Trent brightened. “I guess I better come up with something to wow you then.”
“I don’t need to be wowed,” I shook my head.
“Yes,” he cupped my cheek, “you do.” He slowly backed away from me, his eyes never wavering from mine. “Friday.” He stated. “Don’t even think of backing out on me. I’ll hunt you down if you do,” he winked, smiling in jest.
“I don’t doubt your finder skills,” I called after him as I opened my car door. I slid inside and gripped the wheel in my hands. I didn’t pull away. I sat there thinking. There was a…giddiness fluttering through my body. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt since…well, since the night Trent and I were together in the tent.
Snow flurries began to fall on the windshield and I knew I couldn’t stay here any longer. I had to get back home…back to reality.
???
“Row! Can I have that?” Tristan pointed enthusiastically at a bar of Hershey’s chocolate as we stood in the checkout line at the grocery store. Since I’d forgotten about Thanksgiving, I hadn’t picked up anything to make a meal while I was here with Trent. Shopping with Ivy and Tristan was exhausting. They wanted everything.
“Tristan, you know what the answer is going to be, so why do you keep asking?”
The little boy frowned, lowering his head.
I hated always being ‘the bad guy’ and saying no, but I knew we couldn’t afford special treats. Heck, I would’ve loved some Rice Krispie Treats, but that was a luxury, and we couldn’t have those. Looking down at Tristan’s sad face, as he said nothing, threatened to crack my resolve, but I stood strong. I needed to save as much money as I could, because hopefully in a year, I could fight for custody of the kids. I needed to show the court that I was responsible.
We checked out and headed to the car. The chilly air seeped through my thin coat. If this weather kept up we were going to have an unusually harsh winter.
“Do we have to go home?” Ivy whined from the back of the car.
I frowned. Boy, did I know the feeling of not wanting to be at home. No matter how hard I tried to make it seem like a comforting place, the kids still didn’t want to be there. When my mom and step-dad were home, you couldn’t help but feel an icy chill like they wanted you out of the way.
“Uh…” I pondered. It was cold so I couldn’t take them to the playground and there wasn’t much else to do. “Do you want to go to the library and pick out some new books? It’ll be warm and Mary should be there.”
“Yes!” Ivy smiled widely in excitement. “Will she have cookies?”
Mary always made the best cookies and often brought them into work so we could all have some.
“Cookies!” Tristan exclaimed, hopping up and down in his car seat. “I want cookies!”
“Don’t get too excited guys,” I warned, “she might not have any.”
“I hope she does,” Ivy licked her lips, “I love cookies.”
“Me too!” Tristan piped in.
I shook my head and pulled out into traffic, heading downtown to the library. I wasn’t worried about the groceries since I didn’t have anything that would melt…not that it would with how cold it was.
I parked and helped Tristan out of his seat. Ivy bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. As hyper as she was today, I wasn’t sure she needed any cookies.
“We have to hold hands when we cross the street,” I warned them both. Tristan was already at the age where he didn’t want to hold my hand, but I wasn’t about to let them go running out into the road.
We crossed the street and bound up the steps.
Inside, Tristan looked around in awe. “Are we in a m-m-muzum?”
I laughed. “I think you mean a museum,” I ruffled his sandy hair, “and no, this is the library.”
“Oh. I knew that,” he smiled up at me. “I forgot.”
“It’s been a long time since you’ve been here,” I bent down, helping him out of his bulky coat—the coat Trent had picked out. I draped the coat over my arm and stood up straight. “Come on, let’s go find Mary and then we’ll go to the kids section.”
“Cookies?” Tristan brightened, his little hand finding mine.
“Maybe,” I shrugged.