by Claire Adams
I opened the door and was surprised to see Rachel standing there holding a box of donuts, coffee, and chocolate milk, that I assumed was for Nell.
“Hey. I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” I said, reaching out to grab the box of donuts from her, and stepping aside so she could come in.
“Yeah. I thought I’d come by to check on Nell and surprise you guys with some breakfast,” she said. “I hope it’s okay.”
“Donuts, are you kidding? Of course, it’s okay!” It warmed my heart that she took the time out of her morning to come check on Nell when she didn’t have to. She had no other attachments to Nell, and it was the weekend. Which we both had off unless there was a showing.
“Rachel!” Nell yelled as she came running in. She threw her arms around Rachel, almost knocking her over, as I grabbed the coffee’s just-in-time.
“Hi, Nell. You seem to be feeling better,” Rachel said.
Nell smiled brightly, “I am feeling better. You brought donuts? Is the chocolate milk for me?”
Rachel nodded her head, “Yes, ma’am.”
We walked over to the kitchen table, and I grabbed some paper plates from the cupboard. I opened Nell’s chocolate milk and held the donut box so she could see.
“Which donut would you like?” I asked her.
Nell said, “I want the sprinkled one,” she said, pointing to the donut with pink frosting and sprinkles.
“Okay,” I said, lifting the donut from the box and putting it on the plate in front of her.
“Thank you, Rachel,” Nell said.
“You are very welcome. I’m just glad you’re feeling better. I was worried about you last night,” Rachel said.
I loved how much Rachel genuinely seemed to care about Nell. But I often wondered why she cared so much about a little girl that was not related to her in any way. It just made me want to know her story even more. Don’t get me wrong: I loved that she cared so much about Nell, but I’d never seen someone without children care so much about a child before.
“You really didn’t have to do this, Rachel,” I said.
Rachel smiled, “I know, but I wanted to.”
I loved her smile. It seemed like it radiated through the whole room. I just wanted to see more of it. I wanted to be the one to make her smile. I knew that much.
“Can we all spend the day together?” Nell asked.
“How ‘bout it Rachel? Would you like to spend the day with us?” I asked her.
“I’d like that a lot.” Rachel said.
After breakfast, we decided to go to the park. It was the perfect day for it, the weather was nice, and I knew it would do Nell some good to get some fresh air. We went to the park down the street from our house so we didn’t have to drive and would be nearby if Nell ran out of steam. The three of us walked together down the street to the park. When we got there, Nell took off running for the swings.
“Rachel! Look how high I can go!” Nell yelled. It was nice to see how happy and excited she was.
Laughing, Rachel replied, “Wow, that’s so high! Be careful,” she said, humoring Nell. I thought it was nice that she was doing that.
A few minutes later, and after Nell wasn’t swinging so high anymore, she yelled for Rachel to come over and push her. Rachel walked over and helped push her on the swing. The two of them laughed and played together, and it was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen before.
I tried not to think about Whitney; it wasn’t the time or the place, but it was hard not to. I still wished that she was here to play with Nell herself. That she was here to see our little girl grow up. But at least for the time being, Nell had someone that could be a mother figure to her.
Smiling, I watched the two of them. Rachel helped Nell get down from the swing, and they raced over to the playground. Rachel clearly let Nell win, and Nell was laughing very loudly the entire time.
They went up to the top of a slide, and when Nell said that she was a little nervous, Rachel put her on her lap, and the two of them went down the slide together. But, they weren’t expecting me. I jumped out just as they hit the bottom and scared them both. The three of us were laughing out loud now.
After Nell had played at the park for what seemed like forever, I suggested we go get ice cream. We walked back to the house, and the three of us got into my car, and I drove to a little ice cream shop downtown. It wasn’t very well known, but it had the best handmade, homemade ice cream ever. Nell and I often went there after doctor or dentist visits, and things like that.
“Have you ever been here, Rachel?” I asked her.
Rachel shook her head. “No, I don’t think I have.”
“Well, you’re in for a treat,” I said to her.
I shut the car off, and Rachel helped get Nell out of the backseat of the car. We walked inside and up to the counter where we ordered our ice cream. Nell chose a banana split like she often did, I went with two scoops of chocolate in a waffle cone with chocolate chips mixed in, and Rachel chose a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of chocolate on a waffle cone, with gummy bears mixed in.
We got our ice cream and headed out to a table that was right outside the front door. I thought it would be better to sit outside since it was such a nice day.
“Thank you for this,” Rachel said to me.
“No, thank you for everything. I mean it. Everything you’ve done for both Nell and me. It really means a lot,” I said to her.
Nell was struggling with her ice cream, and I watched as Rachel reached over and cut the bananas up for her.
“Thank you, Rachel,” Nell said, then she dug back into her ice cream. Using her spoon, she picked up a giant spoonful of banana and ice cream and shoved it into her mouth.
