Chapter Ten
Ginger
It was the weekend, and Mom and Fern were seated at the dining table having breakfast. It was my turn to cook, and I finished the last pancake, turned the cooker off, and moved to join my mom and my daughter.
“What plans do you have for the day?”
I paused and looked up at Mom, a bit confused because that question came out of nowhere.
“What do you mean? We’re going to the salon with you.”
“Ginger, you know we don’t get a lot of people coming in on the weekend.”
“I wonder why because they all should be working during the weekdays.”
“Everyone’s too busy relaxing or having a fun day, which you should also be doing. I can handle the day without you. Spend some time with your daughter.” She gave me a knowing look. “Maybe call a certain someone and make it a playdate.”
That had Fern perking up. “Playdate? With who?”
“Your mother’s friend,” Mom said before I could say a thing.
“Really Mommy?” Fern turned to me. “Who is it?”
I sent a frown at my mom, before smiling down at Fern. “Just a friend I’ve meant to introduce you to, sweetie. Would you mind very much meeting him?”
She shook her head. “If he’s Mommy’s friend, then he’s my friend.”
I patted her head, feeling a sting in my eyes that I blinked away quickly.
Mom didn’t say anymore, thankfully, and we finished breakfast. While she left to go to work, Fern went to get dressed for the day, and I picked up my phone and called Ben. He picked up on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“It’s me, Ginger,” I said, suddenly feeling glad we’d exchanged numbers already. “I wanted to ask if you have your day free?”
“Why? Did you have something planned?”
I bit my lip before answering. “I thought maybe we could spend the day with Fern. She likes to play out in the park on weekends, especially around midmorning, because there are always dogs there.”
“Wait, really?” he blurted out. “Did you ask her already? Is she okay with this? Are you okay with this?”
His flurry of questions had me giggling, and I questioned myself, wondering why I was even worried at all.
“She already knows we’re meeting someone today; she is okay with it, and so am I. I did tell her it was a friend, though,” I said apologetically, even though it was technically my mom who did.
“That’s okay,” he said, reassuring. “As I told you before, however way you want this to go, I’ll follow your lead. The truth can come later, even way later. I just want a chance to know her, you know?”
“I do know. Which is why I’m not going to warn you that you shouldn’t blow this chance,” I teased.
There was silence, then a quiet curse, and that had me laughing.
“Don’t think too much about it, Ben. Fern is a sweet little girl, I’ve yet to meet anyone she dislikes, so you should be fine.”
We ended the call, and I went up to the room to check in on Fern, see what was taking her so long. I was a little surprised to find most of her clothes deposited on her bed, and my little princes standing in front of the mess, with her hands on her hips and a serious expression on her face.
“Don’t know what to wear?” I guessed, amused.
“I want to look extra pretty for Mom’s friend,” she explained, then sighed as her shoulders slumped like she weighted the world on them. “But I don’t know what to wear because it all looks really good.”
I couldn’t help giggling at my little girl’s cuteness, then mourning that I didn’t get it on video. I was tempted to find the camera anyway, but she was pouting at me, so I helped her pick up her clothes instead, then went to get dressed.
Once we were both ready, I texted Ben to meet us at the park, and we started the walk there. It wasn’t that far from home because we took a walk pretty often, but Ben would have to drive there. I let him know where he could meet us, near the only fountain in the park.
Minutes later, we arrived, and not long after that, Ben found us. I saw him approach us before Fern did. I’d decided to make it easier for him to find us, that we would sit down until the two of them met before I let her play with the dogs. She was squirming on the bench next to me, looking at the frolicking dogs, some of them barking at the fountain, where birds kept perching to take a drink of water. Other kids were playing with the dog, and I knew she was just itching to join them.
“Fern,” I called her softly, having to shake her shoulder before she would look up at me. “My friend is here to meet you, okay? Say hi to him; then you can play with the dogs.”
She nodded quickly, ready to take any deal that meant she got to play.
We got off the bench, and I turned her around to meet Ben. He looked down at her as he crossed the few feet remaining between us, and when he came to a stop, I thought he looked a little shaken.
“Fern, this is Ben,” I introduced. “Why don’t you say hi?”
She glanced up at me, then stepped closer to Ben with her hand held out.
“Hello,” she said. “My name is Fern. And you’re Mommy’s friend, right?”
He glanced up at me before crouching down to take her hand with a little smile.
“Yes, I’m your mom’s friend. But you can call me Ben if you want.” He let out a nervous chuckle. “I brought you some presents when I came. I didn’t know what you would like, so I bought a lot.”
Only then did I realize that he was carrying something, and he brought the bag closer to Fern.
“You bought me presents!” she squealed happily, about to look into the bag, when I cleared my throat. She shot me a quick look, then turned to Ben. “I mean, thanks for bringing me presents, mister.”
She looked my way again, and I gave her a nod of approval.
“Why don’t you go play with the dogs now, hmm? You can look at your presents later.”
She pouted at me, but in the next moment, she was running to join the dogs and the kids playing with them. Ben just watched her go; this longing looks in his eyes.
“She looks so much like you,” he murmured.
“Yeah. Mom tells me the women in our family have pretty strong blood. I looked like her when I was a kid, too. You can sit down with me if you want.”
He did, and we spent some minutes just watching Fern have fun. But Ben’s leg was bouncing the entire time, so when he suddenly jumped up to join the fray, I wasn’t even that surprised. So I was the one left watching them, as Fern accepted him into the kids’ games.
Once it was lunch time, Fern and I walked Ben to his car, where he had more presents waiting. It was all too much to carry, so he just drove us home. I let Fern go inside first, staying behind to have a quick chat with Ben. He kept shooting longing glances at the door that made me smile.
“She had fun today,” I said, catching his attention. “If you’d like, you can join us for lunch?”
“I shouldn’t,” he denied quickly. “I don’t want to overwhelm her too quickly. You can go in. I’ll call you later.”
My eyes shot up when I realized he meant to beat a hasty retreat. Instead, I chased him to his car, and when he opened the door, I reached around him to close it. He turned around, but before he could say anything, I pushed him back against the car, leaned up on the tips of my toes, and then pressed my lips against his in an open-mouthed, passionate kiss.
“Dinner, tomorrow,” I told him, backing away. “Exactly at seven. Don’t be late.”
I turned my back to him and flounced into the house, feeling satisfied that I managed to stun him for once.