Love at First Spark

13 | September: Growing Closer

The last thing I expected when I met up with Braden that afternoon was Lucy, bright-eyed and giggling as she rode on his shoulders. She waved when she saw me and tapped Braden's shoulder to let her down.

"Hi Miss Lawence!" she yelled, bouncing on her toes. Her voice was still raspy but she sounded like she had a lot more energy than this morning.

I laughed. "Well hello there. Someone must be feeling better." I glanced up at Braden who winked at me.

"Oh believe me, it's just the chance to get ice cream before dinner." The plastic chair scraped against the sidewalk and he sat down across from me. "I was actually supposed to drop her at her mom's for tonight because I have an early morning meeting that I can't miss but she insisted that she come with me first."

Lucy turned to look at her dad. "Daddy, are you and Miss Lawence having a date?"

Oh damn, she was perceptive.

"No, baby," he told her. "We're just friends." His gaze flickered up to meet mine and I could see the silent question in his eyes.

Are we really friends?

I nodded and smiled down at Lucy. "That's right. We're friends."

"Daddy, I have to use the potty!" Lucy blurted out from beside us, her eyes wide.

"Okay, sweetie. Go inside—you remember where it is, right?"

Lucy shook her head up and down, her dark hair bouncing over her shoulders. She scrambled up from the seat and ran inside.

"So I've been doing a lot of thinking," I said. "And I want us to be friends. Added benefits or not. My, um, my best friend came for a visit this weekend and he...he's the reason I've been hesitant about this. About us. Because there's always been a 'what if' between me and him. And over the past few months he's felt like the one who got away." I watched Braden's reaction before I continued.

He rubbed his thumb against his forefinger but didn't say anything, although understanding flickered across his features. Maybe he felt the same way about losing Lucy's mom.

"And after the other night, Braden, you...I can't stop thinking about you. It's actually a bit annoying actually."

Braden laughed at that. "Annoying, hm?"

"Yeah. It's cute though. A cute annoying. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I'm taking you up on your offer. We can't just keep our feelings buried, that's not benefiting anyone."

Braden sat back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad, Amelia. I have a good feeling about this. Like I told you that night, I can be professional around you at the school. We can make this work. And Lucy..."

"She's got a vivid imagination, but she's also seven," I said. "I get that she might pick up on something but I also understand that it might be related to the separation."

"Yeah." Braden ran a hand through his hair. "She's taken her mom's and my separation pretty hard. You don't know how many meltdowns I've had to deal with because she left a toy at her mom's that she just really wanted at my place."

"I can't even imagine." I bit my lip. "Speaking of, have you talked to Linda about the family conference at school?"

"I'll talk to her about it today when I drop off Lucy today," he replied. "I did tell her but she never got back to me. I hope you can wait a little longer for that?"

"The sooner we can schedule the better. Lucy does need the help, and I want both of you on board," I said.

"I get that. I'll talk to her, I promise."