“Hi, Reed.” I kneel down to him.
“Hi,” he says shyly.
“Can Reed come over and play?” Sadie bounces up and down.
“Oh, not today, sweetie. We would need to talk to his mom first.”
“She’s right there.” Reed points over my shoulder.
My eyes go wide as I see a stunning blonde in green scrubs coming towards us. When she smiles, I’m almost blinded from the light that shines off of her perfectly white teeth.
“Reed.” Her voice is soft and caring.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, you have to be Sadie’s mom. Reed’s been going on and on about her.” She extends her hand to me. “I’m Brooke Whaley, Reed’s mom.”
I stand. “I’m Lexie Allen, and yes, I’m Sadie’s mom. Nice to meet you.” I shake her hand.
“Mom, can I go to Sadie’s house?” Reed begs.
“Not tonight, your dad will be home for dinner.”
Instantly, Reed smiles. “Can we have chicken nuggets?”
Brooke rolls her eyes. “You’re going to turn into a chicken nugget.”
I laugh. “I know what you mean,” I tell her.
“How about this?” Brooke reaches into her front pocket, pulling out a pen and small memo pad. “How about I give Ms. Allen my number, and maybe we can figure out something that you two can do together? That okay with you?” She looks over to me.
“Sounds great.” I smile back.
“Okay,” both kids agree, and Brooke hands me her number.
“Thanks.”
I watch Brooke take Reed’s hand and head up the sidewalk to a very shiny new BMW. Reed’s dad must be a doctor. Or maybe she is?
“Hey, are you ready to have dinner at Grammy’s and Pop’s?”
“Yes!” Sadie exclaims and we go to my car.
When we walk into my parents’ house, I can smell dinner already being made. Sadie yells for her grandparents, and like always, my mother is the first to get to her.
“There is the world’s most beautiful grandchild.” Mom kisses her loud on the cheek.
“Good. Where’s my Pops at?”
“He’s cooking dinner.”
Sadie jumps from my mom’s arms and heads to the kitchen. I give Mom a quick hug before following her into the dining room.
“How was work?”
“It’s okay.” I sit down in the chair. “Tiffany took an event from the Utah Bears today.”
“And you didn’t burst into flames?” Mom fakes gasps.