Chapter 32 Krista #2
“Because she would just do what she’s been doing for the past week.
She would tell me that this wouldn’t be a problem if I hadn’t gotten knocked up before I was married.
And then she would tell me that I brought this on myself, and now I have to deal with the consequences.
Frankly, I’m too tired to hear that right now. ”
“But—”
Hell, I couldn’t talk to her like this. Willa wouldn’t stop crying, and at this rate, my eardrum would be blown in just minutes.
“Look, this has been great,” Lizzy said, “but I’m gonna go in your guest room and catch up on sleep.”
“Wait!” I cried out as she got up and headed for the room. “I don’t know what I’m doing!”
“Her bottles are in the fridge with instructions. You know how to change a diaper. Other than that, just don’t set her down. She doesn’t like it.”
“But—”
She shut the door, leaving me alone with my niece. Rushing over to my phone, I got Jeff on the phone.
“Hello?”
“Jeff, you nutsack! You made a deal with Lizzy!”
“Hey, I said I would get you groceries. You got them.”
“You were supposed to bring them.”
“Right, yeah, I can see how you would think that. But see, Lizzy hasn’t been getting very much sleep and needed someone to watch Willa for a few hours. You needed groceries. It seemed like a win-win to me.”
“Not to me!” I snapped. “You could have warned me.”
“What fun would that be? Oh, hey, I’ve got a game going on over here, so I’ll catch you later.”
“Jeff—”
The line dropped, leaving nothing but dead air on the other end. “Bastard,” I muttered, making Willa cry harder.
“Not you, sweetie. I was talking about mean Uncle Jeff.”
She was turning red from screaming so hard. Laying her down only made it worse, but she had to be hot in all this stuff. Once I got her one-piece coat off, I stripped off the layers of sweaters and pants, cooling her down quite a bit.
And as soon as I got her cooler, the crying died down.
“There,” I smiled down at my little nugget of a niece. “That’s better, isn’t it. Was that all? Were you just too warm?”
Her skin slowly started returning to a normal color.
“Look at me. I did it!” I said, thrusting both fists in the air. “I’m like the baby killer.”
Her face scrunched up like she was going to cry.
“Oh! Shit. Not like an actual baby killer. I just meant I’m killing it at this babysitting thing. You’re too adorable to kill.”
“Please tell me you are not talking to a baby about killing,” Rob’s voice came from behind me.
Picking up my niece, I swaddled her in my arms and carried her over to Rob, who was leaning heavily on the doorframe. “Isn’t she adorable?”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Yeah, she’s adorable, but you do know that you’re not supposed to just take babies home from wherever you find them, right?”
“She’s my niece. My brother…well, never mind. My sister needed a break and just sort of dropped her into my arms. So far, I’m not doing too bad.”
He cocked his head, staring down at the little bundle in my arms. “She’s not too bad.”
“Willa,” I whispered, brushing my finger over her cheek.
“Pretty name. Which sister is this?”
“I only have one sister,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
“It’s hard to keep track of all you Parkers.
“Lizzy is her momma. She was in the hospital when those bad men came to get me.” I lowered my face to hers and whispered in a baby voice, “Yes, bad, bad men came to kidnap your auntie, but she kicked them in the happy places and made them not so happy.”
“Cute. Baby talk about kicking ass,” Rob grinned. “You fit right in.”
“I don’t intend to ever be in that position again. Besides, I was fighting back, not joining in for the fun of it.”
I started walking around the room again, bouncing my little niece as she slept in my arms. The longer I held her, the more I could see the appeal. It was hard to walk away from something so cute.
Rob hobbled further into the room, sinking down onto the couch. “So, is this what we’re doing today? Watching a baby?”
“Just while my sister’s sleeping. She’s in the guest room.”
“Things are rough, I’m guessing.”
“Well, she doesn’t have anyone to help her. I should have been here for her,” I murmured.
“You were trying to stay alive. I don’t think she’ll blame you for that.”
“Maybe not, but I still feel bad I missed out on so much already.”
“You’ll have your own chance one day.”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “You think?”
“You’re beautiful and smart. Someone will snatch you up in no time.”
My steps faltered at his words. I wasn’t sure why I took the chance, but I did, turning to face him. “You said you cared about me. You said you liked me. Has that changed?”
Sighing, he ran a tired hand over his face, looking at the fire instead of me. “How would it work?”
“I don’t know, but…but we’re married and…doesn’t that count for something?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. We’re married, but we only got married because we were in Vegas and we were running for our lives. That doesn’t exactly seem like wise decision-making.”
“But since then…things have changed. I mean, they have for me.”
His eyes drifted away from the fire and landed right on me. The intensity with which he stared at me nearly made me choke.
“You said you could never live around what I do. That’s not what you want.”
“Yeah, but…you could do that anywhere. You’re an IT genius. I mean, why not here?”
“Why not someplace warmer?” he countered. “This place is an icebox.”
“It’s not always this cold.”
He chuckled at that. “What would I do out here? Seriously, there are no close towns. It would make more sense for you to move out by me since you don’t have anything holding you here.”
That got my back up, and I immediately snapped instead of staying calm and rational. “What? Because I don’t have an important job holding me, there’s no other possible reason I could want to stay?”
“Family is the only reason you’re here. You don’t like your job. You even said so. It’s not what you want.”
“No, but I’m working for my family. They’re struggling right now, and family always helps each other.”
“Like they’re helping you?” he asked. “When I first woke up here, it was freezing in the house. You don’t have enough money to pay your bills.”
It wasn’t an assumption. It was like he already knew.
“Excuse me?”
I thought he would look away, but instead, he held my gaze, refusing to back down. “I looked into you.”
My throat went dry at his words. “You did what?”
“It’s what I do.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“You don’t have enough money to keep going the way you are, yet you’re so willing to stay here where things can only get worse.”
“The rentals are starting to pick up,” I argued.
“And you’ll still make the same crappy pay.”
“Because that’s what the family can afford!”
“And yet you have this house. What kind of investment is that?”
“Most would say it’s a good investment.”
“If you have the money to pay for it. Right now, you’re house poor. You would have been better off living with your parents or staying with your brothers. Instead, you live here, in a house you can’t afford.”
My cheeks flushed bright red. He was right. I couldn’t afford it, but things weren’t always like this. He didn’t know the half of how hard things had been around here, and not everything could be seen by looking at my bank statements.
There was plenty he obviously didn’t know, but I was too pissed about the fact that he invaded my privacy to say anything.
“Well, I guess we have the answer to our questions.”
“In what way?” he asked.
“Clearly, you think I can’t manage my own life. I’m not sure why you would ever consider dating me, let alone staying married to me.”
“Krista—”
“It’s fine,” I smiled. “I don’t want to live in Pennsylvania, and you don’t want to live here. It seems to me that it’s pretty obvious what the solution to our problem is. A quick trip to Vegas will solve everything.”
“That wasn’t—”
Willa let out a small cry, giving me the perfect escape I needed. “Hey, sweetie. Are you getting hungry? Let’s get you some milk.”
I escaped to the kitchen, ignoring the questioning gaze following me. It didn’t matter if Rob believed in me or not. I wasn’t going to stand here and explain myself to him. It was clear it wouldn’t work between us.
At least I knew it now before I got too attached.
Well, more attached than I already was.