Over a week later, Mitch walked out of the bedroom of the ranch house and was heading toward the kitchen when his eye caught sight of Georgie in the living room. She leaned her head back on the sofa, resting her eyes. "Georgie?"
"Hmm?" Georgie sat up straight, moving toward the edge of the seat. "What's up?" She asked intently, ready to spring into action if something was wrong or if her parents needed her for something. Lou had returned home a few nights ago, but Georgie was still getting used to the new routine.
It took Mitch a moment to catch onto the fact that she had asked him something. "Uh, n—nothing. I just came in to make some coffee."
Georgie nodded. "Is she awake yet?"
"Yeah, she is. I figured I'd get everyone caffeinated first, and then get started on breakfast."
Mild panic flooded through Georgie. "Wait, for Lou as well? There's—there's the decaf that Jack keeps handy. I'm sure it's hidden somewhere in there, behind all those jars," Georgie offered. After a moment, "You know, for Mom."
"Oh, yeah…" Mitch's voice lowered, and he nodded his head towards the direction of Lou's room. "I hadn't even thought of that."
Georgie sensed the change in Mitch's demeanour. He suddenly seemed more tense, agitated. "I didn't mean it like that. I just think it's best to be on the safe side, that's all."
Mitch smiled. "Yeah, I know," his voice came out soft and gentle.
Georgie stood, and walked over to her stepfather. Nervously, she crossed one arm across her torso and brought her other arm up to hold onto her elbow. "She's fine, right? I mean, she—how's she doing? Has she said anything?"
"About what exactly?" Mitch asked carefully, not wanting to say the wrong thing and throw Georgie off completely.
About me, she wanted to say. "I don't know. Anything, really."
Mitch nodded. "Well, not exactly. But there's this dress that Lou wanted to get for your sister."
Georgie's head went up. "For her birthday," she remembered. Lou had begun planning for Katie's twelfth birthday over a month ago. Everything had to be perfect, and the dress had been no exception.
"I've been thinking about it as well. And I want to buy it for Lou, so that…"
"So at least this one thing won't be left unfinished," Georgie answered for him.
"Yeah, exactly."
"Do you want me to get the computer out, and you can go make coffee in the meantime? I can try and help you out with breakfast after."
"Yeah. Yeah, sure…do you know which website to find it on?"
Georgie nodded wordlessly.
As Mitch slipped into the kitchen, Georgie walked to the steps and then went up into her room to get her computer.
She quickly grabbed it and walked back down the stairs. Once Georgie had pulled up the site, she heard Mitch's footsteps arrive.
As her stepfather came and sat down in the seat, she turned to him. "Was it pink?"
Mitch nodded, the slightest smile appearing at his lips. "It was."
"Okay, you tell me when you see it," Georgie turned the computer screen towards him.
"Sash…it had a sash, and floral patterning…" Mitch mumbled, trying to remind himself of what it looked like as he focused on the screen.
After a moment, Georgie stopped scrolling. "Was it this one?" She asked, moving her cursor over it on the screen.
Mitch exhaled, relieved that they had somehow found it. "Yeah, that's the one."
But the relief was short-lived. "Mitch, it's out of stock."
"What…?"
"Yeah, it's sold out…"
"Oh no, what am I going to do now…?" Mitch asked almost to himself, putting his head in his hands.
"You told her you'd get it?" Georgie's voice was hinted with dread.
"Well, no, I didn't really say anything, but…"
"Okay, then don't say anything. Not until I can figure something out…"
"Figure something out? Georgie, you just said—" Before Mitch could say anything more, he saw a mark on the inside of Georgie's right forearm. "What is that?" Mitch looked at the injury pointedly.
When Georgie realized he had seen it, she placed a hand on her arm and rode her sleeve down. "Nothing, it's nothing." Crap.
"Well, how did you get it?"
"I don't remember."
Mitch stared at her for a moment. "You don't...remember?" He asked, pressing his voice purposefully. How could she forget? "Georgie, look at me for a second."
Georgie suddenly closed the lid of her laptop and stood. "Mom," she said, announcing Lou's presence in the room.
Lou looked between the two of them. "Is everything okay?" She asked quietly.
Mitch stood as well. "Oh, yeah—I was just waiting for the coffee to get done, so I figured I'd come here and give Georgie some company."
Lou was unconvinced. "You guys began scrambling as soon as you saw me…hon, is everything alright with you?" Lou asked her daughter.
Amy's words returned to Georgie. She can read you like an open book. Georgie visibly relaxed herself, releasing the tense muscles in her face. "Everything's fine. I just wasn't expecting you to come out here, it caught me off-guard."
