Mommy Wanted

Definitely an image worthy of a painting.

He swallowed. She was pretty. Very pretty. Unnervingly pretty. But he wasn’t certain whether it was the fact that he noticed her attractiveness that bothered him or the fact that he found himself appreciating scenes like this, where she sat comfortably on the top porch step, her dress sweeping the stairs and her back leaning against the wood column as she worked and occasionally smiled at his sleeping baby.

She looked like a sweet young mother.

A sharp stab of guilt slammed him. Jana should be here, on this porch, smiling at her daughter and being the center of Mitch’s world. Then this scene might actually be real, a part of his life, instead of an instance where an employee worked at his home to help him through a difficult situation.

Maybe he should have pushed harder to have Jana take the chemo treatments during the pregnancy. Maybe then she’d be here now, and he wouldn’t be thinking about how things would be if he had a woman in his life.

He shook his head. He’d been doing fine raising the girls on his own, and just because this scene with Kate seemed picture-perfect, that didn’t mean he needed someone else, not to be a mother to his girls or to be a—

He didn’t finish the thought. Several friends had asked about his plans for the future over the past couple of months, specifically whether he saw himself dating again, marrying again. Each time, he’d said no. And he’d meant it. He still loved Jana, would always love Jana. This awkward feeling around Kate didn’t mean anything. He simply hadn’t been around a female for an extended period of time since Jana passed away. Plus all of the ladies from Claremont still thought of him as “Jana’s Mitch.” Mitch liked that. Really. And thankfully, Kate hadn’t seemed to show any interest in him beyond a working relationship. He liked that, too.

Really.

Emmie made a smacking noise as she pulled her thumb from her mouth, stretched and rolled over. Mitch stepped toward the screen door so he could pick her up when she woke, but before he got there, Kate finished her call and smiled at the little girl reaching both arms toward the woman on the porch.

“Kay-Kay,” Emmie said, her eyes still heavy with sleep and her soft strawberry curls standing on end.

Kate closed her laptop and placed it to the side then eased toward the edge of the playpen. “Hey, there, sweetie. Did you have a good rest?”

Mitch held his breath as she picked up Emmie, and his little girl contentedly rested her head against Kate’s slender shoulder.

She gently patted Emmie’s back. “I’ll hold you now,” she said, “and Daddy will be back in a second. He went to check on your sister.”

“Kay-Kay,” Emmie repeated as she snuggled in Kate’s arms. Mitch couldn’t help but notice it was the same tone she used when he picked her up from her nap and she said, “Daddy.”

He cleared his throat and prepared to take over, but then he heard tiny feet approaching from behind him.

“I woked up,” Dee said.

Mitch turned as she reached him, her blue eyes blinking as they adjusted to the sunlight filtering into the hallway from the screen door. Picking her up, he kissed her cheek, no longer warm from fever. “Yes, you did,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”

She nodded. “I feel better,” she said, then with a yawn asked, “Can we play?”

His laugh surprised him. He’d felt ill at ease watching Kate interact with Emmie, but Dee’s arrival had squelched his unease and brought him back to what was important, the fact that both of his little girls were starting to feel better. And the fact that he had a capable new employee who’d been willing to help him out when he was in a bind.

Lord, help me continue to see the good in all of this instead of feeling guilty over something that I can’t change.

“Daddy.” Emmie spied Mitch and Dee as they neared the screen door. She didn’t make any effort to reach for him, probably because he was already holding Dee, or maybe because she seemed quite content in Kate’s arms.

“Hey, sweetie,” Mitch answered. He pushed the door open and stepped onto the porch. The breeze carried the faint scent of peaches, which Mitch had determined over the past two days as the fragrance of Kate’s perfume. The smell suited the woman holding Emmie. Sweet and tender. A good-hearted woman and a diligent employee. He needed to stop seeing the way she fit in with his girls as a bad thing and realize that God had given him exactly what he’d asked for.

Thank You, Lord.

“I feel better now,” Dee pronounced.

Mitch smiled. He felt better now, too.

“I think I can play now,” she continued. She seemed to direct the statement toward Kate, which made sense, since Kate had played several games with her before she’d gotten sick.

Kate grinned. “Nothing overly exertive, I’d think, but maybe something low-key.”

“What’s ‘over zertive’?” she asked.

