Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 139029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
“Jesus, did he put a camera in Rosie’s bag?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” Jessie went to the bag, grabbing Rosie’s milk and placing it in the fridge before checking the bag.
“Did he?”
“Sadly, no. I was planning on taking it back to him in person.”
Rain pulled her hair out of Rosie’s clutching fingers. “Thank God he doesn’t have my phone number and you’re the one who has to deal with him. I just get to have fun with babies and leave the parents to you.”
At nineteen, Rain had a natural affinity with the children in her charge. She was the oldest of nine siblings, and when she had come searching for a job, Jessie hired her immediately. Like her, she had been home-schooled, but that was where the similarities ended. Unlike hers, Rain’s family made a concerted effort to involve them in sports and the community, whereas Jessie’s father had wanted her and her brothers to remain isolated.
Returning to the toddler room, Jessie started organizing the morning snacks while Bliss and Kailor kept the children occupied.
Looking up after placing the snacks on the table, she saw Kailor detour by the window to stare out after getting herself a bottled water.
“You’re wasting your time. Dustin doesn’t go out until he’s ready for lunch, and that’s two hours away.”
Kailor raised a quizzical brow at her. “You know a lot about Dustin’s habits for a woman who’s not interested in him.”
Jessie didn’t miss the sarcastic edge to her sharp comment. “It’s hard to miss when the diner is right across the street.”
“Be real. You’re just as interested in Dustin as every other single woman in Treepoint. You just hide it better.”
Jessie impassively pulled her long hair back into a tight ponytail. “I have no interest in Dustin Porter.”
“Then why did you bid on him during the charity auction?”
“Uh, because it was charity.” Grinning down at a three-year-old who was determined to show off her new dress, Jessie picked Lola up, placing her on her hip and telling the little angel how pretty she looked.
“You could have just bought a pie if you wanted to do that.”
Jessie put Lola down, giving her a puzzle to work on the table and making sure her attention was diverted before answering Kailor. “That wouldn’t have had the same effect of ticking my brothers off.”
“Why did you want to make Asher and Holt mad?”
“Because they keep trying to fix me up with every jerk in town.” Going to the fridge, she took out the tray of juice cups she had prepared the night before.
“They haven’t all been jerks.”
“Pretty much.” Setting the cups down next to the plates, Jessie motioned for Bliss to start bringing the children over.
“Did it work?” Bliss asked, showing she’d been listening to her and Kailor’s conversation.
“No. Like the Porter men, the Hayes men never learned their lesson.”
Kailor laughed so hard she had to wipe her tears away. “I thought that Holt was going to have a heart attack when you almost won.”
“It took King and Drake to get Asher out of the restaurant when you placed that last bid,” Bliss choked out, laughing along with Kailor.
“If the bids hadn’t gone so high, I would have won. Knox said that he radioed the ER to warn them that there may be mass casualties arriving before I ran out of money.”
“Your brothers are crazy, but they’re not that bad,” Kailor tried to defend her brothers, then stopped when she couldn’t hold back another bout of laughter. “The feud between the Porters and Hayeses makes the one between the Hatfields and McCoys look like child’s play.”
“Do you think they’ll ever end it?” Bliss gave a stern look at the adorable three-year-old boy who was trying to take a banana muffin away from Mara after eating his own.
“Dillion, you ate yours. Leave Mara’s alone,” Jessie gave the reprimand, despite being tempted to give the boy the one she set aside for her lunch.
“But she wants to give it to me. Don’t you, Mara? She’s my best friend.” Liquid pools of chocolate stared up at her.
The little heartthrob had the girl on the other side reach for her muffin to take a bite. “Nope.”
The pitiful look Dillion gave Mara had the soft-hearted girl reconsidering, offering him the half-eaten muffin.
“Finish your snack, Mara.” Jessie went to her lunch bag, taking out the muffin and giving it to Dillion.
Bliss shook her head at her. “You’re terrible. He has you wrapped around his finger.”
“I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for chocolate.”
“Like you have room to talk.” Kailor rolled her eyes at both women. “I saw you sneaking him an extra yogurt bar yesterday.”
Bliss guiltily looked away. “He dropped the first one.”
“The only thing left was the pretzel stick, and he didn’t want that. Dillion already thinks all he has to do is pout to get his way. You two are making it worse.”