Chapter Seventy-Five
Emily
Three Days Later
“She’s such a pretty baby.” Louise runs her index finger along Grace’s cheekbone.
“Look at those cheeks and mouth.” The hum of appreciation in her voice is unmistakable.
I can’t go anywhere and not have someone fawn over Grace.
“And you look like you were always destined to be a momma. Are you doing, okay?”
When Louise saw me approaching with the baby carrier in tow, she’d rushed to the door, twisted the library sign to Closed, and snapped the door shut behind her with a clang.
“Yes, I’m good. And you aren’t lying; she’s a gorgeous girl.” I step closer to the door so a newer couple to town can avoid the water that’s pooling on the sidewalk from the recently watered flowerpots.
It feels weird when people compliment her looks. I can’t say, ‘Thank You,’ because my genes had nothing to do with it. But it’s also a good thing because I can agree with how pretty she is and not appear boastful about my own looks.
“Is she doing well?” She studies the infant snuggled under the pink blanket.
“Yes, she’s doing great. We had a doctor’s appointment this morning, and there are no concerns.”
Across the street, Rosemarie’s red water jug sits beside the park bench in front of flower shop where she must’ve been doing her own watering before being interrupted by a customer.
Through the front window, I watch as she opens the cooler case behind the register and hands her patron a vase full of cut flowers.
Both ladies are known to be the biggest chatterboxes in town.
“That’s wonderful.” Louise braces her hands on her hips as a light breeze blows the scent of petunias toward us. A bee flits from one bloom to the next with a laziness that’s seen by insects as the season turns to fall.
“It is.” I shift the carrier higher onto my arm.
“Just so you know, we’re all rooting for you and Jake. He’s such a handsome young man, and so smart. Did you know when he moved back to town, he was chatting with Rosemarie about our business phone tree?” Her cheeks tinge with pink as she smiles broadly.
“No, I didn’t realize that.”
“He even called back to his old boss to tell him about it. It was my idea when we started the message app. Well, Rosemarie and I came up with it. It’s been a fantastic way to keep in contact with each other.”
“That was a great idea, and I’m not surprised he appreciated it since so many people talk now in chat message apps.” Like Louise, Jake is an innovator. I keep that piece of information to myself. She doesn’t need to know the lengths that Jake will go to find new ways to keep me happy.
Not that he has to try. I’m content with falling asleep next to him and waking up in his arms. Fine, it doesn’t hurt that moments after I wake up, he’s crawling down my body and rousing me with his head between my thighs. I bite back a sigh. Suddenly, all I want to do is go back to bed.
“You’re right,” she chuckles as if she’s embarrassed by my compliment. “We came up with the idea talking to my grandson about his friend group.”
Grace pops an eye open as if she’s realizing that I’m no longer moving. Her eyes slowly focus, even though she’s probably only seeing shapes versus a clear image of me. “Hello, Baby Girl.”
“So sweet.” She clutches her chest. “I wish I would’ve thought to foster when my kids were in middle school. I wanted another baby, but we ran out of luck after two kids.”
“You have your grandchildren to spoil.” I shift my weight from one foot to the other as the muscles in my bicep strain. If I’d have known Louise was going to talk for so long, I’d have put the carrier on the sidewalk.
I straighten my spine and inhale steadily, blocking out the load of her weight combined with the carrier. I don’t want anyone to question whether I can take care of her and report something negative back to Children’s Division.
“Yes, I do.” She waves to someone behind me. “I’m sorry, dear, I need to get the library open. It’s almost story time. Be sure to bring the baby when she gets older.”
“If she’s still with me, I will.”
Her face sobers. “Don’t you worry. I have no doubt that this little lady is exactly where she belongs. With you and Jake.”
As I walk back to my car, I send up a quick prayer that she knows what she’s talking about. I place Grace’s car seat on the base and cup her chubby cheek as my phone rings. I thought I was in love with her before but each day makes my heart burst open that much more.
Once I’m settled into my seat, I snap on the seatbelt and lift my phone as it rings for a second time. I frown at the unknown number but tap and swipe on the screen. There’s no mention of it being spam, so I risk answering.
