April 2016
IT WAS A CHILLY day for late April, but the sun was shining warm and bright, so I thought maybe Remi and I could take a walk up to the park. We’d been in our new apartment in the 14Forty building for almost a year. The rent was a little higher and I hated to leave Mrs. Burns, who had turned out to be an amazing babysitter for Remi over that first year, but I loved the old exposed bricks of our new apartment and the proximity to my job and everything downtown. I was a sucker for historic buildings and being downtown, so when a one bedroom opened up at the end of my old apartment’s year lease, I took it. Remi had celebrated her first birthday that January, and we moved in on the first of May. The new apartment had meant money was a little tighter, but since I was able to walk to work and Pam lived down the hall and babysat Remi for me for a great rate, it helped offset the rent. I was still setting aside little chunks of money out of my check, here and there, though. I called it my “someday” account. For “someday I was going to buy a house or start my own restaurant.”
Pam was a sister to one of my coworkers, Sylvia, and charged me next to nothing because she adored Remi and said she just wanted some extra spending money. I didn’t see how Pam needed the extra money since her husband had a great accounting job at Wells Fargo down the road, but who was I to judge? We still only had one bedroom, so I had Remi set up in there and we shared the closet while I slept on my pull-out sofa. Okay, most nights I was too lazy to pull it out, so I just slept on the sofa.
I bundled Remi up in her little, pink, faux leopard jacket with a matching hat. I smiled and told her how stylish she looked, eliciting a big dimpled smile as she patted her hat just like she understood every word and was pleased with my compliment. I placed her in her stroller, slipped on her little shoes, and we headed out. I knew that at two years old, she would rather walk, but it was easier to keep her corralled on the way there, and she was invariably tired on the way back, which translated to “carry me, Mommy!” and she was a heavy little stinker now. As I turned to lock the door, I noticed a man carrying a box. As he reached a door down the hall, he juggled the box to one arm and slid the key into the lock. I couldn’t help but notice how good-looking he was. He paused and I realized he caught me gawking at him.
“Uh, hi! Are you moving in today?” Wow, that was smooth and brilliant sounding. I felt my face heat all the way to my ears, and I knew I must match Remi’s hot pink stroller. I had obviously lost all ability to be suave and flirt since graduating college and becoming a mother. I tucked my hair behind my ear and prayed my face calmed quickly. How embarrassing!
“Why, yes, I am. Why? Are you offering to help?” He laughed as he set his box down and came down the hall toward me. He extended his hand to shake mine. “Michael. And you are?”
As we shook hands, I noticed his sandy hair was a little in need of a haircut, and I wanted to touch it to see if it was as silky as it looked. His eyes were a soft green and his smile was slightly crooked. My belly gave a little flip as I experienced the appreciation of a good-looking guy standing so close to me. Heck, I was human after all, what could I say?
“Oh! I’m Steph, and this is my daughter. My little Remi. We were heading out to the park to enjoy the sunshine. I don’t mean to keep you. Welcome to our little corner of the world. We’ve been here about a year, and we love it.” I let go of his hand and still felt the warmth of his grasp. As I leaned over to cover Remi again with her little blanket she had kicked off, he knelt down to her level and smiled at her in greeting. When he touched her chubby little fingers and told her he was pleased to meet her, she lit up and giggled.
“Dimples on a dark-haired, blue-eyed princess… Ahhhh, I’m slayed.” He held his hand over his heart and rolled his eyes back in mock dismay. This elicited further giggles from Remi, and I couldn’t hold back a small chuckle of my own. He smiled and gave Remi a small wave before he stood, meeting my eyes. Remi waved and said, “Bye-bye!” not realizing he wasn’t actually leaving when he waved.
“I don’t exactly have any of my kitchen things unpacked, and thought I would go grab dinner somewhere tonight. So, if it wouldn’t be too presumptuous of me, it sure would be nice to have the company of two beautiful ladies. And did I mention, I’m new to the area and don’t really know anyone? Have pity on a poor, lonely guy? I promise I don’t bite.”
