Chapter 11
APRIL
All morning long, April kept seeing her bouquet of flowers out of the corner of her eye.
She had put them in her favorite vase, and they kept catching her attention.
Every time she noticed them, she smiled.
They put her in an automatic good mood. She had an evening shift tonight, so she had the day to relax.
Her plan was to hole up with some popcorn and watch a movie she hadn’t seen.
Though she was a social person, April valued her alone time every once in a while.
But when her phone rang, she had to answer it.
Curiosity always got the better of her. April was one of those people who answered all the spam calls, too, just in case.
Sure, that meant she got way more spam calls, but at least she didn’t have to wonder.
Fortunately, this time, it was not a spam call. It was Cal. “Good morning, April,” he said in a cheerier voice than he usually used. April was immediately suspicious.
“Cal,” she said in greeting. “How have you been?”
“Wonderful, thank you,” he said. “And you?”
“I’m enjoying my flowers this morning.” She meant that probably more than he realized.
“I thought you might,” he said. “I wanted to thank you for inviting us to the farmer’s market the other day.”
“Oh, it was absolutely my pleasure.”
“And I was wondering whether I could impose upon you again.” He was so formal.
April laughed. “You are never an imposition, Cal.”
He sighed in a way that made her think she had improved his mood just by saying that. “I have to go into town today to run a few errands. Usually, Owen comes with me, but he’s getting pretty tired of the hardware store.”
“Oh, I find it tough to believe that kid would ever get tired of anything,” April said.
“Believe it or not, he has.” Cal laughed.
“Anyway, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind watching him for a few hours, just while I run my errands.
He seems to really like you, and unless you’re the best actress I’ve ever seen, you seem to enjoy his company, too?
” He ended the sentence like a question, prompting April to reassure him.
“Oh, gosh, of course I enjoy his company!” she said. “I’d love to spend the day with him. I have to work at six this evening, so as long as you’re done by then, it’ll be just fine.”
“I can’t thank you enough.”
“No need,” she said. “Owen and I will have a great afternoon together. And thank you so much for entrusting him to me.” He was silent for a moment, and April thought he maybe hadn’t thought about the fact that he was entrusting the safety of his son to someone.
She decided to reassure him. “I’ll take great care of him, Cal.
You know I will. Who better to watch him than an actual nurse? ”
“I know,” he said, and she could hear the relief in his voice. “Thank you.”
“Let’s meet at the café. I’ll get the kid another little treat to bribe him.”
Cal laughed hard on the other end of the line. “You know him well already,” he said. “We’ll be there at noon, if that works for you.”
“It works beautifully.”
After they ended the call, April looked down at her bag of popcorn on the kitchen counter and decided to put it away. As much as she would have enjoyed a day alone, she thought she would enjoy a day with Owen even more.
April arrived early at the café and ordered the same three drinks they had ordered last time they were there. This time, she wasn’t going to let Cal pay for them. There was no way he could protest if she got them before he even arrived.
When she had the beverages, she sat down at a table to wait. It wasn’t long before Owen was running toward her, shouting her name.
“Owen,” Cal said, following close behind him. “No running, and use your indoor voice, please.”
Owen skidded to a stop right in front of April and whispered loudly. “Is that for me?” He was pointing at the hot chocolate. April nodded, and Owen hissed out an excited squeal.
Cal narrowed his eyes in brief judgment, and April knew he was silently chiding her for paying for their drinks. Funny how easy he’d become to read. “I got one for you, too,” she said defiantly.
With a deep, mildly irritated sigh, Cal took his cup. “You’re in trouble, Nurse April,” he said under his breath.
“You can punish me later,” she said, and suddenly, his cheeks went bright red.
This was probably the first time she’d actually seen him blush like that over something she said.
It felt like flirting, and she wasn’t sorry.
For some reason, she wanted to stir the pot for Cal, to see him swirl out of his depression and live.
There was a sadness behind his eyes. It was always there, but when she made him smile or feel anything strongly, it shrank to almost nothing.
