Page 27 of Baby Me

“Which means my niece is lucky enough to have two beautiful and strong women as rolemodels.”

She pulled in an invisible sniffle. It was another one of Evie’s tricks to gain empathy. “I never thought of it that way.” And right now, she was doing that thing with her face where she was thinking again. It sort of reminded me of a person who was concentrating on a bathroomritual.

“Thank you, Cameron. That actually makes so much sense. I need to be more likeLola.”

“That’s not what I said. You need to beyou. You give Sophie that female sparkle that she needs. If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t know about ballet or… or aboutblending.”

I wasn’t sure how I knew what blending was, but I’d spent enough time around my six-year-old niece that I’d probably learned it fromher.

“You should get going, Evie. Thanksgiving dinner starts in less than eight hours, and from what I hear, blending requires lots oftime.”

She glanced at her watch just as we heard a forceful knock on the front door that put me onguard.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Iasked.

“No, definitely not.” I saw a hint of fear in hereyes.

“Stand back behind thatwall.”

She took about a dozen or so quick Barbie steps that measured three of my regular ones, grasped the corner of the wall, and peeked from behindit.

I opened the door and breathed out in relief. “Charlie. Hey, how areyou?”

“Good. I was told you cut yourself, so I stopped by to check itout.”

“You cut yourself?” Evie came out from around the corner, acting like she was here to comfort me, but when she saw Charlie, she stopped. I watched as her mouth dropped open and she sucked in a quickgasp.

Charlie glanced from me to her and back to me again, as if questioning thesituation.

“Charles?” sheasked.

“Hello, Evelyn. It’s nice to see you again. You… lookgreat.”

She reached out her hand, and he touched the tips of her fingers like a gentleman and brought her hand to his lips for a soft kiss. Jesus, this guy was even better than Iwas.

“That’s a strong knock you had. Let me see those hands.” Evie took his palm into hers and grazed her fingers across his skin. He shifted from one foot to the other, and I prayed that someone would just put me out of my misery or make these two disappear so I could finish mywork.

“Yes, these are definitely a doctor’s hands. Confident and precise. Skilled. I bet you’re so skilled. Should I call you Dr. Lockheart now? I heard you were practicing aroundhere.”

Charlie moved toward her, one corner of his face lifting with an assertive smirk, and that was when I saw Kate standing behind him holding what looked like a lunch bag. I left the two lovebirds alone and took Kate’s hand, pulling her into mybody.

“Is everything okay atSilvia’s?”

“Yeah, everything’sgood.”

“What are you doinghere?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the same thing Evie’s doing here? Looking out for the man I’minto.”

“Come on, Kate. It’s not likethat.”

“I know. I’m teasing. Mrs. Lockheart said she has the entire dinner prepped already, so she didn’t need any help. I saw Charlie at the diner and thought I would ask him to check on your wound. It looks like it’s getting infected. And I brought you somebiscuits.”

“Biscuits, you say? There’s only one biscuit on my mind right now.” I grasped her around the waist and brought her even closer. Kate’s body was the perfect remedy for any ailment. “You think we have time before you have to get ready forThanksgiving?”

She lowered her gaze to her watch. “I think I have a few sparehours.”

My attention temporarily flew to Evie, who had stumbled on her high heels, falling right into Charlie’sarms.

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