Page 7 of Baby Me

“Now are you going to stand there and baby me some more or are you going to get dressed? We have a town tovisit.”

Jesus, she was talking as if she were going on a trip to Paris. When I saw a spark of the feisty Kate I’d met earlier in the year return, it made my heart drum harder in my chest. If it weren’t for the fact that I made plans in case Kate insisted on going out, I’d try out the strength of those muscles right there and then. She could scream as loud as she wanted, and I wouldn’t stop her until she fell limp in myarms.

I’d been wondering when Kate’s mood would finally pick up. She’d been worried about her mother, fearing Cortez’s return, and mourning our baby. She’d lost so much in the past few months I knew it would take a lot to get her back. I’d give anything to see just a hint of hope return to her soul. Maybe today was that day? With all the plans I had made, I too had more hope than I’d had inweeks.

“Are we going, or are we waiting here for that wolf to return?” She tapped herfoot.

“Let me change. Don’t walk out that door without me,” Iwarned.

“I wouldn’tdare.”

I quickly changed out of my jogging pants and into a pair of jeans and a warmer sweater. Kate was sitting on the wooden bench at the bottom of the staircase by the door with a wide smile, swinging her cast-free foot back and forth. Yeah, today was definitely the day we got our hopeback.

The drive downhill through the woods took less than fifteen minutes. When I was a kid, we used to hike across, cutting through the dense forest and the valley with a river flowing in its center, but Kate needed much more physical therapy before we tackled the shortcut. It wasn’t far, but the terrain was definitelychallenging.

Maybe one day after the authorities found Aaron Cortez, I’d bring her back here and we could pick some mushrooms. It was the perfect time of the year to do so. Perhaps one day I’d hear the high-pitched laughter of our children as they collected heaps of fall leaves and jumped into their centers. At the thought of our future, I pictured Kate with her swollen belly and felt an ache in my chest. I shook off the sudden sorrow and made another promise to myself to protecther.

I glanced at Kate as I parked along the stone street in front of the Lockheart Diner and turned off the ignition. Her knees were bouncing up and down, and I lowered my hand to one of them. “Ready?”

She lookeded up at the two locked hearts carved out of wood above the diner’s frontdoor.

“Yeah, it already looks perfect.” She examined the wooden hut the Lockhearts had built over thirty years ago and made into a home diner. Their intention at first had been to live there, but with few supplies nearby and a small community, they decided to turn it into a diner. Almost everyone came here for dinner. It was much more cost-effective to have a home-cooked meal ready than to go out to another town, an hour or so each way, bring the groceries home, and then cook. This place had become like a second home to all of the nearby residents here. The Lockhearts had since built a house they lived in beside the diner. Charlie came to visit his parents often, and if it weren’t for his demanding job, I was sure he’d prefer to move backhome.

We went inside and sat down at a corner table, and Mr. Lockheart greeted us with a wave. “I’ll be right withyou.”

“Thank you,” I calledout.

“Well, this is pretty homey, isn’tit?”

“It’s very homey. Mrs. Lockheart isn’t usually this busy, but Charlie…” I stopped as soon as I realized what I almostsaid.

“Charliewhat?”

“Nevermind.”

“No, you started a sentence, now finishit.”

I sighed. “Charlie brought his son along, and Mrs. Lockheart is spending time with hergrandson.”

I watched as she swallowed hard. “Cameron, I’m fine. Yes, it hurts when I think about what we’ve lost, but it will always hurt. You don’t have to tiptoe aroundme.”

“I’m sorry.” I shook myhead.

“I mean it, I’m fine.” Kate grabbed the menu and began scanning it. “All right. What do yourecommend?”

“Anything you order will bedelicious.”

“Well, we have a problem, then. How do I know what to order? Oh, this looks good.” She paused, and then must have read another item because she licked her lips, saying, “This one as well. Oh, and thisone.”

And all I could concentrate on was that tongue that moved across her lips. Nothing else. If she continued teasing me this way, we’d skip the tour of the town and go back to thecabin.

“Why don’t you let me order for you today? And you can try something elsetomorrow.”

“We’re coming back heretomorrow?”

“And the day after as well if you’dlike.”

She squealed, nearly jumping up on her seat like a little kid. “You’re so going to go bankrupt because ofme.”

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