Leslie smiled, her head bouncing from side to side as she removed her seatbelt. “Nick. He might be sick in the head with love for that bitch-face, but he pulled through. He wants to help Leah and you. Trust me, you’re going to get Leah back.”
An hour later, and Paige had everything she needed to serve Rachel with papers for an emergency hearing for temporary guardianship. The lawyer said all she had to do was to keep Leah in the house until the next day when the hearing was scheduled for.
Paige could hardly contain her nerves. Her gut was so twisted, she could hardly stand up straight.
They were going to court. Again. Only, this time, she couldn’t lose. She couldn’t afford to let Leah down Not again. Leah needed her. Needed her.
Leslie couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. “Nick’ll be here tomorrow, too. So, trust me, we’ve got this covered.”
“That’s what everyone said the last time.”
“Yeah, well, we learned a lot and we’re not going to lose this time. Just—” Leslie shook her head and pulled out of the parking lot. “I know it’s going to be hard, but the hearing is tomorrow. Just hold on until then.”
“Did Grandma know about this appointment?”
Leslie gave her a look that read, “Duh.”
Well, Alma’s abrupt manner suddenly made sense. The reason she’d kicked Paige out of the house just when things had been going well between her and her daughter was just. “What if Leah doesn’t want to stay? With me?”
“Who cares? She’s a kid. She won’t know what she wants until she’s, like, forty. Trust me. There’s no way for a twelve-year-old to even comprehend what’s best for her. So, no. We don’t care.”
“You don’t care.” Because Paige did. A lot.
“You don’t either.”
“Yeah, actually. I do. I want her to be happy.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Pea!” Leslie thumped the steering wheel. “She’s a kid. She’s not a doll. She’s not your friend. She’s not a toy or a pretty trinket. She’s a child and your responsibility.”
Paige blinked.
“Yeah. That. She might be someone you want to be buddy-buddy with, but at the end of the day, it’s your responsibility to make sure she doesn’t suck as a human being. It’s your responsibility to show her how to fucking be an adult. What are you teaching her by ‘only wanting to give her what will make her happy?’”
It seemed like Leslie already had the answer to that question.
She did. “You raise her to think she should only have what makes her happy. Every single second. Entitled, lazy princess.”
Paige cleared her throat and ran her tongue along her teeth, shifting uncomfortably. She couldn’t deny that every instinct in her body told her to give Leah what she wanted, but Leslie brought up some very good points.
“Just trust me. Now, shut up. We need a stroller and a car seat and a bunch of other shit.”
“I can’t afford it. No job, remember?”
“Oh, I remember. We’re going to dip into ‘the fund’ a little on this one.”
“The fund” was a mysterious bucket of money that Alma had inherited when her mother had died. The Whiskey family was old money, but as far as Paige knew, that money was drying up. “No. We’ll find another way. Maybe we can go to Goodwill.”
“For a car seat? Pea, haven’t you heard the news? Car seats are the one thing you never buy used.”
“But what if it’s donated? You know, someone grows out of one and just gives it to you?”
“Nice, but not great. They have a shelf life.”
“On a car seat.” Somehow, she doubted that.
“Do you want to chance the life of your new baby?”
“They’re pretty sturdy.”
“If you really want to know, google it.”
Paige didn’t want to pull out her phone and google anything. First of all, she was on roaming data because she hadn’t moved her cellular plan to Texas. Second, if Leslie really was that adamant, she probably had done her research. Third, who cared? She watched the buildings go by. The town had changed a lot since she’d been there last. “This—none of this feels real.”
“It’s a lot of big changes in a very shorty period of time, Pea. One day. You’ve been able to sleep in your own bed one night and already you have a new job you’re not going to accept, a new baby, and you’re getting your daughter back. Yeah, Pea. Lots goin’ on. Take a breath. It’s okay. You’re gonna be adjusting for a bit. You’re human. Be human.”
“Shut up, jerk.”
“Whatever, bitch.”
They smiled at each other as Leslie pulled into Target.
Leslie wasn’t kidding when she said she went to Target to get out and “have fun.” That woman went up and down every isle at least once. There were several isles, over half of them, that Paige tried to tell her there was no good reason for going down because they didn’t need anything. She’d never been one who saw shopping as something to do for fun. It was something that had to be done, like pooping. She went, got what she needed, and was out. She didn’t mess around.
“Okay. Dexx.” Leslie leaned on the handle of the shopping cart and sipped her skinny vanilla latte. “What are you doing about him? And stop telling me you’re busy. That’s a lame excuse.”
“Well, we are. Come on, Les. We haven’t even started our relationship and now I have a baby and my daughter is back.”
“Yup. Sex typically happens at night when the kids are in bed. Or when they’re off with the sitter. Or when they’re having a sleep over.”
