Page 5 of Starting Anew

Nathan’s boss was notorious for forgetting to write things down. “I did, and we’re all set. Two weeks from tomorrow—you’re not getting cold feet, I hope.”

Chess chuckled. “Not on your life. You ask Lynn to watch Mia yet?”

Nathan closed the locker door a little too loudly. “Not yet.” Since Nathan was in the wedding party along with the rest of Chess’s family, that meant Nathan needed to find someone to sit with Mia at the ceremony. Lynn’s name had come up at one point. Honestly, Nathan was hoping another option would present itself. It was one thing to ignore his attraction to Lynn when she was working for Little Lambs. It’d be an entirely different situation if she were there with the rest of Nathan’s family.

“You know, if you asked her out on a date or two before the wedding, it might not be so awkward. Or better yet, bring her to dinner tomorrow night.”

Nathan cringed. According to his brother, Nathan talked a little too frequently about Lynn. Once Chess mentioned it to his fiancé, Brooke, Nathan hadn’t heard the end of it.

Chess’s voice came through the phone. “Seriously, Anna said she could hold Mia if you want her to.”

Anna was going to be Brooke’s maid of honor. It’d be no easier for her to hold Mia than it would be for Nathan, who was standing as Chess’s best man.

There really was no one else to ask. If Nathan had to leave Mia with someone in the audience, it needed to be someone she knew, and Nathan really couldn’t think of anyone more perfect for the job than Lynn. But if he didn’t ask her soon, he’d be too late and out of options.

“Nah, I’ll ask Lynn to watch her when I pick Mia up.”

“Good. I’ll let you go and see you tomorrow.”

“Yep. Bye, Chess.”

The decision made, Nathan turned his focus on the students gathering on the mats. Among the many classes the academy offered for kids, Nathan taught one specifically for the local homeschool group. It’d become so popular, they decided to set up a second one for beginners and move those who were more advanced into a class of their own.

Nathan looked at the new faces sitting in front of him and smiled. “Welcome, everyone. I’m happy to see you all here today. People learn a form of martial arts for a lot of different reasons. Why don’t we go around and each of you tell me your name and why you want to learn Brazilian jiu-jitsu.”

He pointed at the boy nearest him who shared his information. Nathan made a mental note of each child’s name as they spoke, certain he’d have to go through the roster at least another time or two before he’d have them all memorized. When all but one boy had answered, Nathan motioned to him. “How about you?”

The boy, who looked to be eleven or twelve, crossed his arms in front of him. “I’m Lee, and I’m here because my mom is making me.”

Nathan glanced to the side where a bunch of parents were sitting. There was no mistaking Lee’s mother when she gave Nathan a look of apology.

“You know what? That’s okay.” He walked back and forth in front of the kids before stopping again in front of Lee. “When I first started to learn jiu-jitsu, it was about the last thing I felt like doing. I was in a lot of trouble in school, and I hated the world.” Nathan could see a lot of himself in Lee from his body posture to the hardness in the boy’s eyes. “But I had an instructor who didn’t let me slack off and who taught me how to gain confidence in myself. He never gave up on me, and I have no intention of giving up on any of you, either.” Nathan pointed a finger at the whole class.

Lee looked doubtful, but Nathan took that as a challenge as he began to explain the history of jiu-jitsu and what he planned to teach them over the next few months.

By the end of the day, Nathan had taught five more classes and was more than ready to pick up Mia and ask Lynn if she’d keep his daughter during the wedding.

~*~

Thankfully, when Nathan arrived to pick up Mia, she looked a lot happier than when he’d left. He found her standing next to a play stove. The moment she saw him, she gave him a wave with her chubby arm followed by, “Da! Da!” No matter how rough his day might be, hearing that word and seeing her sweet smile made it all worthwhile.

He sat on the floor beside her. She toddled his way and fell into his arms. Nathan blew a raspberry on her cheek that had her belly laughing.

A shadow fell over them before Lynn knelt on the floor beside them. “She did great today. She was tired and took an early nap. Once she woke up from that, it was full steam ahead.” She smiled, the dimple in her chin drawing Nathan’s attention. “We had fun, didn’t we, bug?” She reached over and patted Mia’s back before standing again. “Let me get her bag for you.”

Nathan was determined to ask her this time and cleared his throat. “I actually have a question for you.”

“Okay.” She eased herself onto the floor again and sat cross legged, her eyes on him.

He couldn’t quite tell if they were more brown or green, or an exact mix of the two. He wanted to stare into them way longer than was appropriate. “My brother’s getting married two weeks from Saturday. I’m in the wedding party along with the rest of Mia’s family. It would be a huge help to have someone in the audience to watch over Mia during the ceremony.” He swallowed. “I wondered if it were possible to hire you to come watch her for a few hours. You’d be in the same building I’m in, and of course I’d pay you.”

“Oh. Well…” Lynn looked at Mia.

He was rambling and wasn’t sure if the look on her face was surprise or confusion. “I know it’s short notice. If you have other plans, I’d understand. I just wanted to ask you first since Mia knows you so well. I thought it’d be easier on her to not have to get used to a stranger.” Nathan held his breath. It was ridiculous how much he hoped she’d say yes.

She nodded then but kept her gaze on everything but him. “I have that day free. I’d be happy to help. Is it in the area?”

“It’s in Dallas. I’ll pay you for six hours. That should more than cover the drive each way plus the time during the ceremony.”

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