Chapter 20
Rob
I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, Nai, can you repeat that?”
“Pneumonia.” She could barely get the word out.
“Okay, take care. Uh…let me know when you might be ready to come back?”
“Sorry. Really.” Then she cut the line.
I pressed my phone against my forehead. Tonight was supposed to be the first night of our new arrangement. Her dad was going to drop her off here before taking the other kids to their after-school activities, she’d watch the kids like always, and I’d pay for a cab to take her home. More expensive, for sure, but I needed to work. It’d cut into our food budget, but I figured we could make it work. It had never, not in a million years, occurred to me that Nai wouldn’t be here tonight.
Hallie sat on the floor, playing blocks with Thomas. If I brought them with me and…what? Set up the playpen in the staff room for Thomas to sleep there? Make a cot for Hallie on the floor? And then wake them up to bring them home just before midnight?
Losing the shift wasn’t an option, though.
Call Danny.
No. He can’t think I want him just to watch my kids.
So…Scott said he could help in a pinch. They had a crib and spare bed over at their house. But Anthony would know, and that might affect how he saw me as a parent. I needed his testimony to be perfect if custody came up.
People get sick. It’s not your fault.
There had to be a solution that didn’t involve calling Danny.
But if there was, I couldn’t figure it out.
So I texted him.
And eleven minutes later, he was on my doorstep.
He looked better than he had yesterday. His dark skin meant I couldn’t judge based on color—but he had a pep in his step that didn’t feel forced. And his smile came easier.
“You’re not on painkillers, are you? You didn’t take them because you were headed here?” I asked the question as he headed over the threshold.
“Uh…no.” He grinned. Then gently smacked my upper arm. Just like I’d seen him do to James and Gracie several times. As they’d done to him. Felt like a family tradition of some kind.
And he’d done it to me. Not just that he’d touched me…but that he’d treated me—in a weird way—like one of the family. That meant more than he’d ever know. Because I wasn’t going to tell him.
He winced. “Sorry.”
“For what?”
“I shouldn’t…you know…”
A moment passed before his meaning registered. “You can touch me, Danny. I know you’re not going to hit me in anger. Only one man has ever done that, and you’re not that man. I…” I sought the right words. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
“I will.” His eyes went wide and sincerity came off him in waves. “I’ll protect you. I’ll take care of you.” He gazed upward, then finally back at me. “Too much?”
After a moment—making him sweat—I laughed. “No, not too much. Not too much at all.” Tentatively, I grasped his large hands in mine. In comparison, mine were downright puny. Delicate. In a way I didn’t necessarily like. Was this why Gerard hit me? Because, clearly, I’m incapable of fighting back? Yet another question I couldn’t answer.
“Rob?” Danny’s deep, dark-brown eyes penetrated my soul.
“I’m okay.” I felt like he needed to hear that. “Like I said, I trust you.” I indicated with my chin over toward Thomas and Hallie.
Oops.
Hallie watched us intently, her little brow furrowed. Her left hand was sunk into Drizella’s thick coat as she petted the dog. The dog who hadn’t even come to greet Danny. Some watchdog. Yet her gentleness with the kids couldn’t be overstated. After a moment, Hallie went back to watching the television. We didn’t do that often, but I found sometimes it helped with the transition to the babysitter. Nai said it meant she could gently extract Hallie to do her reading while leaving Thomas with his shows.
Damn. I’d have to be more careful. Hallie’s power of observation was legendary. I could get away with very little. Yet I couldn’t let Danny’s hands go. I shifted my gaze back to him. “I trust them with you, Danny. Not just because I’m desperate, but because you’ll take care of them. And they’re getting to know you.”
“And I have twelve nieces and nephews?”
I laughed. “Yeah, that too.” I didn’t add that I’d overheard Colin and James talking about fostering. And that I knew, to the depths of my soul, that Danny would treat those children as if they were blood related to him. Reluctantly, I let him go. “Call if anything?—”
He shushed me. “I have your number. We’ll call before bedtime.”
My eyes stung. That was part of the routine with Nai. That he remembered touched me more than I could express.
