. I liked pretty much everyone, but that man definitely hadn’t made a very good first impression. Or second. Or third, for that matter.

At the back of my mind though, I couldn’t help wondering if perhaps they’d been put on my path for Laurene’s sake rather than her father’s. Just yesterday, I’d thought that it was the other way around but now I wasn’t so sure.

She was a good kid, but she seemed to be going through the motions rather than living her life. In my humble opinion, she was much too young to have the kind of attitude she did. As I watched her disappear with him, I decided that I would take her under my wing a bit for the summer.

She deserved to have an adult take a real interest in her, and if I could help her be the kid that she so obviously didn’t see herself as, then I would consider it time well spent.

You’re on, Laurene Ford. This summer, it’s you and me, girl. Let’s see if this place can’t spare a little bit of its healing magic for you.

It had sure done so for me and for so many others. It was a special place and that poor girl needed to unwind and let go of all the stress she carried with her—before she got stomach ulcers while she was still only teetering on the edge of womanhood.

5

REMINGTON

Once we hit the town, I ignored Birdie’s advice and followed some signs to a local market. Birdie. What kind of name is that, anyway?

“Where are we going?” Laurene asked from the passenger seat, frowning when I blew past the turnoff for the museum. “Birdie said⁠—”