At those words, I was taken back to a night outside a college party—one I wasn’t even going to attend—and a set of dimples, paired with blue eyes that matched perfectly to my beautiful little girl’s. I looked down as I felt my smile slip. After composing myself, I met his eyes again. I revived my smile and took a deep breath.
“We might be able to do that. We can meet you at the little diner up the road if you’d like? It doesn’t look like much, but they have amazing food, great staff, and it’s clean. It’s up about six or seven blocks. Will that work?” I looked at him, expecting him to back out any minute.
“Sounds perfect. Say, around six? I figure that will keep you from having your little one out too late. Unless you would like to do five instead?”
“No, six is great. So, I guess we’ll see you there?”
“It’s a ‘not date’ dinner, then.” He winked.
Until dinner that night, I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I had sat down and had actual adult interactions. Michael and I sat and conversed in an easy banter through dinner, dessert, and coffee. We were still sitting at the old Formica flecked table with the glittery red 50’s style booth seats talking as little Remi began to rub her eyes, dropping her cookie she was still working on.
“Well, that looks like my cue. I didn’t realize so much time had passed,” I said as I looked at my watch, noting the late hour. I suddenly noticed the diner was nearly empty and the waitress was wiping down the tables around us. As I stood and gathered Remi’s little toy cellphone and her jacket, he stood and unbuckled her from her booster chair, lifting her until her head rested on his shoulder. The simple paternal gesture tugged at my heartstrings.
“You’re good with children,” I noted as I watched Remi grab his shirt with a grubby little hand, which I tried to loosen and wipe with a water dampened napkin. “I am so sorry, she got cookie all over your shirt!” Shit, I felt bad that she had just messed up his clothes.
“No worries. I’m used to it, after my nieces and nephews. They made it their singular goal in life to christen me with anything and everything they could! Man, I’m going to miss them,” he said with a look of longing. I knew from our conversation that he came from a large, but close, family down by Davenport and he had moved here to take a supervisory position with a construction company that had expanded to the Des Moines area. I missed my family too, and I understood his ache for home.
I tried to pay for my and Remi’s meals, but he intercepted the waitress when she tried to hand me my order slip. I felt guilty because I never intended for him to pay for our meals, especially after he had made it sound like our “not date” was definitely just two people sharing company over food.
“No, you don’t need to pay for us. Please, I can get it.”
“Of course not. Just because I said this wasn’t a ‘date’ per se, I still invited you. It’s my treat. Please, I insist.”
He held Remi while I put her coat on her and then offered to carry her to my SUV after the waitress brought him his receipt. I slipped on my jacket, grabbed her bag, tucking her bib, toy, and sippy cup in it before slinging it over my shoulder.
“Thank you again, Michael.”
“It is my absolute pleasure,” he replied as he held Remi with one arm and opened the door for me with the other. I glanced at him and walked out the door and over to my SUV with him next to me in a companionable silence. I couldn’t believe what a good night it had been. He was so polite and handsome. His personality was almost too good to be true as well.
I buckled her in her seat, tucking her blanket around her legs, and she mumbled sleepily as her eyes fluttered open and then closed again. Her little head dropped off to the side of her seat as she snuggled into her small cuddle blankie and I gave her a gentle kiss on her head, running my hand against her cheek.
“You’re a good mother, Steph.” His soft voice startled me as I had almost forgotten he was there. He stood behind me with his hand resting on the top of the door. When I turned, I realized how close we were standing. I felt a little self-conscious as we stood there without speaking, and I shifted from one foot to the other.
“Ummm, so, thank you again for dinner.”
“I told you, it was my pleasure.” He reached over and tipped my chin up so I was looking at him instead of the ground. As I met his green eyes, I thought he was going to kiss me. He leaned closer, placing a gentle close-mouthed kiss to my cheek. “Thank you for the wonderful company.” He stepped back, allowing me room to close the door and get in the driver seat to start my SUV. With a shy smile, I backed out to head home and gave him a little wave, which he returned with a smile of his own.
Well, that was an unexpected end to a beautiful day….