“Nell, don’t do that,” I said, with a laugh.
We watched as Nell chewed on the giant bite of banana and ice cream that she currently had in her mouth. Ice cream was dripping down her face. I went back inside and grabbed a stack of napkins, then handed them to Nell.
“Clean up your face,” I said.
Rachel and Nell were laughing as Nell cleaned up her face.
After we finished eating our ice cream and cleaned up our mess, we got in the car and drove home. Nell wanted to watch a movie with us, so when we got back to my house, Nell ran to her room and chose the movie Frozen. I’d seen it at least three dozen times, and that had been more than enough. But I wanted to appease my daughter, so I put the movie on for her, and the three of us settled on the couch.
“Have you seen this before?” I asked Rachel.
“No, actually I haven’t.” Rachel said.
“Well, hopefully this is the only time you have to watch it,” I said in a stage whisper.
“Hey!” Nell said, and the three of us laughed.
The movie started, and I offered to make the popcorn, and asked Rachel to come along to help.
I grabbed a bowl and a bag of popcorn, which I tossed into the microwave, then turned to face Rachel.
“So, I’ve been wondering,” I started. But I found I was more nervous than I had been expecting. “What did you mean the other day when you said we both have a lot of things to deal with?” I asked her.
“Well, I have a past too,” she said. “I don’t want to ruin what we have going on by going into heavy details right now. I feel like maybe it’s a conversation for another day.”
I liked her honesty. She wasn’t trying to hide anything from me, and I appreciated that. She acknowledged the validity of my question and her willingness to answer it. There weren’t many people in my life that I felt I could trust like that.
“You know, if Nell is going to spend the night at her friend’s house again next weekend, maybe we can get together,” I said to her.
“I’d really like that,” Rachel said with a smile.
I was grinning, and I felt the urge to kiss her. I just wanted to grab her and pull her into me, then press my lips against hers. I wanted to feel her lips on mine, and her body in my arms. The desire within me was
so strong, but I also didn’t want to scare her off. It was a slippery slope. This was only the beginning of our friendship, and we hadn’t really known each other that long. I really wasn’t sure where we were headed, and all I knew at that moment was that I really liked spending time with her, and I loved the way she interacted with my daughter.
The popcorn finished, and I opened the microwave door, grabbed the bag, and dumped it into the bowl.
“Rachel, will you grab the pretzels from the cupboard?” I asked her.
“Sure,” She said and opened the cupboard and found them. I led her back out to the living room where Nell was still peacefully watching the movie.
The three of us watched and nibbled the snacks though weren’t really hungry. When the movie ended, we let Nell choose another movie. It was another Disney princess movie of course, but we didn’t mind since she liked them so much. I was enjoying the relaxing time the three of us were spending together, so it didn’t matter to me what we watched.
“Can Rachel stay for dinner?” Nell asked.
I looked at Rachel but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to answer for her.
Rachel looked at Nell, “I’d love to stay, if it’s okay with your dad, that is.”
We ordered pizza for dinner, and Rachel stayed until it was bedtime for Nell. She helped me put Nell to bed and then said she had to get home. I was a little sad that she was leaving, but I was excited to see what the following weekend might bring.
I could feel myself starting to like this woman more and more. It worried me a little because I hadn’t dated in such a long time, but I had to admit that I was having a great time and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.
Chapter Eighteen
Rachel
I was sitting at the desk on Thursday, lost in a daydream about James. As much as I tried to think of him as my boss, and hopefully my friend, I couldn’t help feeling that it could be more. I couldn’t get them out of my head and sometimes felt like I was losing it. I was definitely crushing hard on him and was excited to see where things might go.
Just then, the door swung open, as James and Nell walked in.
“I don’t want to stay here today, Daddy. Can I please go outside? I want to do something fun.” Nell said.
“Well, I’m really busy today honey, but if Rachel wants to take the rest the day off, I’ll let her take you somewhere; it’s okay with me,” James said, as he was looking at me.
“Of course, I’d like to take you out, Nelly-girl,” I said, watching her face light up brightly.
“Really?” Nell asked, almost as if she didn’t believe what I was saying.
“Yes, really. In fact, I know a bakery that’s not too far away from here that serves really great croissants,” I said. I knew Sadie would love to meet Nell, and I figured Nell might love to try the croissants instead of her customary peanut butter sandwich. This was the perfect opportunity to take her there. “That is,” I looked at James, “if it’s okay with your dad.”
James smiled. “That’s okay with me, on one condition,” he said, immediately causing a look of concern on Nell’s face. “You may go, but only if you bring back a croissant for me,” he said.
I laughed and agreed, and Nell just giggled in relief. We said our goodbyes and James headed up to his office, while Sadie and I headed out to my car.
“Do you want to ride in my car or would you rather walk?” I asked Nell, wondering if it was too far for her since it was about seven blocks away.
“Ooh, let’s walk!” Nell said, beaming.
