Olivia
Ethan loads his paper plate with a second hot dog and a pile of chips that spills over the edge while I look around, hoping I'll see Caleb.
So far, this evening has gone well, though I haven't seen the one neighbor I've been hoping to spend time with this evening.
But the tables of food that stretch the entire block are enticing enough to have distracted me this long.
I pop a chip in my mouth and bump shoulders with Ethan, who sits beside me scarfing his food like a starving child.
"Mom, can I have a third hot dog?" Ethan asks, ketchup already smeared across his chin.
"You haven't finished the second one yet.
" I hand him a napkin, and he wipes his face with it then balls it up and shoves it in his pocket.
"Eat what you have and then we'll see." This kid must be about to go through a growth spurt for as much as he's eating, and I hope it slows down.
If he keeps eating like this, it'll double my grocery budget.
"Where's Caleb?" He cranes his neck and looks around the party as he crams food into his mouth. Then with a mouthful he says, "He said he'd be here."
"He'll find us. He probably got held up somewhere.
" I take a bite of someone's potato salad, but I’m curious too, still watching everyone walking around.
There are so many people out here, I'd say our neighbors invited people not from this neighborhood, which isn't a bad thing.
It just makes me nervous to let Ethan out of my sight.
With Derek' s threats, I'm sure he'd find some way to say I'm irresponsible for letting Ethan play.
"Tyler brought his nerf gun and his mom said he can use it in the yard. Can I go play when I'm done?"
"Which yard?"
"Tyler's, right there." He points at the house three doors down where a group of boys run through the open gate, shrieking and shooting foam darts.
I watch them, counting heads. Four kids, all Ethan's age, all within sight of parents in the driveway.
But I'm already cringing as my boy takes the last bite of his hot dog.
Suddenly, the idea of a third one has vanished and he'd rather play.
My chest gets tight with the thought of letting my boy slip away, but I don't want to live in that fear. This is his only childhood, and controlling him because his father is a total jerk isn't fair to him.
"Stay in the front yard where I can see you," I tell him, "and don't go past the Garcias' house or cross the street. If you need me, I'll be right here."
"Got it." He shoves the last bite of hot dog into his mouth, grabs his plate, then runs for the trash can. He misses and the plate hits the ground, but he picks it up. When he's disposed of it properly, he sprints toward Tyler's house with his arms pumping.
I watch him disappear through the gate and my chest tightens. Ethan needs to run and play and be a kid, and I need to let him without making my anxiety his problem. He's safe, and I have to remind myself that five times, though it kills my appetite.
I pick at my potato salad and watch Helen walk over carrying a glass of lemonade and a plate piled with coleslaw and cornbread.
She sits down beside me and gestures at the party with her lemonade.
Helen is not from this neighborhood, but she's close friends with Mrs. Baker, so I’m not shocked to see her here.
"There are so many people out here," she says, surveying the crowd. "Can you believe how much food there is?" I'm grateful to have someone to keep me company and distract me from worrying, but God, I wish Ethan would stay closer to me with this large of a crowd.
"I'm stuffed… Don't think I can eat another bite." I nod toward the cornhole tournament where two dads argue about a scoring call. "Have you played a game of cornhole yet?" I ask, and she snickers.
"Oh, I'm not really one to play games. I much prefer conversation.
" Helen takes a bite of cornbread and brushes crumbs off her lap, then the conversation lulls a while.
I look off where Ethan's shouts come from, still feeling a bit anxious but not as bad as before.
Then Helen says, "I was thinking about the festival in the fall, the one the Chamber puts on downtown in September.
I want to run a booth for the boutique. We could set up a pop-up shop with seasonal inventory, maybe some accessories and candles. "
"That would be incredible, Helen. The foot traffic alone would be worth it." Speaking with her distracts me a little. The Chamber Festival would be a great business opportunity and I feel honored that she'd talk with me about this ahead of time. I didn't realize she trusts me this much.
