Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) (13 page)

By the time they left the last room, Angel was carrying Kylie as she yawned. It had taken a couple of hours
to make their rounds and it had worn her out. Bo met them in the hallway offering to take his daughter so Angel could go home but she told him she promised to tuck Kylie in before she left. When they entered her room, Angel was floored by what graced the walls. Picture after detailed, colorful picture of the world seen through a child's eyes brightened the otherwise dull hospital room. Michelangelo and Picasso had nothing compared to the beauty this little girl had created in Angel’s eyes. Big, bright flowers, grassy green hills, the sun on a bold blue sky, a moonlit night with stars, trees filled with red apples, and tomato vines in a garden with a gray haired stick woman bent over pulling weeds were just a few of the artistic designs. But the one that brought tears to her eyes was a stick girl on a pink motorcycle complete with a wheelie bar on back. The girl had long dark brown hair with big white angel wings outlined in pink on her back. There was black asphalt in front of her and in the distance you could see the finish line. The picture next to it had grandstands full of little stick people cheering. But the fan that stood out the most was a little girl that was wearing a pink Angel Vega shirt and had the same hot pink hat on that Kylie had worn today. Her arms were up in the air and there was a bubble above her head that said “Go Angel Go”.

“Kylie, these are the most amazing drawings I’ve ever seen. You’re so talented!”

“My daddy is an art teacher so he’s teaching me everything he knows. He’s even gooder than me, Angel. Maybe one day you can come visit me at home and see all the stuff we’ve made together.” She turned to look at her dad who was beaming a bright smile, obviously proud of his daughter. “Would that be okay, Daddy? We could make her our famous homemade pepperoni pizza cuz she likes lots of Parmesan sprinkles on it just like I do. It could be a coming home party for me since I’m ‘posed to go home on Tuesday.”

“Honey, Angel probably doesn’t have time to do something like that. She’s a very busy lady.”
Bo looked as if he was embarrassed by his daughter’s invitation…probably because he thought Angel would say no.

Angel looked at him and smiled. “Actually, I’m off for the ne
xt two weeks so I’d love to visit if it’s okay with you, Bo. If it’s going to be a coming home party we should have some of that slushy apple juice you were telling me about, Kylie.”

His mouth dropped open and he stuttered a little bit, stunned at her acceptance. “Of course. Any time you’re free. I can’t believe you said yes…”

Kylie giggled and wrapped her slender arms around Angel’s neck and hugged her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Yes! Slushy apple juice for sure. Thank you, Angel! I can’t wait!

Angel tucked her in bed and kissed her cheek, putting her new teddy bear in bed next to her. “Sweet dreams, Kylie. I’ll see you soon.”

Angel took a deep breath and dabbed the wetness at the corners of her eyes and ran the letter opener along the seam of the envelope with care. This was one she would keep forever. It would be added to a box of letters and pictures she saved from Kylie over the few years since they met. With a gentle tug she freed the pale pink stationary from the envelope and opened it up. As always, it smelled like Kylie’s favorite perfume,
Loves Baby Soft
.

Dearest Angel,

I am so thankful God kept you safe. I miss you so very much. You are my bestest friend in the whole wide world. Daddy said you got hurt real bad in an accide
nt and can’t walk. I’m so sorry! You are still so special and even more now since you ride on wheels all the time and not just when you’re racing. I bet you can beat people in wheelchair races now!

Oh
, shoot! Daddy just told me it wasn’t polite to say that. I’m sorry! :( I thought it was cool. It’s one of the fun things when I go to the hospital to ride in wheelchairs cuz sometimes the nurses will push me real fast and I feel like I’m flying. Maybe you can give me a ride in yours and we can go fast and laugh. That would be fun. I hope you come see me soon. It seems like it has been a billion kazillion days since I saw you last. Oh! I have good news…I got a puppy for my birthday last week! I named her Pinky. LOL! She’s a little pug with black fur and white on her face and belly. She snorts like a pig sometimes but it’s so funny. She snores too, almost as loud as daddy. I swear I can hardly get any sleep now with those two around. S’ok cuz I love them anyways. I hope you come see me and Pinky soon. I promise you will love her. ‘Cept she licks a lot. Daddy said we need to read a book together on how to train a dog so she’ll mind better.

