A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts 1)

He sent her a lopsided grin. “Don’t laugh, woman. You’d be drooling too if it had been years since you had your favorite cookies.”

“I can’t argue that,” Dana agreed as she placed a different package of cookies in her carriage for the kids. Then she grabbed a package of his favorite cookies and added them. He raised a quizzical brow in her direction. “For the trailer,” she said, earning a grin from him.

“What now?” he asked, looking both lost and eager.

Cole turned in his seat and studied the options. He pointed ahead. “Milk.”

“Milk it is then, buddy." Edward pushed the carriage over to the milk section while Dana followed behind with her own carriage.

She tried her best not to smile, but the man was absolutely adorable as he tried to figure out the difference between whole milk and one percent. Cole wasn’t very helpful. His suggestion was to add chocolate to it. In the end Edward threw her a pleading look and with a playful eye roll she helped him out.

They took shopping slowly as Edward acquainted himself with the aisles and selections. Normally she’d be done in under an hour, but tonight she was in no rush. She hated to see a grown man struggle. It reminded her of her own situation after she left Jeff.

She had to make every cent count because Jeff refused to pay child support. Thanks to him she wasn't able to afford a car and had to rely on her own two feet or bus lines to get her and the kids everywhere. When her book sales took off she was able to move to California with the kids into a one bedroom apartment. They stayed there for three months before they bought the house. It was hard, but thankfully she was able to afford Deana. As Dana’s own bank account built up she was able to pay Deana what she was worth with a large bonus to make up for the months of poor pay.

“Mommy, why are woman acting funny about Edward?” Elizabeth asked.

Dana looked up and was surprised to see women were actually following them. How she missed that earlier she didn’t know. Their shopping was completely forgotten as they gawked at Edward. Several of the men threw their hands up in the air, clearly disgusted with the women’s attention for Edward and stalked off. None of the women seemed to notice the loss of their men.

Edward, to his credit looked embarrassed and uncomfortable with the attention. He averted his eyes and focused on shopping while talking to Cole. Cole being Cole of course smiled and waved at the women. He was such a little ladies man. Deana and she were constantly having problems with little girls chasing him down in the playground to steal a kiss. Cole would scream and cry, but Dana knew he secretly loved the attention.

“Edward, I love you!” a teenage girl cried out. Her poor mother blushed fiercely as she hushed the girl.

Edward smiled nervously at Dana. “I’m really sorry about this. I guess I wasn’t thinking when I suggested this.”

Dana waved it off. “It’s not a problem. You’re doing fine.” She wanted to tell him that he had the right to do whatever he wanted and shouldn’t have to worry about this, but he was already embarrassed.

“Mommy says I can date in ten years!” Cole announced to the women earning several “awe, isn’t he cute” and laughs. Dana sighed inwardly. She really was going to have her hands full with this one.

They moved down the aisle and Dana noted that whatever Edward put in his carriage two or three women in their late teens and early twenties would grab as well. She couldn't help but think how uncomfortable that would make her if that happened to her one day. Talk about pressure.

***********

Edward stole another glance at Dana as she bent over to pick up some marshmallow cereal that the kids begged politely for. They really were good kids, he thought. Never once had they thrown a fit or raised their voices and they always said please. Not like some kids he'd seen over the years who threw gigantic screaming fits over not getting their way.

He couldn’t help watching as her bottom swayed gently as she reached for a box in the back. Damn. Did she have any idea what that did to a man? Probably not. Thankfully he was wearing lose jeans. No need to further embarrass himself, especially since the women behind him were taking pictures with their camera phones every thirty seconds or so. He really didn’t think he was doing anything interesting. But then again maybe they were taking pictures of Cole. The kid was a natural flirt.

“Edward, can I peease have a cup of juice?” Cole asked as he gestured to a courtesy table for customers. Damn, for a three and a half year old the boy was really intelligent. The same could definitely be said for Elizabeth.

“Sure, buddy,” he said as he rolled their carriage over to the table.

Cole sat patiently in the carriage as he waited for a woman to finish pouring juice for a little boy who looked to be around eight years old. The little boy snatched the cup from the woman, took a sip and then promptly threw the cup to the ground.

“I don’t want fruit punch! I want soda! You promised me soda!” the little boy screamed. When the mother tried to calm the boy down by promising to buy him soda the little boy pushed the juice dispenser to the ground.

Cole sat quietly with his brows arched up. Clearly the three year old was just as shocked as he was by the behavior. The boy continued to scream and kick the broken dispenser as the mother apologized to the little boy, promising him a new video game, soda and anything else the boy wanted.

A stock boy came over and without a word cleaned up the mess. Edward guessed this happened often. Edward and Cole waited patiently to see if new juice was going to be put out.

The stock boy looked at the woman and screaming child and then at Edward. The kid shrugged. “Sorry, sir. The manager won’t let us put any more out after….” He nodded towards the tantrum and spilled juice. “Sorry, it’s store policy.”

Edward nodded and looked at Cole, ready to see the kid finally melt down and cry over the juice he was being unfairly denied. Cole simply shrugged.

“Do you want me to get you a soda?” Edward asked, not really sure what to do.

Cole’s face squished up. “Mommy will get mad. Elizabeth and me don’t drink soda.”

“Oh,” Edward mumbled. Kids didn’t drink soda? He couldn’t remember when his mother first let him drink soda.

“Can I have sum of the water, peease?” Cole asked in such a cute way that Edward couldn’t deny him. Not that he would. Water was good for kids, right? It couldn't be bad, he decided as he poured a cup for the boy. “Elizabeth, too?” Cole asked.