It made her feel wonderful to be able to give him those little reprieves.
“We’ll meet back here in three hours,” she said. “Will that be long enough for you to run your errands?”
“Plenty of time. And again, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Hush, it’ll be a treat. Now go on. Owen and I have an appointment with a swing set. I’ll take good care of him. I promise.”
Cal left the two of them, and April was alone with Owen.
It occurred to her again how much faith Cal had to have in her to entrust his son into her care.
He definitely gave off the overprotective father vibe, so this request that she watch his son had come as a surprise, to say the least. Then again, she was a nurse.
She’d only said it to comfort him, but maybe that really had been his reasoning.
It made sense, so she couldn’t fault him for it.
But part of her also hoped he’d entrusted his son to her care because he liked her.
“Are you ready to hit the park?” she asked Owen.
“Will there be a slide?” he said.
“Of course there will be. What kind of park doesn’t even have a slide?”
“The safe ones,” Owen answered matter-of-factly. “That’s what Dad says anyway.”
April smiled and stood, taking Owen by the hand and carrying his hot chocolate for him. “Well, we’ll be very careful on the slide then. It’s not a very big one.”
“I wish it was, though.”
“Ah.” The first challenge had presented itself.
One overprotective father with one potentially reckless, rebellious child.
Luckily for April, she had a lot of experience working with kids, and not just the fun stuff either.
She’d given shots and taken blood and patched all kinds of wounds, even when they stung.
April was even more comfortable around kids than she was around adults, and she was pretty darn comfortable around adults—people in general, really.
“Well,” she said as they headed five blocks down to the park.
“You have to practice dangerous stuff before you really do it. So this slide is like a training slide where you get really good at sliding before you go down the giant ones. That way you’ll impress everyone the first time you go down a big slide because you’ll be so good at it. ”
Owen looked up at her and narrowed his eyes, and for a moment, he looked so much like his father that it gave April chills. “You’re funny,” he said, and she knew her explanation had not flown with him.
At the park, April didn’t take her eyes off Owen once.
Cal’s protectiveness seemed to have rubbed off on her.
All she knew was that allowing anything to go wrong on this occasion would destroy Cal’s ability to trust anyone ever.
In turn, it would isolate Owen even more.
She pushed him on the swings, but not too high.
She let him go on the slide, but only while she was waiting at the bottom to catch him.
After an hour, dark clouds began to roll in, and the other kids all made their way back to their caretakers, who took them home.
The first few drops were heavy, telling April this was not going to be a light shower.
“Let’s get inside somewhere,” she said, taking Owen by the hand. “Do you like bookshops?”
“That depends on whether they have any good books.”
April laughed. “This shop has everything. Let’s go.” They walked quickly at first and then started to run when the rain fell more heavily. “I should have brought an umbrella.”
Owen agreed.
Soon enough, they came to the bookshop April had mentioned.
She pushed open the door and heard the little bell chime.
It was a sound she knew well, having visited the bookshop often.
It wasn’t that she had a lot of time to read, but the shop itself was a kind of oasis to her.
Any time her life felt too hectic, she would come here and allow time to slow the way it always seemed to.
The woman behind the counter waved at her as she passed. “Babysitting today?” she asked.
“Sort of,” April answered. “This is my friend’s son. His name is Owen.” It was the first time she’d called Cal a friend, and it felt good to do so. Anyway, he was, wasn’t he?
The woman behind the counter, whose name was Chelsea, leaned over and spoke to Owen. “Well, hello, Owen. How can I help you today? Are you looking for a specific book?”
Owen didn’t hesitate. He immediately listed two of the books they had read at the library’s story time he’d been to.
April couldn’t have been prouder that an event she’d invited him to had that big of an impact.
Chelsea led April and Owen to the picture book section of the bookshop and pulled out the two books he had listed.
There were short shelves and beanbag chairs in this colorful section of the shop.
April had always imagined what it might be like to bring her own child here and find his favorite books.
She was elated to be here with Owen, but she had to tamp her excitement down.
