Parking behind Joseph’s truck, Ridge hurried around the vehicle and lifted his daughter out of her car seat and her bag of things, the one-year-old nuzzling her head into his neck. He knew that he was cutting it very close to her afternoon nap time. Ridge only hoped that Aunt Amy might have a safe place where he could lay her down until he could set up a room for her.
Ridge made out a few flower pots on the porch that had little hand prints painted across the fronts, and then the wooden sign welcoming guests that had the handprints of his cousins. He smiled, remembering how his Aunt Amy had insisted he place his hand in the black paint and leave his mark as well, even though he wasn’t one of their children. Amy and Joseph had never made him seem like the ugly step-child, well cousin, whenever his parents dropped him off for the summers.
Just as Ridge lifted his hand to ring the doorbell, the red door opened with a whoosh, alarming both Ridge and the petite female on the other side.
“Oh!” she cried out in exclaim, raising her hand to her chest as if having a heart attack.
“Sorry. I, um, I’m looking for Joseph or Amy,” Ridge said, embarrassed as his voice cracked like he was fifteen-years-old.
“Mom!” the woman shouted over her shoulder, gesturing with her other hand for Ridge to step inside.
“I’ll be right there, Poppy. Let me get the brownies in the oven.”
At the mention of the chocolaty goodness, Delilah lifted her head from Ridge’s shoulder and glanced around the room.
“Oh my, aren’t you just the cutest thing,” the red-headed woman said, stepping closer to Ridge, holding out her hand to the toddler who stared at the out-stretched appendage before gripping it in her own. “My name is Poppy. What’s your name?”
“This is Delilah. She’s one and usually not good with strangers.”
“Well, Ms. Delilah, it’s nice to meet you. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you around a lot.”
Ridge looked up just as footsteps approached from the back of the foyer. “Dear, who is at the door?” Amy asked before looking up in shock. The dishtowel she was wiping her hands with stopped in midair as her eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh my stars, are you really here?” Amy asked in awe as she rushed forward, placing both of her hands gently on his cheeks.
“Hi, Aunt Amy,” Ridge replied sheepishly. Delilah squirmed in his arms and reached for the woman that had been more of a mother figure to him than his own mother.
“Joseph,” she screeched as she rushed forward and wrapped her petite frame around himself and Delilah, who giggled as Amy placed wet kisses on both of their cheeks. He towered over his aunt, but that didn’t stop her from reaching up and forcing his head downward.
A booming voice called out from the entrance of the foyer and Ridge glanced over and was surprised. The man he remembered from five years ago at his last visit wasn’t the same man approaching them. This man appeared worn and tired and deliriously happy. Not that his uncle hadn’t always had a smile on his face, but this was one of pure contentment.
“My boy,” the older man said as Amy unfurled herself from around Ridge, allowing him to hold out his hand for his Uncle Joseph. “It’s been too long.”
Ridge felt the urge to apologize and didn’t suppress it as the words sputtered from his lips. He knew he was the reason that they hadn’t seen him in so long. The downfall of his quickie marriage had been too much of an embarrassment.
“And now, who is this little gem?”
“Aunt Amy and Uncle Joseph, this is my daughter Delilah, and we were hoping that maybe we could stay here for a little while.”
Ridge idled the truck in the driveway of the house that he now held the keys for. A place that his cousin, Jameson, and his wife, Poppy, gleefully offered to rent to him until he could get himself settled.
Things weren’t going as Ridge had planned. First, his aunt and uncle explained that their grandchildren now occupied their house's extra rooms for when they visited. Amy settled him into a twin bed for the night until he could figure out what to do for him and Delilah, that was after Amy had chewed him out for not calling ahead of time. Despite the fitful night of sleep, Ridge had awoken to a plan, only to have it derailed when the attractive redhead from the day before arrived at the house with his cousin and a set of keys dangling in his hands. Jameson had explained how they had purchased the older neighborhood as an investment property since he had billions to spare as a software developer and his brother Austin was working on renovating each bungalow.
Ridge hated handouts and this was what their generosity had felt like, but he also knew that his options were extremely limited. He knew without a doubt that he wanted to raise Delilah in the town of Carson, especially if he planned to fight for custody of his daughter should her mother come around again. Ridge could only hope that he wouldn’t have to relocate them both back to California. Their divorce and custody agreement had no location contingency so long as the other party didn’t oppose it. Ridge assumed that the letter he found from his ex-wife would be evidence enough. He’d have to research a lawyer in town or close-by soon, just to be safe.
With a quick glance around the quaint neighborhood, something deep inside Ridge settled into place. This was a good thing. The houses were small, but each one looked a bit different from its neighbor. The only house that looked simi
lar to Ridge’s was the house across the street. Both were cream-colored with dark green shutters, but where the house across the street had more of a coastal feel with some cedar shakes around the upper window, Ridge’s house had a craftsman design on the porch columns.
Taking a deep breath, Ridge pulled the truck and trailer into the driveway, his heart pounding in his chest as he turned off the ignition.
“Alright, sweat pea, ready to see our new house?” he asked as he unlatched his seatbelt. From her car seat, Delilah began to kick her little legs and clapped. “Da! Da!”
As he gathered his daughter in his arms, Ridge looked up at the sky as the approaching storm clouds hovered close by. Thunder sounded off in the distance and he knew that he didn’t have much time to get their belongings inside the house before the late season. Ridge only hoped that the storm wasn’t an omen of what was to come in his life.
With one last glance at his truck, Ridge dashed into the house that would now be his home for the unforeseeable future. Quickly he hurried through the living room that was open to the kitchen area at the back of the house and ducked his head into the two bedrooms. The smallest of the two would be perfect for Delilah.
Adjusting his hold of her, Ridge went back out to the living room and placed Delilah on the floor with her favorite stuffed animal. She was good at entertaining herself, so Ridge hoped that she would stay occupied for the next few minutes until he could grab the octagonal gate that would keep her in place while he set up her crib. It was nearing nap time and Ridge knew that she was inching toward her fussy phase.