Page 15 of Returning to Everton

“Hi, there. Are you looking for some movers?” Tall dark and handsome wannabe asks Violet.

“Yes! Are you gonna move our stuff?” she asks excitedly.

The guy chuckles and says, “Why yes, we are little one. I’m Tim, and my friend here is Nick. Are you ready for us to load your stuff in the truck?”

“Yes!” Violet exclaims. “I’ve been ready for daaaays!”

We all laugh at my little drama queen.

“Well, come on in, and I’ll show you what we have,” I say, then turn and lead the way inside.

“We’ve got the furniture in the living room, dining room, and two bedrooms. All of the boxes are packed, sealed, and labeled. So, wherever you wanna start, we’ll try to stay out of your way.”

They walk around the house to get a good idea of what they’re working with, so they know what to move first. I decide to leave them to it, I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

“Hey, Violet, let’s go out back and play while the guys get everything loaded in the truck,” I suggest.

“But, Mommy, I wanna watch them,” she whines.

“I know you do, baby, but it would be easier for them if we stayed out of the way. Besides we can’t bring your treehouse with us. Don’t you wanna play in it one last time before we leave?”

That gets her attention. I think she got so caught up in moving she didn’t think about what she would be losing in the move. I’ll have to build her another playhouse when we get all settled. She races out the back door to her treehouse and climbs the ladder.

“Mommy! I still have toys up here!” she exclaims.

Well, at least now she has something to play with while we wait for the movers to get done. Hopefully, there’s not too many toys, and they’ll fit in the car.

“That’s great, baby, now you have something to play with. Good thing we completely forgot about the treehouse, huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how we forgot, Mommy. That was silly.”

“That was silly, baby. Okay, sweetheart, mommy’s gonna go tell the movers I forgot about the outdoor furniture. You have fun. Holler if you need me,” I tell her as I turn to head back inside.

“Okay, Mommy!”

I walk back inside and see floating boxes everywhere. I don’t know why I didn’t think they would be able to move multiple boxes at once like that. At this rate, it won’t take long for them to have everything loaded. I stop them and tell them about the outdoor furniture I forgot about.

“That’s okay, ma’am, we’ll save that for last, so you have somewhere to sit while we work,” Tim tells me.

“Oh. Well, thank you. How are y’all doing? Do you want something to drink? I’ve got some bottles of water in the fridge. Help yourselves,” I offer.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Nick says. “All these heavy boxes are starting to strain our magic,” he winks at me.

Wait, is this guy flirting with me?

Tim hits him in his stomach. “Knock it off. I’m sure her husband wouldn’t like to hear about you flirting with his wife.”

Oh, ummm, I guess he is flirting with me. Wow, I don’t think anyone’s flirted with me since college. Of course, that’s probably a good thing. Harris would have had a fit.

“Actually, my husband died in February,” I tell them. Crap, why did I tell them that? I couldn’t have just said I’m not married? Oh, god, somebody kill me. I mentally facepalm myself.

“Oh, damn. I’m sorry,” Tim stammers, and they both look slightly uncomfortable now. Good job, Rowe.

“But... I mean... You’re still hot. So I’m not sorry that I flirted. Just sayin’,” Nick is quick to add.

That makes me smile despite still wanting the ground to swallow me whole. I clear my throat. “Well, thank you. It’s been so long since anyone said anything like that to me, I just don’t know what else to say.” I laugh at myself. “Well, I’ll let y’all get back to it. Water’s in the fridge.” Then I quickly, but not too quickly, make my way back outside.

Before I shut the door, I hear Nick say, “Good job, jackass. You made her uncomfortable. Now how am I supposed to get her number?”

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