Page 57 of Jaime
Evie was chewing eagerly on a teether, propped up in the bouncer chair I’d bought her earlier in the week.
It still felt weird not to cart her everywhere with me the way I used to have to, even just to answer the door.
When I pulled it back, I stared at Naomi’s round face and friendly smile for a long moment in confusion.
“Hi, Jaime, ready for your class?” she asked.
“Oh! Shit!”
She chuckled, entering when I held the door open for her.
“You need an assistant too,” she remarked, kicking off her shoes and going to Evie. “Hello, sweetheart, remember me?”
Evie smiled and kicked, setting off a barrage of baby talk from Naomi.
I chuckled, listening to her telling Evie what a cute girl she was in a high-pitched voice while I went to the bedroom.
The sight of the unmade bed made me pause, remembering the feeling of being held warm in Ethan’s arms only hours ago.
I shook myself, I had to stop being so dramatic. He was only going to be gone for the day. I could handle that. I had to focus on other things.
In particular, the lesson that I wasn’t mentally prepared for.
Getting behind the wheel of a car had been too scary for me before. I’d nearly had a breakdown getting behind the wheel when Liz had insisted on showing me at seventeen, and never bothered trying again since.
But that was over five years ago now. I was a stronger person now. I was a parent for god's sake. Nothing could be harder than that.
Taking a deep, calming breath, I changed out of my pajamas, into a clean outfit, and went back out to the living room.
“It’s only supposed to be about thirty minutes,” I said.
Naomi nodded.
“That’s no problem.”
Nodding, I went to Evie, kissing the top of her head.
“Be good to Naomi, okay?” I said.
There was a touch of chill in the air when I went outside, despite the blue sky. I hadn’t pulled on my jacket, too preoccupied to think of it, but pulled my sweater close around my shoulders as I went to the front of the house.
“Oh! Jaime!”
I looked up, disappointed to find Mr. and Mrs. Woo sitting on the front porch in the sunlight, looking unbothered by the weather.
“Hi,” I muttered.
“I want to talk to you about your daughter,” Mrs. Woo said.
“Uh, sorry. I'm busy right now,” I said, my heart instantly racing. What could they possibly have to say about her? What business was it of theirs? she was a quiet baby. I didn’t think I’d read anything about the place not allowing children when I first moved in.
A silver car pulled up right at the end of the driveway with a sticker on the door that said The Driving Academy. That distracted from anything else that might be said.
Gratefully, I rushed to it, aware that the homeowners were still watching me.
Without thinking, I pulled open the passenger side door, jumping in.
“Oh. You must be Jaime?”
