This Baby Business

by Heatherly Bell

  “Hope she wasn’t too much trouble,” Levi said. “Thanks again.”

  “No trouble at all.”

  They exchanged goodbyes, and Levi walked Cassie outside.

  “No trouble at all.” Carly turned to Grace. “Seriously?”

  “Goo.” Grace held a Cheerio in between her two fingers with the intensity of a doctor performing brain surgery. When she got it into her mouth, she gummed it with nothing less than abject joy on her face.

  “If only my life could be that simple.”

  “Pfft,” Grace said.

  “Yeah, okay. I get it. There’s no comparison.”

  “What’s no comparison?” Levi smiled from the entrance to the kitchen, where his lean and built body was braced in the entrance, one arm on either side of the frame.

  “Uh, nothing.” Carly stood. “Time for me to go now.”

  But he stopped her when she tried to move past him, his hands sliding down from her waist to her hips. “Sorry about this morning. You were sleeping so soundly. I figured I wore you out.”

  “I’m the one who’s sorry. I thought I’d surprise you, so I walked out of your bedroom in nothing but your sheet. Dropped it right in front of Cassie and Grace.”

  He groaned and gripped her tighter. “And I missed that. My day sucks so far. Digger did his business on a neighbor’s lawn when he should have been running. And me, without a doodie bag.”

  “I can’t say much for my morning, either.”

  “But last night.” He pressed his forehead to hers.

  Last night. And in the early morning hours before dawn’s light. She’d thought Levi would be exhausted from sleep deprivation. But no. He’d more than surprised her with his boundless...energy.

  “Last night.” She pulled back to stare at his lips.

  Crazy. She was greedy with desire for him. As if he knew it all too well, damn him, he grinned with a cocky self-assurance and tugged on her lower lip with his teeth. She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him back. Lingering. Her fingers twisted in the short hairs at the nape of his neck and she pulled him closer. The kiss went longer and deeper and had her forgetting she was in a kitchen with Grace sitting only a few feet away in her high chair.

  Grace babbled happily, reminding her that they were not alone.

  “Levi.” Carly broke off the kiss, breathless, fisting Levi’s shirt for balance. “Are you still looking for a nanny?”

  “Yeah.” He kissed her neck, then stepped toward the edge of the counter and a stack of papers sitting there. “I have résumés from a reputable agency. Want to help me go through them?”

  “Of course.” She accepted half the stack from him.

  “Where were we?” He stepped into her again, his skilled hands skimming up her spine.

  A male voice called out, “Where the hell are you?”

  “Damn it,” Levi said. “I can’t catch a break today.”

  Matt Conner appeared in the kitchen holding a pink box. “Doughnuts.”

  “What’s up?” Levi’s voice had an edge to it that stated he wasn’t too ecstatic to see his friend.

  That made two of them, doughnuts notwithstanding.

  Matt possessed rugged good looks that reminded women everywhere that smart could also be devastatingly sexy. He grinned as if he realized he’d interrupted something. “Take it easy, Ice Man. Have a doughnut. It’s either this or a Midol.”

  Levi simply grunted something that sounded like, “Shove it, genius,” and moved toward Grace, whose little legs had been kicking hard since the moment Matt had walked into the kitchen.

  He opened the box with a flourish and presented it to Carly. “Ladies first.”

  She brought up the résumés to her chest. “I was just leaving.”

  “Take one to go,” Matt said.

  Because they looked to be from the new bakery in town, and she wanted to support local business, it was only the right thing to do. Carly grabbed a chocolate-sprinkled doughnut. “Thanks.”

  “You don’t have to rush off.” Levi now held Grace. With his blue eyes and unshaven just-rolled-out-of-bed look, he looked so much better than a doughnut. That said a lot.

  “I’ve got to prepare for my meeting tomorrow.” She met Levi’s eyes, but his expression was, as usual, unreadable, at least to her.

