Chapter 6

 

From the start, Enrico seemed like a typical college boy and not someone who liked to get his hands dirty. But Mitch didn't care how much work he got out of him. He should have, but he cared more that he got along with Sammy and took good care of her.

Enrico was a light, bright presence. That's why Sammy responded to him, and maybe Mitch did too. He found that he was sorry that Enrico had to go and also surprised that he felt that way.

He could still see him striding through the yard, surrounded by wild greenery, gesturing for Sammy to follow him on some mission. Lanky, with movements that seemed loose and unselfconscious, not like someone was used to being watched, he was so natural and unrestrained.

Of course Mitch shouldn't have been watching him like that, but he excused it by telling himself he was just keeping an eye on things.

 

Evening was coming on, and Mitch should have been thinking about dinner not why Enrico seemed so different to him from any guy he ever met. Mitch was about to stop working and start putting away his tools when he saw Mrs. Del Rio's car pull into the driveway for the second time that day. Enrico got out and flashed him a smile.

"You're back," Mitch said.

"Grandma sent me here with your dinner," Enrico said as he got a takeout bag from the car. "It's not her cooking. It's takeout from the café. I also got the name of the vet in Ashbury that Sam and Wyatt use for their dogs."

"You didn't need to bring us dinner. You bought plenty of food when you went shopping," Mitch pointed out, but whatever was in that takeout bag smelled really good.

"Tell that to Grandma. I'm just following orders," Enrico claimed.

"That looks like a lot for just the two of us," Mitch noticed. "Are you staying for dinner?"

Enrico looked uncertain, like he didn't know if that was an invitation or just a question. Mitch decided to make himself clearer. "You're welcome to stay and help us eat this."

When Sammy ran over, she implored Enrico to stay for dinner too. "The kitties missed you. You have to stay," she told him and practically dragged him inside.

"Do it for the kitties," Mitch told him.

Once Enrico agreed, Sammy was so happy to have him there with them, and Mitch again surprised himself by being happy about it too. At the same time, it seemed too much to eat every meal with the guy. Mitch never did that with anyone other than Sammy.

Since Mitch wasn't a great conversationalist, it was good Enrico was there to liven things up at the dinner table. Sammy had to update him about every single thing the kittens did, but when she heard they had to go to the vet, she got scared.

"No. No vet," she insisted.

Mitch noticed that she seemed really spooked. "Why are you afraid of the vet, Sammy?"

"Natalie and Veronica will go to sleep and never wake up. No vet," she insisted. "Mika's doggy went to the vet and never came back."

"The kittens will come back. They're just going for a checkup," Mitch told her, but she still looked scared and shook her head.

That's when Enrico chimed in. "Riley and DJ Hayes have two dogs. They take them to the same vet. They can tell you it's OK," he said.

"Their doggies are OK?" she asked.

"Sure they are. You can go see them," Enrico said and got out his phone. "I'll see if you can drop by and talk to them."

"What?" Mitch said, caught off guard while Enrico steamrolled ahead.

"Don't you want to meet their dogs?" Enrico asked, looking from Mitch to Sammy.

Sammy was nodding, and Mitch realized that it might be a good idea. She would be more willing to believe two kids instead of two adults when it came to this kind of thing. Plus she would get to see that the dogs were OK for herself.

"They're eating dinner too," Enrico said reading the text. "But Sam said to come over when we're done and bring the kittens."

Mitch couldn't believe they were taking the kittens too. This whole thing was so out of his hands, but it was probably for the best. If they were keeping the kittens, and it looked like they were, it wouldn't do for Sammy to be afraid of the vet.

 

With dinner and clean up done, they set out for the Hayes' place. Enrico gave directions while the kittens spread cat hair over every inch of the car.

They arrived in front of a ranch style house with a curving driveway and a vegetable garden. They went in to the sound of barking dogs while Mitch and Enrico held the kittens.

The Hayes' place was homey in and out, and Mitch felt a pang of envy. He wished he could give Sammy a home like this one. It made him realize how temporary every placed they lived in had been, including the house they were staying in now.

"You found kittens like we found Brownie," Riley said. It turned out that Brownie was the little brown dog.

"Uncle Wyatt found Barney too," DJ said. Barney was the little white dog, who had to sniff all their shoes then looked up like he expected he would get to sniff the kittens too.

"Kitties are better," Sammy insisted. She always got so competitive around the Hayes boys.

"Don't say that. You'll hurt Barney and Brownie's feelings," DJ told her and petted the dogs consolingly.

Sammy looked down at the dogs. "Sorry, Barney and Brownie. You're nice too."

"We came by so you can tell Sammy about the vet where you take the dogs," Enrico said.

"You want to walk and talk? We were going to take the dogs out," Wyatt said.

"I guess we can take the kittens for a walk too?" Enrico said and turned to Mitch like he was actually consulting him about something all of a sudden.

As they all went out again, the boys told Sammy that Dr. Burjeel was nice as was everyone else who worked there. Sammy was a lot less scared after hearing the boys chatter about the vet's and argue about who is more scared of shots. One thing Sammy was sure about, she wasn't scared. She was so fierce all of a sudden.

"Looks like the trip to the vet won't be too much of a problem," Wyatt said.

"She had to hear it from the mouths of babes," Enrico said then he looked over at Sam and sighed. "If you want to hold a kitten, why don't you just ask?"

"Maybe I could just pet her head," Sam said and gently stroked the kitten's head. "Which one is this? Natalie or Veronica?"

