LITMIR.BIZ

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waved to her from the car seat. “Hi!”

      “Good morning, Miranda,” Susanna said, bounding out of the minivan. She had to make five deliveries this morning, all before eight o’clock, so she’d learned how to work fast.

      Miranda hid something behind her back as she approached Susanna. Away from Ally’s line of vision, she whipped a bright pink coloring book and a new box of crayons under Susanna’s nose. “Can she have these?” she whispered.

      “Oh, of course.” Three fairy-tale princesses wearing tiaras and frilly gowns adorned the coloring book cover. “She loves anything with princesses.”

      Susanna appreciated Miranda asking about giving her the gift. Being new to mothering, Susanna made daily decisions for Ally she wasn’t used to making. Most of them seemed like common sense, but she’d still gone online and read books, researching child rearing tips and techniques regardless. She didn’t want to slip up and do something wrong when it came to Ally.

      “I thought so.” Miranda said. “What little girl wouldn’t? I was hoping it would brighten her day.”

      “Spreading a little joy is always a good thing.”

      Miranda walked to Ally’s side of the minivan and opened the door. “Here you go, Ally. These are for you. I hope you like to color.”

      The little girl’s eyes lit up as she reached out to claim the unexpected gift. “Princesses!” She hugged the book to her chest, and then studied the slender new box of washable—thank you, Miranda—crayons.

      Susanna’s heart warmed. Since Ally had come to live with her, her clients had been overly accommodating by allowing her a little later delivery time and sending someone out to help her unload the boxes. All of them seemed to understand the plight of a working single mother, and were very kind and attentive to Ally. “What do you say, Ally?”

      “Thank you!”

      “It’s very sweet of you, Miranda,” Susanna said.

      “You’re both very welcome.” Miranda walked over to her. “But what’s sweet are these lovelies.” She reached for the box with The Coffee Connection written on top. “What did you bring me today?”

      “The usual assortment of two dozen muffins and the cupcake of the day, which is peanut butter with chocolate ganache frosting.”

      “Yummy. Those will go by lunchtime,” Miranda said. “I hope you brought me a dozen of those?”

      “I sure did. Well, I’m off. Thanks again for thinking of Ally. She’ll be coloring all afternoon, I’m sure.”

      “You’re welcome. Bye now.”

      Susanna drove off. After she made the rest of her deliveries, she steered the minivan toward home. She didn’t mind being up and out early, but she felt bad for disrupting Ally’s sleep every morning. Once she opened her own shop, her traipsing around town in Sweet Susie’s minivan would come to an end. For a moment, she let herself daydream about the lavender and white painted shop, its bakery cases filled with dozens upon dozens of her pastries. There would be café tables and chairs under a giant blackboard chalked with the day’s cupcake specials. She’d have two employees and a delivery man. Everyone would wear lavender.

      Sure, Susie...keep dreaming.

      She sighed quietly.

      Ally would be going to kindergarten in two years and she’d have more time to build her business. If she could hold on until then....

      A few minutes later, she pulled up to the house and drove into the garage. Ally had fallen asleep. Susanna took her time working on the straps to ease Ally out of the car seat. Ally opened her eyes once, draped her arms around Susanna’s neck and curled her body against hers, snuggling in. Susanna kissed the top of her head as she made her way into the house. In the bedroom, she lowered Ally down onto her bed. The child nestled her face into her pillow and Susanna tiptoed out of the room.

      In the kitchen, Susanna filled the sink with detergent and rinsed her bowls, muffin tins and utensils, giving each one a good scrub. She had an ancient dishwasher that would go on the fritz every so often, but today she was an optimist. She loaded it up, hit the sanitize button and closed the door. “Do your magic,” she said and walked away to clean countertops and pretend she didn’t notice the peeling paint on the walls and the permanently scuffed floors. The house really needed a makeover, but Susanna would be happy with a brand spanking new double stainless steel oven that would bake four dozen anything in one shot—one with even heat distribution that turned into a convection oven with the press of a button.

      Susanna walked into Ally’s room and stole a peek to make sure she was still asleep, then retrieved her laptop and set it up on the kitchen table. When her cell phone rang and the caller’s name popped up, she smiled and answered. “You just saved me.”

      “From dishes or from doing the books?” her friend Mindy asked.

      “The books.”

      “Well, you can thank me later. How’s Ally?”

      “She’s doing okay. Taking a little nap right now.”

      “Give her a hug for me when she wakes up.”

      “I’ll do that.”

      “So I need the scoop. Did he show up?”

      “He?”

      “You know who I mean. My junior high school fantasy crush. Casey. Is he really back in town?”

      Susanna’s face scrunched up. She’d almost forgotten Mindy’s fascination with Casey Thomas when they were growing up. She and Mindy had been friendly as youngsters, but not besties, the way she and Audrey were. But their friendship had developed once they were adults. “Yes, as of yesterday. How’d you find out so fast?”

      “I bumped into Lana Robards at the market this morning. She said she saw Casey jogging in the neighborhood.” Mindy’s hearty laughter bubbled through the cell phone. “She said he was enough incentive to take up running again.”

      “She just got divorced,” Susanna blurted. Something painful knifed through her stomach. She didn’t want to think about why hearing that bothered her so much.

      “Not just. It’s been a year. And it must be lonely for her on the weeks she doesn’t have her kids.”

      Darlene and Darryl were four-year-old twins living with one parent one week and one parent the next under the terms of their joint custody agreement. It was tough and Susanna often wondered how the children were adjusting.

      “But I digress. So tell me your impressions. Is he still dreamy?”

      “Are you forgetting about Ted, your loyal, wonderful hubby, or that you’re six months prego?”

      “C’mon Susie, give me something to spice up my ho-hum life. I’m a grade school teacher with summer-itis. Since school let out, I miss my students and my work. And Ted’s been smothering me with kindness.”

      “You love every second of it. You don’t fool me.”

      “So,” she whispered. “Just tell me, is Casey still hot?”

      Susanna rolled her eyes. “Yes, okay. Casey is still good-looking.” Mindy would have melted into a puddle of drool today if she’d seen him dressed in that gunmetal gray tailored Armani suit. “He’s a little more solid, not as lean as in his bronc-busting days.”

      “Mmm. Solid is good. Have you spoken to him?”

      She so did not want to have this conversation. “A little.”

      “And, what’s the scoop? Why’s he here? How long will he be staying next door?”

      Being a teacher, Mindy had to know all the facts. “All I know is that he’s here on business. I have no clue how long he’s staying.”

      But he’ll

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