Page 28 of This Baby Business
“Thank you,” he mouthed to Carly, who still wouldn’t meet his eyes. Odd.
“I appreciate that,” he said to Irene. “I’ve wanted you guys to come out and visit for a while. I’m sorry this had to be the reason.”
“You’ll have to forgive my husband. He’s had a hard time with all this. We all have.” Irene kissed Grace’s plump cheek. “But weddings are wonderful beginnings, and maybe that’s what we all need now. I just want you kids to be sure and invite us. We definitely want to be there.”
Levi was sleep deprived, granted, but that still didn’t make any sense. “I’m sorry, how doyouknow Emily and Stone?”
“Who are Emily and Stone?” Irene wrinkled her nose.
Carly rose from the table and came to his side, took his hand and squeezed it hard. “She’s talking aboutourwedding.”
“Wedding?” He froze. “Our wedding.”
Carly laughed. “Sometimes he still gets a little tongue-tied about it.”
“Frank was the same way. He asked me to marry him, then on our wedding day acted like someone was about to cut off his leg. Honestly, you men. But this is going to be so good for Grace. I can’t tell you how much better I feel about everything.”
“Thanks,” Levi spit out.
Stunned. That was the only word that fit.Confusedwas a good runner-up. It was true that the stress had been getting to him lately, the worry and concern over Grace, but this didn’t make much sense. Carly had put him in a difficult spot. What could he do? Tell the truth and admit he’d hired a nanny who would lie about being engaged to him? That would only make things worse. Frank and Irene would never trust him again. He was here to build trust, not destroy it. With great effort, he stopped himself from glaring in Carly’s direction.
“Irene is a huge fan of my website, RockYourBaby. She recognized me right away.”
So, apparently Carly had chosen to use that connection and reach out to Irene. But while he understood that, he seemed to be missing something.
He gave her a smile, but it felt tight. “Right.”
Carly squeezed his hand again, twice, like trying to communicate in Morse code. “I better go and let you guys talk some more.”
Oh, hell no, she was not leaving him here alone. “Wait, babe. You sure you want to go? I mean, we’ll bemarried, so we should probably both stay and talk.”
If she’d wrangled him into this mess, she would help him swim in the muck.
Irene smiled. “No need to rush off, Carly.”
He led her to the picnic table by the small of her back.Oh, she will pay for this.
“I’ll stay if you both insist.”
He sat on the other side of the bench and pulled Carly down next to him.
“Have you two set a date yet?” Irene asked.
Levi was going to go ahead and let Carly take that one. He turned to her. “What was the date again?”
Carly whipped out her phone. “Let me check, because Reverend Parnookie was going to try to squeeze us in next, um, when was it?”
ReverendParnookie? Was that even a name or had she just made it up on the spot?
“No idea,” he said through gritted teeth. “Men. We’re hopeless.”
Irene laughed. “You sure are.”
While Carly kept playing with her phone, Levi changed the subject. He talked to Irene about Grace, making a great case for how well she was doing. He shared how much weight she’d gained in eight weeks, and how she was just trying to crawl. She was eating solid food and starting to babble more and more. Irene listened with genuine interest, for which he felt immensely grateful. This reminded him that he already had a grandma type right in front of him. Grace’s grandmother. And if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d just become engaged without his knowledge, he’d wished that they lived closer. Although he still wasn’t sure about Frank.
“What about the emergency screening?” Levi finally asked.
Irene waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll tell Frank to cancel it. Don’t worry, he listens to me. Although lately, not so much, but I think I’ll get him to listen to me on this.”