“Emily Grey?” The person’s voice is rushed with a slight shrill tone to it. The kid sounds younger, like he’s still in high school.
“Yes, this is Emily Grey.”
“You don’t know me, but a friend of mine gave me your number.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, she said if I never needed help that I should call you.”
My heart skips a beat. “Are you injured? I’m not at work but I can get the ambulance–”
“No, I’m not injured, but I think Mackenzie Whitlock might be.”
Mackenzie? My mouth dries as my stomach drops to my feet. Jake said she was skittish, but Chad is in jail and so is her stepfather.
But they have friends. Don’t forget about the other assholes that lick their boots to get their approval.
“Why do you think Mackenzie needs help?”
“It’s just a–what do you call it–a gut thing?” He sounds more panicked with each passing second. “I called her a couple of times, and she hasn’t answered.”
“Is this Lucas?”
There’s a quick pause and then, the boy says, “Yes, I’m Lucas.”
“She’s probably asleep.” My shoulders sag with relief while placing my cell phone in the phone mount, listening for sounds from the backseat. Nothing. There’s not been a peep since I answered the call. I wasn’t expecting Grace to go back to sleep.
“She has insomnia from…,” he trails off for a moment and then says, “The reason doesn’t matter but she has problems sleeping, and she never misses a call.”
The library door opens as two boys run inside. Their blond curls fly in their own breeze as they fly past the window.
Shit. Is she back there? I unfasten my seatbelt, shift in my seat until I’m perched on one knee, and glance over the headrest. Grace is right where she’s supposed to be, eyes closed and chest lightly rising and falling.
Thank God. I slump back into the cushions as my heartrate slows enough that it doesn’t feel like it’s bursting out of my chest.
“Could she be out with friends?” I pause for a second, not wanting to hurt the kid’s feelings but needing to determine why he’s so worried about her. So far, he’s not said anything alarming. “Boyfriend?
“She doesn’t have friends. Except for me. Chad doesn’t let her have friends. He’s an asshole. She used to have a handful of friends but a couple of years ago when her stepfather went to prison, leaving Chad in charge of her upbringing, everything went from bad to worse.”
“That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not. He controls everything she does.
The only reason we remained friends is because I moved from the next town over to the city, and he doesn’t know where I live.
I gave her a burner phone so we could stay in contact.
We don’t get together much, but I try and help her when I can.
If Chad is out of town. I don’t want nothing to do with that man. ”
I grip the steering wheel. It’s not that I didn’t expect to find out that Chad was a manipulative, controlling asshole, but it still makes my stomach roll, nonetheless.
“Now that he’s in jail, why doesn’t she take the opportunity to get away from them all?
Jake, my boyfriend, talked to her the other day about that but she refused. ”
“It’s never that easy with Chad. He has eyes everywhere. That’s how he found out I saw her the day….” The hair on the back of my neck stands as I glance at the rearview mirror.
She’s fine. She’s asleep. Everything’s okay. No, it’s not. I need to know.
“Who’s the baby’s father, you?”
“No.” The line is silent as if he realized he said more than he intended to. “Forget I said anything. That’s not something we should mess with, but do you think you could go and check on her? I hate to ask but I’m grounded and can’t leave town.”
“Sure. I’ll check on her.” I don’t have the heart to tell him that she’s probably hooking up with the baby’s father and is too busy to say hi to a friend. Even though he’s the one that helped her with the baby when Grace was born.
But now is the perfect time for her to get out of town. Her brother is out of the house. She’s not under intense scrutiny. Just because Jake didn’t have any luck, it doesn’t mean that I can’t convince her to skip town.
I squeeze the steering wheel. Maybe she’s ready to tell us who the father is. Right after she confirms what we already know. She’s the mother.
“But I need you to do your best to try and convince her to go to a shelter. This is the time to leave. Jake knows a man who runs a women’s shelter. They can get her off the street and into a safe location in minutes.”
“I’ll try.” The line goes dead in my ear.