Page 18 of A Taste of Grace

“I’m six.” Esther held her head high and sang the number to me.

She touched my cheek and looked directly into my eyes, reminding me of her daddy’s piercing gaze.

“You’re the lady we pray for every night.” Esther peered up at Caleb without letting me go. “Daddy, she’s here. Thank you so much.”

I was confused. I stared at Caleb for an explanation. Instead of meeting my eyes, he looked down at his girls as if he were embarrassed.

“Girls, please give Ms. Grace space. She is here because of Aunt Nita.”

Esther released me and stomped her little bare foot.

“No, she’s here because of God.” She ran to the back of the house, and about thirty seconds later, returned with a large piece of paper.

She held it over her head and toward my face. I retrieved the paper and perused it. The crude drawing held a stick figure of a woman with brown skin and a big afro.

“She’s pretty.”

“Yep. This is Princess Mommy. It’s Ms. Grace. Isn’t it, Daddy?”

Caleb appeared stunned as Esther stared at the paper. He shook his head slowly with a slight frown on his defined face.

“That’s not who that is, baby girl. It’s just a draw…”

“Yes, it is.” Hannah interrupted him, surprising me at how animated she became after being so reserved. Her voice quivered as she looked at her father and said, “You told us if we prayed hard, God would give us a mommy. Look at the picture. It’s her, Daddy.”

When I didn’t think Caleb could be any cuter, he blinked rapidly behind the most luscious eyelashes I’d ever seen on a man. Distress covered his face at his daughters’ outbursts. I had the urge to rescue him but stayed silent.

He squatted before them and took a deep breath.

“God doesn’t work like that. Mommies don’t just pop out of the sky.”

“Why not? Ours went away like a thief in the night.” Esther spread her fingers like an explosion.

Hannah nodded.

“Who told you that?” Caleb asked with a downturned mouth.

“Maw Maw,” Esther replied.

“My mother…” Caleb rose and checked his watch before tapping his foot impatiently in his fancy black dress shoes. “I don’t have time for this. We can talk about it when Ms. Grace leaves. Okay?” He raised his eyes and the pitch of his voice.

It was a parental cry I knew well as a signal for them to behave.

“Okay. We’ll talk to Ms. Grace about it, won’t we?” Esther nodded, nudging Hannah, who nodded.

My, my, my.

I gave him a slick smile. He returned my look by subtly rolling his eyes and pursing his thick lips. Caleb had his hands full with these two little old ladies. They had him wrapped around their little fingers.

“Let me show you our house rules.” He walked to the kitchen counter and handed me a white piece of paper.

I followed behind him, sniffing his alluring cologne like a fiend as he moved down the list and added several points from memory.

“My girls have taken their baths. Dinner is on the stove. Cheese pizza. They can have no more than two slices. Hannah doesn’t like carrots. Esther isn’t eating broccoli this week. They can have one blueberry muffin. Bedtime is at 9:30 p.m. No exceptions. No violent movies or ones with curse words or S-E-X.” He spelled the word ‘sex’ slowly and with precision.

My carnal mind went straight to the gutter.

“I’ll be back around midnight. Text me if you need anything.”

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