Page 39 of Sawyer

Meeting this guy, whoever he is, doesn’t have to be a big deal. It’s not like I’ll run into him again, seeing as I live and work on the ranch and rarely, if ever, leave. Junie hasn’t started preschool yet at the cute little school downtown. I’ve also been super busy getting our program up and running, which doesn’t leave me a lot of time to do much else besides eat, hang with my daughter, and sleep. Mrs. Wallace gets a large grocery delivery once a week, and offered me the chance to have our groceries delivered too—so I don’t even need to go downtown to the store.

Sally grins, touching her hip to mine. “It’s not a favor. But I’m glad to hear you’re open nonetheless. This guy is actually Wyatt’s brother.”

“Ah, right. I remember him telling me?—”

“Mommy! Mommy MommyMommy!”

I look up at the familiar squeal, smiling when I see a little girl with a blonde ponytail and Band-Aids on her face sprinting toward me. Of course my daughter has unzipped her jacket, which flaps out behind her in a sparkly whirl of pink and purple unicorns. Not far behind, Miss Lee pretends to hustle in an effort to catch up.

“You’re so dang fast, little lady,” she calls. “Bet you get that from your mama.”

Sally calls back, “She sure does. I’ve seen her mama in action, and she’s so fast on a horse you can barely see her when she passes by.”

I open the gate and hustle toward my daughter, holding out my arms. “Hey, Junie! How was your snooze?”

“Good.” She collides with me, wrapping her arms around my legs. “I love you, Mommy.”

“Aw, June Bug, I love you too.” I pick her up, settling her on my hip before pressing a noisy kiss to her cheek. Only it ends up being her chin, because she refuses to stay still. “Nice Band-Aids!”

June giggles. Like Nelly, she wears them as a fashion accessory. On my last trip to the grocery store, I grabbed a box of Disney-themed Band-Aids. Little did I know they’d end up being my daughter’s latest obsession. The other day she grabbed the box off the counter and proceeded to cover herself in them while I made dinner. Face, hands, legs—she even stuck them to each of her toes. It was hilarious, until I had to peel each one off during bath time. I was sure the Wallaces could hear Junie’s screams from their house a quarter mile away.

Today they’re all printed in bright colors, which matches her tie-dye sweatshirt and leggings.

“What did you and Miss Lee get up to today?” I ask.

“Lots of fun things.” Lee smiles. “What did we see, Junie?”

“Horses!” Junie’s face lights up. “And the moo-moos. And we painted! And ate sandwiches!”

I wrap my hand around her little ankle, resisting the urge to lean in and bite that cheek of hers, Band-Aid and all. She’s always been delicious. While most of her baby fat has disappeared, she still has the chubbiest, yummiest cheeks.

“That sounds like the best day ever.”

“I love Miss Lee.”

“Aw, sugar, I love you too,” Lee replies with a laugh.

I almost feel faint with relief. When we first moved to town back in November, Junie had a hard time adjusting to me being gone most of the day. Made sense, considering I’d been home with her pretty much since she was an infant. The only real babysitters she’d had were my mom, sisters, and mother-in-law, so June didn’t take kindly to Miss Lee at first. Now they’re best buds, and I couldn’t feel more grateful.

Of course, I received an email this morning informing me that Junie got off the wait list at the preschool downtown. She’ll only be attending three mornings a week, nine to twelve thirty. But I still worry about putting her through another transition, even as part of me knows she’s ready for school. She needs more interaction with other kids. Living on a ranch is great, but I’m starting to worry that Loretta the horse is becoming my daughter’s best friend.

“Did June really do okay?” I ask.

Lee waves her hand. “She did great. She listened well and ate almost her whole lunch. We only had one meltdown, right, sugar?”

I groan. “Let me guess. We couldn’t plaster ourselves withallthe Band-Aids, so we threw a fit.”

“Bingo.” Lee points a finger. “I hid them in the cabinet beside the sink, by the way.”

“Thank you.” I squeeze Junie’s ankle. “What’s up with you and the Band-Aids, June? You know they hurt to take off, and we can’t waste them if you don’t need one.”

“Oh, I’ve heard all about the Band-Aids,” Sally says. “But I get it, Junie. They’re so fun and colorful. Like little tattoos.”

“Tattoos! Please, Mommy, I want tattoos! ThePaw Patrolones.”

I laugh. “You’re gonna be trouble one day, aren’t you?”

“Only the best kind,” Lee replies. “We talked a lot about the barn raising tomorrow, right, sugar?”

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