“So you were the one Noah was telling us about. You bought his house that he restored right?”
“I did. How do you know Noah?”
“He’s my best friend and Bella’s brother. We all grew up together.” So the other girl, Emma, with Sophia that night must be Noah’s wife.
“Noah’s a great guy. I loved what he did with the place.”
“He’s good at what he does. The girls did a great job decorating, too. Noah said you kept all the furniture and decor they picked out. I swear Sophia wouldn’t leave that place until she had it just the way she wanted.” He laughs.
Sophia decorated my place? The panther…no wonder it reminded me of her. She put it there—I know it. Her essence is all over my house. She’s everywhere, weaving in and around me. There’s no escaping her, no matter how hard I try.
I clear my throat to ease the ache. “I didn’t know she decorated it. They did a good job. It felt like home the minute I stepped into it.”
“That’s the girls for you. They have that effect on people.” He laughs. “Trust me, Noah and I were blind-sided by two of them. Hit us like a fucking freight train,” he grins. I rub the ache beginning to form in my chest. Yeah, I know the feeling. “Speaking of the girls. That’s why I’m here. Bell and I want to get a couple of tattoos together, and I wanted to stop by and check out your work. This will be her first one, so I’m trusting you to take care of her. I would want you to do them for us if that’s good with you.”
I know my schedule is full, but I find myself wanting to do this for her brother and sister-in-law. “I can do that. What did you have in mind?”
“Great!” He grins at me, and he starts to tell me about theconstellations he wants to do and how they would weave around a single-stem daisy. I get out my sketchpad and sketch a rough draft as he explains what the constellations look like. When I finish, I show him my draft, and his grin broadens. “It’s perfect. How the hell did you do that so fast?” He studies all the details I added to make it blend more.
“The ideas just come to me,” I shrug my shoulders. “All I need is a pencil and paper to bring them to life.”
“Bell is going to love this. Let me take a picture real quick to show her later.” He pulls out his phone and snaps a picture before sliding it into his back pocket. “How soon can you get us in? I’ll have to check Bell’s schedule first and can get back to you on dates.”
I pull out my phone. “What’s your number? I can look at my schedule later this evening and text you some dates that I’m free.”
“Perfect.” He gives me his number and I put it in. The door opens, and my next client walks in. “I’ll let you get back to work. Thanks, man, for that kickass design. I can’t wait to show Bell.”
“It’s no problem.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him how his sister is doing and what she’s been up to, but I keep my mouth shut instead. He waves goodbye before leaving the shop. I bury my feelings deep down, like I’ve gotten good at, and plaster on a smile for my next client, showing him to the chair.
I glance at my watch a couple of hours later. Shit. I still have ten more minutes left, and school is out soon. I’m going to be thirty minutes late.
“I’ve got to make a call real quick,” I tell my client. “Be right back.” He nods his head as I walk back to the office and dial the school. Surely, they will be okay with watching him for a few extra minutes. It’s not like I’ve ever been late before. The school secretary answers and I explain how I got stuck at work.She puts me on hold as she talks to his teacher. Pacing the floor, I wait for her to get back on.
“Mr. Montgomery?” She gets back on the phone.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Miss Lane said it’s no problem. She said she would stay with Max in her classroom until you get here.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. Max loves his teacher, and he won’t mind a bit if I’m late. “Tell her thank you for me. Could you make sure Max knows that I’m running late and that I didn’t forget about him?” The thought of him thinking I’m not coming is like a knife to the gut. It hits too close to home with him thinking I left him.
“Of course. When you get here, come to the front office, and I’ll point you to his classroom.”
“Okay. Thanks again. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”I hang up and finish the last of the design within ten minutes. It’s not something I could have stopped and finished later, so I’m glad the school understood. I quickly ring him up before saying goodbye to Van and Dylan who are busy with clients at their station.
I get in my truck and make it to the school in record time. Running up the steps, I head to the office. An older lady is at the desk when I walk in.
“You must be Mr. Montgomery.” She smiles up at me from her desk.
“Yes. I’m sorry again that I’m late.”
“Don’t worry about it, hon. Things happen that are out of our control. He’s having the time of his life having Miss Lane all to himself anyway,” she laughs. “He’s quite smitten with her.”
“So he tells me,” I laugh. At least I finally get to meet the famous Miss Lane, who I can’t stophearing about.
“Her classroom is just down the hall all the way to the end on the right,” she says, pointing to the hallway to her left.
“Thank you.” I walk down the hallway until I reach the end. The door is slightly ajar as I step inside. Max is on a rug, and his teacher is sitting down with her back to me. They both are drawing pictures and I smile at their dark heads together. She’s younger than I thought. I don’t see any grey hairs in her long black hair. Max looks up and grins.
