Preston set Lexine down and we walked following Dr. Hines. About halfway down she turned into a room. I was surprised to see how big the office was. She had a beautifully carved wooden desk and her degrees were framed and hanging on the wall. In the far corner there was a children's area with little chairs, tables, books and toys. The middle of the room was more like a living room with couches and a large coffee table.

Two men were sitting on one of the couches and stood up when we entered. They both knew Preston and shook his hand. Preston introduced the taller balding man as Robert Jones and the shorter man with glasses as Michael Jacobs.

With the handshakes and introductions done,  Preston, Lexine and I sat on the couch opposite of them with Dr. Hines in an armchair on the side. They asked questions about her general health and when her speaking issues started. They did not ask the cause of it thanks to Preston.

Dr. Hines got up from her chair to pick up a children's puzzle and brought it over to the coffee table. Opening the box, she spread out the pieces. "Here Lexine, you look bored. Why don't you play with this puzzle?" she asked her and then sat back down in her chair. Lexine looked at me for permission and I nodded.

Switching the conversation topic to Charleston and places that we've visited so far, everyone carefully kept their eyes off of Lexine. She slid down off the couch and looked at puzzle. Sneaking little glances up to make sure that nobody was watching, she started to move them around. Dr. Hines took notes periodically taking discreet glances at Lexine and her progresss with the puzzle.

 In about 10 minutes she had it done. Mr. Jones, Mr. Jacobs and Dr. Hines noticed that the puzzle was complete but didn't say anything. Lexine climbed back up onto the couch between me and Preston. She looked bored and started to squirm around. Mr. Jacobs gave Dr. Hines a look and she in turn got up and got plain white paper with a box of crayons and sat them on the side of the puzzle, close to her armchair.

Lexine gave the paper and crayons an interested look but stayed seated. Mr. Jones pointed to the paper and crayons and said, "Lexine, you can draw if you would like to." She looked at me for permission again, and again I nodded. Lexine got down and hesitated. She moved towards the puzzle and took it apart and put it back in the box. Leaning over to reach the paper and crayons, she pulled it over towards her and started to draw.

This was nothing new to me, I'd seen her do things like this many times. Preston seems intrigued by her behavior and so did the school board.  Mr. Jones, spoke up and said to me, "Mrs. Williams, the school here would like to extend a scholarship to Lexine. She shows a lot of promise." I accepted and grabbed Preston's hand smiling at him.

We spent the next few minutes filling out forms with Preston helping me with the address. We listed all five men as emergency contacts and put them on the list for drop offs and pick ups. I was impressed by the security. Then they gave us a small tour of the school. The classrooms were state of the art and behind the building, there was a playground. It was decided that Lexine would start on Monday. 

We left the building and I glanced at the hospital and said, "At least if she gets hurt there will be doctors nearby."

Preston laughed and said, "This is the hospital that Chase works at. He can be here for her in less than 5 minutes."

I laughed too, "How convenient!" I actually did feel better knowing that.

Hustling us into the car, he seemed excited to take us to our surprise destination. After a fifteen minute drive, we ended up at The Children's Museum of the Lowcountry. 

"This is more for Lexine, than for us. I hope you don't mind." Preston said to me after we got out of the car.

"No, not at all. This will be fun for her! This is so thoughtful of you." I tiptoed up to give him a kiss.

He looked so pleased, I had to smile. We walked up and he paid our admission. Inside Lexine had the time of her life. We visited every exhibit that they had from racing golf balls, playing in a garden and a pirate ship.

As we watched Lexine enjoy herself, I asked Preston, "What was up with the puzzle and other things during the interview?"

"Believe it or not those were little tests to see what she would do with the items. How she worked on the puzzle tells them how she works through problems and the speed that she did it at shows them that she is very smart. The paper and crayons were a test too. That one showed them more of how she solves problems and of course her drawings will be analyzed. I have to say that they were pretty impressed with her to offer the scholarship right away during the interview. They usually take a day to decide whether to accept a child or not. I believe that she has inherited some natural talent from her mother."

I smiled and hugged him. Preston put his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I felt lucky to have these men in my life. Soon it was time to go and have lunch.

He took us to an Italian place that had wonderful food. It wasn't one of those chain places, it was very authentic. Lexine wanted cheese ravioli with marinara and I ordered the Linguine with red clam sauce. Preston got the Veal Parmesan and insisted on feeding me little bites of it. He was being so nice to us I couldn't help but wonder what my life would have been like had I met someone like him or any of the other guys instead of Rick.

Next Preston took us on a carriage ride and it was wonderful. Lexine started out sitting in between us but soon wanted to sit by herself on the seat across facing us. Preston moved us closer together so that my side was pressed up against his. With his arm around me I felt secure and happy. I was falling for these men one by one.