It All Started With a Lima Bean (16 page)

That was the best hour he’d ever spent at that dance studio. They’d decided to skip out on Madison’s class and help Leah instead. Watching his little girl interact with other children that society deemed as disabled was overwhelming. The children in Leah’s class truly did have remarkable powers. One even wore a red cape with her tutu and leotard. They were not concerned about how they looked; they just followed Leah’s lead with unbelievable joy spilling from their souls. He’d smiled the entire time. A few had assistants to help, but for the most part, they followed along to the best of their abilities including a girl bound to her wheelchair. He learned that Leah taught this class once a month, and that they held their own recital once a year. Madison and he would certainly be participating again.

After walking into his favorite coffee shop with his tutu-clad daughter, Caleb scanned the menu even though he already knew what he was going to order. Why he did that every time, he didn’t know. He was such a boring creature of habit.

The regular barista, Rachael, took one look at Madison and raced around the corner to snatch her up into a hug. “Well hello pretty girl. Did you just come from dance class?” The only thing that bugged him about going to this coffee shop was knowing Rachael had a crush on him. She was trying to get to him through Madison, and that never sat well with him.

“We helped my daddy’s friend with her dance class. She teaches super power kids to dance, and she’s really pretty.” A crushed look crossed Rachael’s face. He felt somewhat bad that she was making an assumption. He was also relieved that she thought he might be taken so she would lay off on the flirting. After placing their order, Caleb held Madison in his arms and stood by the pick-up counter.

He’d noticed a group of women at one of the small tables when he first walked in, but didn’t realize who they were until now.
Damn
. More of those sparkly-behind moms. He heard them whispering and looking in his direction.
Great.

After grabbing their drinks and heading to the door, he caught some of what they were saying. He put Madison down when they moved over to where the sugar and stir sticks were. Pretending as if he needed something, he zoned in on their conversation. They were talking about Abby and him. They must have thought he’d made it out of the door because their volume increased.

“Well I heard they were making out on Mission Blvd for everyone in Santa Barbara to see. How disgusting. She’s so homely. If he wanted to explore someone’s mouth, I would be happy to oblige.” Yuck. She was married. He realized that he must be mistaken. There was no way they could be discussing Abby.

“I don’t believe that. He would never go for her. He is way too hot, and she is just so plain.” Yeah, they were clearly talking about someone else. He picked up his things, and looked down at Madison who was sucking with all her might, trying to get some of her frozen drink through the straw. He snickered and was just about to head toward the door again when he clearly overheard the next statement.

“Someone told me they were at the chowder festival together, and her ex-boyfriend showed up with his drop-dead gorgeous fiancé, and rubbed it in Abby’s face. Caleb couldn’t keep his eyes off the fiancé. My source tells me he even asked her out later in front of Abby. I feel sorry for her. She’s trying to play in a league she just doesn’t qualify to be in.”

Caleb couldn’t hold back any further. While holding Madison’s hand, he approached the vultures. He struggled to rein in his anger. “I’d love to know where you get your information from because that’s not the way I heard it went down.” He simply stated. These women pissed him off so much. He couldn’t believe they drove him to have this confrontation in front of Madison. They wouldn’t dare continue now though.

“Uh.”

“Er.”

“Um.”

That was all he got out of the three overly made up females at the small round table. “You should check your facts before you bring your gossip to the table for others to hear. Afternoon.” Caleb tipped his head in a farewell gesture. He normally would have added ‘ladies’ to the end of his statement, but these were no ladies. They were the epitome of catty bitches, and he wanted nothing further to do with them.

“I’m telling you right here, and right now Abby, if you do not snag this man, I am going to. As corny as it sounds, he really is dreamy. You should have seen him with the kids. Dang, he is so freaking gorgeous too. That smile broke a bunch of hearts. Cynthia was absolutely gaga over him. She kept looking to make sure he was watching her dance. It was the cutest thing. He even let her kiss him on the cheek before she left. I must admit, I was a little jealous.” Abby knew her friend was egging her on to take some form of action.

Leah was folding clothes while Abby made dinner, and they sipped on margaritas. This had become a weekly ritual. Leah didn’t own a washer or dryer in her small apartment, so she came over and did her laundry at Abby’s.

