Page 63 of Hello Tease

“But how is it going to work?” she asked, looking up at me. “I need childcare.”

“Give me a day,” I said. “Give me a day to figure it out. I have today off for picking up that shift on Saturday—I’ll watch the kids while you’re at work.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I feel like you’ve already done too much.”

Larkin amazed me. She was going through all this and still thinking about me, not wanting to take advantage of me. “You’re so used to being strong for everyone else. When are you going to let someone be strong for you?”

She searched my eyes with hers, and she was about to answer when Emily came down the hallway, dragging her blanket with her, her hair a mess atop her head.

“Hi, Mommy. Hi, Knox.”

Larkin quickly wiped her face and went to pick up her daughter. “Are you okay to spend the day with Knox today?”

Emily grinned. “More pranks.”

Larkin let out a tearful laugh and set Emily on the couch. “I’m going to apply some fresh makeup. Will you listen for Jackson, Knox?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

While Larkin went back to the bathroom, I looked at Emily with a smile. I hadn’t been planning to spend the whole day with her and Jackson, but honestly, the day off looming in front of me without Larkin and her family made me realize how empty my life had felt before. “What do you usually do first thing in the morning?” I asked Emily.

She looked up like she was thinking. “I get dressed, Mama does my hair and brushes my teeth, and then we eat breakfast.”

“Perfect. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll start cooking.”

“Good idea.” She nodded and hopped up from the couch, leaving her pink fuzzy blanket on the cushion. As she flounced away, I had to wonder—how could anyone want to miss out on this?

And then an even worse thought came to mind: if I couldn’t help Larkin find a solution, I could be missing out on this too.

35

LARKIN

I knewKnox said he would help me figure out childcare, but they were my children, my responsibility. I didn’t have much downtime at work, but during my bathroom break that morning, I got on the phone and called the three childcare centers in town.

Two of them didn’t have any openings, and the one that did was way out of my price range. The cost would have eaten up eighty percent of my earnings, and that didn’t include the diapers and meals I’d have to pack for both children. Maybe I could swing it once Emily started school in the fall, but it would be really tight even then, and that didn’t cover the hours from three to five either.

I was feeling hopeless as I sat down at my desk to chart the morning medications for each of the clients. It took all I had to smile when Bernice approached my desk.

“Hi, Larkin.” She sat in the open chair across from me. “I wanted to check in on you. See how it’s going.”

With my job? “Great. I love it here.” A lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed it down.

“That’s great news,” Bernice said. “You’ve been here a little while now, and I like asking all our employees a few questions once they get a feel for the culture. Do you have a sec?”

“Sure,” I said. It would be a welcome break from all the stewing I’d been doing this morning.

She crossed her legs and laced her fingers around one knee. “What are some changes you think we could make to improve the residents’ quality of life here?”

I blinked. At my last job, the retirement home director was far more concerned with paperwork and selling rooms to new clients than she ever was with her employees’ opinions. “You’re asking me?”

She smiled. “Of course. Unless you’re hiding the real Larkin under your desk.”

I chuckled, pleasantly surprised by the joke. “Actually, there has been one thing.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

I leaned my elbows on the desk. “I started doing yoga after having Jackson, and I’ve seen how good it’s been for my physical strength and for my stress. I think it would be great to add some yoga, even chair yoga, to the activities schedule.”

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