Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Lifting her head, she pushed out of her face the thick red hair she’d passed to her daughter. “Who are you?”
I think that was what she said, but her voice was so clogged with tears that it was hard to discern. But it made sense, so I went with that.
I offered her my hand. “Cooper Davis. And you?”
She took a breath and grabbed my hand tight. “Ainsley Cushing.”
“Lovely to meet you, Ainsley.”
“You too,” she said as her eyes filled.
I pulled the tissues out of my laptop bag and passed them to her. “Let’s blow our nose, wipe our eyes, and then you can tell me what happened to the stroller.”
“They put it through baggage even though I gate-checked it,” she lamented, ready to cry again at any moment.
“Of course they did,” I said sarcastically and got a whimper in return. “All right, then, let’s go get it.”
“Oh no, you were on your way out and—”
“The man I’m meeting is running very late, so I actually have lots of time, and you and your lovely daughter and—” I tipped my head at the car seat.
“My son, Taylor,” she answered, sounding stuffed up.
“Tay-Tay,” Gemma chimed in.
“Yes, Tay-Tay,” Ainsley repeated.
“I could not leave you, Gemma, and Tay-Tay in such a state.”
“Why not?”
It was an odd question but she was, in fact, overwrought. “I’m a fixer. It’s my job to leave all people and situations better than I found them.”
“You’re kidding.” She deadpanned.
I grinned at her. “I’m not.”
“Huh.”
“Plus, if you must know, I have a soft spot for mothers and their kids.”
Another whimper, and she was weeping again in seconds.
“You can keep the tissues,” I teased her, and she tried valiantly to give me a smile.
I noted the wedding set, diamond and band, on her left hand. “Where’s your spouse?”
She laughed, and it sounded a bit unhinged. “My husband and I got separated on the last flight because it was oversold, so he’ll be here in three hours with our two boys.”
“Four kids on a plane?” I said in mock horror. “I have to ask madam, are you doing penance from God?”
Her laugh was a good sound, even with being a bit manic, and I wasn’t surprised when the tears came again. She was utterly overwrought.
“What time did you leave your house this morning?”
“Five,” she answered.
“And no sleep last night.”
“No. We were packing. I couldn’t do it during the day. I work from home, and I have the kids as well. Only one is in kindergarten.”
“You need a break.”
She nodded.
“And I’m betting someone to clean the house once a week. My sister Chloe and her husband used to fight all the time over who had to clean. Like who did laundry, who did the vacuuming, because they both worked outside the home. But now a lovely woman and her two daughters come once a week, and guess what, no more fighting.”
She sniffled. “I always felt like we should be able to clean our own house.”
“Certainly, if you weren’t working, or he wasn’t. But you both are, so maybe get some help. Just try it and see.”
“You think I’m pathetic because—”
“I don’t think that for a second. I have sisters who all have kids, and that is not easy. Mothers are astounding. My own used to tell me that if she’d had me first, she would have stopped at one.”
She nodded.
“But please, I would never judge. We all hit a wall at some point.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a sigh.
“Juju,” Gemma announced, and even without translation, I knew she was thirsty. “May I?” I asked before leaning over and pulling Gemma’s sippy cup out of the pocket of the backpack Ainsley was bearing the weight of. The cup was empty, but it looked and smelled like it had milk in it earlier.
“Okay, Gemma, hold on,” I said to the toddler before turning to Ainsley. “I’m gonna go rinse this out at the water filling station right there, and I’m taking your kid with me.”
She gave me a dismissive wave.
I rolled Gemma with me, rinsed the sippy cup, and once that was done, I filled it with water and passed it to Gemma.
“Juju,” she insisted.
It was a cute word, and she was adorable when she said it, but that wouldn’t sway me since it was all we had on hand and better for her body and her teeth than juice. “No,” I replied, shaking my head. “Water.”
She scowled at me, and it was pretty good for a two-year-old, but I’d been through this with nieces and nephews and I was ready. I could outlast her no matter what.
After only a few moments she gave me an aggrieved sigh and said, “Wadder,” then started slurping it down.
Once I returned to Ainsley, rolling her daughter along with me, she looked better standing up.
“So, shall we go get the stroller?”
Quick nod.