I could tell that she just wanted to spend some time outdoors. She had been cooped up quite a bit lately and was craving some time outside.
“Okay, walking it is!” I said, and we started walking on down the street.
As we walked, I thought about the different things I could ask her about to start a conversation. “How was school?” I asked.
“It was good. Today was a kid’s birthday, so we got cupcakes at school,” Nell said.
“Nice. Has that happened before?” I asked her.
“No, his birthday is the very first out of all of our class,” she said.
We made our way down the street making small talk. She told me all the ideas she had for what she wanted to do when she grew up. She wanted to be a doctor that also painted at the same time. I laughed at that. She was such a creative and unique little girl, and I loved that I got to spend so much time with her. I guess it helped that her dad was pretty hot, too.
Arriving at the bakery, we walked inside.
“Oh, my goodness. Who is this little cutie?” Sadie asked, coming around from behind the counter and walking over to us.
“I’m Nell,” Nell said, holding out her hand.
Sadie held her hand out as well. “Well, Nell, I’m Sadie. I’ve known Miss Rachel here for a very, very long time, and she’s one of my best friends.”
“Is this your bakery?” Nell asked.
Sadie nodded her head. “Yes, it is. What would you like? You may choose whatever you like,” Sadie winked at me.
“I want a croissant, but do you have a chocolate croissant?” Nell asked.
“Absolutely. They are my specialty,” Sadie said.
Walking back around the other side of the counter, she went into the glass container and pulled out three chocolate croissants. She placed them carefully on plates, and popped them into the microwave for ten seconds, then pulled them out and walked back around the counter.
“We can sit at that table over there in the corner,” Sadie said. The three of us walked over and sat down at the corner table Sadie had pointed to.
Nell picked up her croissant and took a big bite. “Wow, this is so good!” Nell said.
She quickly chewed up the bite in her mouth and went for another. I could tell that she really liked it, because of how fast she was eating it. It was much like how she had behaved with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I’d first shared with her.
“I really like your bakery,” Nell said. She was looking around at all the different decorations.
“Did you know that I picked out the paintings?” I said.
“You did? I really like them,” Nell said.
“I’m glad.” I took a bite of my own croissant and was reminded how amazing they were, and once again didn’t understand why I didn’t indulge in them more often.
“Don’t forget we have to get one for my daddy,” Nell said.
“Yep, that was our deal,” I said.
A young couple walked into the bakery, and Sadie got up to help them. They were ordering a gender reveal cake. Neither of them had any idea what the sex of the baby was, but I watched as they handed Sadie the envelope. They told her what they were looking for asked it if they could have it for an event next Saturday. Sadie finished up with them, attached the secret envelope to the order form with the details and put it in the order bin. She came back over and sat down next to us, then glanced at me with a small smile, which I returned.
Nell finished her croissant and then looked at me, “Can I get something else, Rachel?”
I shrugged, “I don’t see why not,” I said to her. Then I looked at Sadie. “What else do you think that Nell should try?”
Without saying anything, Sadie got up and went back around behind the counter. When she came back a couple minutes later, she was carrying a cheesecake brownie on a plate. She set it down in front of Nell.
“Wow, what is this?” asked Nell.
“It’s a cheesecake brownie. It’s my specialty… I mean, besides the chocolate croissants. I have a lot of specialties. I hope that you’ll be able to try them all sometime. Not all at once though,” Sadie said.
I already loved the way that Sadie and Nell were interacting. We spent the rest the day in Sadie’s bakery. It was fun. Sadie and I loaded Nell up with bunch of snacks, and I really hoped that James wouldn’t be upset about it. She seemed to be having a lot of fun, and I could tell that Sadie was really enjoying her time w
ith Nell.
Sadie packaged up a few more croissants. One for James, and a few for Nell and James in the morning.
“You know, Rachel, you’ve convinced me,” Sadie started out. “I can really see how much Nell means to you. And I really do think that what you are doing is good for both of you. Obviously, Nell is in your life for a reason, and I really think you deserve it.”
Tears threatened their way through, but I didn’t want to stand here and cry in the middle of Sadie’s bakery. She had customers all over the place. Plus, I really didn’t want Nell to see me crying because I didn’t want her to tell James, and I didn’t want to deal with that.
“Thank you, Sadie. For everything.” I hugged my oldest, best friend, and then she turned and hugged Nell.
“Thank you, Sadie, for the croissants. My dad’s gonna love them. They’re so yummy,” Nell said.
Sadie got down to Nell’s level and gave her another hug. “You are welcome here anytime. You and your dad.”
Nell hugged her back, and then I took the bag that Sadie had for us in one hand, and Nell’s little hand in the other, and we headed off down the street, walking slowly back to the art gallery. I figured the snail’s place the normally speedy Nell was moving had something to do with Nell not wanting to go back quite yet. She’d been having fun visiting with Sadie and me at the bakery
