Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“Because she needed help.”
“But what if she didn’t deserve help?”
He seemed to think about that for a moment. “Deciding that is way above my paygrade. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to help some evil genius take down the world or anything. But if a little old lady needs a trip to the airport or some dude on the street needs a couple of bucks so he can eat dinner tonight, I’ll probably give it to them.”
“But the guy on the street will probably use it to buy booze or drugs or something,” she countered.
“That’s not on me. You’re not the first person to give me that you’re-so-naïve look. I probably am, but I would rather be wrong about a dude buying booze than walk past a guy who’s hungry. Some of those guys were in the military. They were my brothers and they saw stuff that messed them up, and now they need help. Mrs. Callahan didn’t have the money for a cab, and I was there. So I helped her. I’m offering to help you if you want. It’s okay if you don’t. I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I know it’s weird to leave your daughter with a big, scarred-up ex-military guy you barely know. But she would be with other kids at the office, and paid and licensed day care workers. And we haven’t been raided by the Agency in years.”
When she thought about it, was it any different than leaving her with Mrs. Callahan? She’d only known the woman a few weeks when they’d made their arrangement. She’d also enrolled Lou in a day care before. It was precisely why a day care needed a license with the state. “They have background checks and stuff?”
He was offering her a way out of the impossible situation she was in. She couldn’t take off work. She couldn’t leave Lou alone. Lou would hate going to her grandparents’, and it would likely lead to Amelia deciding things she shouldn’t. She would walk in and Lou would be in some debutante dress preparing to be presented to the world…whatever that meant.
“I assure you, Big Tag wouldn’t hire anyone without a thorough check,” Boomer said softly. “Why don’t you bring her in tomorrow afternoon? You can check it out, and if it seems okay, I’ll pick her up after school and bring her to the office. If you’re running late, she can come back with me and Mae and wait for you. It’s not forever.”
It wasn’t forever. Just until she could figure something else out. “How much would it cost?”
A day care often cost way more than a neighbor doing a favor.
He chuckled. “It’s part of my employment benefits. My bosses won’t mind an extra kid for a few days.”
Tears pulsed at her eyes. She was doing this a lot today, but now it was out of gratitude instead of fear. He was offering her everything she needed to get through the next week. She should turn him down because it was too good to be true.
He was too good to be true.
“Mae and I can hang with her up at the office if you don’t want her alone with us in the apartment. There’s a security cam on the day care, and you can log in and see her,” Boomer promised. Then he eased off. “Just think about it and get back to me. Or not. Either way, it’s okay. I think I’m going to head to bed. It was nice to talk to you, Daphne.”
“I could see it tomorrow?” Did she have to spend the rest of her life suspicious of anything good that happened to her? That was what it felt like the last seven years. Or maybe she was fooling herself and it was longer than that. Maybe she’d started losing her optimism shortly after she got married and Dennis started slowly grinding her confidence down.
You have a degree in English, sweetheart. What did you expect? A decent job?
He’d said it with that half smile he always used when he was being condescending. He’d never let her forget he was smarter.
Boomer’s smile practically lit up the night. “Yeah. I think you’ll like it. I’ll text you the address.”
The man made her heart race. “Okay. And thank you for being so kind to us. Me and Lou.”
“Always,” he vowed and then disappeared into his apartment.
She took another long drag off the beer he’d given her and stared out into the night.
And prayed her luck was changing.
* * * *
Boomer stepped into the living room, closing the sliding glass door to the balcony, and wished he could have stayed and talked to Daphne longer. But he knew when to retreat. A guy retreated when he had part of what he wanted, and Daphne had agreed to at least come down and look around the office.