Mitch grinned. “That’s a little much for a three-year-old’s vocabulary,” he said quietly to Kate. Then to Dee, he said, “Miss Kate just means that you should take it easy, since your tummy hasn’t felt too good the past couple of days. Maybe not play anything that causes you to run around, like hide-and-seek. That’s what ‘overly exertive’ means.”

“Oh,” Dee said with a shrug. “Okay.” Then she peered down the street toward the square. “I’m hungry, too. Can we go get ice cream?”

At the mention of her favorite treat, Emmie’s head lifted from Kate’s shoulder. “Ice cweam?”

“Please, Daddy?” Dee asked.

He was a sucker for the way she said please and he was pretty sure she knew it. Even so, he grinned. They’d had a rough couple of days and deserved a treat. “You know, we are pretty much finished with the accounts for today, aren’t we, Kate?” he asked.

“I actually finished the last one thirty minutes ago,” she said. “But then Mrs. Tolleson called, and I wanted to get her the policy information she asked for. She seemed like a really sweet lady on the phone.”

“She is. She and her husband own the variety store on the square. Maybe we will see them when we go for ice cream. So, are you at a good stopping point?” Mitch asked.

“You could go get ice cream with us?” Dee asked. “Please?”

“You want me to go, too?” Her surprise at his question was evident. For the past two days, she’d worked with him here, but she’d always walked across the street and had her meals at the B and B with the Tingles and the other guests. Asking her to eat with them at their home had seemed too personal, and Mitch had wanted to keep their relationship as professional as possible.

But this was different. His girls were feeling better, and he wanted to celebrate. It only made sense to invite the woman who’d helped them through their sickness.

“Of course I want you to go,” he said. “Unless, say, you don’t like ice cream?”

“You don’t like ice cream?” Dee’s eyes widened in shock. “Why?”

Kate laughed, causing Emmie to lift her head and smile, and then she put her hand to Kate’s cheek. “Kay-Kay.”

A ripple of something passed over Mitch, but he swallowed past the feeling.

“I do like ice cream,” she said to Dee. “I like it very much, in fact, and I’d love to get some with all of you.” She glanced at Mitch again. “If you’re sure it’s okay for me to go.”

“Of course.” He forced a laugh and hoped she saw it as a casual invitation, which was exactly what it was, nothing like a date or anything.

“Yay, Miss Kate is going, too!” Dee’s high-pitched cheer delivered near Mitch’s right ear caused him to flinch.

“I guess I am,” Kate said, squeezing Emmie in a hug. “Let’s go get some ice cream, Emmie.” From the smile claiming Kate’s face, he thought she might actually be more excited about the treat than his girls.

* * *

Kate waved to Mr. Tingle, trimming the azalea bushes on the side of the bed-and-breakfast, as they began the short walk to the square. She’d already grown very fond of the sweet couple that ran the B and B. They reminded her of the kind of parents anyone would want, the kind she’d never had, and the kind she wanted her own daughter to have.

She blinked past the emotion causing her throat to tense. Her little girl undoubtedly had parents like that. Would Chad and his wife be okay with her having one more? And would they believe that she could be a good mom to Lainey after what she’d done in the past?

“Look at the flowers on those trees, Miss Kate.” Dee pointed to the row of Yoshino cherry trees lining Maple Street and leading to the square. The vivid pink blossoms resembled oversize roses and covered nearly every branch of the stunning trees. Her comment pulled Kate from the fear of Chad’s reaction to her arrival in Claremont and brought her back to the joy of spending time with these two little girls. This must be what motherhood felt like. And it was wonderful.

Kate swallowed. “I do see them, and they’re so pretty.”

“Pretty,” Emmie echoed. But she wasn’t looking at the trees; instead, she patted Kate’s cheek the way she’d done several times throughout the day and repeated, “Pretty.”

Kate kissed her chubby cheek. “You’re pretty.”

“And me, too?” Dee asked. Mitch had put her down midway to the square. She still held his hand but looked at Kate for an answer.

Kate recalled the many times growing up when she asked her stepmom that very question. “Am I pretty?” And the traditional answer, a quick “You’ll do.”

She moved closer to Mitch and Dee so she could reach out and run a hand along the soft curl of one of Dee’s pigtails as she answered, “You’re very pretty, Dee. In fact, you’re beautiful.”

