Chapter Eleven
“Sometimes to get her attention, you have to show up when she doesn’t even know she needs you.” - Graham
DEREK
Showing up unannounced at the house of the woman you were massively falling for, with nothing more than a little plan to take her and her daughter on an all-day outing, is probably not my brightest idea.
However, this only really occurs to me after I’ve already knocked on the door.
Inside I can hear music playing and a little girl’s voice belting out a song. I smile at the image I create in my mind of the girl, probably in her Elsa pajamas, making her mom dance with her.
The door creaks open, and Elizabeth’s eyes widen in surprise. “Oh! Derek! What are you doing here?”
“Hey,” I start, then clear my throat when I feel something stick in it.
Just the sight of her makes me lose my words.
“I thought I could treat you and Aurora to something fun today,” I say, and I can see her surprise grow.
“Unless you’re busy,” I add quickly, sending up a prayer that she doesn’t blow me off.
Though she has every right, given that I gave her zero warning.
“Um.” She glances down and behind her, obviously contemplating something.
Whatever it was, she shrugs to herself and opens the door wide, letting me pass.
“Sorry about the mess.” She gestures around, and I see a big pile of laundry on the couch waiting to be folded.
“It’s our reset day, so it’s a bit chaotic. ”
“I’m sorry,” I say, turning to look at her fully for the first time, and I hiss when I see her face. “Ouch. Spend too much time outside?”
Her hand flies up to her nose, where she gingerly pats it. “Oh, yeah.” Her eyes crinkle as she cringes at herself. “We went out on my parents’ boat yesterday and got a little sun.”
I shake my head. “That’s not a little. What’d you put on it?”
“Oh, just some ice and a cool rag last night. It’ll calm down.”
I turn then, heading into her kitchen and helping myself to her tea I saw in here last time when I was looking for glasses and plates.
“Oh shoot, Derek, I’m sorry. I should have offered you a drink.” Elizabeth starts to reach around me, grabbing a glass when she notices the tea. “Did you want it iced or hot?”
“Elizabeth,” I state, turning to face her. I just now let myself fully take her in. Her long, thick hair is piled high on her head, random frizzy pieces falling from it. She’s got a sleep set on that’s just a flimsy tank top and shorts, and her tan legs lead to white-painted toenails.
And she’s my absolute fantasy.
“I’m not thirsty,” I finally say, my eyes reconnecting with hers. If she noticed me checking her out, she’s good at hiding it. “I’m getting you something for that burn. You don’t need your skin to be hurting tomorrow at work.”
“Oh,” she says, setting down the glass she’s holding gingerly, and I scoop it up, needing it anyway. “You have some secret remedy you’re willing to share with me?”
I glance over, wondering if she’s flirting with me.
Everyone at game night was sure she was dropping hints at wanting to go out, but then she threw me by going out with someone else. I was starting to really wonder if I was the problem here, and that was precisely why I gave in to my desire to see her today.
I was dying to. I couldn’t stand the thought of waiting for her to need me to babysit again and losing a chance to show her that I’m a good time.
“I’m willing to bet I can trust you with my secrets,” I say, throwing a wink her way and watching as her lobster face gets just a tinge redder.
God, I love the way she blushes, the way she flusters around me with nerves. It tells me she cares what I think about her, though I doubt I could find a single fault, but it also makes me feel better knowing we were both feeling similarly toward one another.
My chest fills with something I haven’t felt in a long time. That pesky little bit of hope pops up and makes me lose my cool every time. I go above and beyond, almost too beyond, and that’s exactly what happened in my last relationship.
I let the woman walk all over me, call every shot, make me miss things with my friends, and made me doubt everything they ever said to me.
She’d say things like, they think you’re stupid, they think they’re better than you, they hate what we have because they’re jealous.
And some part of me believed what she was saying, because there have been many instances where I didn’t feel like I belonged in my little group, that I was just the comedic relief instead of a valued friend.
I’d nearly lost them because of her, and now, I was wary of every single woman I crossed paths with.
Elizabeth, though… she’s different. Not only can I see that, but my friends can too. Quinn is an excellent judge of character, and knowing that they were not just friends but roommates gives Elizabeth the green light I need.
Leading her over to the table with the tea bag steeping in cold water, I sit her down, taking the seat across from her, and take out the tea bag, wringing it for a moment before dabbing it gently on her sunburned face. She hisses for a moment before a soft moan leaves her mouth.
I keep my mouth shut, focusing on the job at hand. Her eyes are closed, giving me ample amounts of time to watch her closely, to admire the relaxed features of her expression as I take care of the sunburn.
“This feels ridiculously nice,” she hums and flutters her eyes open. My hand is still on her cheeks, but our eyes catch and hold for a moment.
Something thrums underneath my skin, some pull that has me wanting so badly to lean in, close enough for my lips to take hers and finally taste the woman I’ve been thinking about nonstop for weeks.
A door slamming and little feet scampering down the hallway have us both jerking away from one another, our attention darting to the little disturbance.
“Derek!” Aurora barrels at me, leaving me seconds to throw the tea bag in the cup before she’s in my lap and wrapping her little arms around my neck. I give her a squeeze back.
“Hey little Rora,” I say, clearing my throat again. I see a similar red on her cheeks and see it’s not nearly as bad as her mother’s. This solidifies that she is an amazing mom who probably worried more about her little girl than herself. “Looks like you need my special cure for sunburn too.”
“It seriously is shocking how much better I feel already,” Elizabeth says, eyeing the glass in astonishment.
