Perfect Love Story (Love 1)

She reaches out and pushes Mila’s hair away from her face. “For her, anything,” she says, smiling. “Have a great night, Jensen.” She ducks and gets in her car as I continue to mine, the night playing over and over in my head long after I’ve fallen asleep.

Chapter Sixteen

Hailey

“Look at this,” I say as I open the screen door and see Mila standing with Delores and Heidi. “Isn’t it my three favorite girls?” I say as Mila walks in and takes off her shoes.

“We brought pie,” she says as she unzips her jacket and takes it off. “Blueberry.” She puts her jacket on the chair near the door, and continues inside.

“Did you? It’s a good thing because I’m really hungry,” I tell her as Delores and Heidi walk in. “Mila, look at the basket next to the fireplace.” I point at the pink basket I picked up this week when I made the roadtrip to Walmart. I picked up coloring books, crayons, and little stamps to keep her busy while I chat with her two grandmothers.

“Look at all this,” she says as she lifts the basket to the table and begins taking things out. “Is it all for me?”

“Who else would it be for?” I tell her as I walk over. “Why don’t you color a picture while we have coffee?” She nods her head and flips to the page she wants to color. I get up, going to the kitchen. “Okay, you two. We need to talk.” I fold my arms so they know I mean business. They look at each other and then at me. “Now, you know I love you guys, and I love, love, love the visits,” I tell them as Heidi goes to put the coffee on, looking back at me.

“I actually look forward to it more than you know,” she says, and I nod.

“But, and this is a big but.” I look at them. “I will not be in the middle of Jensen and you guys.”

They both look at each other. “The other night, he was surprised Mila came here, let alone all the things we’ve done.”

“Jensen came here?” Heidi says.

“Don’t change the subject.” I point at her. “He brought me home because my foot was throbbing, and I didn’t have my car. Now” I say, looking down, “I’ve come to love that little girl, but I will not have her here without her father’s consent.” I wipe the tear away, my stomach hurting at the thought of not seeing her again. Delores walks to me and holds my arms.

“Okay,” she says softly. “We never meant any harm.”

“I know,” I say, “but I was just put in an awkward position, and it didn’t help that he was blindsided.” I look over at Heidi who is on the phone.

“Walker, we are taking Mila to bring Hailey pie,” she starts saying. “Call me when you get this.” I shake my head and laugh at these two.

“You don’t play fair.” I point at Heidi.

“Why are you crying?” I hear Mila from the living room.

“I’m not crying,” I tell her, “I just got something in my eye.”

“That happened to Poppa to when he watched The Little Mermaid and she went to live with people,” Mila says as she looks down at her picture, coloring as we laugh at her.

“Now,” Delores says, “we are actually here for business.” She sits down. “The summer fair is coming up soon, and we thought we could do one of those web thingies.”

“A website?” I ask them as I sit down and cut the pie and serve myself a piece. “Mila, honey, you want some pie?” I ask over my shoulder. She brings her stuff to the table and climbs on the chair next to me, putting her book beside her.

“So what is this summer fair?” I ask them as they fill me in on this street festival that takes place right around Independence Day; there’s a farmers market, as well as pony rides, and local artists come out. It sounds amazing. “Okay, so how about you guys bring me some pictures that I can work with and I will put something together?”

“How much will it be?” Heidi asks as she takes a piece of pie.

“Nothing,” I tell them as I take a bite of my pie and smile at them.

“You can’t do it for free.”

I sit up and take a deep breath. “You guys gave me life again.” I look back down and then up again. “I thought I wasn’t going to survive. And then I came here, and you guys gave me back me. I could never repay you,” I tell them as they both look at me speechless. Nothing needs to be said. They don’t visit for much longer and promise to send me the pictures for the website. I continue my work for the day, not looking up until almost seven.