“Weally?” she breathes happily.
“Sure, sweetheart, then after, we can go see July at the vet.”
“Yay!” she screams, dancing around in circles, making me laugh.
“Go get your coat and shoes,” I tell her, and she runs out of the kitchen. Shutting down my laptop, I grab my hat from the counter and pick up my keys, putting them in my pocket.
“I can’t find my coat.” Going to the front hall and opening the door for the coat closet, I pull out her jacket that is hanging on one of the lower hooks.
“Did you even look?” I ask, handing her the coat, knowing she never looks for anything; she always just says she can’t find whatever it is she’s looking for so that someone will get it for her.
“I looked everywhere but there,” she says seriously, making me fight back a smile.
“Do you know where your shoes are?” I ask.
“Yep,” she says, running to the living room and coming back a few seconds later with a pair of sparkly, red, kids’ plastic heels on that remind me of The Wizard of Oz.
“I don’t know if you should wear those,” I tell her, watching as she attempts to walk in the shoes, which are too big and are only made for playing dress-up.
“But they wook pretty,” she states, looking down at herself and tapping the toes of the shoes together.
Knowing Ellie won’t be happy if she wears the heels, I go to the front door and pick up her tall, rainbow-striped rubber boots and ask, “How about these instead?”
“But I wike dese ones,” she insists as her bottom lip wobbles and tears fill her eyes.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. You can wear them, but we’ll take these just in case.”
“Okay,” she says with a smile as the tears dry up instantly, letting me know I just got played.
Walking into the nail salon thirty minutes later, carrying Hope, because she can’t walk in her shoes, I wonder if this was a huge mistake. There is nothing but women inside, and by the way they are all looking at me, you would think I just walked into a speed-dating meet-up.
“How can I help you?” an older woman asks, looking at me then Hope, who has suddenly gone shy.
“She would like to get her nails painted,” I tell her.
“Oh,” the lady says, smiling at Hope. “Do you know what color you want?”
“Pink,” Hope says, laying her head against my shoulder.
“How about I show you some of the pinks we have, and then you can pick your favorite?” the lady asks with a gentle smile.
“Okay,” Hope replies as I set her on the ground so she can follow the lady in her sparkly heels to a large display of polish. Feeling heat on my back, I turn around, noticing a few of the women in the salon have their eyes on me, and most of them have an approval there that is making me uncomfortable. Turning and going to Hope, I watch as she doesn’t only pick pink, but purple and sparkles as well, before handing the colors off to the woman, who then leads her over to one of the chairs.
“Would you like a massage while she gets her nails done?” a younger girl asks, coming up to me.
“No thanks,” I say, trying to be polite while taking a seat in the chair next to Hope.
“Are you sure?” she asks, and I feel my jaw grind as her eyes wander over me.
“I’m sure,” I mutter, turning away from her watching the woman doing Hopes nails glare over my shoulder before turning her attention back to Hope.
“It’s nice of your dad to bring you here to get your nails done,” the woman doing Hope’s nails says, and my body goes tight. If Hope someday decides to call me Dad, I will be all for it, but I don’t ever want her to feel like she has to, or make her feel awkward about it.
“He’s always nice to me. He even wet me wear my sparkewe shoes today,” Hope tells her, tapping her feet together, causing the shoes to fall off and hit the ground.
“I bet you have him wrapped around your little finger, don’t you?” the lady asks, smiling at Hope then me.
“No.” Hope giggles.
“You do, honey,” she says to Hope then smiles at me and winks before painting her nails, only to have to fix them three times before they dry. Once we leave the salon and arrive at the veterinarian clinic where July works, it’s just after two and the lot is half empty.
“Can you carry me?” Hope asks when I set her on her feet in the gravel parking lot.
“How about we change your shoes?”
“I want to show Juwy my sparkle shoes that match my powish,” she tells me, holding up her now glitter-covered fingers for me to see.
“Okay, hop on,” I tell her, bending down for her to hop on my back so I can carry her across the lot. Once we reach the entrance, I let Hope down then open the door, which chimes when we enter.
“Hey, is everything okay?” July asks, coming out of one of the back rooms, tucking in her shirt, followed by Wes.
Smirking at her, she rolls her eyes as I say, “Your dad said you had some puppies dropped off here yesterday, and I wanted to show Hope.”
“Puppies?” Hope smiles, tilting her head back to look at me, then looking at July, she asks, “Can I pet them?”
“Of course you can, honey, and I love your shoes,” July tells her, running her hand over the top of her hair.
“How’s it going, man?” I ask Wes, giving him a handshake while July talks to Hope about her nails.
“Was gonna to call you as soon as I left here,” he says quietly, looking at Hope and July.
“Everything good?”
“We need to talk,” he states, pulling his eyes from the girls.
“Ellie gets off work at five. You got time to meet up after that?”
“I’ll be with the guys at the shop,” he says, leaning back against the counter behind him.
“Should I bring my uncle?” I ask, knowing if this has anything to do with the girls, then my Uncle needs to know since it’s his case.
“Bring him along.”
“We’ll be there,” I mutter, feeling myself grow tight.
“You getting a dog for Hope?” he asks, changing the subject looking over at Hope and July.
“She’s been asking for a sister,” I tell him, shaking my head.
“Jesus.” He smiles.
“I know.” I smile back, mumbling, “She might be a genius, ’cause every time she asks for a sister, she asks for a dog right after.”
“Smart kid.” He chuckles.
“I’m fucked,” I tell him honestly, turning when I hear Hope laugh.
“Get her the dog then give her a sister,” he says, patting my shoulder.
“Plan on it,” I say, and his eyes crinkle as he shakes his head. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later,” I agree, watching as he goes to July, telling her something that makes her blush before kissing her then putting out his fist for Hope to bump with hers before leaving.
“What do you say we go see some puppies?” July asks, and Hope jumps up and down in her heels, causing the click clack to bounce off the walls before taking her hand and following her down the hall towards the back of the clinic. Going out a set of double doors she leads us into a small room with a bench along one wall.
“Sit on the floor and I’ll be right back,” July says, and Hope sits on the floor while I take a seat on the bench, resting my elbows on my knees, watching as she smiles at me excitedly. A moment later, July comes back into the room with two puppies, one in each hand. One is dark brown, and the other is cream-colored, both wiggling in her grasp.
“They’re so cute!” Hope cries as July sets the puppies on the ground, and they immediately go to Hope and begin climbing all over her. “What are their names?” Hope picks one then the other up, holding them close to her face so they can lick her.
“I haven’t named them yet. Do you want to help me?” July asks, and Hope lets go of the one in her hand then picks up the other.
“This one is Chocolate Chip,” she says, holding the brown one in a hug that has me worried for the small puppy.
“And this one?” I ask, picking up the cream-colored pup that isn’t as hyper as the other.