Free Beautiful Ties by Alicia Rae Page A

in my free time.
    “Oh…” I said and then paused.
    Pearl swept her bangs out of her face, but they fell right back over her eyes. Jason stood silently at my side, quietly observing our interaction.
    “Would you like some help with your hair, sweetie?”
    Her eyes lit up. “Could you, please?” she asked with delight. “My hair won’t stay out of my eyes!” she huffed.
    I glanced at Jason apologetically. “I’m going to take Pearl upstairs and braid her hair. Can you holler if you hear the bus coming?”
    Jason’s stare was full of sympathy and questions about the young girl. I subtly shook my head at him, letting him know that now was not the time.
    “Of course. I’ll keep a watch for it,” he answered me. Then, he offered Pearl a kind and gentle smile.
    The endearment made my heart expand in my chest. She returned his smile with a shy one of her own.
    I put my arm around her shoulder. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go tame those bangs, so you can see,” I said to her while leading her back up the sidewalk toward my condo.
    As we were walking, she tilted her head up at me. “Who was that?” she asked.
    “A friend,” I replied as we reached my front door. I slipped my key in and turned the handle before gesturing Pearl inside.
    “What kind of friend?” She giggled. “You mean, like a boyfriend?”
    I led her into the bathroom. “No, sweetie, he’s just a new friend. And what do you know about boyfriends anyway?” I teased lightly.
    “I don’t,” she replied quickly, placing her hand on her chin. Then, she got that dreamy look in her eyes. “But someday, my prince will come rescue me, like in Cinderella . Then, we’ll get married and have ten babies.”
    Rescue — what an unusual word to use .
    Didn’t Cinderella have a sad childhood?
    I shook off the thoughts, knowing Pearl was waiting for me to respond. I started to brush her hair. “Ten babies?” I said in wonder. “You are going to be a very busy mommy.”
    “Yep, I want to be a mom for my grown-up job.” She smiled. “Abbey, what do you do at your job?”
    I carefully started French-braiding her hair. “I help purchase old buildings and plan the restoration process,” I said, realizing she probably had no idea what I was talking about.
    Gail still didn’t even really understand. She would just go, Uh-huh , after a while.
    “Restoration?” she replied, testing out the word.
    I pondered over how a seven-year-old would think. “Yep, that means fixing them up. Basically, we take really old buildings and make them pretty again,” I said.
    “Oh, that makes sense.” She suddenly gasped in the mirror. “That looks so cute!” she squealed, studying her hair in the mirror. “Where did you learn how to do that?”
    I smiled at her reflection. “Well, I never had a sister growing up, but I did have many sleepovers. I learned how to do fancy braids after lots of practicing on my friends. This one is called a French braid.”
    “Can you teach me?” she cried. Her eyes were full of hope.
    “Sure.” I smiled. Then, I gestured her toward the door. “We can start practicing another day. Right now, we have to get you on your bus, or I’ll be in big trouble.”
    “Okay!” she exclaimed.
    I locked my condo, and then we headed out the door. After putting my keys in my pocket, I motioned for Pearl to start walking again. She surprised me by grabbing my hand and swinging it back and forth as we made our way toward the parking lot. I could not help but feel my heart swell in my chest. I adored this little girl.
    Jason was leaning against his truck, and his right leg was kicked out over the other. His attention was focused on his cell phone in his hand.
    “Look what Abbey did to my hair!” Pearl said with delight to Jason, making him look up.
    He smiled over at her.
    “It’s called a French braid!” she added while running her free hand along her new updo, never breaking our joined hands.
    “It looks great,” Jason said to her. He