“I just got them. Today.”
Leslie rolled her eyes. “I’m looking for a new Lalaloopsy doll. I saw there were horses at Christmas, but I could never snag one. It’s my turn now.”
Paige shook her head and sipped her black iced coffee. She was still high from the lawyer’s office. Energy thrummed through her. She couldn’t believe what was happening. It was all going so fast. “I have no idea what that is.”
“When you do, you’ll flip your shit.”
“I can’t get over your language.”
“Okay, so here’s what you’re going to do.” Leslie stopped at a section of dolls with buttons for eyes and started picking through them. “Bobby sleeps with Kamden. They can share the same crib for a while. There’s zero need for them to get separate cribs for now. At least until you’re ready to go to Portland, anyway. That you can pick up at Goodwill when you get there.”
“Thanks, Mom.” She’d have to check to see what the standard was for buying used cribs and car seats. Just because Leslie said it in that authoritative tone didn’t mean she was right. It just meant she said it with authority.
The shopping cart was already loaded with enough stuff to make Paige cringe. There was no way she could afford this.
“Leah will sleep with Mandy since we can’t trust her not to slip out the window at night.”
“Why don’t we just nail her window shut?” She couldn’t mask the resentment behind her words.
“We could, but I thought you’d think that was too harsh. Oh, see? This. This is Lallaoopsy. With the little button eyes and it looks like they’re all sewn. And the horses are so cute.”
It was cute. “I didn’t know you had a desk.”
“I carved out some space. Which reminds me, at the new place, I’m going to need a desk. I’m trying to get a website design business started, and I can’t do that if I don’t have space to work.”
“I didn’t know you were into that.”
“I’ve taken a few classes.”
“On-line?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a degree and everything.”
“Well, look at you.”
“I know, right? And I want to start up a soap business. Whiskey Witches Soap and Stuff.”
“I like it,” Paige said with a chuckle.
“Which, by the way, if you decide to become a PI in Portland, let me know. I’ll do your site.”
“Site?”
“Yeah. You’re gonna n
eed it. Geez, Pea. It’s like I’m talking to a man or something.”
“Shut up.” Oh, man, Paige had missed this banter. “So, you think I should jump Dexx’s bones tonight?”
“You’re damned straight you should.”
“But we have the hearing tomorrow. Tomorrow, Leslie. I can’t concentrate, much less have sex.”
“I’m not telling you to write a book report on the act of sex, Pea. I’m saying fuck the guy.”
“Oh my god.” Paige covered her face in embarrassment. “There are people around.”
The woman standing next to them shrugged. “Do you like him?”
A stranger? Really? “Yeah.”
“Are you holding out for a promise ring?”
“Um. No.” Why was she having this conversation with a stranger?
“Well, just do what you want. Life is short.” A boy about six or seven ran up to her, a Transformer in hand. She growl-smiled at Leslie. “Take what you can get when you can get it.” She took the toy from the boy. “What did I say? I believe I said, ‘don’t ask me for anything.’” She walked away.
“See?” Leslie pushed the cart forward. “I’m not the only one. After tomorrow, you’re going to have even more excuses on why you can’t have sex. So, just do it.”
It took them two hours to leave Target. There was a reason Leslie started with coffee from Starbucks. They needed it.
By the time they made it back to the house, the school buses were running. Leslie got the garage door closed just as the bus stopped down their street and several kids spilled out like locusts.
Dexx met them at the door to the kitchen. “Need help bringing anything in?”
Leslie gave her sister a knowing smile and popped the trunk.
Paige smiled at him. “Yeah. If you don’t mind.”
Leslie grabbed two big armfuls of bags and disappeared into the house.
Dexx stopped at the trunk, his eyes huge. “When you two go shopping, you don’t leave much in the store, do you?”
“This was as much as we could cram in the trunk at one time. We told the manager we’d be back for the rest later.”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
Paige chuckled. “Good grief, yes.” She reached in and grabbed a few of the bags. “I had forgotten how expensive babies are.”
“You couldn’t get anything at Goodwill?” He lifted the car seat and stroller.
“Apparently,” Paige said, heading for the door, “the only thing you get from Goodwill is a crib.”
“Hmm. Interesting.” His tone said he didn’t quite believe it either.
“Everything okay here?”
“Oh, yeah. Bobby’s a quiet baby and Leah just drew all day.”
“Drew?” Paige cleared the threshold into the kitchen.
Leah sat at the dining room table, calm with a big box of drawing pencils open in front of her, earbuds plugging any sound and a sketchbook in her lap.
“I didn’t know she was an artist.”
“Well, she is. Where do you want this?”
Paige pointed to the floor beside the playpen, dumping the bags next to the spot she’d pointed out. “What else did you do today?”