  She’d just spent the past few hours on top of him, under him and in every other position listed in the Kama Sutra. And she still couldn’t tell if he wanted her to stay. Not that she would give him a choice. They’d both agreed that nothing would change between them, and even in the short time she’d known Levi, she’d come to value his friendship. With that knowledge, doughnut in one hand and résumés in the other, she said her goodbyes and rushed next door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “YOU HAVE LOUSY TIMING.”

  Levi didn’t know if he was pissier with Cassie, who clearly hadn’t knocked before dropping Grace off, or Matt. Matt, who had a sex life any man would envy. His son, Hunter, was already practically grown, and even if Matt kept insisting that a teenager was on the level of a toddler, Levi wasn’t buying it. Lack of privacy was a nonissue. It was the reason locks had been invented. Speaking of which, he was going to start locking his front door during the day.

  “Tell me about it.” He had the decency to look guilty. “Still not going to feel sorry for you.”

  It wasn’t like Levi thought he’d be able to drag Carly back to bed with Grace wide-awake. He just hadn’t wanted Carly to go. That single thought stopped him short, because it wasn’t at all what he was accustomed to feeling when it came to women. Usually he’d be happy to take a break after great sex. Let a woman miss him. But it was different with Carly. He wanted to cook her breakfast and talk to her. Shit. Maybe it was because he felt some sort of bond to Carly now, given their connection with Grace. Yeah. That had to be it. Made sense, too.

  Either way, he was in a bad mood. Digger had started it all with his short legs and lack of cooperation skills. Levi woke with the bright idea to go for a run, something he rarely had the chance to do anymore. He was full of the kind of energy and passion that he hadn’t felt in months. Carly had looked down for the count. He’d tried to wake her, but she’d mumbled something like, “Five more minutes,” then snuggled under the covers. Being that he’d kept her up half the night, he gave her a break. Big mistake he wouldn’t soon forget.

  He’d thought the run would maybe teach Digger how to be a real dog. The result was an epic fail, lack of doodie bags included. But if Levi didn’t adjust his attitude, he’d be guilty of needing that Midol soon. Since Grace’s chubby legs were kicking and she was leaning out of his arms like she’d seen her best friend, Levi handed her to Matt. For unexplainable reasons Grace adored “Uncle” Matt.

  Levi helped himself to a doughnut. “Why are you here?”

  “Happy to see you, too.”

  Grace patted Matt’s cheeks and squealed in delight. Matt made a loud smacking kiss sound on her plump cheek, and she squealed some more.

  “What is it about you?” Levi squinted.

  “I’m like a big teddy bear. That’s what Sarah says.”

  “Nah, that’s not it.”

  “Face it. Guess I’m just adorable.” He smiled with such conceit that Levi wanted to hit him except for the fact that he was currently holding his baby girl.

  “Whatever.” Levi inhaled the doughnut in two bites. Then helped himself to coffee, his fuel these days.

  Matt sat at the table, bouncing Grace on his knee. “Truth? Sarah made me come by. She and Emily went cake tasting for the wedding. I was all set for a day of couch surfing and watching the game when Sarah gave me the look.”

  “What look?”

  “The look that says I could do better with my time than watching sports all day.”

&nbs
p; “For sure now, I’m never getting married.”

  “Figured we could watch the game over here.”

  “Deal.” Levi held up his coffee mug in weekend warrior solidarity.

  Matt, more than any of his friends, relieved him with Grace on the occasional weekend. Stone and Emily did, too, joined at the hip that they were. They’d usually come over and shove him out of the house for an hour or two, but he felt guilty staying out for longer, even if Emily swore they needed the practice. Sarah was hit or miss because of the Pandemonium art gallery shows in town that happened on weekends. Now Cassie had been thrown into the mix. If it wasn’t for the occasional relief on weekends, he’d have long ago gone ballistic.

  “But you didn’t have to drop in. I’m good. You know that.”