So I didn’t. I went through the kids’ full routines with him, reminded him never to leave Thomas alone with Drizella because unlike Hallie, my toddler didn’t understand “Be gentle,” and said my goodbyes. Then I grabbed my knapsack with my snacks and dinner and headed out. The walk to the clinic didn’t take long as my legs ate up the distance. I was paid a straight amount to clean. If I finished sooner—and didn’t cut corners—then I could go home early. That was why I skipped my break. No one was the wiser. And it got me home sooner. If I needed more time—and clearly wasn’t dawdling—I had permission to bill it. I never had. I cleaned that clinic so it sparkled and then hauled ass home.
Danny had initiated a video chat with the kids before bed. Thomas was really too young to understand, but Hallie knew. She always frowned a little, asking when I’d be home. I always promised just after she fell asleep. And, thank God, I always was. As I walked back through the dark streets, though, I acknowledged I still hadn’t named a guardian for the kids. Might Colin and James be willing? They seemed like amazing men. Clearly were open to having children come into their huge home. I’d snuck a look on the realty website when they’d given me their new address. Wow. Just…wow. And them being there allowed me to give my kids an amazing home where they could have their own bedrooms and we were just steps from the beach. And just a short bus ride to the local school when Hallie was old enough.
If we were still lucky enough to be where we were.
Which was a big if.
Then, as I neared my house, I remembered the phone conversation I’d had earlier this evening. The one I hadn’t wanted to dwell on. The one whose implications hadn’t really set in.
I used my key in the lock and stepped inside as quietly as I could.
Textbooks and a laptop were spread across the coffee table.
Danny lay curled under a fleece blanket on the couch. And, true to his word, his large frame fit. He looked…comfortable. He slept…peacefully.
And Hallie wasn’t at the door to greet me, which I always took as a good sign. That meant she’d likely been asleep for a while. After bedtime, Danny hadn’t texted me to say she was awake, so I’d believed she’d gone to sleep for him without a fuss.
I toed off my shoes, shucked my jacket, and gently laid my backpack on the floor.
Am I supposed to wake him? And where’s Drizella? Shouldn’t she be here to greet the newcomer?
Slowly, I crept down the hall. I poked my head into Thomas’s room to find him lying on his back in the crib with his limbs spread in all directions. Big surprise. Then I advanced to Hallie’s room. Gently, I poked my head in. The first thing I’d done when we’d moved in was to oil all the hinges. To eliminate any extraneous noise that might wake my girl.
Drizella popped her head up from where she lay curled on Hallie’s bed, gave me the once-over, snorted, then resettled.
In sleep, Hallie moved her hand to the dog’s fur and dropped it there—all while seeming to not wake up.
I withdrew, a grin on my face, and headed toward the kitchen. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be okay with a dog sleeping on my daughter’s bed. The last twenty-four hours had taught me differently. Drizella—or Trouble, as I now referred to her in my head—had slotted into this family without a single hiccup. She made her needs clear while accommodating the kids and their demands at every turn. Thomas was still a little rough and I had to watch him every second when they were together, but Hallie was patiently demonstrating for him. For her part, Trouble appeared completely unruffled. Things can’t keep going this well, right…?
“Hey.”
I whirled, hand pressed to my chest, to find Danny at the threshold to the kitchen. I’d had my head in the refrigerator and my mind completely elsewhere. “Oh, hey.” I pulled the milk out. “Would you like a cup of warmed milk? Or hot chocolate? I don’t think there’s actually much caffeine in it.”
“Shouldn’t you be heading to bed?”
Danny eyed me as he ran his hand through his short, curly hair. I wonder what it would be like if he grew it out. He said something about an afro in high school, right? Would it be like that? Basically, I longed to touch. To connect. Holding hands earlier had been nice, but I wanted more. “Uh, I always have steamed milk before bed. I don’t know if it actually makes a difference, but after the hustle home?—”
“You didn’t have to hustle tonight.” He advanced toward me. “I’m not on the clock.”
I blinked. “But I’m paying you.”
He reared back and held up his hands. “Uh, no, you’re not. A friend needed a favor. I did a friend a favor. I’m not taking your money.” He squinted. “If James had come over, would you have tried to pay him?”
“Of course.”
He chuckled. “Word of warning—don’t. He’d come from the goodness of his heart. So would Colin. So, I suspect, would your other friends.” He eyed me. “And you can’t tell me that saving tonight’s babysitting money won’t make a difference. Because I know it will.”
I hadn’t come out and told him how tight our finances were…but I hadn’t held back that information either. He was…a friend. And a confidant. Someone I could share things with. Breaking eye contact, I muttered, “Yeah, okay.”
