Sunrise Point

Tom. She needs to go to bed.”
    “What about her bath?”
    “You know what? A kid can live by missing a bath one day but you don’t want to skip things like food and cuddling.”
    “She has spaghetti sauce in her hair and behind her ear.”
    “Yeah, I might give her a little spit and polish when I change her and put her in her pajamas. Not that a little red sauce will hurt her, but I don’t want Adie trying to bathe her and don’t want the day care to think I’m negligent. Here,” she said, holding out her hands.
    “I can carry her to the car,” he offered. “Is the other one ready to go?”
    “Yes, wearing as much dishwater as went down the drain,” Nora said. She crouched and ran a gentle finger around Fay’s ear. “There is nothing more precious, is there? Thanks for everything, Tom. The whole afternoon and evening—it was terrific. Someday I hope I’ll be able to invite you and your family to my table.”
    The soft look in her eyes was so tender and sentimental he could feel it reach way down inside of him. To cover the discomfort of such emotion, he stood with Fay in his arms. He handed Nora the bottle and pulled the blanket around the baby to keep her warm.
    Nora went to the kitchen to fetch Berry. Maxie was holding her on her lap, helping her into her little hoodie, talking with her about how much fun it was to have her to dinner. Nora put the almost-empty bottle in the beat-up canvas tote that must serve as a diaper bag. “I think I have everything. Berry, did you remember your book?”
    Berry nodded.
    “Say thank you and let’s get going,” she said.
    The little girl said a quiet thank-you to Maxie and in exchange got a hug. Then Maxie stood and gave Nora a hug. “I had such fun,” she said. “Promise to bring them back.”
    “I would love to,” Nora said. “It was so wonderful. Now let’s not wear out our welcome.” She took Berry’s hand and walked out to her car, Tom following.
    Tom put Fay in the car seat while Nora belted Berry in. Fay didn’t even whimper; she was unconscious. He couldn’t figure out the safety straps however. Finally Nora came around and with a chuckle, hooked up the baby easily. Then she put her arms around his waist for a quick hug. “Thanks again,” she said.
    “Give me a ride to the gate,” he said. “I’ll open it for you.”
    “I can manage… .”
    “Let me,” he said. “I don’t want you to leave the kids in a running car to let yourself out and close up. I want to walk back—it’s a beautiful night.”
    She looked up at the black sky and took a deep breath. “When I got here, I thought I’d been thrown into hell without a rope. Look at that sky, smell the fall air. I had no way of knowing this was the luckiest break of my life. I’m sure you know how lucky you are.”
    “Let’s go,” he said, getting in the passenger side and folding up his long legs to fit. “Nice little car, Nora,” he said.
    “Isn’t it? I’m still quite cautious of Jed, but I think it’s going to be okay. I think he’s a good guy. And if so, I couldn’t ask for more.”
    I could ask for so much more, Tom thought. One woman instead of two, for starters. One woman with all the right traits, he thought.
    They were at the gate in seconds and he jumped out. “Drive carefully,” he said before closing the door. He was grateful he’d made the suggestion of letting her out—he needed a little time alone to think before Maxie started asking questions about how much he’d enjoyed the evening, so his walk back to the house was slow. Then he sat on the back steps for a minute, the same steps he’d shared with Berry earlier.
    Tom liked a lot about Darla. He liked that she was pretty and smart and very sophisticated. He didn’t mind that she made him look like a boring old farmer—he could use a little class. She had a stable and loving upbringing. She apparently had no weird, dark skeletons like an ex in jail for dealing drugs. She didn’t have children yet, so no baggage. Well, there was baggage…including about a billion-dollar wardrobe, but that wasn’t his problem. A wardrobe that would go to waste in a small town. So what if he’d rather vacation by camping or fishing while she was headed to the beach in the Caribbean? Lots of couples celebrated their differences rather than chafed at them and only expanded their experiences. Except he wasn’t crazy about wrestling two big suitcases for every day of travel, either.
    He sighed deeply.
    But