Page 36 of Kiss the Girl
She went back to playing with her stuffed kitty, showing it the passing scenery.
“This can’t be how you want to spend your morning off,” I said to Paige.
“If Evie is going to be hanging out a lot with your new friend, then I want to meet her.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Say what?”
“Don’t say ‘new friend’ like it’s code. Grace is my friend. That’s all it is.”
“Uh huh. You always wear your best cologne for your new friends?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled.
“Unc! You said the S-word,” Evie called from the back seat. “That’s a no-no word. He needs a timeout, Mama.”
“Yes, Evie. Unc will do a timeout when we get home, but he has to drive right now.” Paige pinched my arm when Evie wasn’t looking. I scowled at her.
“Grace is cool,” I told her. “Don’t make it weird when we get there.”
“Who me?” she asked in a tone so innocent it raised the fine hairs on my nape.
“Paige…”
“Relax. I just want to meet her. It’s important to me to know people spending a lot of time around my kid.”
I nodded. “I get it.” I slid a quick glance her way. “You’re a good mom.”
“Thanks.” She cleared her throat and turned to look out her window. We stayed quiet except for Evie’s make-believe chatter for the remaining ten minutes to Creekville.
When I pulled into the parking lot behind Handy Hardware, I cut the engine and took a deep breath, but Paige jumped in before I could speak. “Seriously, don’t sweat. It’ll be fine.”
She hopped out and unbuckled Evie, and we headed into the store.
“Help you?” asked the old man at the register as we walked in. I recognized him from the first time I’d come in.
“We’re looking for Grace, actually.”
“Check the yard aisle.”
“Uh…”
“Aisle seven,” he grunted.
“Thanks.”
Evie slipped her hand into Paige’s, and we walked down to aisle seven. Sure enough, there was Grace, crouched over the bottom shelf, fixing a price sticker.
“Hi, Toodles,” Evie said.
Grace turned and smiled when she saw us. “Hey, Evie,” she said, as she straightened. “Good to see you.”
“Hope it’s okay that we dropped in,” I said. “Paige wanted to meet you.”
Paige strode forward and held her hand out for a shake. “Sorry, I nagged him into bringing us. Don’t think he’s weird. I mean, he is, but not because of this. It’s a me thing. Or maybe a single mother thing. I wanted to know who Evie would be spending her Saturday mornings with.”
Grace shook Paige’s hand without looking remotely thrown by my sister’s flood of words. “Of course, makes perfect sense. Nice to meet you.”
