Everyone is grinning now. Delaney laughs. “How are we going to keep each other honest?”
“Ray goes with you to work, and Del comes with me,” Tucker says.
“Yay!” Both girls cheer.
“But you have to tell on Grandpa if he messes with his manicure,” Delaney tells Del. She leans over. “And you can’t let him buy you off with ice cream.”
Del giggles. “I won’t.”
“Yes, you will,” Ray says. “I should go with Grandpa, and Del should go with Grandma.”
“Okay!” Del agrees.
“But you have to tell on Grandma then, and you can’t let her buy you off with cookies,” Tucker says.
Del is laughing so hard now David has to take the polish bottle from her.
And just like that, the melancholy memories of Kaitlyn pass.
We settle back in to paint nails, and everyone around the table ends up with a manicure, including at least one hand that is a rainbow of colors.
We also have an entire birthday party planned, and Sloan and I are invited and accept happily.
Chelsea also wants cupcakes in a variety of colors to go with the nail polish colors, and Delaney texts my mom to place the order from the bakery as we’re all sitting together.
It occurs to me to worry that she’ll say something about me being here. But then I realize that I’m here helping with manicures. It’s completely innocent. David just happened to be here too. But this is hardly a date.
It still feels like a date in a strange way.
I feel closer to him than we were yesterday.
I know him better.
I definitely like him even more.
I want him more.
So when Sloan and I head out to my car and David says he needs to get going at the same time, I’m thrilled.
Sloan goes to the car, leaving me on the porch with David.
“I saw the books you brought out,” he says before I can say anything.
I brought Jack an adult-focused book about nail care and manicures—we surprisingly only had one—but the other two are for kids. One is a story about an alligator getting a manicure on her day off, and the other is about how nail art, hair color, tattoos, and other personal expressions can help people enhance their self-confidence. It’s more age-appropriate for Chelsea than for the other two, so I told Jack to be sure to read it first.
“Jack stopped in asking about manicures.”
“I didn’t realize the librarian delivered.”
I smile up at him. “Now you know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I would really love for David to ‘place an order’ at the library and ask me to bring it out to his house.
What books would he ask for?
I feel a curl of heat and anticipation in my belly.
