Chapter 10
Rhett and Lauren started their morning early and left for the doctor before I even got out of bed. So now Winnie and I sit on the back deck eating the sugary cereals she convinced Rhett to buy for her.
“So. Win.” I lean forward, reaching for my cup of coffee. “I have a question.”
“Another one?” she asks, wide eyed. “Are you having a baby too?”
“No, no, honey I— No.” I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “What would you think about staying here for the whole summer?”
She looks up, her eyes narrowed like she doesn’t believe me.
“With Aunt Laurey getting ready for the baby, I was thinking we could find our own apartment in town to stay for the summer. I can take you by the place I’m thinking about here in a bit.”
She takes a bite, thinking. “What about camp?”
“There’s a YMCA here too. The one Tanner went to. How about we go look at the apartment, then go check out the YMCA and then you can decide, okay?”
She nods, a touch unsure.
When we pull around to the parking lot of the apartment, I help Winnie out of the van and my eyes drift over to the auto shop.
Tanner's truck is parked there but I don’t see him this time, no matter how hard I look.
However, there are a few guys sitting out back eating lunch.
I think I see them nudge each other and point over at me.
They look tired and greasy, but all too amused to see me.
“So.” I hold Winnie’s hand as we cross the parking lot. Heat waves rise from the cracked concrete. “Ms. Dollie owns this part of the building. The downstairs is a bookstore, and the upstairs apartment is where we would stay.”
I pop my head into the store and see an older woman restocking the little mugs with the store’s logo on them. She has wire framed glasses and almost white hair.
“Ms. Dollie?” I ask, and the woman looks up. “I'm Hannah, I—”
“Hannah Dorada. And Winnie, right?” Dollie comes over, eyes as warm as the day is. “Tanny said you might be swinging by today. Go take a look around. If you need anything, you let me know.”
“Tanny?” Winnie giggles. “That’s funny.”
“I’m all about a nickname.” Dollie winks. “My own son is called Ricky.”
“Mommy doesn’t have a nickname. Just Hannah. I guess mommy is her nickname.”
“Thank you, Ms. Dollie.” I smile and gently guide Winnie toward the door.
Upstairs, the apartment is just as Tanner and I left it. Winnie walks around wide eyed, opening cupboards and peeking out the curtains before wandering into the smaller room.
“Is this one mine?”
“Yup. And look, you would have a view of the street below.” She climbs onto the window seat and peers down. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s good.” Her voice is resolute, almost diplomatic.
“Do you want to stay?”
“Well duh.” She shrugs then stands and launches herself from the seat to the bed. “I just wanted to see if I liked it here or at Aunt Laurey’s house better. I don’t want to go home.”
I laugh and lay down next to her on the bed. “You’re a stinker.”
“Will Daddy know I'm here?”
“Uh.” I watch the outdated wooden fan spin above our heads. “If he asks, I will let him know. Maybe I’ll let Uncle Seb know and he can come visit. But come on, I want to show you one more thing.”
I take her through my room to the balcony.
Her smile stretches across her face as she walks around the little space.
There’s nothing glamorous about it. The flower boxes are empty, the table has four rickety metal chairs around it and the view is nothing but a parking lot and trees.
But to Winnie’s wide-eyed smile, it seems like magic.
She spins around to face me. “Could we eat out here?”
“Sure. Maybe we can have a pizza party out here.”
“Can we plant flowers in the boxes? The seeds from Tan?”
“I don’t see why not.”
She nods and climbs into one of the chairs. “Can we sleep here tonight?”
“Not tonight. I have to sign some papers and stuff first. What do you think? Should we let Ms. Dollie know we want to stay?”
Winnie nods excitedly.
“So?” Dollie asks when we get back downstairs. “What did she think?
“She loved it. We would love to rent it for the summer if it’s available.”