Again, he chuckled. “Grudging much?” He advanced over to the counter and pressed his hip against it. “I’ll take a mug of hot chocolate. Before I hit the road.”
“You should stay. You were fast asleep.”
“Rob, it’s a six-minute drive home. If that. I can stay awake for that. Now, two hours on the 5 would be a completely different story. But, as everyone likes to remind me, my home is in Gaynor Beach now.”
“That simple?” I pulled the hot chocolate down from the cupboard.
“Yeah, that simple.” He cocked his head. “Now, what’s on your mind? You haven’t asked how the night went, and I can tell something’s nagging at you.”
Part of me marveled that he could know that…and part of me wasn’t surprised at all.
The microwave beeped with my steamed milk. I pulled it out, finished mixing chocolate powder with milk for his drink, then put that in the microwave and set it.
“Rob.” He used that exasperated tone that he generally seemed to reserve for this family.
“Danny,” I shot back.
He wagged his finger at me. “Don’t try that, my friend. I don’t put up with that from anyone.” Yet his eyes shone and a smile broke through, clearly putting a lie to his words.
“Wynn Cavanah called tonight while I was working.”
Danny scrunched his nose. “I want to say that’s the lawyer?—”
“He is.” I sipped my milk, wincing at it being too hot.
The microwave beeped, and I pulled Danny’s drink from it. “Watch it, it’s super hot.”
He took it and sipped. “Perfect. I like my coffee extra hot.”
“Hey…” I indicated the kitchen table.
He sat.
I did as well. “We haven’t discussed dietary restrictions. To do with your donation. I know booze is out.”
“Uh…that’s the big one. There’s a small list of things to avoid, but it’s not significant. You’d never put them all in one meal… or it would be the weirdest meal ever.” He laughed. “Honestly, it’s not a big deal.” He cocked his head. “Why, you planning to feed me a lot?”
I blinked. Shit. I haven’t asked him. “Uh…” My resolve crumbled.
“Right.” He took a sip and grinned. “You need a babysitter until Nai recovers from pneumonia. Maybe even longer if her parents aren’t happy with her coming this far?—"
“They said they didn’t mind.”
“And maybe they won’t. But you haven’t actually done it yet, so you don’t know what the reality will look like. Possibly different than you envisioned.”
“Danny.”
“Rob.” He parroted back the same voice. “I told you that tone won’t work for me. I’m babysitting every night well into the future, and it’s a total win-win. See…I got a ton of schoolwork accomplished. I couldn’t turn on the television, so it focused me on getting done what needs to be done. My program runs in the afternoon and evenings back east. I’m done by five since that’s eight for them. I’ll hustle over here, and you head to work. I watch the kids, then get in several solid hours of studying before you come home. I sleep in—since I don’t have early classes—and then I’m fresh for my lessons.”
“That coffee table can’t be comfortable for studying. You could come in here?—”
“I know you’ve got a monitor for Thomas. I’d want one for Hallie as well.” He scratched his nose. “I’d be happy to buy it…”
I thought of the gadgets I’d had back in LA—the nanny cam and the baby monitor. I’d believed I needed all those things to be a good dad. As I’d discovered here, just being tuned in to my kids was enough. Parenting on a basic level. Having the tech as a back-up wasn’t a bad thing…but I had bigger priorities. “Uh, yeah, we’re fine.” Nai hadn’t said she had any issues with Hallie.
“Here’s the thing…” Danny pointed to the closet that could be turned into a mini den. “You could totally fit a small desk, ergonomic chair, and a couple of shelves. You’re not using it for anything else right now?—”
Because I don’t have anything to put in there. Because I don’t have stuff. And was that a bad thing? Again, living a pared-down life wasn’t leaving us deprived. “No, nothing else.”
“Right. Nai might want to use it and, for sure, Hallie would enjoy the space when she’s older and needs quiet. I suspect Thomas will drive her nuts.”
“You noticed.”
“Yeah, he does not like when her attention is focused on reading books. I did my best to keep him distracted…”
“But he can be unrelenting, I know. Of course we can turn the cupboard into a den.” Dollar signs floated in my head. But if I saved the money I would’ve paid Nai, it wouldn’t take long to have the funds.
“Great. Leave it to me.”
“Uh—”
“Now, what did the lawyer say?”
Take a deep breath. “That my ex-husband punched the process server when she delivered the divorce papers.”