Love by Love - 03
Reba made sure all her legal documents were set, they got her new information. She registered her car with her new address. She called cable company to have her cable hooked up. She contacted a pool service to have them come in and clean the pool. She did two loads of laundry and she took her daughter grocery shopping. She still had to look for a preschool for Kyra, and a babysitter when she had to work. Life of being a single mom wasn't easy.
She stood at the front door of the neighbor's house thinking if she should ask him or just look in the yellow pages. The door swung open and there he was, as handsome as he used to be.
"Uhh... Hi." Reba lifted her hand up and greeted him with a small wave holding Kyra with another hand. She spotted a cute little eight-year-old with a Barbie Doll in her arm. Reba smiled at her. She smiled back. "You must be Cheyenne."
"Yes..." Cheyenne hugged her dad's leg shyly.
"I'm Reba Holliway. Your mom's friend. I saw you when you were just a little two year old." Reba made conversation with the girl forgetting all about her daddy.
"Nice to meet you Miss Holliway." Cheyenne smiled big. She liked the redhead with a beautiful smile.
"Kids at my hometown call me Mrs. H. You can call me Mrs. H"
"Mrs. H." Cheyenne repeated. Reba looked up when Brock cleared his throat.
"Oh hi, I'm looking for a preschool for my daughter, Kyra. I just wonder if you have a suggestion." She then leaned over to Kyra. "Kyra, this is Doctor Brock Hart, our neighbor. He's a dentist."
"Can I just call you Dr. H?" Kyra's question made Reba jump a little. Brock saw her reaction and he grinned.
"You can call me Mr. H"
"Great! Nice to meet you Mr. H" Kyra extended her little hand for a proper handshake.
"Mr.H and Mrs. H" Barbra Jean rehearsed. "Sound like a couple." Barbra Jean had a puzzle on her face. She shook it off. "Anyway, my name is-"
"Barbra Jean, I already met you," said Kyra.
"My friends call me B.J, you can call me B.J"
"I'd rather you didn't" Reba told her daughter.
"Why not? BJ stands for-"
"I know what's it stand for." Reba cut her off.
Brock couldn't help but chuckle. "So, you're looking for preschool for Kyra?"
"Yes, that's what I'm here for."
"C'mon in Mrs. H, I can tell you about preschool I went to." Cheyenne took her hand and pulled her into the house.
"Wow, that's quite a collection of Beanie Babies you have there, Cheyenne." Reba was impressed.
"Actually they were mine" Barbra Jean beamed "254 of them. Yeah!" Reba glanced at Cheyenne and snickered when Cheyenne mouth 'she's nuts'. Cheyenne hit off with Reba right the way. She was a little chatty box. Reba liked her. Kyra in other hand, she wasn't chatty. She was more mature than most four-year-olds. While Cheyenne was a girly girly type, Kyra was more like a little tom-boy.
One week had gone by so quick, Reba settled in the new neighborhood. Kyra was happy with her new home, mainly because Brock was there and she loved Brock. He played catch with her, while Cheyenne grew attached to Reba. She loved talking to Mrs. H. She was growing up and talking to daddy was no longer fun. She wanted some 'woman talk'. She could talk to Barbra Jean, but it wasn't the same. Barbra Jean didn't have the motherly loved Cheyenne longed for.
"Reba, did you see my daughter?" Brock barged in to her kitchen and shot the question.
"Yes, she's playing with Kyra in my living room. And did you see that button?" Brock looked where Reba pointed to. "It's a doorbell, I had it install. Next time, use it."
"What are you making?" Brock ignored her sarcasm and sniffed the air standing behind Reba looking at the stove.
"Grilled cheese sandwich"
"Smells good" And he wasn't just talking about the food too.
"Didn't you come here to get Cheyenne? She's in the living room." Reba chased him away. He stood too close. "Cheyenne, Honey, your daddy's here!" Reba called to the living room, taking the grilled cheese sandwich out of the skillet setting them on the plate.
"Hi Mr. H" Kyra rushed over to greet him followed by Cheyenne.
"I'm taking Cheyenne to see a new cartoon that just came out. You want to come with us?" Invited Brock glancing at Reba who just turned her head sharply at him.
