Page 23 of This Baby Business
Fortunately none of the readers had asked about the baby in my photos. They probably simply assumed I had the kind of money to hire a baby model. I was fine with that. I certainly didn’t want anyone to know that I, Carly Gilmore, was the baby’snanny.How would that look?
While Grace took another nap, I filled out several interviews for a publicist Kirk had hired to help: why, yes, I looked forward to heading up RockYourBaby. Moms everywhere should eagerly anticipate what we’d have going on in the next few months.
Fear pressed down again, creating a solid lump in my throat. I was getting much closer to making a decision aboutmylife. This was both wonderful and terrifying. Dad thought I should finish school in New York City. It was true that I shouldn’t have allowed one setback to determine the rest of my life. I’d been young and made a stupid mistake I wouldn’t make again. It was time to take another chance on the life I wanted.
I would finally be able to do that soon enough, and I couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong now. Now that I’d regained the confidence back of all of Mom’s loyal readers.
I heard Levi’s truck pull into the driveway next door and glanced at the baby monitor on the coffee table. In my spare room, Grace was still quietly asleep in the crib.
Levi walked in the front door as he had become accustomed to when I expected him. He stood in the doorway, framed by the late afternoon sun, aviator shades still covering his eyes. Then he took them off, propped them on his head and let me see his expression.
I frequently had trouble reading him, but the drawn-together eyebrows and tight jaw told me one thing: he was not happy.
“Hey.” He shut the door and took a few steps toward where I stood in the middle of the great room.
“Grace is still taking her nap. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah.”
His voice, low, deep and gravelly with just a touch of a Southern accent, caused a pull to start low in my belly and move south.
I followed him into the living room, where he plopped onto my couch. His hands hung between his long, spread-out legs. “Sandy’s parents asked for an emergency custody screening. They fear for Grace’s safety with me.”
He made this rather painful comment with little emotion, even while my heart plunged to my stomach.
Determination was set in his square jaw. Clearly, Levi was a man who rolled with the punches. Who didn’t waste time being too bitter about things he couldn’t very well change. And damn, whatever else I felt right now, I admired that about him. While I’d been caught up in Levi’s blue eyes and boyish grin, while my ovaries had done cartwheels for him, he’d been going through a rough time.
At the first meeting with my brothers and father about RockYourBaby, it had been decided within minutes that I would take over. We’d all been sucker-punched, grieving over Mom’s sudden death from a heart attack. My father had been inconsolable, rendering him incapable of making the big decisions.
My brothers had families and careers of their own. I had worked at the Drip, and so it was left to me to manage and sell the business. Ironically enough, I’d felt as though I’d been handed a baby I didn’t want. My life had switched directions in one swift moment, because I needed to be the one to step up.
So yeah, I could relate. But in my case, my brothers clearly had more faith in me than they should have. Sounded just the opposite of Levi’s problem.
“Why? T-that’s ridiculous. She’s perfectly safe.”
“They don’t see me as the brightest example of fatherhood. Maybe I’m not, you know, but I’m trying. I’ve already done a lot that’s been asked of me. I left the air force and settled down in Fortune. I have ties to the community. I’ve got a job. A house. But to Sandy’s parents, it’s all done for show.”
“What are you going to do?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it again. “Whatever it takes.”
“Good.”
“I sent Sandy’s stepmother an email earlier today. She emailed me back to say that they’re flying out here on Wednesday. So we’re going to meet at the park the next day, and I’m bringing Grace. She wants to see her, make sure she’s okay. She seems reasonable. Maybe we can talk this out and come to a logical conclusion.”
He acted as though he were talking about the weather. The last time I couldn’t find Double Stuf Oreos at the store, I’d been more upset than he seemed to be at the moment.
“I think you’re smart to let her see Grace. Once she sees how well Grace is doing, she’ll back off.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll do anything you need. Be a character witness for you. Tell them how much you love her. How she follows your voice and she knows you. She wouldn’t do well without you.” I got teary just talking about this. “And I won’t mention all the crying she does.”
Just the thought of Grace and Levi being ripped apart, and I was near tears. What a sap. But simply put, poor Grace couldn’t also lose her father. She’d already lost her mother so young.
“Sometimes you’re the only thing that keeps me grounded,” Levi said, shoving a hand through his hair.
It was left mussed, sticking up slightly, and my pulse kicked up at seeing him look so…vulnerable.