I tried to call you and tell you that
daddy and I pray for you to get better every night but your number isn’t working anymore. So if you haven’t been getting any phone calls, that’s why. Maybe the phone company doesn’t know your phone ain’t actin’ right. When you get it fixed call me and let me know you got this and that you are doing better. I love you with every bit of my heart and you are still my favoritist racer of all time.

Your bestest friend forever,

Kylie Lane

Xoxoxo

P.S. Oh gosh! Pinky just sneezed on this…sorry. LOL!

P.P.S. Just in case you wondered…I don’t care if you are in a wheelchair or not. Just like you don’t care if I’m bald-headed or not when I’m having chemo or radiation. You are still beautiful to me.

Angel re-read the letter a few times, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and tucked it back in the envelope. Dammit. She missed Kylie’s birthday and didn’t think to call
her and tell her she had her home phone turned off when she had to move in with her dad. While she was feeling sorry for herself in the hospital she hadn’t really thought about anyone other than herself. Now she felt like a selfish jerk. But, now that she was out of the hospital and working on getting her head on straight, she would schedule a time to go visit her sweet little friend and try to make it up to her.

S
etting that letter to the side, Angel picked up the next one, treating it with just as much care as the first one. When Nahni told her how many letters she had at home to respond to, Angel asked her to have some cards printed up with
Vega Racing
on them that she could send to her fans that wrote her. It was the least she could do in return for their thoughtfulness. But at the rate she was going it may take her a month to get done. Lord knows she would need her mind busy today especially since Dakota was going to be here. Her emotions had already been off the grid, especially when it came to Mr. Tall Dark and Delicious.

Dakota was up early. He showered and dressed in tan cargo shorts,
Adidas
sneakers and a red tank top. Today he was taking the advice of his buddy, Rage. Things needed to be fixed at Vito’s house so Angel had more freedom to move around unassisted. Since Vito had to work, Dakota enlisted the help of his best friend, Tank and his dad, Noah to help with renovations. When he called Vito the night before and asked if it was okay, Vito had laughed and told him ‘good luck’. It wasn’t exactly encouraging, but his spirits were high. He was bound and determined to be such a presence in Angel’s life she would eventually cave and let him in her heart.

The coffee was done perking so he filled his thermos and shut the coffee pot off before grabbing his tool belt and heading out the door. While he walked the short distance to his
parents’ house he decided to coerce his mom into letting him pick some of her flowers to take to Angel. Sappy, but most women liked flowers as far as he could tell. The front door was open when he jogged up the porch steps and went in the screen door.

“Mom, do you mind if I pick some of your flowers to take to Angel?” He said as he walked inside.

“What, no good morning, Mom…or even a hug? Come here, you.” Mikayla gave her son a big hug, smiling up at him.

“Good morning, Momma,” he grinned at her and squeezed her tight.

“That’s better. Of course you can pick her some flowers. I even have a vase you can put them in. Let me grab my pruning shears and we’ll go out back and snip the ones you want. Your dad has the truck pulled around back loading up some tools.”

The flower beds were in full
bloom with bright pink and red azaleas, stark white lily-of-the-valley, peach and yellow tulips and soft lavender spanish bluebells. His mom was laughing at him as he inspected each flower before deciding which to snip and hand to her to arrange in the vase. It didn’t help matters when Tank came around the side of the house and proceeded to make fun of him for picking flowers while wearing a tool belt.

“You are such a wuss, bruh. She got you all messed up,” he laughed, patting him on the back.