"Beauty and the beast? Are you taking me to see Beauty and the beast?" Cheyenne was excited. Brock hardly took her anywhere.
"Can we go see the movie too mom?" Kyra interested. Brock did the happy dance in his head. If Kyra wanted to go, it meant Reba had to go with her.
Eyeing at Brock who had mischievous grin spread across his face, Reba gritted. "Honey, I said I'll take you to see it next week when I have time."
"But you have time today."
"What's the matter Reba, don't you want to make your daughter happy?" Brock commented evilly.
"Of course I want to make her happy. But I didn't want to bother you, But if you insist." Reba went to get her purse. Brock screamed 'yes' in his head. He had been trying to ask her to go see a movie with him since college. Brock was dumbfounded when Reba gave him money. "Here's the money for Kyra's popcorn and drink. Don't let her drink too much soda. And thank you very much for helping me taking care of Kyra today. So I have some time to do house work." Reba ignored Brock's frowning expression and she knelt down to talk to her daughter. "You behave, okay? If you're mischievous I will not let you go out with .... Mr. H again."
"Okay mom." She took Brock's hand and looked up at him. "Let's go Mr.H"
"Bye bye" Reba waved. Brock took Cheyenne in one hand and Kyra in another, mentally kicking himself. He stopped and turned around to steal a piece of grill cheese sandwich she just made.
"That's my lunch!" Reba yelled behind him
"Considered it a cost for babysitting!" Brock took a bite and walked the kids to his car. Reba smirked. Well, she had a day to herself. Or at least she thought she had a day to herself.
"Hey Reba" Barbra Jean barged in to her kitchen.
Reba was surprised to see her. "What are you doing here? Didn't you go to the movie with Brock and the kids?"
"No, they went to see movie and didn't tell me?" Barbra Jean frowned. "Do you know which movie they went to see?"
"Is that relevant? They went to see Beauty and the beast."
"Oh man! I keep asking Brock to take me to see that movie but he kept saying he didn't want to." Barbra Jean flopped on a chair taking Reba's grilled cheese sandwich and eating it.
"That's my lunch!"
"Why did he do this to me?" Barbra Jean cried as she was chewing.
"Why are you eating my lunch?" Reba tried to take it back, but Barbra Jean shoved the whole thing in her mouth. "Urg!" Reba groaned and making another grilled cheese sandwich.
"Make another one for me too please."
"You just ate!"
"Yeah, I always eat when I'm upset." Reba looked at her oversized figure, but decided not to comment. "And Brock always make me upset."
"Do I really want to know about you and Brock? You do recall, you're the cause for my friend's marriage to fall apart, right?"
"Me?" Barbra Jean looked puzzle. "I'm not the one who he cheated with." She said firmly. "He never had sex with me until after his divorce."
"What? That's not what I heard." Reba narrowed her eyes in deep thought.
"Well, I kissed him. I admitted. Lori-Ann stopped by his dental office and caught me trying to seduce him." Barbra Jean poured her heart out to someone she just knew for a week. "Lori-Ann divorced him because she had a feeling he was in love with someone else. But that person wasn't me, isn't me. He never said he loves me. But I love him." Reba watched Barbra Jean took another piece of her sandwich without saying a word. The sound of Brock saying 'I love you, Reba. I love you' echoed in her head. "Man, this is good."
Reba woke up from a deep thought when Barbra Jean was trying to take another piece. Slapping her hand, she shouted "It's my lunch!" Barbra Jean pouted. "Why did you say he doesn't love you? I thought you live with him for like a year already?" Reba ate her last piece of food before someone else took it.
"I was the one who proposed we move in together." Barbra Jean admitted. "I told him I could save money for rent and he have someone to help him cook and clean. He jumped right in and took me on the offer." Reba looked at Barbra Jean who was just 22 sympathetically. She just graduated from a college and started to work with Brock as an intern and now working as his hygienist. She didn't have much money. And living with Brock did save her money for rent, and Reba just learned, Barbra Jean had her own room. Well, maybe Reba would look at him differently now that she knew he didn't cheat on Lori-Ann. But how different?