Page 100 of Never Fall Again

Where would that leave him? He had no idea.

The alarm on his phone chimed. Time to get Eliza ready for school.

He eased down the stairs and then back up to the loft where Eliza slept. “Liza Lou?” He kept his voice just above a whisper. The last thing he wanted to do was startle her. It wasn’t like she was used to having a man wake her in the morning.

She lifted her arms above her head and stretched. “Sleep.” She rolled over and settled onto her side.

“School first. Sleep later.”

She didn’t move. Maisy stood and licked her face. That got her moving. And giggling.

“If you get up and get dressed fast enough, we’ll have time to eat some of Meredith’s muffins before school.”

Eliza sat up. “What kind?”

“I checked the freezer. She has chocolate chip and blueberry.”

“Blueberry.” Eliza rubbed her eyes.

“Blueberry it is. And some oatmeal. But you have to help me out and get a move on.”

She yawned and blinked at him a few times. Then she frowned. “Where’s Mommy?”

“In bed asleep. My mom came over and took care of her. She’s had medicine and she’s resting.”

“What’s wrong?”

“She has something called strep throat. When kids get it, it’s not fun. But sometimes when adults get it, it makes them very sick. Looks like your mom is one of those people. But she’ll be okay. She needs to rest and take some medicine, and then she’ll be as good as new.”

Eliza threw herself into his arms. “I knew you’d know what to do.”

He held her close, savoring the trust and affection and ignoring the little voice screaming warnings from the still-shattered parts of his heart.

Thirty minutes later, and thanks in large part to the fact that Eliza needed very little assistance, he put a bowl of oatmeal and a blueberry muffin in front of her while he sipped his coffee.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’ll eat later. Right now I’m going to pack your lunch.”

Eliza told him her favorite lunch items and, given that her list included orange slices and turkey roll-ups, he didn’t worry that Landry would have a conniption when she found out that he put a few Oreos in the box before he zipped it.

He jogged up the stairs. Landry was out cold. Sometime duringbreakfast, Maisy had abandoned him and Eliza and made her way to Landry. She lay sprawled across the empty side of the bed and gave Cal a look that said, “Leave us alone and let us rest.”

He jogged back down, grabbed his keys, Eliza’s backpack, and his coffee, and they went to his truck. Mo stepped outside, a matching coffee thermos in his hand. “What’s going on?”

Cal gave him a quick rundown. “Will you sit inside until I get back? Just in case she needs anything? Maisy’s on the bed with her.”

“Got it.” Mo winked at Eliza. “You’ll tell me if he drives too crazy, right?”

“Right.” She grinned at him and clambered into the back of the truck and into the booster seat he kept there for Abby. Cal made sure she was securely buckled, gave Mo a small salute, and headed to the elementary school.

He’d had plenty of opportunities to take his nephews and niece to school over the years, so he knew how the drop-off system worked. He got in the line and inched his way toward where the teachers and aides stood, opening car doors and greeting students and parents.

When he reached the drop-off point, the woman who opened the door was someone he’d known since elementary school. He’d also dated her sister a long time ago. Lisa gave him a look that he understood all too well. Thankfully, she kept the innuendo out of her voice as she helped Eliza from the truck. “Good morning, Eliza. Look at you, riding in the back of this big old truck. What did you do to get Cal to bring you to school this morning?”

“My mommy’s sick.” Eliza turned to Cal. “Thanks, Cal.”

“Have a good day, Liza Lou. I’ll be here to pick you up after school.”

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