“No need to thank me. We had fun today. To tell you the truth, I’ve missed seeing him for the past couple days.”
He raised one eyebrow. “What about me?”
“Okay, yes. I’ve missed both of you.” She was annoyed to realize she was blushing.
Patrick looked pleased and then turned serious, lowering his voice to avoid being overheard. “I have to apologize for Gretchen. I can’t believe she just … dumped our son off with you and then fled. She had no right…”
Kerry touched his arm. “She was obviously in a bind. And I’m happy we got to spend time with Austin. He’s such a funny, entertaining little guy. He can hang out with us anytime.”
“He clearly adores you and Murphy. And what about that dinner? Can we set a date?”
“Uh…” She knew she was blushing again. “Anytime you like. It’s not like I’ve got a crowded social calendar.”
“Friday night, then? Around seven? Guess I know where to pick you up, right?”
“Right.” She hesitated. “Can we make it someplace casual?”
“Casual it is,” he said. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
The kiss didn’t escape Austin’s sharp eyes. “Dad! Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
chapter 24
“Murphy.” Kerry shook her brother’s shoulder. He’d fallen asleep in his lawn chair, swaddled in his sleeping bag, and was softly snoring. The fire in the barrel had gone out sometime during the night, and the worktable was littered with empty Red Bull cans, foam coffee cups, and the remains of a bucket of takeout fried chicken.
“Ugh.” She threw all of it into the trash. It was early, just past seven, so she decided to let him sleep while she ran to the Kaplans’ apartment for a quick shower.
Murphy was awake when she returned. “What happened to my fried chicken?”
“I threw it out, along with all your other trash.”
“That was gonna be my breakfast,” he groused. “How did last night go? You never said.”
“You never asked,” she pointed out. By the time she’d gotten back to the stand the night before, Murphy and a couple pals were sitting around the fire, passing around a Mason jar of Jock Tolliver’s moonshine, while Murphy played his dobro.
“I’m asking now.”
“It went really well. The mother’s apartment was very contemporary and minimalist. By the time I got the lights on the tree, she decided she liked the bare look, so I didn’t even put any ornaments on it. Only took an hour but I got paid my two-hour minimum, and she was overjoyed with the results. The daughter’s place took longer. We ended up moving the tree to a different corner of the room, but it worked out, and I made three hundred bucks, plus a forty-dollar tip. Not bad for one night’s work. How did it go here?”
“Business sucked. I only sold four trees.”
She reached into her pocket and handed him three fifty-dollar bills.
“What’s this supposed to be?”
“Your share of the profits,” she said. “And last night’s customers promised to tell all their friends and neighbors to buy their trees from us.”
* * *
Kerry sold two more Christmas trees in the early afternoon. When business slowed again, she went back to working on her drawings of the forest that Austin had conjured. She’d finished drawing oval borders around the sketches, each a little different, with twining vines, pinecones, and butterflies, and had begun lettering the text on the pages when Heinz seemingly materialized from thin air.
He stood over the worktable, examining her work. “This is coming along quite nicely.”
“Austin spent the day with me yesterday, and of course he wanted to work on his story,” she said.
Heinz pointed at the drawing of the gateway to the forest. “Ahh. This looks very magical.”
“I’m so glad you see that. He wanted his own private forest, inhabited with all kinds of creatures.”
He stabbed the border she’d just drawn. “The oval motif is a nice touch. Fanciful. And your calligraphy is excellent. Did you learn this in art school?”
“No. I taught myself by watching YouTube videos. It was how I earned spending money when I was in school, addressing wedding invitations and place cards.”
He nodded. “What happens next in this story of yours?”
“I’m not quite sure. Austin will think of something.”
Heinz shook his head. “What an imagination that child has.”
“He’s very smart. And sweet. He was asking about you yesterday.”
Heinz looked away. “I’ve been attending to business.”
Kerry tilted her head. “Do you live in the neighborhood? I mean, I see you walking here most days.”
“In the vicinity,” he said. He picked up the sketchbook, abruptly changing the subject, and began leafing through the pages.
“Ahhhh. These dogs. What personality you’ve given them!”
“I do enjoy drawing dogs,” she admitted. “There’s something about the openness, their vibrant personalities.” She turned to see Gretchen approaching.
“I must be going,” he said, nodding in her direction. “That one thinks that I am the bogeyman.”
* * *
If Gretchen saw the older man chatting with Kerry, she didn’t mention it. She walked quickly, with purpose.
“Kerry, Austin told me how much he enjoyed yesterday, and I can’t thank you enough.” She paused. “Pat seems to think it was wildly inappropriate of me to even ask you.”
Gretchen shook her head to indicate that she disagreed with her ex. “Be that as it may, I got you this.” She thrust an envelope into Kerry’s hand, then turned and hurried away.
“Wait,” Kerry called. “That’s not…”
Kerry looked down at the envelope, shrugged, and slit it open with her thumbnail. When a two-hundred-dollar American Express gift card slid out, she was speechless.
“This is too much,” she murmured.
chapter 25
Two days later, Kerry stood outside the window of a nearby boutique, gazing at the racks of designer clothes inside.
“Nothing in here for me,” she told herself. But it was in the neighborhood, and she promised Vic that she’d be back to the tree stand within half an hour.
Her mission this morning was simple: to buy something suitable for tonight’s “casual” dinner date with Patrick—and Austin.
But this shop? The scalloped dark-green-and-white-striped awning over the storefront, the creamy brick fa?ade and dark-green-painted trim, not to mention the subtle lighting and understated elegance of the display window—all of it screamed money.
Of which Kerry currently had only two hundred dollars, in the form of the AmEx gift card that Gretchen had insisted she accept.
Two women passed her on the sidewalk, their arms laden with shopping bags. They gave her a quick, curious glance, then ducked into the shop.
She was about to enter too, when she caught sight of her reflection in the shop window. Just standing in the shadow of that mannequin made her feel inadequate. And tacky, and shabby, despite the fact that she’d showered and blown her hair dry earlier at the Kaplans’ apartment and was wearing her best （and only） pair of designer jeans, and the velvet blazer, which she’d felt elegant in—until just this minute.