"That's what I thought. And I'd want you running it." She points her fork at me. "You're better with customers than I am and you know the inventory better than anyone. I'd handle the logistics and you'd handle the people."
"I'd love that." After the negativity of the past few months, this bit of confidence in my abilities is a huge ego boost. Helen has no idea how much that kind of faith means to me right now.
"We'd need a tent, a couple of display racks, and about two hundred dollars' worth of signage," Helen says, pulling her phone out and opening a notes app. "I'll start pricing it out next week. If we commit by next week, we can get the early registration discount."
"Put me down for whatever you need." I take a sip of my water. "I can design the signage too. Ethan has a tablet with a drawing app, and I've gotten pretty good at making flyers for his school events."
Helen laughs and starts typing notes into her phone while I take another bite of food.
Neighbors I've known for ten years stop by and chat, asking about Ethan, complimenting the food, making plans for the fireworks later this week.
That's a bit of a shock after the way Derek destroyed my friendships with some of them following the divorce, but it feels good to be getting back to normal now.
When a shadow drifts across the grass, I look up to see Caleb standing over us with a beer in one hand and a lemonade in the other. He holds the lemonade out to me, and I take it, grinning up at him.
"You found us," I say.
"You weren't hard to find." He sits down, and I lean in and peck him on the cheek. Helen watches and it makes my cheeks warm. But I refuse to keep my relationship a secret anymore.
"Caleb, you remember Helen," I say, gesturing between them, "my boss."
"Mrs. Jones." He nods at her. "Good to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Caleb." Helen sets her plate down and dusts hands. "How are you settling in? Olivia's told me how you moved here."
"Oh, this woman right here is helping me out. She's pretty incredible, you know." He flicks a crumb off my face with his thumb, but that smile is still hiding. He's still so serious, but at least he's not grumpy anymore.
"She's a good woman," Helen says, winking.
"You should try the cornbread," I tell Caleb, changing the subject before Helen jumps in with town gossip, which she's been known to do. "Mrs. Garcia made it and it's incredible."
"I don't think I've ever eaten cornbread."
"You haven't tried cornbread? That's insane. Everyone's tried cornbread."
"I haven't," he says, shrugging. And he cracks a small smile, which I adore. He's getting more and more comfortable with me, and I love that.
I shake my head and Helen chuckles and stands, picking up her plate and taking it with her. "I have to go find Frank and keep him out of trouble. It was good seeing you, Olivia. I'll see you at work tomorrow."
I wave to Helen and Caleb steals a chip off my plate. "Good party," he says after a while.
"Good party," I agree. "Ethan wanted to do the three-legged race, but I think he forgot about it the second he saw the Nerf guns."
"Probably for the best. We'd have smoked the competition," he says, stealing another chip.
"Oh, yeah?" I snicker, picturing him running along dragging Ethan.
"Yes, well I'd have picked him up and just run." Caleb grins and chews the chip as he picks up his beer to sip, and as I turn back to look where Ethan went, my throat constricts.
A silver truck rounds the corner at the end of the street and rolls past the parked cars, and I recognize it immediately.
It's Derek's truck, but why the hell is he here?
This isn't his neighborhood anymore, and the fact that he's shown up means he's just trying to provoke me again.
Unless he thinks he's going to show up and talk to Ethan to get my son to beg me and make me look like the bad mom for saying no.
Caleb follows my gaze and watches the car pass, but doesn't get up. I think he's as shocked to see it as I am. It makes me squirm and instantly feel panicked.
"I need Ethan closer to me," I say, already starting to stand.
Caleb leans in and presses his mouth to my cheek. "Go get him, okay? I'm gonna check this out." It feels so much better knowing he's got my back as I stomp across the lawn to find my boy.
I'm not sure why Derek has just shown up, but he's not going to like my response if he tries pushing me around.
I'm not playing his game anymore. He pulled this shit with other women and he's not going to get away with it with me.