Dee’s smile beamed, her walk turned into a skip and Kate felt a rush of warmth to her heart. She would never let her child wonder whether she were pretty. She just hoped she got the chance to tell Lainey, and soon.

“Bew-ful,” Emmie said.

“Yes, you’re beautiful, too.” Laughing, Kate looked from Emmie to Mitch. Though he continued walking toward the town square, his eyes were focused on Kate, not merely looking at her but studying her in a way that sent a shiver down her spine. What was he thinking now? Should she not tell his girls they were beautiful? Because they were, and she so wanted to make sure they knew. “Everything okay?” she asked him.

He inhaled thickly, let it out and then nodded. “Yes, everything’s fine.” Then, as though he needed to say it before he changed his mind, he added, “Thank you, Kate.”

Confused, she asked, “For what?”

“For helping me this week,” he said, “and for reminding the girls...of what they are.” He tweaked Dee’s cheek. “You are beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful, too, Daddy!” Dee continued to skip, and her daddy grinned.

And Kate noticed that, while she might not call him beautiful, Mitch did have an appealing quality, especially when he looked at his girls, and occasionally...when he looked at Kate.

* * *

Mitch wiped the smear of strawberry ice cream from Emmie’s chin with a napkin, and she gave him a full baby-teeth grin.

“Tank oo, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

Dee had wanted to sit by Kate at the Sweet Stop candy shop while they ate their ice cream, and now that the ice cream was gone, she remained at Kate’s side. “Can we take Miss Kate to see the toy store?” she asked.

Mitch gathered the abundance of used napkins from their table and, with Emmie perched on his hip, took them to the trash. “That’s mighty nice of you to want to show Miss Kate the toy store,” he said, knowing that the Tiny Tots Treasure Box was Dee’s favorite store on the square, with the Sweet Stop running a close second. “Are you sure Miss Kate wants to see the toy store?”

“Everyone loves toys, and Miss Kate loves games, and they’ve got lots of games there, too.” Her pigtails bobbed to emphasize the fact. “Don’t you want to see it, Miss Kate?”

Kate smiled as Dee reached for her hand. “If your dad says we have time to go,” she answered.

“Way to throw it back on me,” he teased, but truly he didn’t mind taking his girls to their beloved toy store.

Kate grinned. “Sorry, but you’re the daddy, so you’re the boss, right?”

Dee nodded. “Yep, he’s the daddy.”

Mitch held the door and tilted his head toward the square. “I guess we’re going to the toy store, then.”

Obviously excited to hear their new point of destination, Emmie gave him one of her openmouthed kisses on the cheek, which Mitch was fairly certain would leave him sticky. He didn’t care. He lived for those hugs.

Dee, looking as happy as Emmie, took Kate’s hand and tugged her toward the sidewalk. “Come on, Miss Kate. You’ll like the toy store.”

“I’m sure I will,” she said, passing close to Mitch as they walked through the doorway, the hint of peaches following in her wake.

“Mr. Gillespie?”

Ignoring the impulse to inhale deeper, he turned toward the teenager who’d been working the ice cream counter. “Yes, Jasmine?”

She waited a beat as Kate moved farther away, then said, “I like her. Kate. She seems very nice.”

He’d introduced Kate to the girl when they arrived and had also told her that Kate was his new employee, just in case she got the wrong idea about the four of them coming for ice cream. Had she gotten the wrong idea anyway? He glanced outside, where Dee had already tugged Kate toward the next store. “I like her, too,” he said. “I think she’s going to be a good employee,” he added for good measure.

Jasmine’s mouth dipped in a frown and her brows followed suit, giving him one of those looks girls perfected that said he didn’t know what he was saying. But he did. And he wouldn’t justify her curiosity by trying to explain more. As a teen, Jasmine undoubtedly romanticized everything. Eventually she’d see that he and Kate had a professional relationship and that was it. No need for the people around town to think anything more of it than that.

“Have a good day, Jasmine,” he said, closing the door behind him and ignoring the fact that her frown had slid into a smile, as though she knew something he didn’t.

Teenagers. In ten years, he’d have one, and then soon after, he’d have another. And by then, hopefully, he’d understand them a little better.

But he wouldn’t rush his little girls getting older. He wanted to enjoy every day, every age, like they were doing today, spending time together on the square.