“Screw you, Tank. I remember how you were when you were trying to convince Gina you were the man for her. Don’t even give me crap for getting flowers for Angel.” Dakota elbowed his friend good-naturedly.

“Hey if you two are done tip-toeing through the tulips we should probably head on over there and get to work.” Noah gave them a smirking grin as he got into the truck and started it up.

“I’ll be by in a bit to bring some sandwiches for lunch. You boys behave yourselves now, you hear me?” Mikayla shielded her eyes from the sun when she walked up to the window and gave her husband a kiss goodbye.

“Thanks, Mom, see you soon.” Dakota replied.

The drive over to the Vegas’ house was relatively quiet. Dakota sipped his coffee from his thermos and looked out the window as they passed acre after acre of orchards and produce farms. His stomach was nervous, doing summersaults as he thought about seeing Angel.

It must have showed because Tank clapped him on his shoulder and squeezed. “Keep it cool, bruh. Give her some space and
let’s get the work done. Let her come to you. Don’t force it.”

Dakota nodded his head, anxiously picking at his fingernail. Vito was walking out the door when they pulled in
to the driveway.

“Hey guys, Rage is inside. He’s staying around to help today but I have to go in to work. I sure do appreciate you volunteering to help. Things have been so busy.” Vito shook their hands and nodded at the flowers Dakota was awkwardly clutching. “Those for me, son?” He teased him.

“Naw, you’re a handsome guy, Vito, but these are a peace offering for Angel. Maybe get me some brownie points or something.”

Vito patted his shoulder and nodded, “Maybe so. She’s in pretty good spirits after Ms. Lola c
ame by and made breakfast.”

“That’s good to hear. Anything you need help with around here,
just let us know. We’re happy to help.” Noah shook Vito’s hand and went around the truck, opening the tailgate to get the saw out.

“Will do. Thanks, guys. I gotta head into work now. It looks like Nahni is ready to go,” he said as she walked out the front door waving at them.

“Oh, well what do we have here?” She walked up to Dakota and smelled the bouquet of flowers, giving him a bright smile. “Well played, dear man well played.”

Dakota grinned at her, feeling more confident
of his gesture after having another female’s approval besides just his mom.

“Go on inside and surprise her with that. She’s at the table going through mail. Rage is already tearing off the trim
on the bathroom doorway. We put plastic over her bed and dresser so y’all don’t have to worry about dust and all that.” Nahni rested her hand on her bulging belly and waddled over to Vito’s truck, climbing inside and waving as they pulled away.

“Guess I’m gonna go on inside and give her
these and hope for the best.”

“Good luck
, bruh,” Tank clapped him on the back, giving him a slight shove towards the door.

Taking a deep breath, Dakota walked up the ramp and opened the screen door.

“Did you forget something, Nahni?” Angel called out.

“No, her and your dad just left. I brought you flowers.” He stammered out. Walking up to her and thrusting the vase of softly scented flowers towards her.

“I see that,” she said, taking them from him and sniffing the sweet offering. Her cheeks flushed and the bright smile she gave him was worth all the teasing from his buddy. He took that as a good sign and pulled out a chair next to her and sat down.

“Thank you, Dakota. You didn’t have to do this.” Her eyes had a soft glow about them that made the edges
of her brown iris’s look like they were tipped in gold.

“You’re welcome, Angel. I wanted to
bring you something to make you smile.” He reached over and brushed her hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear so he could see her face. She immediately tipped her head forward again so her hair cascaded around her again. She fidgeted, setting the flowers on the table and tugging her skirt over her knees.

“You look beautiful. I like that color on you.” Reaching out, he took her hand in his and gave it a soft squeeze.

“I don’t look beautiful. I look like a freak.” She pulled her hand from his and slid her hands down to cover her knees where her scars started. He remembered seeing her wounds after her surgery. The scarring wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it would be. But he could understand why she would worry what he thought of her scars. She was a female and females seemed to always worry about what other people thought of their appearance. Wasn’t it obvious he was crazy for her?