Enrico had no clue, but Mitch had learned to tell them apart. "You have Veronica. I have Natalie," he told Enrico. "Veronica has the white patch on her front right paw."

"This little paw," Wyatt said. He went over to pet the kitten, and Sam came to get acquainted with Natalie. "You want to box?" Wyatt was asking Veronica, while she was swatting at his fist.

"So you're Natalie," Sam said, and Natalie meowed at him and tried to climb up Mitch's arm. "You get extra dad points for being able to tell them apart."

"Sammy gave me such a disappointed look when I mixed them up, so I had to figure it out," Mitch said.

Talking to him, he noticed that Sam had a completely different vibe from either Wyatt or Enrico. He seemed nice but also guarded. Since he hardly knew Mitch, Sam's attitude made sense to him.

On the other hand, Wyatt and Enrico easily fell in with near strangers. It made Mitch realize how little time had passed since he met Enrico, but the impression he had was that it had to be longer. Otherwise why would he feel this connection, like Enrico was someone he was supposed to meet?

Once they were back from walking the dogs and the kittens, the kids got to have ice cream on the Hayes' back porch, and Wyatt showed off his fiancé's garden with a mixture of teasing and pride.

"Sam is a born farmer. My wedding gift to him will be an ox and a plow," Wyatt announced.

Enrico looked at him sideways. "Only one ox? Cheapskate," he told Wyatt while Sam smiled and shook his head.

 

When they drove back to the Dunbar house, Sammy's job was to keep the kittens from climbing under the car seats. That made Mitch realize they would need a pet carrier and a whole bunch of other things. Once they were at the house, Sammy got busy giving the kittens water and Mitch and Enrico lingered in front.

Twirling his grandmother's car keys around his finger, Enrico told him, "I'm glad you don't have a problem hanging out with Wyatt and Sam."

"Why would I?" Mitch said as he grew suspicious. "Is that why you wanted us to go over there? Were you testing me?"

"I already tested you at Grandma's. I'm just saying it's good because now you won't get stuck hanging out with your kid, some kittens and your tools," Enrico claimed.

"So you were worried about my social life," Mitch said, still skeptical.

"In a small town like this, you're lucky to find anyone who isn't too young and snivelly or too old and shriveled up. Just be grateful that I'm willing to share Sam and Wyatt with you," Enrico told him.

Mitch decided to accept his answer. "OK. It was a good idea to go over there. I didn't even know Sammy's friend had a dog that had to be put to sleep. It worries me when she doesn't tell me things."

"She's a sweet, caring kid, and you're a pretty good dad. I'm sure she knows you're there for her if she needs you." Then Enrico asked something he had probably been wondering about for a while. "What happened to Sammy's mom?"

Mitch felt that painful tug, an old wound reopening, as it always did when he had to say the terrible words. "She died. Complications during the birth. She started hemorrhaging."

"I'm so sorry," Enrico said.

"Ellie was so ready to be a mom. She looked forward to it so much then she was gone," Mitch said. He remembered her excitement, all the plans she made. "She had great instincts and she was so sure of herself. Sometimes it made me feel like I was just a happy bystander. I wondered if I was going to be one of those weekend dads."

Enrico frowned at that, like he could tell he was missing something.

"Elli and I weren't together. We were just friends," Mitch told him.

"More than friends if you made a kid together," Enrico pointed out.

"We were just friends. We just happen to fall into bed one night," Mitch told him. He remembered the rush of it, desperately reaching out, grasping for something that wasn't there. Afterward, he was just grateful that they stayed friends.

"But you were close, maybe you wanted more," Enrico said.

"Not until Ellie told me she was pregnant. She was very matter of fact about it. She told me, 'I think I'm going to have this kid. But it's up to you if you want to be a dad. I won't even put your name on the birth certificate if you don't want me to.'" Those words still stung him.

"And what did you say?" Enrico asked.

"I was offended, mad that she would say that. I did want to be a dad. The situation wasn't perfect, but I thought we could make it work, get married..."

"You asked her to marry you?"

"I did. Ellie didn't even take two minutes to think about it. She actually laughed. Then she chewed me out for even asking. 'What are you thinking, Mitch? We don't love each other, and I'm not making room in my closet, or clearing out any drawers, or setting aside precious space on the bathroom counter for a man I don't love. I'm not putting on some lame, white dress for anyone but a man who can't live without me, and that ain't you Mitch McEvers.'"

"That's a resounding no," Enrico said, wincing on his behalf.

"She could be blunt. Ellie told me, 'Just be a good dad to this kid. That's all you owe me.'"

"She sounds cool," Enrico said.

"She was. Ellie was going to be a great mom. She was fun and easygoing, everything I'm not," Mitch said and looked down at the ground at his feet.

"You do pretty well. That squirt adores you. You're a great dad." Enrico gave his arm a quick punch and made him smile. "OK. I'm going now. See you tomorrow," he said and got on his way.

 

Watching him go as the evening grew darker by the second, Mitch felt this pang of something like sorrow. Was he that sorry to see him go?

There was no reason he should feel so attached to Enrico after only a few days. But going inside, Mitch found that the old house felt so much lonelier once he left even with Sammy and the kittens there to keep him company.

Did he ever feel like this when Ellie left? No. Not until she died and he knew he would never see her again.

But Enrico tugged at his heart for no reason, made him feel the loss of him just by walking away. Enrico was having the strangest effect on him.