Page 66 of When We Were More
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m fine. I was a little emotional. Good emotional, though.” It’s not technically a lie, I did have happiness for Troy and Shannon, but he doesn’t need to know I also spent a little time in my head about the other things. “A minute or so before you walked up, my friends, Shannon and Troy, were here with their kids. They’ve reconciled, and I’m incredibly happy for them. I love seeing them together.”
“Is that who I saw you watching walk away as we were approaching?”
“If it was right before you walked up, then yes.” I turn back to look at him again. “You’d like them, I think. Troy is a wonderful father. Kind of reminds me of you, actually.” I tilt my head as I look at him. A flash of something I can’t quite put my finger on, maybe uncertainty, flashes across his face before a smile quickly replaces it.
“Thanks. That means a lot.”
Our eyes lock on each other. Something in the air changes, yet it’s not that ‘You turned me on, let’s go find somewhere to have sex’ vibe like I imagine friends with benefits sometimes get. That, I’m okay with. This? This is a little scary.
I break eye contact and stand.
“Let’s go in and see how Layla’s doing. You can see Lester’s masterpieces.”
Henry watches me for a moment, saying nothing, then stands.
“All right, Matilda. We’ll go in.” I give him a sharp nod, then turn and go into the hardware store.
As soon as she sees us, Layla excitedly says, “Tillie, Daddy, come see the pictures Mr. Lester makes in the hot chocolate. He’s making me a snowman now!” The joy on her face is enough to turn around any lingering sadness.
Henry and I join Layla at the table while Lester works, and she’s bouncing on her toes with eagerness. Within a minute or two, Lester unveils his creation and grins as she squeals with delight.
“Wow, that’s pretty impressive,” Henry says.
“Yeah, not what you’d expect from Lester, huh?”
Henry chuckles and shakes his head.
When I glance back up at Lester, he’s watching Layla’s delight at his creation with bright eyes and a smile so wide that I’ve only ever seen it aimed at one person until now—me. I bet Lester would have been a great dad, too. I have no doubt he’d be a fantastic grandpa, based on how he was with me, and now, watching him with Layla.
Lena is awake now and crying, and Henry seems reluctant to hand her off to Ruthie, who has made her way over to join us and is reaching for the toddler.
“C’mon, young man. Crabby babies are my specialty.” I can see on Henry’s face that he doubts Ruthie can handle Lena’s crying, but he doesn’t refuse. Good thing, too, because Ruthie wouldn’t have it. Within a minute or so, Ruthie has worked her magic and Lena is giggling.
Layla’s tugging at Henry’s coat now, drawing his attention to the fake tattoo station Sally is manning. He smiles at me and follows her over. Since Lester has a break in the crowd for now, I walk to the other side of his table and wrap my arms around his waist. He doesn’t hesitate to lift an arm and let me nestle under it.
“Lester?” I gaze up at him. “You know I love you, right?” His cheeks turn pink.
“Yeah. I love you, too, Tillie girl.”
“You’re great with kids. I hope this isn’t weird to say, but you were always like a grandpa to me growing up and…” I pause for a second, then swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve gotten this far, and these moments with Lester and me—or anyone—are infrequent. “And since I’ve been home these last five years, you’ve been more like a father to me. Thank you for that.” My words are almost a whisper by the end.
Lester clears his throat twice. Then he wraps his other arm around me. As we hug, he kisses the top of my head.
“Tillie, your grandpa was a friend of mine, and I can tell you with confidence he’d have been proud of you. As for me, you’ve been a source of joy for me since the day you walked in here with your Gram, with dirty little hands and cheeks. My God, you talked a mile a minute back then.” He pauses, and we both chuckle. “Seriously, though, it has been an honor to be in your life, Tillie girl. Blood doesn’t always make family. Love does. You’re my family.”
The excited chattering of children suddenly fills the front of the shop, and both of our eyes dart to the entrance of the store. A group of five kids, middle school-aged, charge through the door in search of Lester’s hot chocolate.
“Duty calls.” He kisses my head one more time, and we pull apart. “You got time to pour, and I’ll get started?”
I wipe away the few tears that had fallen. God, my emotions have been on hyper alert lately. These are happy tears, but still.
“Sure do.” As I reach for the first cup to pour, my eye catches Henry off to the side with Layla, watching me.
He mouths, “Are you okay?” His eyes narrow with concern. God, he has nice eyes, the most gorgeous shade of green.
I smile at him, nod, and give a thumbs up like a total dork. Then I get back to work.
CHAPTER 25
