Three

chapter 3

The snack counter didn’t exactly have the healthiest food in the world, but as we sat at a picnic table and ate cheese fries and corn dogs, I found that the meal was perfect. The sun was shining, spirits were high, and I was having the time of my life.

The company didn’t hurt. In addition to his good looks and humor, Joel had this captivating presence that I couldn’t quite explain. There was a complexity to him. Looking into his eyes, I could see the hints of many, many layers.

His soul ran deep. Probably his wounds, too. But I liked people who had lived full lives. It was the struggles that turned us into diamonds.

“Round two.” As the previous winner, I started the game. “Hope you’re ready to lose again.”

He smirked. “Cheese fries are the food of the gods. I’m ready to go.” “Oh, really? Just remember that I had cheese fries, too.”

The game went by too fast, and when Joel ended up as the victor I took it in stride.

“You’re not going to crumple into a heap?” he asked, almost looking disappointed.

“Nah.” I shook my head and offered my hand. “Good game.”

His eyes locked on mine, he shook my hand. A delicious warmth traveled up my fingers and into my arm.

“You, too.” His hand slowly left mine. I struggled to find my words. “Thanks.”

We stood there in front of the spinning windmill, my heart aching. “Well.” Joel cleared his throat.

I forced a smile.

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” he said.

They were the exact words I’d been thinking. I just hadn’t wanted to say them. But now that he’d opened that door…

“I don’t want to either,” I said.

I checked my phone. Three o’clock. What else could we do?

“Do you like margaritas?” I asked. “My favorite Mexican spot just started their happy hour. They don’t make cheese fries, but a quesadilla is close.”

The smile abruptly fell off his face. Had I said something wrong?

Perhaps I was coming across as too eager. Or maybe I shouldn’t have asked him to drinks at all. Everything today had been my idea. I’d heard before that men liked to take the lead.

“I don’t drink the day before surgery,” he said.

I tried not to exhale in relief. So I hadn’t done anything wrong. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I had a great time today. I would like to see you again, if that’s all right.”

My chest expanded. “I would like that, too.”

He pulled his phone out, and I gave him my number. It was right then that my phone started buzzing.

“Sorry,” I said. “It’s the daycare. I need to take this real quick.” I swiped the answer button. “Hello?”

“Hey, Katie,” Naomi said. “Are we out of paper towels? I can’t find them anywhere.”

In the background, a toddler screamed at the top of their lungs.

“Where did you…” Naomi raised her voice. “Where did you say they are?” “I didn’t. But they’re—”

“Steph,” Naomi called. “He needs a new ice pack.” My stomach flipped. Lily Pad needed me.

Even though every class had enough providers, I always had a floater on deck. Today that was Micah. Apparently, she was busy with something else right then.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I said. “See you soon.” Hanging up, I turned to Joel. “I need to get to work. Sorry.” “It’s okay. Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, I just…” I waved my phone around. “I like to be there myself.” “Every minute?”

I hesitated, but there was no denying it. “Yeah.” I let out a big breath. “Every minute.”

The daycare was my life. At thirty-two, I didn’t have much else going for me. I was single and childless, and aside from Marilyn all my other friends were busy with their families. To say that Lily Pad brought my life meaning would be an understatement.

Joel inclined his head. “I understand.” “You feel the same way?”

“No… not exactly. But I wish I did.”

I stuffed my phone into my purse and fished out my keys. “I had fun. Thank you for indulging me.”

“How do you know I wasn’t indulging myself?” Those bright hazel eyes settled on mine, and my knees went weak.

I cleared my throat, trying to keep my cool. “If you’re up to it tomorrow, after your surgery… give me a call. We can get that drink.”

My phone started buzzing again, so I gave Joel a wave and hurried for my car.

Maybe it was best that I didn’t wait for his response, I thought as I got into my car. I wasn’t sure I could handle it if he were to turn me down. The day had been amazing. I had shown up intending to show gratitude to the man who gave my mother a few more years of life, and I’d accomplished that.

No matter whether I saw Joel again or not, at least I had that.

KA T IE POV

Also, the health inspector should be here sometime this month, so let’s make sure everything in the kitchen is up to standard.” I spun around. “Where did I put my keys?”

Naomi pointed. “They’re in your hand.”

As soon as I caught sight of the keys, I sighed. “I swear. Some days, I would lose my head if it wasn’t screwed on.”

Naomi chuckled. “This place has a way of doing that to you.” “Especially on days like today.”

Hooking the keys onto the carabiner around my belt, I sat at my desk and opened my computer. My full day off—well, nearly a full day off—hadn’t come without consequences. There were emails, voice messages, and a hundred administrative tasks to catch up on.

But I would work straight through the night if it meant getting to hang out with Joel again.

We hadn’t parted ways for more than an hour the afternoon before when he’d texted telling me thank you for a nice time. I’d responded saying that I was the one who should be thanking him, and that had been it.

I’d tried not to be disappointed, but the truth was that he was all I could think about. The dating world had been rough the last few years, to say the least. I hadn’t been in a relationship since before my mom got sick, and once she was

diagnosed meeting men hadn’t exactly been a priority.

I’d been on a few dates since her passing six months earlier but hadn’t met anyone I connected with.

Until Joel.

I sincerely hoped the feeling was mutual, and I wasn’t imagining things. “…move Austin from the twos room to the threes,” Naomi was saying. I looked up at her and blinked. “Huh?”

Her expression turned puzzled. “You still want to do that, right? Move Austin?”

“Oh, right.” I waved my hand. “Yes. I do.”

