23. Ian
TWENTY-THREE
IAN
I step out onto the back porch to find Tess already there. She’s at the edge of the patio, arms crossed tight around herself, staring into the trees like she doesn’t see them. Something’s off.
Might be a weird thing for me to notice about my neighbor, but I see it anyway.
“Hey.” Excellent opener, Ian.
She turns and flashes a big, fake smile. Yeah. Something’s definitely off. “Hi.”
I move closer. Dutch joins August where he’s playing with some trucks in an empty section of flower bed. He flops into the grass, begging for a belly rub. Without missing a beat, August scratches him with one hand and drives trucks through dirt with the other.
“Is everything okay?” They’re home early, another thing I shouldn’t notice but do.
“Yeah. It’s just…” Tess drops her facade, her shoulders slumping, her fake smile crumpling.
“What happened?” I’m ready to get between her and whoever stole the sunshine from her skies. “Who do I need to throttle?”
That earns a faint smile. “Me, probably.”
“Not happening.” I close the last few steps between us until I’m close enough our shoulders brush. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I’m not sure I’ve ever asked anyone that before, but here I am. Ready to listen.
“August’s daycare called this afternoon. The workers all caught some stomach bug, and they have to shut down for the rest of the week.”
“Is August okay?” Kid looks fine from here, but the fact that he’s sitting down to play instead of running wild could be a bad sign. Frankly, I’m not sure even projectile vomiting would keep him from petting Dutch.
“He’s great, it’s not that. It’s just…” Her gaze lifts to the trees as though they have the answers she needs. Or maybe she’s trying to fight off tears. “I have to ask my mom and sister for help while the daycare’s closed.”
I’m trying to understand the problem but coming up short. “I thought they’d want to help you.”
“They do. That’s just it. They’ll adjust our schedules at the bakery, and we’ll work out a system to take care of him while the daycare’s closed. They’ll swoop in and rescue me, again . It will be fine.”
The look on her face doesn’t feel fine. Feels more like I want to pull her into my arms and hold her close. Keep her safe until all her problems fade away.
“I wanted so badly to step out on my own and prove I can handle life, and here I am less than a month later, ready to crawl back to Mom and admit I can’t do it. It just sucks to have to tell her I was wrong so soon, you know?”
I hate seeing her so distraught. I want to ease her burdens and help her smile again. Maybe I want to prove myself, too.
“I could watch August.”
The words are out of my mouth before they’ve had a chance to fully form in my brain.
She breathes a laugh. “If only.”
“I could.” Her easy dismissal makes me more certain I want to do this. That I can do this. “I’m right here. My days are free. He could be in his own house so you know it’s childproofed.”
No need to mention I don’t have a clue what childproofing entails.
She swivels her head to stare at me. “I sort of thought you didn’t like kids.”
I scoff. “I just don’t know any. Doesn’t mean I don’t like them.”
Her laughter comes out more genuine this time. “I can’t ask you to watch August for the rest of the week.”
“You didn’t ask. I’m offering.”
She opens her mouth but pauses. Considering. I’ve got a chance.
“You can ask Amy anything you want about me. Do a background check. Call my brothers.” I would absolutely not enjoy knowing she’s on a phone call with Pierce or Steven. But apparently, I would do whatever it takes to ease her mind about leaving August with me for a few hours each day so she can save face with her mom.
I know a lot about losing your pride. I don’t want that for her. Not if I can help it.
Tess continues to stare at me. “Why, though?”
Because you’re not alone. Because you don’t have to prove yourself to me. Because you’re worth the effort.
“I haven’t challenged myself in two years. This would be a pretty big challenge.”
Her mouth pulls into a frown. “You’re not making your case with that.”
“Maybe I just want to help you if I can. And I like the kid. He reminds me of me.”
At least she laughs again. “He does not. He’s very well behaved.”
“Who said I wasn’t well behaved?”
Her dark blue eyes glint at me. “Nothing you say could convince me you weren’t a troublemaker when you were a kid.”
And an adult goes unsaid, but I swear she mentally tacks it on.
“I could get my mother on the phone to vouch for me.” Am I offering up more family members for Tess to talk to? Mom wouldn’t vouch for me anyway—I fit the wild child accusation Tess lobbed at me to a tee. But I bet she’d love talking with Tess.
Getting ahead of myself here.
“I probably don’t need to talk to your mom yet.”
