Montana Sky

Chapter 22: Blessed

Hey you, you're a child in my head
You haven't walked yet, your first words have yet to be said
But I swear, you'll be blessed
I know you're still just a dream
Your eyes might be green, or the bluest that I've ever seen
Anyway, you'll be blessed
And you, you'll be blessed
You'll have the best, I promise you that
I'll pick a star from the sky, pull your name from a hat
I promise you that, promise you that, promise you that
You'll be blessed
– Elton John: Blessed –

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Bradley placed a large bag of groceries into the trunk and closed it, lifted Lea higher on his hip and grinned at her. "All right, little chef, that's food shopping done, and I think we found everything on your list; just one more stop left now."

Lea giggled and babbled loudly, obviously trying to remind her father that he had been the one to write the list, not her; she drew smiles and waves from a group of people passing them and he chuckled, locked the car. The morning had dawned clear and beautiful over Whitefish and the toddler had woken quite early, so Bradley had decided on a quick trip to the shops; he wanted to make a good breakfast and give Stefani some more peaceful sleep time. Lea had enjoyed a snack, was her usual happy self again, the crankiness of the previous evening forgotten after a good night's slumber.

The resort town was lovely, its colourful and attractive main street already busy in the sunny Monday morning, the majestic mountains rising on the background; the sight was glorious, definitely explaining why this place was such a popular vacation destination. He and Lea completed their shopping and took a short stroll along Central Avenue afterwards, checking out a few restaurants; Bradley read through the menu of a very beautiful and cosy-looking Italian bistro, tickled the little girl's cheek.

"What do you think, sweetie? Would Stefi like that one?"

"Good morning." A familiar voice greeted him and he turned, smiling at Mark and Valerie, the cabin's owners; the older couple was just emerging from the bakery next door with several bags of goodies in hand, heading over to them. "Bradley, right? And Lea?"

"Yes." He shook hands with the two. "Morning. Nice to see you again; sorry about last night, this little one was on a really bad mood, so I didn't have much chance to talk to you."

"Oh, don't worry at all." Valerie smiled at Lea, rubbed her back. "You are such a cutie, aren't you? How are you all liking the cabin? Slept well?"

"Very well; it's really lovely. Stef is probably still asleep; Lea was up early so we came over to town to pick up some food." He chuckled as the toddler tried to reach for one of the paper bags Mark was holding. "Honey, that's not for you."

"She obviously has a good taste; I definitely recommend a visit to this bakery." Mark grinned, squeezed Lea's little hand. "Our daughter and her family are on their way from Helena to spend the week with us, so we're picking up some things too. She and her husband have two boys, a four-year-old and a 15-month-old; we'd be happy to babysit this little one if you wanted to take your girl out for a date, Bradley. I noticed you were looking at that restaurant."

"Oh." He bit his lip; the suggestion sounded extremely tempting, and he knew it would be very beneficial for Lea to spend time with other children. He was planning to enrol her in a playgroup in the fall for two days a week to start with, and there had been occasional worries on his mind about her limited exposure to peers close to her age; that was just one more reason why Stefani's incredible news on the day before had made him so happy. "I actually might take you up on that."

"Anytime you want." Valerie dug a pen and some paper from her handbag, wrote down a phone number and an address. "Just give us a call; our house is a couple of miles from the cabin, on the way to town. I would make a booking here just to be on the safe side; this restaurant is quite popular, and the weather is getting so good now that more holidaymakers are starting to arrive."