We have Violet in our lives but it’s not quite the same as dad finding someone and making her his. Aria needs that in her life and I think I might just need it too.
I finish the groceries all too soon and I find myself walking back to aisle eight as slowly as possible. When I get there, Jackie is laughing, throwing her head back and brushing her fingers over dad’s forearms. All I can do is grin. She likes him and dad’s a fool if he can’t see it.
I clear my throat from the top of the aisle, dreading that I have to break this up. “Dad,” I say just loud enough for them to hear. “We’re all done.”
“Oh,” he says in surprise as though he hadn’t even realized we were gone. “Ok, well, um…,” he turns back to Jackie with a smile that seems just a little disappointed. “It was lovely to meet you, Jackie. Perhaps my girls will try to bowl you over again.”
Jackie laughs before giving Ari and I a small wave and looking back to dad. “Perhaps they will,” she says, picking up her basket of groceries. “I should get going too. My boys will probably start wondering what’s been keeping me.”
With that, the two go their separate ways and I can’t help but notice the way dad looks back over his shoulder as we leave.
Jackie doesn’t get mentioned and we go about our business, that is until we’ve paid for the groceries and are just about to leave the store and dad’s looking back, completely distracted by the woman picking out a loaf of bread.
It takes me all of two seconds to realize that dad isn’t going to do anything about it. He’s going to think about it for the next few days until he forgets about the connection they had and that’s going to be as far as it goes.
I let out a sigh. If I don’t intervene, this is going to go nowhere so I turn to dad and hold out my hand. “Quick, give me a hundred bucks.”
“What?” he says, stopping to stare at me.
“Just trust me and hand over the goods.”
Dad narrows his eyes on me and I can hardly believe my eyes as he digs into his wallet and hands it over. Wow, I should try this a little more often. “What’s it for?”
“None of your business,” I tell him. “Why don’t you go get the car packed and I’ll be out in a minute.”
Dad’s lips pull into a tight line but he decides to trust me and pushes the cart with Ari still hanging off it out the door.
I grin to myself. Showtime.
I dart back into the store and find the row of fresh flowers the store brings in every day. They’re nothing compared to what Tully plans on doing with her life but they’ll do the trick for today. I pluck out one red rose and walk back to the counter to face the bitter, old woman who couldn’t stop scowling at me and Ari for the noise we were making earlier.
I give her a warm smile and try my best to win her over. “Hi, would I be able to ask a favor?”
The woman presses her lips into a thin line and narrows her eyes on me. “That depends, now wouldn’t it?”
Ugh. Got to love a bitter, old woman.
I look back to the store in search of Jackie before finding her over by the deli section. I point her out. “Do you see the woman with the brunette hair, peach-colored shirt, and dark jeans? Well, my sister and I kind of disturbed her shopping and we’d like to make it up to her by paying for her groceries.”
The bitter, old woman suddenly becomes a lot less bitter. A smile graces her face and she looks at me in a new light. “I think I could arrange that. That’s a lovely thing to do. I wish there were more kids like you around. Back in my day, my parents would have given me a good spanking.”
I give her another smile and nod in agreement before asking for a piece of paper and a pen. I get busy scribbling out a note and hope my father isn’t going to kill me for doing this.
Jackie,
It was a pleasure meeting you today.
Again, I’d like to apologize for my children’s behavior and would like to make it up to you by taking you out to dinner.
Let me know.
Harrison
I add dad’s number at the bottom before attaching the note to the rose and placing it down on the cashier’s counter. As I look up, I realize that she knows exactly what I’m up to, but upon giving me an amused smile and shaking her head, all I can do is shrug.
“I’m not sure your daddy is going to be too impressed when he realizes what you’re doing,” she laughs making me realize that she’s still down to help me out.