  “What I know is that you wouldn’t ask for help if you were lying on the ground bleeding. You’d probably just stitch yourself up with a needle and thread and keep going.”

  “This is my deal. You guys help enough, believe me.”

  “We’re happy to do it. Anyway, none of us are of much help, since I’m the only one who’s had a kid and I didn’t see much of him in those earlier years.”

  “And you’re sure you want another one?” Levi asked.

  He lifted a shoulder. “Whatever my bride wants. You know how it is.”

  “Right.”

  It was only one of the many and varied reasons he would need to stay single. He liked making his own decisions. No one would tell him how to raise Grace or how to spend his weekend—if he ever got a free one again. And if he wanted to spend the entire weekend from his couch, damned if he wouldn’t do just that.

  “So,” Matt said, letting Grace chew on his knuckle. “You and Carly.”

  He took a gulp of coffee and grimaced at the bitterness. “I wondered how it took you so long to get there.”

  “Giving you space. Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t take long? You got Digger. And Grace is a big attraction.”

  Levi didn’t think so, at least not with Carly. Grace had helped with her business, and that was about the extent of her attraction to him because of Grace. Which, to be honest, was something else he liked about her. She wasn’t one of those women who glommed on to babies like they were trying to suck out all their oxygen.

  “It’s nothing. Just...we’re having some fun.”

  Matt slid him a significant look. “Yeah? And does she know this?”

  “Hell, it was her idea.” He bit into his second doughnut and inhaled it in three bites. “Neither one of us is looking for anything permanent.”

  “I don’t know her deal, but I know yours. And you need to remember that you’re in new territory. Just because women couldn’t hang with the life of an AF pilot doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case anymore.”

  It wasn’t as if Levi hadn’t tried long-term relationships in the past. Twice, in fact, with women he believed he loved at the time. But when neither one could tolerate the long absences without cheating on him, he’d given up. Either long distance didn’t work for anyone, or he was simply easy to leave.

  “Thanks for the 411. I’m good.”

  “You don’t want an angry nanny on your hands.”

  No, he didn’t. Levi glanced at his phone. Speaking of angry...

  He had to call Frank and give him hell. The man wasn’t returning calls and messages. How did the Lanes expect to build trust when they kept lying to him? The lies had started with Sandy. And the first conversation he’d ever had with her father had begun with a lie. He’d told Levi in no uncertain terms that Grace was the child of Sandy and her boyfriend at the time. They had the birth certificate to prove it.

  But in fact, Levi had been contacted again by social services after the birth certificate had been found. He’d wasted four weeks he could have had with his daughter. Now he was caught in Carly’s lie, which she thought would help him, too, but, in his opinion, was far more about her company.

  * * *

  “WASN’T THE PET wash wonderful?”

  Irene didn’t think she’d seen a cuter event in her lifetime. A pet wash event to raise money for a good cause. The buffed and hunky shirtless young men washing the pets was a nice touch, and eye candy even for a senior citizen. But she wasn’t going to mention that to Frank. He’d stopped going to the gym or caring about anything months ago. He sure didn’t want to hear that Levi had a physique that any man would envy. Not to mention that he was engaged to Carly Gilmore, Pearl Gilmore’s daughter!

  Since the moment Irene had digested that information, she hadn’t stopped floating on imaginary pink clouds. Grace, despite her rough beginning, would be all right. And wasn’t that really all they should care about now? They couldn’t do much about how they’d wound up here, but they could do their best with what remained. Surely Frank would understand now that Levi would do right by their granddaughter. He’d listen to her now and abandon this joke of an emergency screening.

  “Frank? Are you listening to me?”

  Given that he was staring straight ahead as he drove them to their budget hotel from Sunday brunch at a local diner, she couldn’t be certain.

  “I heard you.” He grunted.

  That grunt meant you have got to be kidding me.

  “You’re so naive,” Frank said. “Tell me you don’t honestly believe Levi the playboy pilot is already engaged? And how can you be impressed with a woman who would wrestle with a pig?”

