Page 54 of Every Now and Then
Grace reenters the kitchen, looking proud, with Laura behind her. “What, Mom? You said I had to eat a green veggie. You bought greenseedless grapes. Fruits need to contain seeds to be considered fruit; otherwise, it’s a vegetable. So, since you bought seedless green grapes, I think they should count as my green veggie. Oh, and I’ll have some strawberries as my fruit, Mom.”
Checkmate.
“Fine.” I begrudgingly concede defeat to my seven-year-old daughter. “But you’ll also eat some steamed broccoli.”
“Fine,” she mimics me as she flounces out the back door to go play in the backyard with her little sister.
“Oh, and Grace, technically, strawberries aren’t fruits, they’re flowers,” I yell after her.
“You know she didn’t exactly lose that argument, right?” Laura smirks as she opens the fridge and pulls out a couple of cans of La Croix, handing me one.
“Believe me, I’m well aware.”
“But nice save by exacting your authority with that strawberry knowledge nugget.”
“Shut up, Laura,” I mumble, smothering a smile.
With a slight frown, Laura asks, “Are you getting enough sleep? You look exhausted. No offense,” she adds quickly.
“I’ve been staying up late most nights.”
“Packing?”
“Some, but mostly talking to Hayes,” I admit, the corners of my lips curving up.
“Better to be spending your sleepless nights talking to Hayes than ruminating about Kyle.”
Tapping my can of sparkling water to hers, I agree. “Cheers to that.”
With her hip leaned against the countertop, Laura watches me finish the sauce. “What have you told Hayes about Kyle?”
“Just the basics.”
“Not everything?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“You don’t have to keep his secrets, Annabelle.”
This is a conversation I’ve had many times with my therapist over the past twelve months, but it’s the first time Laura has pushed me about the topic.
A topic I’m not ready to discuss.
“I know,” I sigh. “I’m burning the candle at both ends right now, Laura. At some point, I might tell him, but… not yet. Not until I know that we have something serious.”
After saying goodbye to Laura and tucking the girls into their beds, I take a deep, cleansing breath. Then, I pour myself a glass of wine, my reward for making it through another day. I sip it as I change into pajamas so I can call Hayes from the comfort of my bed.
Almost every evening, we talk after I get the girls to sleep. Sometimes we only talk for a few minutes, but sometimes we stay on the phone for hours. As much as I love seeing Hayes at lunch, I also love our nightly phone calls, too.
Remembering my earlier conversation with Grace, I can’t help but chuckle. She makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes, but God, she’s such a little dynamo. Hayes will get a kick out of hearing about her latest story. Although I’m hesitant to introduce him to my daughters, I can’t help but talk about them often.
I place a FaceTime call and wait for him to answer.
“Damn, Jeopardy. You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“Thanks, Hayes.” I relax into the multitude of pillows propped against my headboard and pull the bedcovers up around my waist. “Every time you call me Yankee or Jeopardy, I feel like I need to come up with a good nickname for you.” Squinting my eyes, I contemplate some options. “Maybe…”
“Can’t force a good nickname, Annabelle. It needs to arise naturally.”
