Page 56 of This Baby Business
My panties had materialized out of the sheets in all the chaos. I pulled them on and dressed in yesterday’s clothes.
I gazed in the bathroom mirror only to be rewarded with my bed-hair look. Might look sexy in bed but not so much in the kitchen. And I would have to join the real world a little sooner than planned. I finger-combed my hair and brushed my teeth with my finger and a little of Levi’s toothpaste.
I met Cassie in the kitchen, where I sat at the table, Grace in the high chair. She was gumming some Cheerios and didn’t look too traumatized.
“Good morning.”
“And averygood morning to you.” Cassie rose and poured some still-brewing coffee into a mug. “Apparently.”
“I’m so sorry that you had to see me like that. Poor Grace. What can I do?”
“Please. She won’t ever remember this. Have a seat.” Cassie poured some creamer in her mug and stirred. “Let’s have some coffee.”
“I’m just going to go because I’m right next door.” I hooked a thumb in the direction of my house and turned to leave. But I didn’t even make it out of the kitchen.
“So you and Levi, huh?”
I whirled back. “I know what this looks like, but we’re not really…together.”
“Oh, I know you’re not engaged. That part is fake. But this? I might be an old woman, but I know exactly whatthisis.”
I did, too. It was fun with a capitalF, and I didn’t know if I was quite done with it. But I’d have to be, because there was too much to lose. We were neighbors and friends. No one got hurt—that was the deal. Besides, I was beginning to care way too much about Levi…and Grace. More than a nanny probably should, and more than I ever wanted to admit. Publicly, I adored babies. Privately, I didn’t like or understand babies. This was just a job. An obligation and nothing more. The babysitting had helped the business. I’d helped Levi. Sort of.
And the facts were, I was very likely headed back to New York City. My confidence was growing more every day. I didn’t need to get attached to these two, only to have to leave them. Levi didn’t need that, either, even if I had a difficult time picturing him getting too attached to me.
I glanced over at Grace, and the baby’s drooly smile kicked me right in the gut.
“And how’s your daddy doing?” Cassie changed the subject.
Kind people in town asked on a regular basis and I usually made up a few sentences to make it sound, if not good, at least passable.Making progress. One day at a time. He’ll get there.No one really wanted to hear bad news. And Dad’s PT was just another thing in my life I couldn’t control and had given up trying. The important thing was to keep after him to do his exercises and keep the bills paid so that it could take as long as it had to take to get him better. The way Daddy kept stalling, it could take years of PT, and every delay made it less likely he’d achieve a complete recovery with the new hip.
I didn’t answer for a beat, and Cassie took that as an answer in itself. “Man’s as stubborn as a mule, isn’t he?”
“He is.” I stared into my coffee mug.
He wasn’t all that different from me sometimes. But while he pushed me to step outside my comfort zone, he wasn’t willing to do the same. Frustrating.
“Back to you and Levi.”
“No, let’s not.”
Cassie reached to pat my hand. “I want you to give him a chance.”
“Givehima chance?”
“Don’t just find something wrong with him, like you do with all the guys you’ve dated.”
I snorted. “That sounds like something my mother told you about me.”
“Yes. What was wrong with that sweet man you dated for a while? Antonio, was it?”
“You mean the guy who was cheating on me with three other women? Thatsweetguy?”
Cassie made a face. “Then what about Rick? I thought you two were really getting along last year.”
“We were, until he borrowed five thousand dollars to start his stupid beer delivery business, took off to Idaho and never paid me back.”
“Such a shame. He had lovely dimples. And he seemed like a nice man.”