“Special cure? I want some!”
I laugh at her excited expression and grab the bag, going over her cheeks gently to soothe her burn. When I’m done, I turn back to Elizabeth, Aurora still on my lap, and I smile at the two of them. “So, I know you have plans today,” I start, but Elizabeth is quick to correct me.
“Not real plans, just laundry. Laundry can be done anytime.”
I feel that hope bloom bigger at her words, and I nod my head as a grin spreads over my lips. “I was hoping I could take you guys to the farmers’ market. Maybe get some lunch. They have a bunch of fun stuff there.”
Elizabeth lights up at the offer. “Oh wow, I haven’t been there in years. Rora’s never even gone.”
I look at the little girl who’s vibrating with excitement and smile at her. “What do you think, then? Want to have some fun?”
She throws her arms straight up in the air and yells, “I love fun!”
As always, the farmers’ market is booming this Sunday afternoon. There are vendors that are local and some that traveled a good distance to be here. This place is right by the hardware store, which, unfortunately, is now closed on Sundays due to a lack of need from everyone who attends the market.
I push that thought aside as we walk to a picnic bench area, our hands full of different foods to try.
We’ve been here for a couple of hours, and the girls were fascinated by each and every booth they went to, taking their time to find different trinkets to take home.
I bought Rora a crocheted elephant that she was dying to have, giving Theodore a nice new friend.
Elizabeth tried to buy it, but I insisted.
I noticed her looking at a beautiful glass flower necklace, but she left without it when Rora pulled her to something else.
I took that opportunity to buy it when she wasn’t looking.
Splurging on things like this is not normal for me. I lead a very minimalist life that I’m happy with, but I love giving people gifts. It’s something that makes me happy.
Sitting at the picnic table, Rora dives into her food while Elizabeth and I pick at a few items that we decided to share.
She looks gorgeous, with the sun hitting her and the slight breeze pushing her hair around.
It’s well into fall now, and people are doing things like decorating for Halloween.
I look down the way and notice how plain my storefront looks.
“Whatcha looking at?” Elizabeth asks, licking salt from fries off of her lips.
I glance back up to her eyes and shrug. “My store down there.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. “Your store? You have a store?”
I nod, pointing it out. “Yeah, it was my dad’s hardware store.”
She looks and squints, reading the sign. “Fowler’s Hardware.” She tilts her head and seems to think for a minute. “Fowler…”
I squint at her in confusion, wondering why she’s looking at me like that. “What’s wrong?”
“Okay.” She twists her lips, looking like she doesn’t want to ask a question that’s clearly on her mind. “You didn’t happen to go to camp when you were a kid, did you?”
“I did…” I hedge, using a napkin to wipe off my hand, eyeing her strangely.
“Okay, so this might sound weird, but we may have gone to the same one. There was this goofy kid, he was really fun, and he went by the name Fowler.”
My eyes grow wide, and I lean forward across the table. “You went to WhimsyWoods?”
A delighted laugh leaves her mouth, and she slaps her hand over it. “Oh my gosh. You did. It was you.” Her cheeks tinge brighter pink. “You used to leave a wildflower on my pillow every day.”
My heart nearly falls out of my chest in shock and surprise, my eyes taking her in all over again as if it’s the first time. “Birdie.”
She nods, her mouth parting in another laugh. “Yeah, that’s me.”
“Holy sh—I mean, shoot.” I glance at Rora, who looks about ready to pass out, and glance back at my first childhood crush.
“Oh man, I had it bad for that boy at camp.”
My brows lift in surprise. “You liked me back?”
“I mean.” She shrugs, smiling at me. “How could I not? You were the life of the party back then, and every girl had a huge crush, but then you left me those flowers, and my heart nearly burst with first-crush butterflies.”
This new development makes everything seem to change for me in my mind. I’m not just pursuing the woman of my dreams, but it’s this long, what I thought was unrequited, crush hitting me at full force.
“I can’t believe this.” I reach across and rub a finger over her knuckle. “Birdie. What the hell are the chances?”
“Um.” She tilts her head and says, “Maybe one in a few thousand?”
“I looked for you the next year and the next.”
“I got moved to a different part of camp. I think I saw you a few times, but I was too nervous to do or say anything.” She leans over, tugging Rora’s body into her lap.
The little girl has fully fallen asleep now, and Birdie—because yeah, she was Birdie to me—seamlessly adjusts her, laying a big sun hat over her little face to protect her and rocks her gently.
She was a phenomenal mother.
“I would have been thrilled if you’d said something.” I rest my forearms against the table and just stare at her in wonder. “I’m still in shock over this.”
“Me too.” She smiles and shakes her head. “You know, I was thinking about that boy at camp just the other day. Wondering if someday I would feel those butterflies for anyone else like I did for him.” She looks away, embarrassed maybe. “That probably sounds silly.”
“Not at all.” I look at her, wondering if this was the plan all along. If, when I thought about dating or finding the person I wanted to love for the rest of my life, if when I sat down and pined after a soulmate I didn’t know, if she was the plan.
If that’s the case, then I met my soulmate when I was thirteen years old.
I think for a moment about how different my life would have been if we’d seen each other again, if we had kept in touch somehow when we both went home.
Would I have joined the military? Would I have ever met Graham or the guys?
Would my dad have not gotten sick because I was around to catch it in time?
Would Aurora not be here?
I glance at the girl, and for once, I’m undeniably grateful that our paths led us to this moment, right here.