Page 6 of Under My Skin

“Wow. It sounds like you have so much fun planned for the summer.” I smile at the girls, reveling in the fact that they’re actually very talented in their mud creations.

Well, Mackenzie is. Addy is showing her creativity in other ways.

“I wish all my mud animals wouldn’t get washed away with the next rainstorm,” Mackenzie whispers, almost to herself, but still loud enough to carry to where I’m sitting. “I want to keep them forever.”

“You know, if you made your animals out of clay, you could keep them forever.”

Both girls look up at me suspiciously, but it’s Mackenzie who finally asks, “How do you know that?”

“Because I make things with clay. It’s called pottery. That’s my job.”

“So cool!” Addy shouts, abandoning her leg mud mask and racing toward me. “Can you show us plottersry?”

I laugh at her enthusiasm and at the way she butchers the word. “It’s called pottery,” I say, stressing the syllables. “As long as your dad says it’s okay. I actually teach classes in town for kids. I’ll talk to him and see if he can take you sometime.”

Mackenzie stares at me with a shy smile on her face. “That would be very nice. Thank you, Miss Lizzie.” She hesitates for a second, looking up at me with unsure eyes, before racing over to wrap her arms around my waist, covering me in wet mud. I hardly care, though, because this is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever experienced. And all because I offered a pottery class.

We’re still hugging when we hear the distinct sound of wheels on dirt. We all turn our heads to see Cameron driving down the road leading to our farms, his big truck tearing up the space between us.

As soon as he stops, the girls take off running for him, jumping into his arms as he climbs out.

“We definitely all need showers now. I better get this pipe fixed ASAP, right, girls?”

“Right,” Mackenzie and Addy sing-song together.

“Were you girls good for Miss Lizzie?” he asks, taking on a serious tone as he looks at me for the answer and clearly sees the mud on my clothes.

“Best behaved girls I’ve ever met. Very creative too,” I answer. He smiles in response and then ruffles Mackenzie’s hair while still holding Addy.

“Yeah, Daddy, look!” Mackenzie yells and then runs over to her mud sculptures. “I made a whole zoo out of mud.” Cameron looks closely at each animal and smiles brightly at his daughter.

“Daddy, can we go to Miss Lizzie’s pot-ter-ry class?” Addy makes sure to enunciate each syllable of the word to ensure she gets it right this time. Cameron looks from Addy to me after she finishes speaking, and I realize that it was a dick move to tell the girls about it before bringing it up with him first.

“Sorry they’re putting you on the spot. I offer pottery classes for kids and thought they might have fun, considering all of this,” I quickly add while sweeping my arms in the direction of their mud mess.

“Don’t be sorry. I think the girls would love that, and I think it’ll be a lot cleaner than this, being in a controlled environment and all.” He laughs while surveying the layers of mud that will undoubtedly take some extra time in the bath to scrub off. “Your mom told me all about the success you’ve been having. Showed me pictures of your work, too.” He keeps holding my gaze, like he’s seeing me, not looking through me. “Congratulations, Lizzie. You should be really proud of yourself. You’re unbelievably talented.”

I’m so stuck in his gaze and totally caught off guard by his compliment that it takes me a second to respond.

“Oh, wow, um…Thanks. I can’t believe my mom bombarded you like that. Showing me off.” I laugh awkwardly. “Well, I mean, Icanbelieve it, but jeez…I’m sorry. That’s really embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed.” He gives me his signature smile. “Take it from a parent: our greatest joys in life are showing off our kid’s accomplishments. She’s so proud of you and wants everyone to know it.”

I just nod and smile because I don’t really know how to respond. We kind of just stare at each other for a minute until Addy breaks the silence.

“Dad, I’m hungry! Can we have a snack?”

We stop our staring contest so Cameron can shift to set Addy on her feet. “Go sit down at the picnic table, and I’ll get you set up with a snack. Shit, I’ve got to get you rinsed off first, at least your hands.” He turns back to me then with pleading eyes. “Can you give me ten more minutes of your time, Lizzie, while I get the pipe squared away upstairs? I promise this will be the last favor I ask of you.”

“Of course. Go do your thing. I’ve got nothing to do, so it’s no trouble—I promise.”

He jogs back to his truck and grabs a bag before racing inside and upstairs, giving me more than enough time to overthink my response.

Really, Lizzie? You’ve got nothing to do? That was the best thing you could come up with?Plus, my mom gushing about me like I’m a little kid isn’t helping my case either.

I don’t know why I’m getting so mad about it when it’s mostly true. I don’t leave the house much, and I keep to myself. But there was a part of me that wanted to sound appealing to him for once instead of the neighbor girl he feels safe enough asking to babysit his kids.

In the ten minutes that he’s gone, the girls finalize their mud creations. Addy made a very lumpy-looking hamster-cat hybrid, while Mackenzie made a remarkably realistic version of a horse. She really has some raw talent that I hope she’s encouraged to explore as she gets older.

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