“Well, hello, girls,” James Bowers said as they approached Bowers’ Sporting Goods store. He put several fishing rods in a large red barrel on the sidewalk. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Miss Kate,” Dee said. “She likes ice cream.”

Kate laughed. “Yes, I do.”

Mitch quickly caught up and explained, “Kate just moved here and is my new employee.”

Mr. Bowers situated the rods in the barrel and then turned it so the sale sign faced the street. “Well, that’s great,” he said. “You’ve needed some help for quite a while now, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have.”

“So, you came to Claremont for the job?” the man continued.

Kate blinked a couple of times, and her cheeks seemed to tinge a little more pink before she answered. “I wanted to live in a small town for a change, and Claremont seemed like a great place to settle down.” She glanced around at the square. “It’s lovely here.”

“Been here all my life,” he said, “and I haven’t found any reason to complain. Met my sweetheart here when we were still kids at Claremont Elementary.”

The door to the sporting goods shop opened, and Jolaine Bowers stepped out. “Well, hey, Mitch. How’re you doing?” she asked.

“I’m good,” Mitch answered, not missing the fact that while she spoke to Mitch, her eyes were definitely more focused on Kate.

“Your ears burning?” Her husband winked at her. “Or did you come out because you saw a new face and wanted the scoop?” He tilted his head toward Kate.

She playfully punched him in the biceps. “I’m just being friendly, James,” she chided. “But I don’t believe we met,” she continued to Kate. “I’m Jolaine Bowers.”

“Kate Wydell. I’m working for Mitch at his insurance agency now,” she said, then gave a soft smile. “Well, I will be working there. I haven’t actually worked at the office yet.”

“We’ve been working from my house, since the girls have been sick this week,” he said.

“Miss Kate likes ice cream,” Dee said. “And playing games. And toys.”

Jolaine’s deep dimples pierced her cheeks as she grinned at Mitch’s three-year-old. “I think that’s great, Dee,” she said. Then she turned her focus to Mitch and said, “I think it’s wonderful, actually.”

Mitch didn’t have to wonder whether she had the wrong idea. She did. And the knowing look she gave him said she was probably already seeing a wedding in his near future. Maybe it wasn’t just the teenagers in this town who tended to romanticize too much. And he really needed everyone to realize that Kate was his employee, nothing more. “We’ve had a tough couple of days,” he said, “with the girls dealing with the virus going through the day care and all, and so we decided to go for ice cream. Didn’t seem right not to invite Kate, since she’s helped us out so much.”

The couple nodded...and continued grinning.

Mitch gave up. “Well, we’ll see you around,” he said, and started walking away, but Jolaine halted them with her question to Kate.

“Kate, I’m assuming you don’t have a church home in town yet? If not, then you should come to our midweek service tonight at Claremont Community Church. We have a great group of folks there and a wonderful preacher with Brother Henry. He teaches the auditorium class on Wednesdays.” She waited a second for Kate to speak, and when she didn’t, Jolaine continued, “Mitch, you and the girls will be there tonight, won’t you?”

She knew he would, but Mitch went ahead and answered, “Yes.”

“So he could show you where the church is,” Jolaine continued, her smile managing to grow even more and those dimples sinking to oblivion with her excited grin. “We’d sure love to have you.”

Kate hesitated, looking to Mitch as though trying to determine his thoughts on the invitation to church. Mitch, however, was mentally kicking himself. He hadn’t thought to ask her to church. He also realized that he hadn’t thought to ask her why she’d come to Claremont initially. Obviously it wasn’t for the job, since she’d already arrived in town before she answered his classified ad. What would bring someone like Kate to Claremont? She’d come from Atlanta, as big a city as you could find in the South, and moved here to Tinyville, Alabama. A moment ago she’d said that she came to experience life in a small town.

Was that it? Or was there more?

“You’ll like church,” Dee said to Kate. “But we’ll go to the toy store first.”

James and Jolaine chuckled, and Mitch realized he’d yet to state his own invitation.

“Yes, you will,” he said. “You can follow us to the building, if you want. We meet at seven o’clock.”

“That sounds nice,” Kate answered. “I had recently started attending a church that I liked in Atlanta, but I haven’t had a chance to find a place to attend here. Mr. and Mrs. Tingle had mentioned their church, though, and I thought I might visit.”

Mr. Bowers grinned. “Same church, so we’ll see you there either way.”

