Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
A DAY OUT
SADIE
I adore Clara.
The exuberance I felt when I found out she was Weston’s mom’s age and not some hot young thing…well, it was hard to contain.
I don’t even want to think about what that means.
After I’ve changed Caleb, Clara hands me a mug. “Here you go, honey. It’s a Solar Latte. I saw you perk up when I mentioned it has lavender in it.”
“Oh, I’m excited to try it. Thank you so much.” I take the mug and blow before taking a sip. I close my eyes and hum. “That is amazing .”
When I open my eyes, she’s beaming at me and then lights up when someone catches her eye behind me.
“I didn’t know you were coming in today,” she says.
I turn and see Weston’s mom, Lane. Her mouth falls open into a happy smile when she sees Caleb and me. She hugs Clara and then squeezes my shoulder, leaning down to say hello to Caleb.
“Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?” she says.
“He really is,” Clara says. “You told me, but I didn’t believe he could be this cute.”
Lane laughs in delight and pulls her scarf off. “I wanted to surprise Clara and I’m the one who got surprised instead.”
I move the backpack and tap the chair. “Join us.”
Her head tilts as she grins at me. “I’d love to.”
I offer Caleb up for her to hold and she nods excitedly. As she’s moving to her seat with him, I hear bickering and turn to see two ancient men at a nearby table.
“It’s better than it ever was, Marv,” one says.
“No, it’s not. Football ain’t what it used to be,” the man I assume is Marv says. “It used to be simple. You know I’m right, Walter. We’d go watch a game, eat a hot dog and grab a beer…come home at a decent hour. Now, it’s thousands of people with their chests painted and wearing the dumb things over their heads. The players do those herky-jerky dances when they make a touchdown like that’s not the whole point of the game.”
“You’re right, you’re right,” Walter says. “They do look like idiots. And I can’t stand how long it takes to get out of there. I’d rather just watch at home.”
Marv harrumphs his agreement.
I snort and turn quickly when Marv glances over and narrows his eyes on me.
Lane winks at me and says, “Hey, Marv and Walter, good to see you this morning.”
They both grumble a hello and look like they swallowed something bad.
“Why’s it so crowded in here, Clara?” Walter frowns.
Clara lifts a shoulder and grins. “The good people of Silver Hills like my coffee, I guess.”
“Then why don’t I recognize half of them?” Marv says.
“Aw, come on, it’s kind of nice to see some new people around town, isn’t it?” Clara says. She laughs and puts her hand on Lane’s shoulder. “I’ll bring you a coffee in a sec.”
“Thanks, love,” Lane says. She leans closer to me and whispers, “Those old codgers complain about the sky being blue.”
I giggle and sip my coffee.
“So, how’s it going? Are you getting settled in at Weston’s? Adjusting?” she asks.
I feel my face heat when she says Weston’s name and I hope Lane doesn’t notice.
“It’s getting easier,” I admit. “Although both of us are still catching up on a lot. His new furniture came and we realized we didn’t actually order a crib. He’s got this beautiful room now with a Pack ’N Play for his bed.” I roll my eyes. “We’ve got more shopping to do,” I add.
Lane’s head falls back as she laughs and Caleb laughs too, which makes her so happy.
“Oh, you are the cutest thing,” she coos at him. “Well, I’m off today if you and Weston wanted to go shopping.” Her attention turns to me and she smiles. “I’d love more time with this guy.”
Lane and David have stopped by the house often since meeting Caleb, and they’re both great with him. They raised three kids, so it’s not really a surprise.
“I understand if you’re not ready to leave him just yet,” Lane says.
I swallow and look at Caleb, happily waving his little teether.
“I’d like him to have time with you,” I finally say. “Weston is with his friends in the room back there.” I point over my shoulder. “We can ask if today works for him too.”
“Wonderful.” Lane beams, first at me and then Caleb. “We’ll have so much fun.”
After Weston and I go over what Caleb likes and doesn’t like and when he’ll be ready to eat and nap, Lane laughs and waves us off.
“He’ll be okay, I promise,” she says.
Weston puts Caleb’s car seat in her car and Lane gets in the driver’s seat and looks amused when she glances at us.
“I’ll call if there are any problems, but I don’t anticipate there being any,” she says. “Have fun, you guys. Take your time. Caleb and I will have a blast and your dad will be disappointed if you pick him up before he gets a chance to see him.”
Weston nods and looks like he wants to say more but just nods again. “Thanks, Mom. Let us know how he’s doing, okay?”
“I will.”
We’re both quiet for a few minutes as we drive through Silver Hills. It’s rare that we’re alone with each other.
Weston clears his throat. “I messaged Autumn earlier and she recommended a place in Denver for his crib. But she also said she’d heard about a great place here in town for cute clothes and unique toys. Want to stop there first?”
