Finishing up my last bit of coffee, I decided I had to go and couldn’t keep putting it off. I had called one of the ladies Jenna referred me to and she invited us to tour her home daycare. I hadn’t told Abby exactly what we were doing, but I knew she would be fine with it. She was an easy-going girl once she got over the initial shyness.

I walked to her room and popped my head in. She was moving her dolls around in her massive dollhouse that was pushed against one wall. I smiled as she had the dolls interact with each other, moving from one floor to the next. I was so thankful she was normal. Normal as in no brain damage. I had nearly killed my little girl that night and would never take another minute of her life for granted. Seeing her playing and healthy was a miracle. I knew it was something I should be forever grateful for, and I was.

Thinking back to the fourteen days she was in a coma, without knowing if she would ever open her eyes again, I felt my heart stop in my chest. Just as it did every time I thought back to the worst couple weeks of my life.

“Hey, baby girl, we’re going to go check out a daycare,” I said.

“A daycare?”

I nodded my head. “Yep, someone who watches you while I’m working. There are other kids there, but not too many.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Okay.”

I looked at the pretty pink dress she had chosen for the day. It was very her. She was a girly girl, which was odd considering she was being raised by a single dad who knew nothing about dresses or any of that stuff.

I put in the address of the daycare and found myself driving a little out of town to a large farmhouse. The long driveway led to a fenced area filled with toys. I was already liking what I was seeing. There were a couple of horses out in a pasture and a chicken coop off to the left. This could be very good for Abby. I liked the idea of exposing her to the farm life, even if I wasn’t ever planning on living on a farm myself.

“Let’s go meet Miss Nettie.”

Abby’s little head was darting back and forth as she took everything in. I knocked on a bright red door labeled as the daycare entrance and waited.

“Hi!” a pretty, slightly plump woman said, pulling open the door. “You must be Abby. And Mr. Jones, hello.”

“Colton, please,” I said, feeling a little nervous as we walked inside a room painted in bright reds and blues.

“I’m Miss Nettie,” she said, bending down to talk to Abby eye-to-eye.

Abby was a little shy, wrapping her arm around my leg.

Nettie stood and looked at me. “Why don’t I give you a tour? The other kids are just sitting down for their snack.”

We walked into a kitchen area where another young woman was dishing out crackers and cheese to five children.

“Can Abby have a snack?” Nettie asked.

I looked down at Abby, “Would you like to go over and have a snack with the kids?”

She looked timid, but when Nettie took her hand and gently led her toward the table with benches on either side, she seemed to relax a bit. Each of the other children were introduced. Abby looked a little scared, but I expected as much.

Nettie walked back to me. “She’s a lovely young lady. As you can see, we keep our numbers low. The kids, with your approval of course, are welcome to help out with the farm chores.”

“Farm chores?” I asked, my eyebrow raised. I wasn’t interested in sending my little girl to work.

Nettie’s soft laugh told me my expression had revealed exactly what I had been thinking. “Farm chores include feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, harvesting fruits and veggies from the garden and sometimes, we pet the horses.”

I nodded my head. “I see.”

“I like to keep the kids busy while teaching them life skills.”

I chuckled. “I don’t think we’re going to be setting up a coop in the backyard anytime soon.”

Nettie smiled. “No, but it is nice for the kids to learn a little about where their food comes from. The kids love the chickens.”

“I bet they do. I know Abby would as well.”

She led me around the half of the house that had been remodeled to house her daycare. Nettie had her own son who was seven. She seemed like a nice woman and with Jenna’s recommendation, I felt confident I could trust her to take care of my daughter.

I filled out the paperwork and secured Abby’s spot at the daycare before heading to the diner. The first person I wanted to tell was Jenna. It was a strange feeling. I couldn’t believe I was starting over. Abby was going to be making friends and would be taking the first step to putting down some roots. She would likely go to school with the kids she met at the daycare. At least I hoped so. I wanted her to have a friend that first day.

My eyes immediately found Jenna pouring a cup of coffee for a customer. When she saw us, she smiled and waved.

“Hi!” Abby said, walking toward her and wrapping her arms around Jenna’s waist.

Jenna used her free arm to hug her back. “Are you here for lunch?”

“Yes, do you have a minute?” I asked her, anxious to tell her about the daycare situation.

She looked around the nearly empty restaurant and shrugged a shoulder. “Sure, let me get your order in and then I can take a few minutes.”

I could see she was nervous, probably assuming I had something bad to tell her.

Once she got our order into the kitchen and our drinks delivered, she returned about five minutes later.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to say thank you for putting me in touch with your friend, Nettie. Abby and I went out there today and checked out the daycare.”

