14. Eden
14
EDEN
E den was just arranging her desk and trying not to glance at her watch when she heard footsteps in the hallway.
“ Mom, Mom, Mom ,” Jack yelled as he ran into her room. “I rode my bike all over the place with Coach.”
“Hey, that’s great,” she told him, hugging him back as he wrapped himself around her waist.
“Hey,” Axel said, smiling at her from the doorway to her classroom.
The man was so big that he practically took up the whole threshold. She smiled back at him, feeling grateful.
“It sounds like he had fun,” she said.
“Me too,” Axel told her. “And I think one or two other kids might want to join us tomorrow if he wants to do it again.”
“Wow,” Eden said, looking down at Jack. “How about that?”
“We saw the whole town,” Jack told her. “We even saw the sun coming up. ”
“That’s very cool,” she said, her heart warming. “What should you say to Coach Williams before you head to class?”
“Thank you, Coach,” Jack yelled, barreling over to the man.
Eden watched in amazement as Jack hugged Axel around the waist, just like he’d done to her.
Axel’s handsome face went soft for a moment, then he wrapped his arms around Jack too and tousled his hair. The simple gesture made her heart thunder and she had to steady herself with a hand on her desk.
“My pleasure,” Axel told Jack, his voice a little husky. “Should we bring some of your friends tomorrow, or should it be just us?”
“A player is nothing without his team,” Jack said, letting go and peeking up at his coach.
“Well said,” Axel told him, offering a hand for a high five.
Jack gave him a nice loud one, and then trotted out of the room, presumably to get back out to the playground to get some fun in before school started.
Axel’s eyes moved to Eden, but he stayed where he was, keeping so still that she was suddenly reminded of a big cat trying not to scare its prey.
But that was ridiculous. Axel was just a regular man, dropping off someone else’s kid on his way to go volunteer.
“Thank you again,” she said. “Jack clearly loved his adventure with you today.”
“He’s a great kid,” Axel said, nodding, his eyes still on hers .
It hit her suddenly that she’d been wanting to talk to him anyway, about her idea.
Thank goodness I remembered instead of just standing here staring.
“Listen, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something after school,” she ventured. “An idea I had for the kids?”
“How about we talk about it over dinner tonight?”
The question was posed so gently, and he was still just leaning casually against the doorframe. But there was something about the way he was looking at her…
“I guess so,” she heard herself say. “Jack is going home after school with Benny today, and he’s staying there for supper.”
“I’ll pick you up at six,” Axel said, nodding and heading off down the hallway before she fully realized what had just happened.
Am I… going on a date?
No, no, that couldn’t be right. They were just going to be talking about school stuff and grabbing something to eat at the same time. That wasn’t a date. It was just being efficient.
She grabbed her phone and glanced at the time. She still had a few minutes before the kids would come streaming in.
Quickly, she tapped on Daisy Webb’s contact.
The phone only rang twice before her friend picked up.
“Hey, Eden,” Daisy said. “What’s up? Can Jack still come today? Fair warning, it’s pretty much all Benny talked about all weekend. ”
“Yes,” Eden said, smiling. “Definitely. But I sort of wanted to ask you something.”
Suddenly she had no idea what to say.
“You still there?” Daisy asked.
“I’m, um, I’m having dinner with someone from school,” Eden ventured.
“Ohhhh, is it that gorgeous Axel Williams?” Daisy whispered, sounding delighted. “I heard he was following you around the market like a giant, hunky duckling.”
“It… it is,” Eden said, a little thrown by the image. “But it’s not like that. I mean, it’s not a date.”
Is it?
There was a little noise on the other end of the call, probably baby Hope wanting something, and Daisy softly replying to her toddler.
“Sorry about that,” Daisy said. “So, you’re not bringing Jack?”
“Well, no,” Eden said.
“If you’re not bringing Jack, then believe me, it’s a date,” Daisy said happily. “Everyone knows he adores Jack. He thinks Jack’s going to be a great football player one day. Benny said he even brings him up in their class sometimes.”
“Wow,” Eden said.
If Axel mentioned a third grader to the fourth graders, that really did mean he thought a lot of his potential.
“Yeah, wow,” Daisy said, giggling a little. “So anyway, go and have fun. And stay out as late as you want. We’ve got Jack. ”
“Thank you,” Eden said, glad they were on the phone so her friend wouldn’t see her blush.
The school day seemed to pass in slow motion. Every time she looked up, it felt like the clock must be broken.
I’m not nervous, because it’s not a date, she told herself a few times.
But it didn’t help. She was nervous anyway. What had she been thinking, saying he could pick her up and take her to dinner?
Why did he even want that?
I heard he was following you around the market like a giant, hunky duckling.
She shook her head every time she thought of Daisy’s words, but there was something so sweet about them—it was the opposite of how Eden remembered life with Jack’s dad.
Stop that right now. You don’t need another man. You have Jack and your wonderful job, too. Your life is good, so let it be.
And so it went all day, confusion cycling endlessly in her head every time the kids were busy with their tasks and she had a moment to think.
When her class was down in gym, she came back to her room to do a little work, and to try not to think about Axel Williams. She just knew that if she went down there, she would just manage to put her foot in her mouth somehow.
How am I going to handle dinner?
When the last bell finally rang, she remembered that she wouldn’t even have the distraction of Jack telling her about his whole day, since he was going home with Benny.
She took a little extra time grading some spelling quizzes and organizing her classroom, then walked home on her own, a little later than usual, but still with way too much time to kill before six.
The walk from school back to their little house was lovely though. The sun set so early this time of year that all the holiday lights were already on, twinkling on the houses and reflecting in the patches of snow still clinging to the porch roofs and window frames. She felt warm inside at the sight, even though her breath was pluming in the cold air.
Before she even got to their street, flurries began drifting down again and she smiled, thinking about how excited everyone here got about snow, even though it came every winter. Back in the city, there were so many other things going on that no one really paid attention to the small stuff. But here, the simple pleasures meant everything.
By the time she got home, she was feeling more herself. She took a quick shower, pulled on a soft sweater and her favorite pair of jeans, and even smoothed on a little lip gloss.
Downstairs again, she grabbed a glass of water and gazed at the calendar on the fridge as she drank it.
She had definitely been focusing most of her energy on the classroom lately. It was past time to get a Christmas tree and do some of the other things she and Jack liked to do to celebrate the holidays .
She felt a pang in her heart as she thought about what all of this must be like for him. She knew on a soul-deep level that being on their own was best for Jack, but she still wondered if he held onto fond memories of those holidays with his dad’s family. To Eden, they had seemed so formal and not much fun for a little boy. But she worried that it hurt Jack not to be part of that big family anymore.
In the beginning, they talked more about his feelings, but he’d been smaller then. Now that it felt like they both had healed, she hated to pick at the scabs, even though Jack could probably express himself better. And when she tried, he normally just shrugged and said I’m happy, Mom.
She smiled at the thought of his sweetness. She couldn’t bring herself to regret a thing about the past when she knew it had landed her with her wonderful son.
And my parents are coming for Christmas she reminded herself. We’ll have a nice noisy Christmas with a very full little house this year.
Before she knew it, the doorbell was ringing, sending a happy little shiver of anticipation through her at the prospect of what might or might not be a date.