Hearts in Motion by Edie Ramer

and then she smiled and patted her hand on his cheek, the same way he imagined she would pet the dog.
    He straightened, and only then did he turn his head to the women. No, woman , he thought, his gaze resting on Abby’s eyes. Seeing their softness and approval, both of which felt pretty good to him.
    Too good.
    Something strange was happening to him, and he had to leave now. He felt as if he’d fallen down into Wonderland, where things weren’t like anything in the real world. Not even his heart that seemed to be melting.
    “I have to leave.” He gazed down at Cara. “I have to go back to work. I’ll pick you up at six, right?”
    “Me and Epic,” she said.
    He stiffened but nodded. He’d given her his word. “Yes, you and Epic.”
    She smiled at him again, a shy smile. He patted the top of her head, feeling awkward. Both of them were learning how to do this family thing, though she wasn’t his family and would be taken away in a week and two days.
    “I’ll see you later.” He backed away from her. Nodding at the two women, he saw the glistening eyes of Abby. While Sam’s were narrowed in cynicism, as if she didn’t believe his show of affection.
    He strode away and wished he didn’t believe in it, either. He didn’t know what had happened, or how, but he needed to get out before he did anything else imprudent and unlike him.

 
    8
     
    “He’s engaged,” Sam said.
    Abby straightened her shoulders, wondering what Sam saw in her face. “I know. Don’t worry about me. He’s not my type. Too serious. Life is serious, and when I go out, I like to laugh and have fun. He’s like a...” She gestured outdoors. “A sturdy oak tree that just stands there and provides shade and oaks. I like oak trees. I admire them. But in the end, he’s a tree, and I prefer a flower.”
    “I’ve seen a few of your laughing boyfriends.” Sam scratched the side of her head, riffling her short hair. “They remind me of dandelions.”
    Abby laughed, and Cara giggled.
    “Do you like dandelions?” Sam bent toward Cara.
    Cara nodded energetically. “They’re pretty.”
    “Right,” Sam said, “pretty and bright-colored, but then you wake up one morning, and they’re dandelion fluff, blowing away with the wind.”
    Abby made a face. So true about her boyfriends through the years. “But what if I don’t mind them blowing away?”
    Sam shook her head, one side of her mouth indenting. “Nothing wrong with a girl having fun.”
    “But I’m not a girl anymore. Right?” Abby winced at the truth of her words. Though she still got carded, thirty was coming up in less than two years, and she was still living from month to month. And with the extra expenses—the leaking roof and the machinery breaking—this month it was week to week.
    “When I get my life together,” Sam said, “that’s when I’ll give you advice.”
    “Ha! So true.” Abby shook off this pensive mood. She didn’t do pensiveness well. It usually ended with her diving into a depression that even a bag of her favorite chocolate couldn’t make disappear, until she recovered enough to remind herself she had so much good that meant more than money. She had her health, her sister, her cats, her dog, her friends. And though her parents were gone now, she’d had wonderful years with them.
    All she was missing was money.
    “I don’t have time for a serious relationship anyway,” she said.
    “Just the fun ones?” Sam asked. “How’s that working for you?”
    “Bitch.”
    Cara gasped, and Sam leaned forward, her hands on her thighs, and looked Cara in the eyes. “Cara, I’m proud of being a bitch. It’s what people call you when you tell the truth.” She straightened and peered straight into Abby’s eyes. “But I know something about love; it’s the serious ones that stick.”
    “But what if I like to laugh?”
    “Don’t tell me. Tell it to your heart.”
    “You’re...” Words wouldn’t come. At least none she could say in front of