This was not her child, and there was no promise that he ever would be.
Still, it was fun, and April enjoyed reading one of the books to Owen while they waited for the torrential rain to let up.
It was a quiet, cozy afternoon, and April let herself soak it all in.
When the rain slowed, she closed the book they’d just finished and said, “Should we go?”
“OK,” Owen said. He stood and went to put the books back.
“Do you want to take one of those home?” April asked.
Owen looked up at her. “Can I?”
“Yep. Let’s call it a late birthday present. Go ahead and pick your favorite, and we’ll buy it for you.”
It didn’t take Owen long to choose his favorite. April paid for it and put it in a plastic bag to protect it from the rain. It was still drizzling outside, but it was much less of a downpour than it had been a half hour ago.
They started back to the park when April got an idea.
Watching Owen play had been a highlight for her, and she thought she would like to immortalize it.
She’d seen several perfectly framed moments that would have made wonderful candid portraits of the boy, and she had no doubt that a framed version of one of those would be a gift Owen’s father would adore.
“Hey, Owen, do you mind if we stop by my work to grab my camera? I left it there yesterday, and I’d like to take your picture for your dad.”
“You’re going to take my picture?”
April nodded.
“Why?” Owen asked.
“Well, because you’re growing up fast, and you’ll never be this exact size ever again. I think your dad might like to have a really good picture of you while you’re this exact size. I was thinking I’d frame it and give it to him as a present. But you can’t tell him, OK? I want it to be a surprise.”
That was the right thing to say, apparently.
Owen seemed to love keeping a secret from his father.
And this one was pretty harmless. It was always a good way to bond with a kid—some harmless secret like two lollipops instead of one, a cartoon band aid instead of a plain one, and a finger to the lips with a not-so-subtle, shhhh.
April took Owen to her clinic, and he followed her into the back room to get her camera from her locker.
Of course, there was no chance she was going to walk into her place of work with a young child without word getting around in record time.
Within minutes, Crystal and Nathan burst into the room to see the impossible for themselves.
“Who’s that you’ve got with you, April?” Crystal asked, grinning from ear to ear because she undoubtedly already knew.
“This is Owen,” April said. “I’m watching him for the afternoon.”
“This is the lumberjack’s kid, right?” Nathan said.
No one bothered to answer that. Crystal only rolled her eyes. Owen asked, “What’s a lumberjack?”
“Someone who cuts down trees,” Nathan answered in the most generic way possible.
“Oh!” Owen said with a grin. “I guess Dad’s one of those, then. Me, too. I cut down a tree once. We made firewood.”
Crystal crouched down to talk to Owen on his level. “That’s so cool,” she said. “I’ve never cut down a tree before. Is it very difficult?”
Owen shrugged. “Sort of. But I did it. You just have to do it. That’s the thing. Even if it’s hard, you just have to keep at it. That’s what Dad says anyway.”
“Your dad sounds pretty smart,” Crystal said with a wink.
Owen nodded. “Oh, he is! He’s pretty much the smartest guy I know. We’re making a present for him today.”
“Oh, are you?” Nathan turned his attention to April and gave her a sly smile.
She laughed nervously. “It’s not a big deal. I thought I could get a good portrait of Owen for him. We came here to get my camera. It’s a surprise, though.”
Crystal joined Nathan with yet another knowing smile. April thought it was entirely too many, but she couldn’t be mad at them. “A gift, huh?” Crystal said. “For the smartest lumberjack in Summit Falls. I don’t envy you. I couldn’t shop for him, but you seem to have found the perfect present.”
April hardly knew what to say, but Owen cut in and saved her from having to respond. “She has. Because she’s the smartest nurse in Summit Falls.”
Both Nathan and Crystal burst out laughing, and Crystal said, “Well, I can’t argue with that, although I’d like to.” April could tell both her friends were charmed by Owen, and she couldn’t blame them. He was an adorable kid.
And then there was his father. Owen himself was just the icing on the cake. Cal was the cake, which April was craving more and more with every day that passed.