“Sure. That sounds good.” I glance at him and his smile is sweet, which makes my stomach take a nose-dive.
I’ve got to shake off whatever this is, now .
“It feels weird without the kiddo, doesn’t it?” Weston says.
I laugh. “Yeah, really weird.”
He pulls in front of a boutique and parks. It looks like a place I could never afford to shop in and for the zillionth time, I can’t believe that I’m experiencing this life.
“My mom will take good care of him,” he says. “And she’ll call if he seems unhappy.”
I nod. “I’m not worried. I guess all parents…I mean, all people feel this way when they leave their baby for the first time.” I shake my head. “I know I’m not his parent. I didn’t mean that…and I’ve left him before…obviously. It just feels different now.”
“You don’t have to call it that if you’re not comfortable with it, but I think of you as his parent. You’re taking care of him, day in and day out. We’re co-parenting him.”
I look down at my hands, willing myself not to cry. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and turn to him. “Thank you,” I whisper. And then louder, I say, “Let’s do this.”
He grins. “Fuck yeah, let’s do this.”
He lifts up his hand and I clasp it, both of us squeezing for a few seconds and grinning like crazy for no apparent reason.
The boutique is one of the cutest places I’ve ever seen. Cute clothes and cute everything . At first I’m reluctant to pick anything out, but Weston keeps holding up adorable outfits and I get dreamy eyes and he laughs and drapes them over his arm. He has quite a pile going already.
“He doesn’t need so many clothes.” I laugh.
“I’ll get a bigger size in this one. Or hell, both sizes,” Weston says. “It’s fucking adorable.”
The salesperson giggles next to us and she waves when we look at her. “Hi, I’m Marcy. Would you like me to set those aside for you?” She stares up at Weston and gasps when she recognizes him. “Weston Shaw,” she breathes. “You are…I am…you are incredible.”
Weston smiles at her like he’s used to being told this all the time, but when he glances at me, his cheeks are pink. “Thank you. Couldn’t do it without my team,” he says. He lifts the arm laden with clothes. “We’re not done shopping, but we’ll take these. Tell me where and I’ll set them down.”
In a trance, Marcy points to the counter.
He nods and walks them over. I start looking at the items on a bookshelf and laugh, picking it up.
“What did you find?” he asks.
“You’ve gotta have this,” I say, holding up the tinkle tent.
“What is it?” He frowns, studying it. His eyes widen when he gets it and he cracks up. “I had no idea babies needed so much shit. Yeah, we’re taking that.” He grabs three more and laughs again when he looks at them.
He pauses in front of an orange and white device. “What the hell is a baby shusher?” he whispers.
I giggle. “I have no idea. Try it.”
He turns it on and we both look at each other wide-eyed.
“No,” I whisper.
“Hell no. Is it me or is that creepy?” he whispers back.
“Totally. I’d rather him listen to waves or something nice than a constant shush. That makes me think of the librarian at school, shushing everyone all the time.”
“Agreed. Oh look, what does this one sound like?” He plays another sound machine and it has waves and rain. He looks at me like can you believe this? “Did you not just say you wanted waves? It’s a sign.”
I laugh and he picks up the boxed one behind the display. I stop saying what I love because he picks up everything I like and puts it on the counter. By the time we leave the store, he has dropped bank and we haven’t even gotten to the crib yet.
We chat all the way to Denver, the vibe way more comfortable between us now, and according to the directions, we’re almost to the store Autumn recommended when Weston pulls into a large bookstore parking lot.
“A bookstore?” I ask.
“I feel so wrong going here instead of Twinkle Tales, but…we’re here and they’ll be closed by the time we get back to Silver Hills. Caleb needs a few more books, doesn’t he? I like the ones he has, but I’m ready for some variety.”
I press my lips together to keep from laughing, and we go into the store. He has a stack of a dozen books when I hold up Where the Wild Things Are. He gasps and I can’t stop smiling.
“I was looking for that one. It’s my favorite,” he says.
I almost tell him I overheard him talking to Caleb about it, but I just grin and say, “I thought you might be into this one.”
He takes the book and holds it reverently, flipping through the pages.
“I can’t wait to read this to him,” he says.
I’m able to take him in more freely while he looks at the book. His long eyelashes, his full lips, the way his hair curls around his ears now that it’s a little longer. His childlike excitement over everything we’ve bought for Caleb, but the way his broad shoulders fill the aisle of the bookstore is all man.
I’ve thought vile things about this man, and they’ve all been wrong. He’s a good man. A good dad. And when he meets the right person for him, he’ll be a good partner.
That thought sobers me up, and I turn away from him, looking at books but not really seeing them at all.