“Oh, it definitely is. Just write down your email. You keep the key and just move in whenever you need. I’ll have Tanner send ya the rental info. He’s the one who got it online just a few weeks ago.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, he said if I wanted to actually make money on it then I needed to get on the line.” She shrugs. “So really, he’s online for me, and I gave him my chickens as a thank you. And now he’s bringing me renters too. He’s a good guy, that Tanner Auclair.”
“He is,” I agree and spot the twinkle of some sort of knowing in her eyes. “Thank you, again.”
The local YMCA is a fraction of the size of the one back home. This one also looks like it hasn’t been updated in at least thirty years. There’s a woman about my age working behind the desk with her Y issued polo shirt. Her name tag is crooked. Riley.
“Can I help you?” she asks, chipper as a camp counselor should be.
“Uh, yes. I'm here to sign my daughter up for the summer program.”
The woman’s smile falls. “The program is full. I can put her on the waitlist if you’d like but—”
“Tanner Auclair said—”
“Oh.” Her eyes pop open now. “You must be Winnie then.”
She shuffles through some papers and pulls out a blank enrollment form. “She can start Monday. Just bring clothes you can move in and a water bottle. What size shirt is she? It’s included in her program fee.”
“Youth small. How much is the program fee?” I pull out my wallet, but the woman smiles.
“It’s all taken care of.” She hands me an information packet. “Any allergies we should be aware of?”
“Seafood. She’ll have an EpiPen in her bag. And I’ll bring an extra just in case. What do you mean it’s taken care of?”
“Seafood,” she scribbles down. “EpiPen in bag. Got it. It was taken care of when her spot was reserved for her. This packet here has just about has every bit of information you’ll need.
Schedules, activities, all of that. She will be in Mrs. Maryanne’s group with the other five-year-olds.
My own daughter is in that group. I will make sure to find you on Monday to introduce you. ”
“Thank you so much,” I tell her. “We will see you guys on Monday.”
“Mommy, I get a shirt!” Winnie squeals as she holds my hand and skips through the parking lot.
“Yes, you do.” I fight the prickle of happy tears when I see the smile on her face as she crawls into her seat.
Back at the cabin, Lauren is cooking and looks substantially less green.
“How did the doctor’s appointment go?” I ask gingerly.
“Great. I’m measuring at just about five weeks.
” Lauren hands the spoon to Rhett and grabs the ultrasound that’s being held to the fridge by a Lac Dunes magnet.
It’s hardly recognizable as a real baby.
But it’s there. I hold the little black and white photograph, identical to the one that once dashed my hopes for my future.
“I’m due on Valentine’s Day. Are you crying? ”
I laugh. “You’re having a baby!”
Lauren then bursts into laughing tears with me. “I can’t believe that’s inside of me right now.”
“Let me see.” Winnie squeezes her way into our hug and peers at the black and white film.
“That little bean is inside my belly right now.”
Winnie's little finger traces the outline of the baby and then looks up at Lauren. “How did it get in there?”
Lauren looks up at me, then at Rhett who is already laughing.
“God put it there,” I tell her. “Remember at Sunday school?”
Her face pinches together. “Oh yeah. They say when a mommy and a daddy love each other they can get a baby.”
“Exactly.” Lauren lets out a sigh of relief.
“That’s why my mommy and daddy only had me. They didn’t have any love left.” She pulls away. “Can I go play outside?”
We are momentarily stunned. Lauren and Rhett because it’s awkward, me because well, she isn’t wrong.
“Sure. Don’t go far.”
“I was afraid we were going to have to have the sex talk and my niece would never look at me the same way again,” Lauren says once Winnie is out the door.
“I can hardly look at the two of you as it is. Also, Winnie loved the apartment.”
“Wait, really?” Lauren grabs my shoulders. “You’re staying?”
“Only for the summer,” I remind her and let her hug me.
“For the summer,” she repeats. “When can you move in?”
“I'm not moving in. I'm just bringing my stuff from here and putting it over there.”
Her eyes narrow. “You know what I mean.”
“Tomorrow, I guess.”
She squeals and hugs me again. “I can’t believe it.”
“Me either,” I admit, unsure if I know what I am getting myself into.