Page 49 of Welcome to Forever
Chapter 13
“I have a sprout, Mr. Peterson.” Tony, one of the young boys in the Friendship Club pointed at the green stalk emerging from the ground.
Micah squatted beside him. “Yes, you do. Good job, son.”
Tony’s proud smile dropped and his eyes went back to the plant. “Thanks,” he said quietly.
Micah tried to remember Tony’s story. He thought maybe Tony’s father was in jail.Crap.He’d just called the kid “son.” Patting Tony’s back, he asked, “Want to help me till another row of dirt? Kimberly over there doesn’t have one yet.”
Tony was smiling again. “She ain’t gonna put her hands in dirt, Mr. Peterson. Are you crazy?”
Micah laughed. “Must be. Come on.”
Two other boys joined him and Micah watched proudly as they tilled several more rows and pulled weeds together as a team. He caught Ben watching, too. There was a familiar look of disappointment on his face. Then Kimberly leaned in beside him at the picnic table and he smiled widely.
His son had a crush on the mayor’s daughter. And Kimberly appeared to be listening contentedly to Ben’s endless chatter, no doubt an explanation of how something worked. She liked him, too. A friend.
Micah’s throat tightened as he leaned against the fence. He didn’t see Kat walk up beside him until she touched his arm.
“You okay?” she asked.
He gave a quick nod. “Yep. Just amazed at what the kids have done out here.”
Her gaze swept over the corner lot of the school. “It is amazing. Silly question, but what do we have growing anyway?”
“The better question would be what don’t we have.” He pointed at the rows of flowers popcorning out of the ground along the back fence. “Those are marigolds, mixed in with some chrysanthemums.” Next, he pointed to the large rectangle of land in the fence’s back corner. “The vegetable garden has squash, tomatoes, zucchini, and onions. In a week or two, we could make a pretty nice salad with what the kids have grown.”
“We should.” Kat leaned up beside him, too close and still not close enough. “We could make a salad pizza.”
“A salad pizza?” He frowned, soliciting one of her singsong laughs he’d come to love. “You’re going to dishonor these veggies by putting them on a pizza?” Micah angled his body toward hers and lowered his voice. “So, are you ready for our date tonight?” he asked.
She didn’t look at him. Instead, her hand absently went to the ring on her left hand. “I know what you’re thinking.” She looked at him and his heart did funny things as he stared into her eyes.
She was breathtaking. He had a sudden urge to take her in his arms and kiss her until her knees went weak. “I doubt it,” he said, flashing her a wicked grin.
“You work with Marines all day. Why would you want to volunteer your Friday night to be with a bunch of veterans?”
“I wasn’t thinking that. Trust me. I said yes because I want to be withyou.Anywhere. And I’ll be a veteran one day. Besides, I happen to like bingo.”
“You do?” Her verdant green eyes tilted skeptically.
“Doesn’t everyone?” He leaned in closer, changing the subject. “What do you make of Kimberly’s attention to Ben?”
Kat’s gaze slid toward the picnic table. “She’s smiling. Flicking her hair. I think I see a little crush forming there.”
“That’s what I saw, too. I don’t have the heart to make that girl get up and plant her row of seeds right now. Ben needs a friend. Sitting at a picnic table allows him to garden like the others, but it also ostracizes him even more than a wheelchair out here. I just want him to fit in.”
Micah crossed his arms, continuing to watch Ben with Kim. “He’s just so smart. Sometimes I wish he didn’t understand how different he is. This…” Micah gestured toward Ben and Kim together. “This is something I rarely see, another student sitting and laughing with him.” His jaw tightened. “Anyway. I know whatyou’rethinking.” He cast a teasing glance in her direction. “You’re asking yourself what you got yourself into when you agreed to go out with me tonight, and now you wish I’d come down with some awful sickness so I’d have to stay home.”
Her mouth fell open. “I would never wish that. And I know exactly what I’m getting myself into.”
“Yeah?” He caught her gaze and held it, nearly wishing he’d arranged for Ben to stay with Aunt Clara tonight. If it weren’t for all these kids right now, he’d be pressing the good principal against the fence and making her moan like he had the other day in her office. Short little moans, startled and urging him on at the same time.
“Looks like our hour is up, and the kids don’t seem to be counting down the seconds anymore.” Kat beamed at him.
“Dirt is good for the soul.” He nodded at the man headed in their direction. “Looks like the mayor sent his assistant again. Everything okay with that?” he asked.
Kat shrugged and stepped forward to shake Jack Markus’s hand. “Mr. Markus. I’m glad the mayor reconsidered letting Kimberly stay after with us today.”
