Page 47 of The Rough Ride

“I didn’t think you were due home from the beach until later tonight.”

“We left early this morning and got home three hours ago. I could tell when I talked to Liz last night that she wasn’t comfortable leaving Ella with Vera for a full day. We just left the beach a few hours earlier than expected, although, truth be told, I could’ve stayed at the ocean for the whole month of September. That sunshine and sand did my heart a lot of good.”

He stuffed his hands in his pocket while the baby squirmed to get a look at him. “I’ll bet. Liz said you’ve been a real help to her with Ella and everything.”

Arlene smiled. “Aww, that’s sweet. I love my daughter more than anything, Nick.” She kissed Ella’s head and straightened. “Okay. Let me show you a few things. I set her oatmeal and banana for supper on the counter. I already measured it. Just add a half cup of water and heat for thirtyseconds in the microwave. I put her schedule on the counter. She gets a bottle after supper and one right before bed. Bedtime is seven or seven-thirty at the latest. She’s been sleeping through the night, but if Liz isn’t home yet, she may wake up and need another bottle and a diaper change around ten.”

Whoa. Whoa.“I’m not following you, Arlene. I have a dinner date with Liz tonight.”

“What? Didn’t Liz call you to babysit Ella? I left a message for her at work.”

“No. I haven’t spoken to Liz since late Friday night. We’ve texted a few times, and yesterday, we decided to have dinner together when I was done work today.”

Arlene rubbed two fingers up and down her forehead. “Oh, my. I thought Liz received my emergency message and sent you over to help with Ella.” She slumped against the counter and shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“What happened?”

She looked up at him with teary eyes. “My best friend, Louise, just did a Peter Pan down her cellar stairs while putting her suitcase away. I was going to take Ella with me to the hospital, but those places are full of germs. And I promised Louise I’d come with her to the hospital. Liz got called into work today. I thought the agency gave Liz my urgent message, and she sent you over to take care of Ella.”

Nick gulped.There had to be some weird conspiracy of the childcare universe going on.

“Give me the baby, Arlene. Go take care of your friend.” He stepped toward her and held out his arms.

She took a step back, clutching Ella. “Have you ever babysat before?”

“That wasn’t important a minute ago.” He forced a small smile onto his face. “And yes, I just spent fifty-two hours babysitting Senator Richardson’s kids. A one-year-old and a four-year-old. It’s a long story. You don’t have the time to hear it right now.”

Her eyebrows shot upward. “Wasn’t it his house that got firebombed Saturday night?”

“That’s the one.”

“Goodness, I’m glad everyone is okay.” Arlene kissed Ella’s cheek and placed her in Nick’s arms. “I gotta go. Louise is conscious but awful banged up. And you can’t heat breast milk in the microwave. Just set it in a pan of warm water in the sink for a few minutes to take the chill off. My cell phone number is on the fridge if you have any questions.”

Breast milk?Waaay different than Ollie’s bottles.

The house oozed quiet,except for the Cinderella clock in Ella’s room. Its faint tick-tock reminded Nick he’d been rocking in this chair for over an hour with Ella. She’d dozed off a long time ago. Her little left hand clutched the neckline of his shirt while her right thumb nestled firmly in her mouth. Every once in a while, she’d stir and suck, then burrow deeper into his chest. He’d tucked a fleece baby blanket around her a while back.

He wasn’t willing to put her in the crib just yet. Besides, she smelled like baby lotion, something he recognized but couldn’t remember where or when the soothing scent had bathed his senses like this.

Truth be told, watching Ella was fun. She was such a happybaby. Once he got over the trauma of changing a girl diaper, he enjoyed himself.

He scrolled the pictures on his phone with his free hand. He’d taken a slew of Ella. One of them caught the prettiest look on her face. It was the kind of picture you shared. Maybe he’d have it framed for Liz. He texted it to Arlene. It would make her smile, no matter what was going on at ER. Then, he sent it to his Aunt Eileen with a short text that it was Liz’s baby.

He closed his picture app and checked the baseball scores. He’d just tuned into the Nats versus the Orioles when his aunt’s reply pinged in his texts. Nick read it and inhaled a sharp breath as a potent mix of adrenaline and surprise sprinted through his body. She’d sent two pictures side by side. The one of Ella and one of him at roughly the same age.

They were almost identical. The breath whooshed from his chest as he read her text.

OMG. Liz makes beautiful babies, but it sure looks like you helped.

His hand trembled as he set the phone down, and his eyes filled with moisture. Emotions darted through his mind at warp speed. He looked at the picture on his phone again, just to make sure.His aunt was right.

In the distance, a car door slammed. It was eleven o’clock. The automatic porch lights switched on, and the sound of keys scratching against the front door drifted from the living room. It had to be Liz because Arlene texted hours ago and said she’d be spending the night at the hospital.

He couldn’t get up just yet. His feet must’ve frozen in place while his heart did flip-flops. Liz would’ve seen his truck, and known he was there. She’d find him after she made her tea inthe microwave. Sure enough, the beeps on the microwave sounded.

A couple minutes later, her fingers grazed his shoulder as she bent down, kissed his head, and whispered, “I’m so sorry you got roped into babysitting after your hellacious weekend at the Richardson’s. I didn’t receive my mom’s message until later this evening, and by then, I knew Ella would be asleep. How’d you do with her? You okay?”

Nick swiped at the corner of his right eye. The words were hard to come by. It’s a good thing they were whispering because his voice caught on the lump in his throat.

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