Unbreak My Heart (Strawberry Inn Book #4)

Chapter 2

ELIZABETH

“Mom! I can’t find my boots!” I put down the cup of coffee that I just prepared to go help my daughter, Eva. My heart breaks a bit, knowing that for the five hundredth day in a row, I won’t be able to take that first sip of hot coffee fresh from the machine. Every day it seems like the same thing, just as I get to that precious sip, somebody needs something and I have to either drink lukewarm coffee or reheat it. Don’t get me wrong, I take no shame in reheating my coffee, it just isn’t the same.

Eva’s room is just past the living room, not far from the kitchen, but I have to maneuver through the moving boxes that I haven’t gotten to yet. We moved here a week ago, but our life in Strawberry is already a non-stop adventure. We rented one of those moving pods and it was two days late, even after I called multiple times to confirm. It was a good thing I had clothes for each of us packed in the car.

I thought I’d have time to unpack before Eva started at her new school and I had to start work, but I was mistaken. Eventually, things will be unpacked. It is on my to-do list so it’ll happen sooner or later. Probably later, if I’m being honest.

Eva was throwing things out of her boxes looking for her boots, so on top of running late, I was going to have to clean up this tornado later. “Eva-Bug, what have you done?”

“I can’t find them, Mom!” She cries again. She begins to tear open another box, but I stop her.

“Sweetie, we don’t have time for this. Just put on your tennis shoes and we will look for your boots tonight, I promise.”

“No, Mom! You don’t understand, I HAVE to wear them.” Her little voice is strained and I’m concerned the tears are going to start soon.

“The weather isn’t that cool, Bug, why do you have to wear them?”

She huffs at me with the sassy attitude only a seven-year-old can have, “My best friend at my new school said she had pink boots too. We agreed to wear them today so we could match. If I don’t wear them, she’s not going to be my friend anymore.”

I stifled a laugh because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings or drag out this argument by triggering a tantrum. “Bug, if she really wants to be your best friend, she’s going to understand that you couldn’t find the boots because they were still packed away.” I sit on her bed so I’m down to her level and cradle her sweet face in my hands, “I’m sorry, Eva, but I promise you tonight we will go through all of the boxes in your room and you can plan another day to wear the boots, okay?”

Her eyes were watery, but she nodded her head anyway, “Okay, Mommy. You promise though?”

“Cross my heart,” I say as I make the little gesture against my chest. Seemingly satisfied with my response, Eva grabbed her regular shoes and slipped them on. She came over to the bed and sat next to me so I could tie them. I make a mental note to add teaching Eva how to tie her shoes to my to-do list. With the emergency handled, for now, we were able to leave the house with enough time for me to drop Eva off at the morning care at her school and for me to arrive at work on time. Thank goodness because the last thing I needed was to make a bad impression.

Moving to Strawberry was a bit of an impulse move. If I could have planned the situation better, I would have done it over the summer rather than in the middle of the school year, but things just didn’t go that way. We needed to get away from our toxic old life and this job fell into my lap at the perfect time. After sending in applications and resumes for almost six months, a friend from college called me and said she had an opening at her hospital for a physical therapist. While typically having a doctorate would deter smaller hospitals from hiring somebody like me, my friend Shay was offering me the job without resumes, interviews, or references. I was taking a small pay cut, but the cost of living was different here and Eva and I would be just fine.