“I know you’re including Chance in that group, Kyn, but I’m not sure he belongs there anymore.”
With one insightful sentence, Jaci cracked the shell Kyndal had formed around her heart, and a tiny grain of hope seeped in.
Kyndal shrugged, which took some effort considering the weight on her shoulders. “Time will tell, I guess.”
“Well, just remember, some guys leave of their own accord, but some get pushed away.” Jaci finished her soup. “I’ve got to get back to work. Julia’s not having a good day.” She grabbed a Sharpie pen from a basket on the table and took three of the magazines off the stack. “These are mine. I want them autographed.”
Kyndal mimicked a movie-star tone. “Oh, of course, dahling!” It was amazing how much the gesture made her feel like a celebrity even though she was sitting in the back of a pet store in an elf costume. She scrawled her name with a flourish across the bottom of the first copy.
“Those are yours.” Jaci pointed to the four left on the table. “Don’t get soup on them. Talk to you later.”
“Thanks!” Kyndal called after her. She took a magazine from the stack and studied the cover photo. A swell of pride grew in her chest. Slowly she opened the cover and read the words at the bottom of the page. “‘Cover photo by Kyndal Rawlings.’” She smoothed her fingertips over them.
This magazine was a new beginning. The tiny grain of hope took root and began to sprout, allowing her to dream big. It would pave the way to the job, getting her good reputation back…success.
A means of meeting Chance on a level playing field.
A new beginning for the three of them…and, maybe, the chance of a life together.
* * *
JACI CHOSE THE SHORTCUT through the store that would take her down the aisle of cat toys. Gandalf the Gray, showing off his tomcat instincts, had already shown an affinity for the fuzzy gray mouse toys, indicating he would be either a good mouser or a catnip addict. The little female, Arwen, had a gentler nature, preferring to bat around the balls with little bells inside.
Watching the kittens play had become the new favorite pastime during breakfast, replacing her and Bart’s long-standing tradition of watching the news over a second cup of coffee.
She snickered, remembering the string of expletives Bart had unleashed when he’d crunched one of the plastic balls underfoot as he headed to the bathroom in the middle of the night. She picked out a new set for Arwen and then grabbed up another pack of mice so Gandalf wouldn’t feel left out.
The kittens were asleep in the box when she got to the car, and they continued to snooze all the way to Erlene Moore’s house.
The young mother, whose due date was fast approaching, met her at the door, looking tired and frazzled with her two-year-old in tow. “Cody doesn’t want to take a nap today.” She gave a thin laugh. “But I’m ready for one.”
“This won’t take long.” Jaci pointed to the book of window covering samples under her arm. “The soft, pleated shades have the look you want, so we just need to decide on a color.”
“My woom, Mommy.” Cody stretched Erlene’s arm to its full length. “My woom.”
“He loves his room.”
“Yay!” Jaci gave a clap of approval. Incorporating the little boy’s love of baseball and his dad’s love of the St. Louis Cardinals had been a winning design.
“He wants to stay in there all the time.” Erlene gave a tired sigh. “All reading must now be done while sitting in the stadium seats.” She motioned to Jaci and allowed the little boy to lead the way, probably too tired to argue.
During an online auction, Jaci had procured two reserved stadium seats salvaged from the old Busch Stadium. She wasn’t sure who was more excited by the treasure—Cody or his dad. Some school lockers painted red gave extra storage space at eye level for a two-year-old and provided an authentic locker room atmosphere.
As she looked around, a bubble of pride swelled. The room had come together quickly and painlessly, and it was perfect.
The nursery hadn’t been as easy, but it was coming along. Jaci continually scoured books and magazines for fresh, new ideas because Erlene was insisting on a total redo. She didn’t want Cody to think the baby was pushing him out of his space, so she wanted everything changed.
From the looks of things, the young mother’s gonna be doing some