Over the next couple days, my new friend Elsie would be waiting for me on her bike at the end of her driveway until I made an appearance in my garage. She would pedal across the street and park her bike at the end of my driveway and patiently wait until I 'noticed' her. She would then pedal up my driveway and park her bike on the grass and start asking a whole bunch of questions on what I was doing today. She became my little buddy. She would help me pull weeds in the garden, helped clean the shed, held the ladder so I could clean the gutters, and of course we went fishing. At the end of the day, usually around 4pm, she would say goodbye, give me a little hug and pedal her bike back across the street and I wouldn't see her for the rest of the day. One morning Elsie handed me a slip of paper which was a note from Andrea which had her phone number on it. I was instructed to fill out the bottom half with my phone number and to text Andrea whenever I was going to be taking Elsie anywhere. Elsie cutely handed me a pencil to write with.
"My momma says to do this right away." Elsie said. "She gets really worried when she doesn't see me over here."
"I would think by now your mom would know that you're with me Elsie." I replied as I wrote my number down on the slip of paper. "But you should always ask your mom before you come over here."
"I do Mr. Ramsey." Elsie replied. "But my momma says she gets real scared when she doesn't see me outside with you and your car isn't here."
That day I took Elsie fishing again and I texted Andrea to let her know. Elsie was quite the fisherman that day and caught a lot of little rock bass which we threw back so they can grow up. I taught Elsie how to bait her own line and while she cringed when handling the worms, she would half-way bait her hook fairly well. Andrea texted me after a couple hours asking if I would bring Elsie home right away, so we packed up our stuff and left. Elsie wouldn't say anything on the way home and she looked sad.
"What's the matter Elsie?" I asked her. "Didn't you have fun today?"
"Yes Mr. Ramsey." Elsie replied but wouldn't say anything else. When we got home, I walked Elsie and her car seat back across the street, and she went into the house without saying goodbye or giving me a little hug. I wasn't even in my garage yet when I heard Andrea take off in her car. I didn't see Elsie for the rest of the day.
The next morning I sipped my coffee as I peered out the living room window across the street at a driveway that didn't have Andrea's car in it. Worse, Elsie wasn't waiting for me at the end of it. I had big plans for Elsie today. I made a little bird house out of the scraps of wood we found when cleaning the shed, because Elsie kept asking me questions why birds live in a tree and not a house. I texted Andrea last night asking if I could give Elsie a little present but hadn't received a reply. I had the perfect branch picked out so I could lift her up and she could hang it. I made myself busy doing a lot of nothing outside waiting, hoping to hear those training wheels cross the street. When it never happened, I packed my fishing gear up to do a little fishing. I probably would have caught fish if I had actually put a line in the water, but instead I sat on a bench and watched the river. I missed my little buddy.
Later that night, with my first paycheck of summer vacation, I took my parents out to eat since they have been so gracious on letting me move back home and not pay rent while I tried to pay my divorce bills. This was the first check I could actually splurge a little. We went to a little pizza buffet place in town and were eating when out of nowhere I heard that cute little voice.
"Mr Ramsey! Mr. Ramsey! Mr. Ramsey!" Elsie shouted from the door causing both my father and I to turn although I'm sure I was more excited to see her than he was. She ran to our table and gave me a hug. "I missed you today Mr. Ramsey." Elsie said.
"I missed you too Elsie." I replied. "I have a bird house I need your help with hanging in the tree."
My mother invited Andrea and Elsie to sit with us so Elsie took up residence right beside me and began talking about what we should decorate the bird house with. After getting herself and Elsie a plate of food, Andrea sat across from me and conversed with my parents. Andrea wasn't wearing anything special, jeans and a t-shirt and her hair was up. When Elsie asked me to go with her to get another slice of pizza I noticed Andrea was barefoot in her flats a peak of toe cleavage showing. As I sat across from her, she would bump my leg with her shoe every now and then, apologizing each time she did so. Apparently, as Elsie was telling me all about furniture for the bird house, and what Elmo did today, Andrea had told my mother she planned on hanging out with some high school friends tonight but had nobody to watch Elsie since her parents went camping. Elsie's little ears picked up on when my mother told Andrea she could stay with me. I tried to protest but Elsie pleaded so cutely and my mother pinched the skin behind my arm.
"Thanks Jason." Andrea said as she handed me Elsie's car seat. "I'll text you when I get home. I won't be out late."
"No problem Andrea." I replied and laughed. "I don't think Elsie is done catching me up on her adventures today." Andrea gave Elsie a kiss, told her to be good, and with her smirk and flirty wave, bid us farewell.
Elsie, my parents and I, played a couple games of go fish, followed by a game of candyland. I then showed her the birdhouse we had to hang up and while she thought it was awesome, I was glad I didn't teach woodshop or we would have a lot of horrendous looking birdhouses in town. We then made ice cream sundaes before she lay on the couch to watch cartoons and fell asleep. I sat in the recliner and had a beer while waiting for Andrea to text me she was home. As I was getting my fourth one, she did, and I scooped up Elsie to carry her across the street.
"Have a seat Jason." Andrea said as she took Elsie from me. She smelled of perfume and looked like she may have had one too many. "I'll put her to bed. You need a beer?"
"Sure." I said as I pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. Andrea came back into the kitchen talking about the happenings at the bar, put a twenty on the table and got us a beer from the fridge before she sat down. I interrupted her and held up the twenty. "What's this for?"
"For watching Elsie." She replied.
"Nah. That's ok." I replied as I pushed the twenty back over toward her. "She's a pleasure to be with."
"Thank you so much for being so kind to her Jason." Andrea stated. "She thinks you're kind of a big deal you know."
"It's no biggie. Really." I said as Andrea took off her flats and crossed her left leg underneath her right thigh so her bare sole was facing me. Her other foot perched on her toes on the floor. I couldn't help but look at them. They seemed to be pedicured again recently. I quickly looked back up at her. "She's a little cutie pie." I finished.