“I like the chickens!” Abby volunteered.

“Oh, good. Are you going to send her?” Jenna asked.

I nodded. “Yep. Paperwork is all done and she’ll start as soon as I get a schedule nailed down with the gym.”

“That’s awesome. I’d still be happy to watch her on my days off or when you need me to,” she volunteered.

“I appreciate that. I might just take you up on it.”

“I hope you do. I like hanging out with Abby,” she said, smiling and winking at my little girl who was glowing with pride. “I better get back to work. I’m off soon and don’t want to get stuck staying a minute later.”

“Thanks again,” I told her.

She delivered our lunches, which we quickly devoured before heading to the local Walmart to pick up some necessities for the house. By the time we got home, Jenna was just pulling into her driveway.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I teased, as I walked around to unbuckle Abby.

When Jenna looked at me, I could immediately tell something was wrong. “Jenna?”

She shook her head. I got Abby out of the car and told her stay put before walking toward Jenna.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She sighed, wiping away dried tears from her face. “Nothing. It’s stupid.”

“What’s stupid.”

She looked at me and I felt my heart clench. “Some guy, grabbed my ass, I hit him and he complained. I got sent home, which isn’t a big deal because I was almost off anyway, but I hate that I got in trouble.”

“Who grabbed you?” I growled, knowing immediately who it was.

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Bryce or Bryan or whatever the hell is name was?” I asked.

She gave me a small smile. “Bryce and no, actually it was his friend Aaron. Aaron is usually not the grabby one. It caught me off guard and I reacted without thinking.”

“You reacted exactly as you should have!”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I should have told him to stop.”

“Where does he live?” I asked, feeling the need to pay the guy a visit.

“No! I’m not going to tell you that.”

“He needs his ass beat.”

She nodded. “I agree with you, but I don’t want you getting involved. Aaron’s dad is obnoxious and he will accuse you of harassment or assault. He’ll probably have me fired.”

“Want to come over for a bit. I just grabbed a case of beer and was ready to kick back and relax in the backyard for a bit.”

She hesitated, then shrugged a shoulder. “Sure.”

I grinned. “Good, you can help me carry in the bags.”

She burst into laughter. “Oh, I see why you wanted me to come over.”

Together, we hauled the bags inside. I grabbed a couple of cold beers and we headed out back. I had picked up some outdoor toy thing for Abby and needed to put it together. Jenna volunteered to help.

“How in the hell do they expect any normal human to understand these pictures?” I grumbled, turning the instruction sheet upside down as I tried to make sense of it.

Jenna held up what I assumed was the door of the plastic playhouse I was attempting to build. “I have no idea. This is why they charge a fortune to come to your house to put this stuff together.”

“I could have built her a playhouse from scratch with fewer problems.”

Somehow, by the grace of God and a couple of beers to help me maintain my sanity, I got the thing together. Jenna had taken Abby inside to open a couple of cans of soup and make a few grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner while I finished the project.

“Done!” I shouted, with extreme elation as I stood back to inspect my work.

Abby and Jenna came outside. Jenna clapped her hands and did a little dance with Abby in celebration. I watched as Jenna dropped to her knees to crawl inside the little house. Abby was over the moon. There was no way my body was fitting in there.

After some playing, we ate our dinner and I sent Abby off to bed.

When I came back into the kitchen, Jenna was just finishing loading the dishwasher. She looked so perfect standing in the kitchen. I couldn’t resist the temptation another second. I walked behind her and wrapped my arms around waist, kissing the side of her neck.

She turned to face me and I kissed her once again.

“Thank you. I really hate that you clean up my kitchen.”

“It’s no big deal. I used the dishes too.”

I took her hand and led her into the living room. We sat down on the couch, her leaning against me. “What’s the deal with those guys?” I asked her.

“You mean the three stooges?”

I chuckled. “Yes, them.”

She let out a long sigh. “I don’t know. In high school they never looked at me. I wasn’t in their league. I was a nerd and they were jocks. Now, ever since I’ve been back, they act like that. They are royal pains in the ass, but everyone around here let’s them get away with it. It is so stupid! They were great at high school football eight years ago, but they’ve done nothing spectacular ever since.”

I shook my head. “I know the type, and I’m not going to put up with their shit.”

“Please don’t do anything that will get you in trouble. Most of the time they just say things and are obnoxious in general. I try not to let it bother me.”

“You’re a better person than I am.”

She turned to face me, her shoulder pressed against my chest as her eyes stared at my mouth. I didn’t invite her over with the intention of sex. Or did I? I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity.

I leaned forward and kissed her, before gently pushing her off me and taking her into my bedroom.