Page 11 of Love's a Glitch
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Giventhat I was in over my head, I intended to only glance at my phone. But then I saw the text exchange with Ellie from last night. Talk had turned to our weekend plans, and she informed me she had a date with an engineer, followed by drinks with friends.
I’d teased her about double booking, to which she’d joked she liked to call it “back by popular demand.” After a bit of prying, I found out she’d originally stopped seeing the engineer because he talked with his eyes closed.
She did tell me I could text her anytime.
Me:Can I tell you a secret?
Ellie senta gif of a walrus vigorously nodding. I only got one word typed out before I had to snag Charlotte by the back of her diaper. Crawling through the grass had caused her pants to slide down and gather around her knees. Silly me, I thought that’d slow her down. It did, just not enough. She’d still managed to army crawl underneath the two rope fence my mom—or more accurately, her gardener—had placed around the herb garden Mom kept mainly to tell people she grew her own.
Naturally the fence wasn’t nearly as easy for me to step over as it was for Charlotte to limbo beneath, leaving her enough time to scoop handfuls of dirt into her mouth before I could stop her.
“Gross, kiddo. Why would you want to eat that?”
Charlotte’s lower lip popped out, and I did my best to wipe all traces from her hands and mouth. Laurel was going to kill me and burymein the herb garden. Fingers crossed she’d put me next to the dill, so I could fondly recall my love of pickles, instead of the cilantro, where I’d be forced to taste soap for eternity.
The phone rang, and I gaped at the screen. Ellie was…calling. We’d sent countless texts and voice memos this past week. Usually, I preferred a quick call to a string of texts that drew out a conversation into a day-long ordeal, so why did I hesitate?
It felt like a line, and crossing one might lead to crossing more, and I could tell that Ellie was a relationship person. Due to a few tumultuous relationships during my early twenties, I’d given up on the idea.
Three years ago, I’d slipped with a reporter I’d met while covering the same event. For about eight months, things ran so smoothly with that I’d been downright cocky about Jennifer and I being on the same page.
Only to discover that we hadn’t even been reading the same book.
Charlotte wiggled, doing her best impression of a contortionist, and I slowly lowered her onto her hands and knees to roam the grass.
“George, remember we only jump from the tree stump. The fire pit is too high.” I shook my head, annoyed I was turning a phone call into something bigger than it was, and quickly answered, afraid it’d already be on its way to voicemail.
“If you’re trying to build suspense about your big secret,” Ellie said, “you’re doing a stellar job.”
Oh right. I’d had a point when I’d texted her. “I don’t got it—that’s the secret.”
Silence followed, and there went Charlotte, racing toward the herb garden. I picked up my pace, catching her right before she reached the fence, and she wailed in protest as I scooped her into my arms.
“I’m lost. Also, is that a crying baby?”
“Yeah. I told my sister-in-law that I’d watch my niece and nephew, and my niece is upset I won’t let her dirt.”
Ellie gasped. “You big meanie.”
A laugh escaped, and I knew answering the phone was the right call. “I might’ve added a snarky comment about how I’d been around a den of grizzly bears, so I could totally handle two kids. I refuse to admit defeat, but honestly, I’d rather face the mama grizzly.”
Ellie smothered her laugh, but not well enough to keep me from hearing it. “We’ll unpack all that later, but did she really leave you alone? Knowing you might not be the most qualified?”
I frowned, doing my best to bounce and soothe the baby. “What makes you think I’m not qualified?”
“Because you hang around grizzly bears, for one.”
“I’m not alone,alone.My mom was the original babysitter, and she’s around here somewhere.”
“Check the windows. I bet your mom’s watching right now.”
I spun around, and sure enough, my mom’s face was smooshed against the glass patio door. Our gazes met and her expression turned sheepish at being caught snickering at my distress. Charlotte lunged in my mom’s direction, still wailing like a banshee. “How’d you know?”
“I’m psychic.” A light straw sucking noise sounded across the line, and then I was picturing Ellie with her lips wrapped around a straw. “Also, because my sister once did that to me when I bragged that I could handle both of her kids, no problem. It’s like freshmen initiation for grownups.”
The patio door slid open and, since Charlotte was hellbent on escaping, I lowered Charlotte to the ground so she could crawl to her heart’s content. Mom met her in the middle, scooping her into her arms and rubbing her little back. Charlotte popped a slightly dirty thumb in her mouth and that was that.