  “It was a potbellied pig. People keep them as pets.”

  “She should know she was simply giving the pig a good time. Ridiculous.”

  “I don’t know, Frank, maybe she didn’t grow up on a farm.”

  “Why are you defending that woman? Everything just got a lot more complicated for us.”

  “I’d say it got a whole lot better. We can relax now, knowing that Grace is with a woman who’s a first-rate baby expert. You know how I love RockYourBaby. And so did Sandy, by the way. She bought everything that Pearl Gilmore recommended as rated best for baby.”

  “And because of her, we’re going to lose our best chance at getting Grace back.”

  “Face it, honey, we never had much of a chance anyway. Who would award grandparents custody of a baby when the father is perfectly capable? It’s not as if he’s a meth addict or an...an unemployed actor.”

  Frank snorted. “Think about it. It’s a little too perfect. He’s engaged to a baby expert. How did that work out? It’s more than a little convenient, if you ask me.”

  “We’ve been over this. You don’t actually think anyone would lie about being engaged? Really!”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  Dear God, it was hopeless. Why did she bother anymore? “I want you to cancel the emergency screening. I insist. No judge in their right mind will think anyone should fear for Grace’s safety.”

  Frank didn’t speak for a moment. “Okay.”

  Irene was so pleased that for a moment she didn’t know what to say. Maybe she would get her husband back after all.

  “Thank you.” She squeezed Frank’s hand.

  Later that day, after Irene had checked in with the kids and gone to the hot tub alone once again, she came back to find Frank asleep. He did far too much of that, a clear sign of depression. And yet he refused to see a grief counselor. She’d been seeing a lovely woman for months now, and it was really helping. But much as she’d beg Frank to go, he insisted he could handle this on his own.

  Handling it meant he’d taken a leave of absence from work, usually woke at 11:00 a.m., spent time on the computer doing God knew what, then took a long nap in the afternoon. She knew this wasn’t healthy but couldn’t get through to her once strong husband. He’d turned into a man she hardly recognized.

  She shook him to wake him up. “Did you cancel the emergency screen
ing?”

  He opened one eye. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I am worried. Shouldn’t you at least email the lawyer? We don’t want to waste the court’s time.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Don’t you think it’s a waste of everyone’s time and energy to show up? Won’t the judge be upset with you?”

  “For the love of God, Irene, stop nagging.” He rolled out of bed. “There’s nothing to cancel. They don’t allow grandparents to file for emergency screenings in California.”

  For a moment, she couldn’t speak. “So...you lied to me? To all of us.”

  “I had to make him believe it. This only works if he thinks we have him cornered. I expected him to back down. The fiancée thing threw me for a loop. How could I foresee that would happen?”

  Frank’s voice was like a faint humming in the background as Irene tried to breathe. In and out. In and out. I’m still here. Still alive and breathing. Thinking and feeling.

  “This...this goes beyond anything I could have imagined you doing. How...how could you?”

  “I just need a better strategy. I’m meeting with a real shark on Monday. Calm down.”

  She sat on the edge of the bed before she fell down. “No, you need a doctor, not a better strategy.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine! Let’s leave Levi and Grace alone for a while and go back home. We’ll work this out.”

  “I’m not going to that new age doctor you have. Bull hockey.”

  “She’s helped me. I lost Sandy, too. You don’t see me giving up.”

  “Maybe because she wasn’t your daughter.”

  Irene felt sucker-punched. She stood on two shaky legs because Frank had just hit below the belt. Sandy was not her flesh and blood, but she might as well have been. There were still days when the grief hit her like a fist to the heart. The smallest things set her off, like the TV shows Sandy used to love as a child. A macramé plant hanger and other Mother’s Day gifts she’d made for Irene. On those days, she’d cry quietly so as not to further upset Frank. She’d call her daughters, her son, and speak to the grandchildren. Anything to remind herself there were still reasons to be alive and happy.