“That’s great,” Kate said, but Mitch noticed she still looked a little hesitant and not all that excited. Was faith something new in her life? And had that been a part of what brought her to Claremont?

“Toys, Daddy,” Emmie said, patting his cheek with her small hand. “’Kay?”

“Okay, sweetie,” he said, then told Mr. and Mrs. Bowers that they would see them tonight at church and continued across the square. But he couldn’t get his thoughts off the niggling question...what really brought Kate Wydell to Claremont?

By the time they reached the toy store, Mitch had introduced his new employee to the majority of Claremont’s merchants on the square, and each time they received the same look and response that they’d gotten from Mr. and Mrs. Bowers. A questioning gaze of whether there was something more to this ice cream outing quickly followed by a knowing smile that they suspected Mitch had an interest in the new girl. And then the response that bothered him most—a tender smile toward his girls that he knew meant “Oh, how wonderful it’d be if they had a mommy in their world.”

That look pierced his heart. They did have a mommy. She’d been gone only a year and a half. And his girls were doing fine. So was Mitch, for that matter. He simply needed the town to realize that he could have a female employee without it being anything more, that he could take that employee for ice cream without it meaning anything more.

The string of bells on the door at the Tiny Tots Treasure Box sounded loudly as they entered.

“Welcome to Tiny Tots,” Mr. Feazell, the store owner, called from where he was settling a dollhouse in the middle of a display. He placed a tiny light so that it spotlighted the house and then quickly moved to the front of the store to welcome his guests. Unfortunately, Mitch saw the older man’s entire appearance change when he noticed Kate holding Dee’s hand. “Well, hello,” he said, grinning. “Who do you have with you today, Dee?”

“This is Miss Kate,” Dee said. “She likes toys.”

“You don’t say. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kate.” His head nodded subtly. “We’re glad you’re here. Where are you from? And how did you two meet?”

Leave it to one of the oldest men in town to toss out his filter completely and ask what everyone else was thinking. Mitch prepared to explain Kate’s employee role again, but Kate spoke before he had a chance.

“Oh, no,” she said, an embarrassed laugh bubbling out with her words. “It isn’t like that. Mr. Gillespie is my employer. I’m working in his office, and he was kind enough to invite me to the square this afternoon with him and his girls.”

Mr. Feazell had a good deal of snow-white beard covering his face, but even so, Mitch saw the tops of his cheeks redden with embarrassment at his presumption. He shook his head. “Oh, I, uh—” he chuckled “—well, I’m glad you got some help for your office, Mitch, and a right pretty helper, too, I might add.” Yet another testament to the fact that Ted Feazell had no problem saying exactly what was on his mind.

Looking uncertain about how to answer, Kate simply mumbled, “Thank you,” and then allowed Dee to pull her toward the dollhouse display.

“Come look, Miss Kate,” she said, and Kate obliged.

“Sorry about that, Mitch. Thought you had a lady friend,” Mr. Feazell said after they’d walked away. He attempted to whisper, but his ability to whisper had apparently flown out the window at the same time he lost his filter for words, and Mitch saw Kate’s cheeks blush bright pink.

“No problem,” Mitch said.

“Doggy.” Emmie pointed to an abundance of stuffed animals lining the entire right side of the store.

Mitch walked toward the packed bins and tried to spot the one that had caught her eye. He spied a fluffy white puppy with a purple bow and pulled it from the stack.

“No,” Emmie said, shaking her head and pointing again. “Doggy.”

There had to be thirty dogs in the overstuffed bin she indicated, and since he wasn’t entirely certain he’d gotten all of the strawberry ice cream off of her hands, he didn’t want to have her running her palm across the toys, but he also didn’t know how he would find the one she wanted. He lifted a brown Chihuahua.

Strawberry brows furrowed and her lower lip poked out. “No, Daddy. Dat doggy.” He leaned her closer, not close enough for her to touch, but close enough that he could narrow down his selection. It appeared as though she were reaching for either a tiny black poodle or a bulldog that had one of those “so ugly it was cute” looks. He plucked the poodle out as Kate and Dee walked over, with Dee moving to the fairy-tale figures near the Disney display.

“Trouble picking one out?” Kate asked.

“Trouble with me finding the one she wants,” Mitch clarified, while Mr. Feazell, standing nearby and watching it all, laughed.