“Well he isn’t making any moves toward me so you should go for it.” As much as that stung, it was true. She had felt as if they’d shared a moment on the dance floor at the wedding. Then she’d felt so overwhelmed when he was ready to stick up for her in front of the Zuckmans at the chowder festival, but she hadn’t heard from him in over a week. He hadn’t even picked Madison up from school. Grace or Robert did.

“Oh please Abby. He is totally into you. Plus he’s too tall for me. I know most women like their men over six feet, but I’m too short for that. You know I prefer mine just under that.” Leah explained as she continued to fold her clothes.

“I catch him staring at my boobs sometimes, but that’s it. I’m used to guys gawking at them.”

“Girlfriend, I stare at them. It’s something you just can’t help but do. They are just so… out there.” Leah held her hands out gesturing as though she also had an enormous chest.

“Thanks a lot.” Abby frowned and threw a dishtowel at her.

“Well, you may not have caught him staring at the rest of you, but I have and he knows it. Just wait. It’s coming soon. I can feel it.” Leah was giddier about this possibility than even Abby was. It was a romantic idea, but Abby didn’t see it happening. He still mourned the loss of his wife, and she still remained too closed off to allow another person the chance to hurt her again.

“So Daddy, you are for sure going to come to my school and watch me march in the parade, right?” When did she get so sassy? Was that sassy? He’d missed a few events at school lately, so he knew where her question was coming from.

“Yes, Pumpkin. I already told you I was.” He was exhausted. He knew he wasn’t getting enough sleep trying to make his deadline, but when his little girl got on his nerves just by asking a simple question, he had to do something about it. They would be hitting the sack as soon as they got home that night.

“Then we are going trunk or treating afterwards, right?” Yep. He needed some sleep because these questions that he’d already answered several times before were seriously starting to bug him.

“When it gets dark, yes.” He’d never taken her trick or treating in their neighborhood before. He felt safe in their community, but you just never knew. He preferred taking her through the Halloween event that their local church put on. They walked the parking lot where people would park and hand candy out from the trunk of their cars, and there were normally some other kid friendly activities. His mother- and father-in-law joined them.

“Okay, so Daddy, the parade is at 9:00. Miss Abby said we go first ‘cuz we are the little guys, and they don’t want the big guys steppin’ on us. So you have to be there right after we get there.”
Oh my goodness!
He was about to lose it.

“I’m staying right now. I won’t go anywhere until after the parade is over.” Hopefully, that would satisfy her. He pulled up to the curb. Every parking spot was taken, and there weren’t too many areas left to park on the street. He got out, and then let Madison out. She’d insisted on this costume and now that he saw her in it, he didn’t mind the money he had to drop for the entire outfit.

“Don’t forget my wings, Daddy.” After she was completely out of the backseat, he reached in and picked up the huge butterfly wings. He hoped she wouldn’t knock anyone out with them today.

Approaching her from behind, he helped her slide her arms through the elastic bands that held the wings in place.

“How do I look?” She smiled at him with one missing tooth. She’d lost one of her front teeth that week, and she was the most adorable thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

“You look like the most beautiful butterfly fairy I’ve ever seen before. Let me get a picture of you in front of the school.” They were on the way when a group of cackling mothers passed them. Un-freaking-believable. The sparkly-behind moms were walking in as a group wearing revealing garments, each sporting large feathery angel wings and high heels as though they were about to strut their stuff down the catwalk. Why the hell were they even dressed up? This was a parade for the students.

“Look at the pretty angel ladies.” Madison pointed out.

He couldn’t even fake it. All she got out of him was an extremely unenthusiastic, “Uh huh.” He positioned her in front of the manmade banner that announced the parade information, turned her around, and took a couple of pictures. The bell rang and Madison ran toward the gate after giving him a peck on the cheek. Standing at the gate was the second most beautiful thing he’d seen today. Abby wore a large tutu, tights, short-sleeved leotard, and ballet slippers. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, and she had a little more make up on than usual, including lipstick, which he had never seen her wear before. He stared at her for a good couple of minutes before she noticed him. She quickly turned away without a smile or the enticing blush she normally wore when she caught him staring.
Crap
.

He shouldn’t have avoided her. He hadn’t thought about how she might be feeling. He was still too busy processing everything while trying to work his deadline. He would have to try to get her alone to talk for a moment and find out.