Between Octobers Bk 1, Savor The Days Series by A.R. Rivera Page B

my blanket and tried to forget.

 
October
18 th
    I woke to the sound of my alarm blaring and
smashed the top of the clock. Hobbling out of bed, I felt anxious
to shake off my strange dream. I was riding the city bus all over
Los Angeles. Solomon was the bus driver who wouldn’t let me off. He
kept telling me if I wanted off, I’d have to jump. But the bus was
moving so fast and the speed scared me.
    I made my coffee, took my vitamins, read my
devotional, and hit the treadmill. The list of things I needed to
accomplish—costume shopping was a must—was clouded with thoughts of
Evan and his manicured hands. After a shower, I got the kids up. We
kept quiet for Marcus, who was still sawing logs on the living room
floor.
    Once Caleb and Noah got off to school, the
house was filled with glorious silence. Everyone else was still
sleeping and I felt like cooking. I took out my ingredients and got
to work on country potatoes, eggs with bacon, and fluffy pancakes.
Contentedly craving carbs, my light mood made me go overboard. By
the time Lily woke up, everything was done. We sat at the table and
talked over breakfast.
    “Don’t you think Marcus is a nice guy?” She
asked.
    “Yes. He’s cute, too, despite the full
beard.”
    “Yeah,” Lily sighed, resting her index
finger on her bottom lip. “I’m going to ask him to trim it. I keep
wondering what the bottom half of his face looks like.” And then
she started blabbing on about upcoming Halloween. I tried to pay
attention to what she was saying, mentally reiterating as she
spoke.
    “Want to go with me to get the kids’
costumes? I saw some cute ones in the window of that Halloween
store downtown.”
    “We should try there first,” she agreed.
    It didn’t mean anything to him so it
shouldn’t mean anything to me.
    Forcing my scattered brain to focus, I
worked through ideas for Caleb’s costume. That week he wanted to be
a cowboy or a soldier, and before that it was his favorite yellow
sponge. Probably anything familiar would do. He was far too excited
about Halloween candy to care much about the attire. Noah swore he
didn’t want to dress up—said he was too mature—but I planned to
pick up something in case he changed his mind.
    I wondered if Evan would want to go
trick-or-treating with us. If he would expect me to invite him, or
simply show up like he had been doing throughout the week. I hoped
he would assume he was invited, but—
    I gave a frustrated sigh. It seemed
impossible to put him out of my mind. Wherever my thoughts started,
no matter the subject, he was somehow interjected. The first and
last cognizant thoughts I had yesterday were about him.
    “Can I ask you something?” I interrupted
Lily describing the costume she planned to buy herself. “What am I
supposed to do about Evan?” I didn’t really want to ask, but I had
no experience. His actions may have meant nothing, but they sure
felt like something.
    “Grace, you’re uncomfortable with his
attention. You have to tell him. You can’t let him chase if there’s
no chance of catching you.” She said it so plainly—simplifying my
conundrum while sipping her coffee.
    “That’s the problem; I’m not uncomfortable.
But I think I should be. I really like him, Lil. I like his odd
sense of humor. He’s always making me laugh. How long has it been
since I really laughed?”
    “ You do find him very
funny.”
    “And his accent . . .” I sighed. “Just
talking about him gets me all squishy inside.” I felt the blood
rushing to my cheeks. “I have so much fun with him even if we’re
just sitting around talking.”
    “Then what’s the problem?”
    “ What would Sol think?”
    “He’d hate him for wanting to date his
wife.”
    I rolled my eyes at the poor humor. “And the
boys? I don’t know if I’m capable of, you know, having another man
in my life. And Evan lives in a very big world. There are a million
reasons why I shouldn’t be with him.”
    The logical side of me said to