Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Nate pinched his eyes shut, ran a hand through his hair, and looked down at her. He appeared lost, and possibly on the brink of a meltdown himself.
He was overwhelmed; that was clear.
“Has she eaten dinner? Maybe she’s hungry,” I said, walking over to the play yard. On instinct, I bent over the gate and held out my arms. I wanted to soothe her somehow. I at least wanted to try. I hated seeing this sweet thing so upset.
Marley immediately stood up and came to me. When I got her on my hip, she settled down and played with the chain around my neck again.
“I don’t know what she is,” Nate replied. He held up his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. “I guess she could be hungry.”
“If you want, I can take her out there and she can eat with us. It’s just me and my kids.”
“Really?”
“Sure. What does she like off the menu?”
He looked at Marley, thinking hard on that question. “Normal two-year-old stuff?” Our gazes met. I saw the embarrassment in his eyes before he looked down and away. “Sorry. I really don’t know what she likes. I haven’t spent much time with her.” He gripped the back of his neck, mumbling, “I’m sure that’s obvious right now.”
His shame was palpable.
Something about the way Nate spoke, the humiliation in his voice, the rejection—he wanted to know his daughter. He wanted to have the answer to any question I could ask him about her, and he didn’t know how.
Impulse loosened my tongue and pushed the words out of my mouth before I had the chance to really think on them. Although, even if I had paused, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t have spoken my next words.
Everything inside me that made me who I was wanted to help him.
“Tori mentioned something about your sitter situation changing?”
His gaze came up.
“I know you don’t know me, but I could watch her for you. I work from home during the summer…”
“Are you serious?” he asked on a rush, his shoulders pulling back as he stood taller.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t mind. Honestly, I’d probably really enjoy it. I love kids.”
“Yes.”
A laugh bubbled in my throat. I waited for his expression to relax and shift out of serious. It didn’t.
“Oh, okay. Um…well, if you need references or anything, you can ask any of the girls about me. Sydney is practically my sister-in-law. She’s dating my brother, Brian. I’m sure you’ve seen him around here. And I hang out with Tori, Shay, and Kali all the time. You can trust me with your daughter.”
“Okay,” he said easily.
I wanted to smile at him—I was happy to do this for Nate. But I couldn’t help wondering how desperate he might’ve been feeling. He wasn’t hesitating at all to accept my offer, or even taking a minute to consider it. I felt sad for him. Nate clearly wanted to do better by his daughter. He couldn’t even tell me what she liked to eat.
I began to wish I could’ve offered my assistance sooner. Everyone needed help sometimes. I knew that from experience.
“Did you want to watch her at your place?” he asked, cutting into my thoughts.
“I should probably watch her at yours. My apartment isn’t really toddler proofed anymore.” Lucky for me, I could take my work anywhere, and frequently did in the summer. Parks. The beach. Playgrounds. I worked on the go so my kids could stay on the go.
“That works for me. Whatever you need.”
“Great.” I smiled at him, gave that smile to Marley, who was playing with my earrings now—she was so girlie, I loved it—then turned back to Nate. “Okay, I’ll get her fed so she’s not a little grouch-bucket anymore, and then I guess if you want to go ahead and give me your address, I’ll see you Monday?”
His face fell. “You can’t start tomorrow?”
“Oh, do you…?” I paused, realizing today was Saturday. He obviously needed help on the weekends too. “No, tomorrow works. I can do tomorrow.”
Breath left him loudly, as if he’d been holding it in.
“It’s just temporary,” he said, moving over to the desk and jotting something down on a Post-it. “I won’t need every day covered for long. Just until I hire someone to help me out in here. I’ll be able to cut back my hours once I do that.”
“No problem,” I answered, meaning that.
I obviously hadn’t anticipated this becoming an everyday thing, but even if it would’ve been a permanent summer gig, I didn’t think I’d have any issues. My kids went along with anything. They were easygoing. And I was more than comfortable around toddlers. I’d handled two at once before.
Plus, I wanted to spend time with Marley. God, who wouldn’t? She was absolutely adorable.
Nate tore the note loose and walked it over to me. “Here’s my address. I’m only ten minutes from here. If you could be at my house by eight thirty, that would be great.”