Not sure why that “yet” is such a hopeful little word. It’s like a glimpse of a mountain peak that’s been mired in cloud cover.
“I’m not worried about his behavior, but it’s not like watching any other kid. You’d have to be able to manage his diabetes and be aware of any changes in his blood sugar levels. It’s too much to ask of you.”
“His blood sugar monitor has an app on a phone, right?” I wouldn’t hesitate even if I had to do regular finger pricks to check his blood sugar and dip ketone strips in his urine.
“Yeah, we have one just for—wait. How do you know about the app?”
“I looked them up.” My research isn’t really the point. “I’m a certified EMT, and I have multiple first aid certifications. You’re not going to find safer hands than mine.”
She blinks hard at me. “Wow. Cocky Ian really is back.”
I level her with a stern look. “It’s not cockiness. It’s fact.”
“That’s the whole definition of cockiness.”
“The point is, his diabetes isn’t a problem.”
She stares at me so long, I’m convinced she’s coming up with fresh ammo to reject my offer. But she takes a slow step back, her arm dragging against mine.
“I’m going to call Amy real quick. I should probably get at least one reference before I leave my child with you.” Her true smile peeks out for the first time this afternoon. “Can you watch August for a minute?”
I frown harder at her, tilting my head indicating she can go inside.
“Right. Right. I’ll just—” She slips inside the house.
I listen as August narrates what he’s doing for Dutch, filling his trucks with tiny scoops of dirt. Kind of hilarious what all goes on in his head.
Wonder what Dutch would narrate back. Pretty sure it’s circus theme music in there twenty-four-seven.
Five minutes go by. I’m not worried…but I do start to wonder just what Tess and Amy are talking about. She just needs a little reassurance I can make a good babysitter. Right?
Although…it might have been a mistake to offer up personal references. Technically, I’ve never babysat anyone. The closest I came was watching Steven and Iris’s four dogs one weekend when they went off on an anniversary celebration. And even that wouldn’t provide a pristine Yelp review—the Chihuahua, Bill, picked up the habit of walking on the dining table during meals.
I said that’s what they get for having a dog the size of a skirt steak, but they still blamed me.
My heart is drumming a frantic beat when Tess finally walks back outside. She looks stunned, like maybe she got more information about me than she’d bargained for. Definitely a mistake suggesting she talk to my family.
“What did she tell you?” It comes out more accusatory than I mean it to, but Tess’s expression has me on edge. Like my heart’s a Rubik’s Cube with one side twisted out of alignment.
It takes her a second, but when she smiles, my heart clicks back into place.
“She confirmed everything about your EMT status. Said you’re very trustworthy.”
“Then why do you look so startled?” I can come up with plenty of other things Amy might have shared that I wouldn’t be so thrilled about. Mostly about my lack of experience with commitment.
To be fair, nobody I dated in the past wanted to commit to me long-term, either. Which, now that I think about it, isn’t a point in my favor.
“Oh, I just…” She pushes her hair over both ears at the same time, her gaze moving between me and her son. “I want to make sure August is comfortable with this.”
“You can ask him. If he doesn’t want to hang out with me, that’ll be the end of it.” Pretty sure he’ll be thrilled to spend more time with Dutch. He’ll probably rope him into another game of kickball. He let the dog win their last round. A point that further confirms August isn’t much like I was as a kid. I hated to lose. But I also had two older brothers to rub it in my face when I did.
“August,” she calls. “Come here for a second, buddy.”
He nods and scrambles over—he’s way more obedient than I was at his age, too.
Or am currently.
Tess gets down on one knee. “Honey, your daycare has to close for a few days. Miss Tammy and Miss Lori got sick.”
“Like when Max threw up yesterday?”
She makes a face. “Probably exactly like that. But all the teachers got sick, so there’s nobody to watch the kids.”
“We can watch movies.”
The kid’s a problem solver, I’ll give him that.
“It wouldn’t be safe to leave all of you alone to watch movies.”
“We know where the snacks are.”
She grins at him. “I’m not going to take you to daycare without an adult. But what do you think about having Ian watch you for a few days? Just until all your teachers feel better?”
He looks up at me, his mouth open. “I could stay with you and Dutch all day?”
“Only if you want to,” I tell him.
He leaps off the patio and runs through the yard screaming his head off. Dutch gets in on the action, barking until I call his name and put a stop to it.
“I think that’s a yes,” Tess says, standing up. “Congratulations. You’re a babysitter.”
“I prefer the term ‘manny.’”