Page 61 of Here You Are

Grass Daddy: I think you might be perfect.

I smiled to myself—a sweet message to round out a sweet night.

Me: You don’t know me very well yet.

Grass Daddy: I know. I just wanted to get with you because you're so hot, but damn, girl, that personality is almost as sexy. You're the best. Good night.

I giggled and burrowed under my covers. I was on cloud nine and didn’t want these warm, fuzzy feelings to end.

Today, when I finished working, I ventured outside to check my mail. That’s code for standing in my front yard, seeing if someone will come talk to me. I’m one of them, now. Holy shit. I just realized why the old ladies have so many flowers. It’s so they can spy on the neighbors while watering them. Dammit. I need flowers. I was outside for about thirty seconds when Linden yelled over at me from her yard. My besties have a really wide age range.

“Cassie! Will you come play with me?” she shouted across the street.

“Um, sure? What are you playing?”

“Dad got us this weird toy. He said it’s from his youth. It’s called a “Skip It." I’m trying to practice.”

I laugh out loud. “I'm familiar with that toy from my youth, as well. I think you might be impressed with my skills. I practiced a lot when I was little.”

I made it over to her, and she handed me the Skip It. A wave of nostalgia took over me. I thought about all the time my sister and I spent playing with our Skip It in our driveway. Since she was younger than me, she was never any good at it, and it pissed her off to no end. That could be the only reason I remember being so good, because she was so bad. I’m going to call Cora tonight and remind her she sucks at Skip It. I have to keep her humble.

“Do you know how to jump rope? It’s pretty much the same idea. You just get a rhythm going and start jumping. “Watch,” I tell her, praying internally that I’m still able to do this nearly thirty years later and not about to be majorly humiliated.

I pull the ring over my left foot and get my bearings. Rotating my ankle, I got the Skip It in motion and started jumping. Just like riding a bike, I am once again the Queen of the Skip It.

Linden screams. “HOLY COW! You’re so good at this, Cassie! Let me try again.”

“Don’t I get time to break your record first?”

She pouts and says, “Well, that will be easy because I’ve never been able to do it yet. But, I think I get it now. Let me try. You can’t hog it all day.”

I stop jumping and disengage from the Skip It to hand it to her. She suits up and starts attempting to get it in motion. As I’m watching her and trying to give tips, I get engulfed in a big, sweaty, but fresh-smelling side hug. Looking over to my right, I am shocked by this public display of affection from Ben. We have been doing a lot of private displays of affection, but we have been trying to keep things under wraps around the kids.

He leans into my ear and says, “I’m sick of only getting you for an hour every night. I talked to Brook today.”

I am shocked. “About me or us…or what?”

“I asked her how she would feel if I went on a date. I told her it’s been a while since her mom died, and I would maybe like to have an adult to spend time with again.”

“How did she take it?”

He laughs and says, “I think she was okay with it. She was a little upset in the beginning, but she came around.”

“Why are you laughing?”

He smiles to himself and then stares at the ground, kicking a rock around the driveway.

“She said, ‘Well, I hope you ask Cassie on a date because everyone knows you have a crush on her.’”

“No?!”

“Yes. Apparently, I'm quite obvious about who I am crushing on.”

“It wasn’t obvious to me!”

He gives me a side-eye. “I think if you paid closer attention, you would have picked up on it. I don’t think I caught your eye until you learned of my sparkling personality and sexual prowess.”

I laugh-yell at that statement. “Is that what you call it? Prowess?”