Always with You by Andrea Hurst

Author:Andrea Hurst [Hurst, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Published: 2014-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

“Hope you don’t mind, Cathy. I borrowed some of your clothes. Remember? Like we used to. I couldn’t resist this glittery skirt.”

Cathy wanted to pull it right off of her. But Pam looked so happy in it. “It’s fine this time, but please be sure to cover it when we’re eating pizza.”

Amber joined Cathy at the door. “Can I carry it?”

“You can carry half and I’ll carry half,” Cathy said, lowering the box for Amber to reach. Together they carried it to the table that was already set with plates and glasses of pink lemonade.

“Thanks for bringing dinner,” Jamie said as he took the pizza out of the box.

He was so close she could catch the faint smell of his spicy aftershave.

Cathy looked down at the table and mumbled, “I’m glad to do it. Happy Father’s Day.”

He cut each slice, oozing with cheese, and handed a plateful to each of them. The yeasty dough smothered in chopped garlic and mozzarella melted in Cathy’s mouth. She stole a glance at him. His hair swept across his eyes and rested on the collar of his pale green button-down shirt.

“Guess where we went today?” Amber said.

“Where?” Cathy said grateful to have somewhere to look. Amber looked so cute in her miniature peasant blouse with Ric Rac trim and full sleeves.

“We went to the movies and saw Winnie the Pooh!”

“You did? How fun. Tell me all about it.”

“We ate popcorn and drank big cokes,” Amber said before shoving a huge bite of pizza into her mouth, leaving red tomato sauce trailing around her lips.

“I’m sorry I missed it,” Cathy said. “But I have a surprise for you too.”

Her big blue eyes lit up. “What, what?”

Cathy took a few bites and let the anticipation build. “I bought you two new books.”

Amber started to get up and look for them, but Pam told her to sit down and finish dinner. Amber pouted.

“Auntie Cathy, will you read me one after dinner?”

Cathy looked to Pam for approval.

“We were going to play a board game after dinner, remember?” Pam said.

Amber looked torn.

“No problem,” Cathy said. “I’ll read you the books tomorrow as soon as I get back from work.”

Amber seemed content.

Cathy’s plate was empty. She took her dishes to the sink and started cleaning up the kitchen. Pam cleared the rest of the table and joined Cathy.

“You didn’t have to buy Amber anything.”

“I wanted to,” Cathy said. “Do you mind?”

“Of course not,” Pam said a little too quickly. “I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to.”

“It’s only a couple of books. It’s my pleasure.” Cathy put the dishes in the drain to dry and started for her room.

Amber yelled after her, “Aren’t you going to play games with us?”

Cathy thought there were enough games going on already. “Not tonight, Amber. You all have fun, I’m going to take a bath and head to bed.”

Jamie looked straight at her with a concerned expression. She wished he could take her in his arms and hold her.

“Here, let’s play Candyland,” Pam said, opening the box and spreading it out on the table.

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