“Are you okay?” Naomi took the seat on the other side of my desk.

I gave her a smile. “I’m fine. Just having trouble focusing today, that’s all.” I took a deep breath. “But I’m here now. I’m present.”

Naomi stood. “A couple just called this afternoon about a tour. They said they want to meet you when they’re here. How is tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow’s fine.” I glanced at my schedule. “Well… it’s fine between nine and ten.”

“So nine it is,” she said in a singsong voice as she walked out of the room. “Perfect.”

Once Naomi had left my office, I let out a heavy breath and looked up at the ceiling. I needed to think about adding to our staff.

Back when I started Lily Pad, seven years earlier, it had been a one-room daycare with myself and two other women I’d hired. Since then, we’d grown exponentially. It had gotten hard to keep up.

Running the daycare meant less one-on-one interaction with the kids, which I didn’t like, but it was still my dream job.

On the desk, my cell buzzed. I picked it up to find Joel calling.

A grin stretched across my face, and right away my pulse sped up. For a brief moment, I considered not picking up, that’s how nervous I was to talk to him.

But then I remembered how silly that was. I had been hoping he would call, and now he was!

“Hi, Joel,” I answered.

“Katie. How are you?” His deep voice made my belly warm. “I’m good. How are you?”

“Good. I just finished surgery a few hours early.”

“That’s great!” I checked myself. “Well, I hope it was great. Was it?”’ “Yes, everything went smoothly. The patient took to the lung well.”

“That’s wonderful.” I didn’t know who the patient was, but I remembered my mom’s transplant all too well. Thinking about what they and their loved ones were going through—the fear, the stress, the relief—brought tears to my eyes.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Joel said.

I closed my laptop. “Nope. I’m sitting at my computer doing some work, but a break is welcome.”

“Sounds like my timing is perfect, then.”

“Absolutely.” I bit into my smile. I couldn’t imagine Joel having anything but perfect timing.

“I called because I wanted to see if you would like to have dinner with me tonight.”

I had to stop myself from shouting “yes.” Instead, I took a slow breath and composed myself.

“I would love that,” I said.

“Excellent. There is a wonderful steakhouse I would love to take you too. Do you eat meat?”

“I love steak. Especially steak tacos.”

Joel laughed. “I don’t think they have steak tacos here, but if you’d prefer that we can go somewhere else.”

“No, it’s fine!”

“Where is your favorite place for steak tacos?”

I didn’t even have to think about the answer. “It’s in Santa Monica.”

“Then we’ll go there. How is seven? If you send me your address, I’ll pick you up.”

“Seven is perfect.” I toyed with my hair, my excitement already mounting. “I can’t wait.”

“I can’t either.”

“See you then, Katie.”

Hearing him say my name nearly made me come undone. It was a good thing I was sitting. “Bye, Joel.”

After hanging up, I stood and went to the window. How could I focus on work now, with such a hot date ahead of me?

Because it was certainly a date, not a random hangout like we’d had the day before. If a man asking a woman to have dinner with him wasn’t the epitome of a date, I didn’t know what was.

“No!” a high-pitched voice shouted.

Turning away from the window, I opened my office door and looked out. In the hallway, one of the toddlers from the threes class sat with his back against the wall. Naomi stood in front of him, trying to talk to him while the rest of the class and their teachers hung up their art at the other end of the hall.

“Now, Finn—”

Finn let out a feverish wail, cutting off Naomi before she could get another word out. His face was scrunched up red, and he sobbed like there was no

tomorrow.

Catching sight of my gaze, Naomi let out a frustrated sigh.

Leaving my office, I crouched down in front of Finn. “Hey, Finn. I see you’re feeling bad.”

He kept sobbing, his face cherry red, but his eyes turned to me. I frowned. “That sucks. I hate feeling bad.”

“He doesn’t want to put the art up,” Naomi said. “He wants to keep finger painting, but art time is over.”

“Ah. Got it.” I kept my attention on Finn. “You must feel bad because you can’t paint right now.”

The little boy rubbed a fist against his eye and nodded.

“Let’s take some deep breaths, okay? I’ll do it first so you can see how to.”

Using my hand to gesture along with the inhales and exhales, I breathed slowly. “Now you try.”

He started sobbing again, but I directed him back to his breath. Eventually, he began to breathe slowly, and his panic subsided.

“There. And, look. Your class is going to the playground. Would you like to go play on the playground?”

Finn nodded and stood. “Yeah.”

“Awesome. Miss Naomi will take you.” I stood.

Naomi leaned in and whispered so that Finn wouldn’t hear. “I don’t know how you did that.”

I smiled at her. “Everyone wants their feelings validated.”

“You’re amazing.” Naomi took Finn’s hand and they walked down the hallway to join his class on the playground.

I folded my arms. I wasn’t so sure that I was amazing, but I knew for sure that childcare was my calling.

Watching Finn run through the side exit and onto the playground, my heart nearly burst.

Spending my days with young children was fulfilling, but I wanted something more. I wanted children of my own.

Ideally, I wanted a man to start a family with. But how much longer could I wait around for? I was thirty-two, and while I knew that was still young, some days I felt like I couldn’t wait another day.

I was tired of coming home to nothing but my houseplants. I wanted a family, people I could give my whole heart to and lean on when times were tough.

There was always the option of having a baby on my own, but I really didn’t want that. Even though I was fortunate enough to have a job I could bring a baby along to, I entertained no fantasies about how hard it was to be a single parent.

I fiddled with my necklace. God willing, my luck would soon turn around.