Page 8 of Hot Puck
“Okay. Lead the way.”
Turning, my gaze lands on the fridge and the manners Mom and Dad instilled in me snap into place.
Facing her again, I ask, “Do you want a drink? I have cold water and juice in the fridge, or I can make coffee or tea.”
“I’m good. And you need to make that call.”
“I do, but they’re okay if I’m a few minutes late. It’s not the first time this one has kept me from being on time or made me miss one altogether.” It’s why I organized a sitter.Shit!My gaze meets Natalie’s. “I was expecting a babysitter.”
“I figured. If she arrives while you’re on the call, I can come up and answer the door.” She must see the panic in my eyes because she quickly adds, “I’ll leave Candace with you if I do.”
A breath of relief rushes out of me, and I’m amazed I’m still standing at this rate. My lungs and heart haven’t had a workout this strenuous in months. Not since Dad?—
Nope. Not going there right now.
It’s hard enough living in this house, taking care of my sisters, taking his place in the business, without thinking about the senseless loss of Dad.
Not that Mom’s loss makes any more sense.
“Chase?” My eyes focus on Natalie again. “Are you okay?”
Shaking off my depressing thoughts, I offer up a smile. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind.”
“I can imagine.” Her gaze dips to Candace. “Let’s get downstairs. She’s getting heavier and I think I might need something other than myself to keep her from falling asleep in the next few minutes.”
“Right. Of course. Let’s go.” I turn and lead the way.
“And maybe you could, um, tidy up before you get on screen. If it’s a video call.”
Her words stop me in my tracks. With a frown, I glance over my shoulder at her. “Huh?”
She’s smiling at me. And it’s not one of pity either. I’ve had enough of those sent my way in the last three months.
No doubt she knows our story, at this point it feels like the whole world knows it, although I’m sure it’s only those closest to the family, the local community. It’s not like I’ve ventured far from home since everything went ass over tit.
My priority has been keeping the girls in a routine, keeping things as normal as possible, which when I think about it is total bullshit because how the fuck can anything be normal ever again?
“Your pants are still undone, and your shirt is on backwards.”
“What?” Looking down at myself, I see my left hand still clenching denim at my waist and a huge print of my parents’ company’s logo on my chest, not the discreet one I expect to find over my left pec. “Fuc—udge! I mean fudge!”
A light laugh comes from behind me, and it’s quickly followed by the gurgle that passes for laughter from Candace. Both sounds send a wave of warmth through me.
With a sheepish grin, I turn to face Natalie and nod to the door that opens onto the basement stairs. “Head on down, you’ll see where I’ve got Candace’s things set up. I’ll get fixed up and be down in a second.”
“Do you need me to give her anything else to eat?”
“No. We aren’t at the solid food stage yet.”Thank fuck.
I know I’m going to have to look into that soon. She’s waking more and more hangry between bottles, but I just haven’t had the bandwidth to deal with one more thing.
There are a few other things more important right now. And a few things I plan to take off my plate after this meeting.
The thought of the meeting has me spinning around and racing upstairs again. And if I pass the front door and check it’s locked and arm the alarm, no one would blame me.
I’m a twenty-year-old solely responsible for three underage girls.
And my gut might be telling me the woman in my house is safe, trustworthy, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
