Page 40 of This Time Around
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Katie openedthe passenger door and got out, inhaling the fresh air.She remembered what it was like in elementary school.She remembered Mrs.Bell’s solid oak desk with papers neatly stacked on top, pencils and scissors in a cup holder next to a sturdy stapler and tape, along with some scattered crayons, art materials, and some miscellaneous stuff.
Her desk was in the first row.She sat up front, squinting her eyes to see the writing on the whiteboard.It was later, when she was tested at school, that she found out she needed glasses.
She remembered carving her initials into her wood desk, staking her place alongside many who had sat in the same chair.Those old, scratched desks were probably gone by now.
“Hi, Katie.”A tug on her arm accompanied by a smile on Timmy’s face brought her back to the present.
She bent and hugged him.“Hi, how was school today?”
“Good.”Timmy shrugged, eager to get going.
Chase hesitated, glancing at Katie.“Everything okay with you?”
Her eyes darted toward Timmy.He was standing right there beside them.Maybe this wasn’t a conversation they should be having right this moment.“Yeah, it is now.”Her lips curved slightly.
Maybe Chase misread her.He glanced away, pausing for a moment before he spoke.“I thought maybe something was going on.If… if there’s anything I can do to help…”
She softened her voice.“Thank you.I can tell you this much: I won’t be on the plane today.I’ve taken charge of my life and quit my job.”
He sucked in a quick breath.“You’re sure that’s what you want to do?”
“I’m one hundred percent sure.I’ve thought about it long and hard, but I didn’t have the courage to do it—until now.”
He nodded and turned to open the rear car door, tossing the backpack and lunch box on the back seat.Timmy climbed in and buckled up.“Can we get some paint and drawing paper?”
“You got an art project?”Chase asked.
“Yeah.”
“We’ll get you something at the store.”He waited for Katie to get seated, and when they were all buckled in, he cranked the engine.
He didn’t have far to drive before she saw a store, Wally World—a smaller knockoff of the one in the big cities.
Timmy was the first one out, making a beeline for the store’s art supplies section.
“He likes to choose it himself,” Chase explained.“Knows what he wants.”
She lifted her eyebrow, picking up her pace.
Timmy checked out the paint colors in the kids’ section, picked out a washable paint set with eighteen colors, and handed it to Chase.
“That’s what you want?”
He nodded.
Chase held the box up close to read the fine print.“It says nontoxic and washable,” he said, patting Timmy on the shoulder.“Good choice.”
Timmy put his hand up for a high five and grabbed a paintbrush set from the shelf.“I’ll need these, too.”
Katie had wandered down the aisle to check out the drawing pads for kids.She held up the three different sizes available—6”x 9”, 9”x12”, and 16”x22”.“Which one?”
Timmy looked and pointed to the midsized pad.
“Okay, nine by twelve it is,” she said.
“All set, Timmy?”Chase asked, balancing the items in his hand.
“Yup.”
Chase paid, but before they headed out toward the car, he pulled out his phone and checked the time.“We’ve got about another hour before we need to head back to the hospital.Let’s drop these off at the house first.”