Page 41 of Moms of Mayhem
You tell me, Peach.
And I can take Jace. I’ll pick him up from school and get him to and from the rink.
The smile on my face disappeared, and I swallowed down the lump in my throat. This thing with Beckett seemed dangerous. My son was smiling like an idiot while staring at him lovingly, and I wasn’t far behind him.
Maybe it was best if I kept my distance from my brother’s best friend—we all knew this was temporary, and Beckett would be gone again soon enough.
Even if he planned to stay in Linwood to recover and help his mom, that didn’t mean I had to see him regularly. I’d never spent much time talking to any of Jace’s coaches before now, so that didn’t matter either.
I could be aloof.
I could separate myself from this.
I could focus on finding friends like Stevie and not on the hot as hell man that was currently weaseling his way into my son’s and my life. Hell, I could even lean on my brother like he kept begging me to if it meant avoiding Beckett.
Emmy
Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask Ty.
Nodding to myself, I pushed the cart toward the register and checked out with far more baby items than I probably needed.
I loaded it all into the trunk with a smile on my face, then headed back to Linwood, firing off a text to Shannon that I’d need help unloading when I got back into town. She sent back an emoji with an arched eyebrow, but I ignored her and cranked up the music, feeling good about today.
“Oh, my God,” Shannon said as we stared at the open trunk full of baby items. “Did you buy the whole store?”
I scrunched my nose, then picked up the little dragon toy on top. “How was I supposed to say no to this, Shannon?”
Holding it in front of my face, I wiggled the toy’s little arms until Shannon rolled her eyes and took it from me. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Aren’t you the one taking all these classes to be a child therapist?”
“Speech therapist,” Shannon clarified. “And yes, but this is a lot for a woman you don’t even know is going to show up tonight.”
“Positive thoughts.” I tugged the large box with the changing table out of the car, then carried the awkward box into the studio. “If a man can build a baseball field in the middle of a corn field to coax ghosts of baseball players to join him, then maybe I can lure lonely moms into the studio with a playpen full of toys.”
“You’re talking in weird sports metaphors again,” Shannon said. “I understood none of that.”
“Yes, well, as the little sister to an NHL player and the ex-wife of a sportscaster,Field of Dreamswas entry level knowledge required.”
“Oh no, I’ve failed Sports 101. Someone revoke my woman card and replace it with a foam finger.”
I huffed a laugh while readjusting my grip on the box, then pushed my way inside the studio. Michael’s voice sounded above the hip-hop music, so I put the box up against the wall and went back to grab the rest of the items I’d bought.
“Next time you shop for kid’s toys, tell me,” Shannon said when I snapped the trunk closed. “There’s a resale shop in Avon we can go to, and I can look for ones that are stimulating for little brains.”
“Careful.” I grinned at her, holding the door open. “That almost sounded like you care.”
“About little developing minds? Yes. About you? We’re not friends.”
“Right, right. How could I forget?”
Class ended, and my patrons filtered out, each casting glances at all the baby items littered around the small entryway.
Michael leaned against the wall, staring at me with a raised brow. He wore a New York Sentinels hat over his black close-cropped coils. “What’s all this?”
“Making the studio more accommodating to reach young moms who don’t have childcare.”
“Wealsodon’t have childcare,” Shannon said, arms crossed as she stared at me. “Does your business insurance even cover this?”