Mitch took charge of the situation. He stood, putting his arms around Lou, turning her in the direction of their room. "Why don't we get you inside?"
Lou looked at Georgie one last time. "Georgie."
The girl nodded her head dismissively. "Mom, I'm telling you. It's all okay."
"Lou, you really shouldn't be out here. Let's go inside," Mitch repeated in a low voice.
"Wait, why did you come out here?" Georgie asked, still rattled that she'd been caught off-guard, twice, under thirty seconds.
"I just, I heard your voice. I wanted to see you."
Georgie paused a moment, not knowing what she should say. She didn't want her mom to go back inside the room but she also didn't want all the attention on her. "Do you want to come into the kitchen? Mitch and I were about to make breakfast," she said, reaching for Lou's hand, and the both of them, along with Mitch, headed into the kitchen.
Mitch and Georgie got to work. When Georgie got started on something for Lou, she continued to consult Mitch about anything she should be careful about adding, or not adding at all.
When she was finished, Georgie brought the food over to the roundtable and Mitch then excused himself for a quick moment, saying he was going to go and grab Lou's meds, that he would be back in a minute. "You two get started with breakfast. I'll be back," he said, getting out of his seat and walking out of the kitchen.
Georgie turned to look at Lou, who was holding her coffee mug loosely in her hands. She was staring numbly in front of her.
Georgie wanted to hug her mom, badly. But she wasn't sure if she should, if Lou would even welcome it. She hesitantly brought a hand around Lou's shoulder and when her mother didn't move, Georgie leaned in closer and pressed her lips to her Lou's hair, planting a kiss. "Hey, why don't you eat something?"
It took Lou a couple of moments to register that Georgie had said something to her. She brought her hand up to her arm to rest over Georgie's. "Are you going to sit down as well?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sure," Georgie said as she moved to sit down. "The coffee okay?" Georgie asked in a desperate attempt to hear Lou's voice again, however quiet. "It's actually the decaf, I thought we should just be careful."
Lou looked down at her coffee, which she hadn't even begun to drink yet. She just nodded.
An hour or so later, Georgie sat outside on the porch, her phone in hand. She was thinking of calling the designer in Calgary, trying to get a hold of the dress.
Mitch had been on his way to join Jack in the fields and he saw her as he stepped outside. "Hey, what are you doing out here?"
"I'm trying to see if the designer still has the dress. She has a store in Calgary. Mom's been there with Katie a bunch of times. I just…I think I'll try calling…" Georgie said, already distracted.
After a few rings, a woman picked up on the other end. She asked Georgie how she could be of help.
"Yeah, I'm looking for this dress…" Georgie began, naming the garment. "Do you guys still have it in your store…?" The desperation was creeping into her voice.
"I'm really sorry, but we sold out a couple of days ago."
Georgie slapped a hand to her face. "Are you sure you guys don't still have it? Can you please double check? I just really need this dress…please."
The woman on the other end didn't ask the reason, but from the sound of Georgie's voice, she understood it was important. "We do have other locations across the region. I can check in for you, see if they still have any left in stock."
"Yes, please! That would be perfect. Thank you."
"Of course. Please hold for a few moments."
While Georgie waited on the line, she turned back to Mitch. "She's checking to see if the dress is still available somewhere…"
Mitch simply nodded, unsure of what to say.
After a few minutes, the woman came back on the line. "I have good news. The dress is available at our Edmonton location in a number of sizes. I can call in and place an order for you. We can have it delivered to this location, or we can have it ready for you to pick up at the Edmonton location."
Georgie couldn't believe her ears. The dress was available, like actually available. "Uh, how—how long will it take to arrive at your location?"
"Since the weekend is coming up, it probably won't be shipped by Monday and then it may take another two or three days to arrive."
"Okay, I'll just go to the Edmonton location and pick it up."
"Of course. What name should I place with the order then?"
As Georgie spoke on the phone and took care of the details of the order, she paced a little back and forth until eventually she came to stand by the foot of the bed.
Mitch watched his stepdaughter for a moment, feeling relieved that she had been able to locate the dress. Or else the silent promise he had made to Lou would have been broken. Georgie had made sure that didn't happen.
"Yeah. I'll be there by six, at the most," Georgie said, looking at the clock. It was nearing two pm right now. "Yup, sounds good. Thanks so much."
When Georgie got off the call, she looked toward Mitch. "Okay, I'm going to go."
"What? By yourself?"
"Well, do I really have a choice?"
"Yeah! I can come with you."
"No, you need to stay. Mom needs you here." Georgie cleared her throat. "I guess I'll call up Jade. She had a day off today, so…"
Mitch nodded. "Okay, good."