“Tune-ups on all the cars. Alma needs new pads, so that’ll take a bit more time. What about you? You were gone a long time.”
“You see what we came back with, right?”
“The whole store.”
“Only half of it, but yeah. Leslie can shop.” Paige leaned against the car. “But you wouldn’t believe where we went first.”
An expectant smile creased his eyes. “Lawyer.”
“Jesus Christ! Was I the only who didn’t know about this?”
“We didn’t want to get your hopes up just in case it didn’t work out.”
“Wow.”
“And, hello, Pagan. Stop using Jesus’ name in vain.”
Paige stuck her tongue out at Dexx. “Sorry, Jesus. Though, I’ve read the Bible. I’m pretty sure he’d understand. Yeah, so, anyway.”
“Yeah, so anyway. How’d it go. What’d she say?”
“You knew it was a she?”
“Yeah. Nick went to college with her. She’s a real nice gal.”
“Nice. Yes. She’s nice.” Good grief. She felt like a dolt. How much was going on around her that she just wasn’t paying attention to? Focused. That’s what Leslie called it. Too focused. Yeah. Paige could see it now. “We have an emergency hearing scheduled for tomorrow.”
“And she thinks it’ll go well?”
“She does, but so did the last one.”
“We know more now.”
“Did you and Leslie share notes? That’s what she said.”
“Hey, we all feel a little guilty over what happened. Okay? Less me. I wasn’t here. I was, however, in New York when Rachel showed up with Leah. I heard the stories she told everyone about you.”
Paige narrowed her eyes. “Do I even want to know?”
“Nope. But I heard them. And I admit, for a while there, she suckered me in. You’ve got to remember, she took me in when I had no one else.”
“You had no one else because you refused to go back to a mother who loved the shit out of you.”
“I never said I was a great guy. I was a pretty stupid kid.”
Paige couldn’t say she’d been any smarter. She didn’t know how she would have reacted if she’d met her father only to have him leave. She didn’t know thing one about her father. The only thing she did know was that Leslie, Paige, and Nick all had different fathers. Paige couldn’t say anything. She had a child by one father and he was dead. Maybe it was something similar for Rachel.
Though it was a lot easier to think horrible things about the woman instead of giving her any saving graces.
“Are you nervous?”
“Horribly.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I know what could take the stress off.”
She studied his face for a long moment.
His eyes widened. “Are you trying to tell me I might actually get lucky tonight?”
“No.” She really, really, really wasn’t feeling it. Sex might relieve stress for some, but she was way too keyed up. There was no way she’d find her way into the mood even with a handsome guy like Dexx in her bed. “But it might be sometime before we’re dead.”
He clasped a hand to his heart and closed his eyes. “Such sweet words.”
Paige slapped his arm. “Stop it.”
He smiled down at her, then gathered her in his arms. “I understand. Okay. No pressure. You’re not wired that way. I get it. We’ll have our moment when it happens, not when we force it.”
Paige thunked her forehead against his chest. “How’d I deserve you?”
He rubbed her arms. “I have no idea. But it’d be real awesome if you earned me.”
She pulled back, her mouth open, one corner of her lip raised.
He grinned and grabbed more stuff out of the trunk. “What did you bring us back for dinner?”
“I have no idea. Leslie muttered something and got very excited. My coffee died in my blood stream by that time.”
“Died in your blood stream?” Dexx asked with a chuckle following behind her.
“I am not made to shop. Oi, my goodness. No. I just can’t.”
He set down his armload on the dining room table. “There’s just one small load left. I’ll go grab it. You check on Bobby.”
Paige smiled. “Where is he?”
“Upstairs in the nursery.”
Paige headed for the nursery. She slowed as she grew closer to the bathroom closest to Tyler’s room.
“What did you get into?” Leslie demanded.
“I don’t know,” Tyler whined. “I was okay and then I just felt sick.”
“You threw up on your shoes.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
Paige started to poke her head in the room, then heard the distinct sound of barf hitting porcelain and opted not to. “Got everything under control?”
Leslie sighed, her eyes closed, her face pointed to the ceiling. “Yes. We’re fine. For the love of Pete, I’m fine. Tru had better get his damned ass home today.”
“Mom,” Mandy wailed down the hallway.
Leslie pointed to Tyler and spread her hands at Paige.
She waved Leslie off. “Yeah. You got this. I’ll get Mandy.”
“Thanks, Pea.”
“Mom!”
Paige quickened her steps toward the other bathroom, but stopped at the sound of barf hitting the floor. She leaned forward, looking into the small room. Mandy had come close to the toilet, but had still managed to miss it. “What did you guys have for lunch?”
Mandy hurled again, this time into the toilet bowl, kneeling in her own vomit.
This was motherhood. Paige sighed and went to get the mop. Joy of joys. This was what she’d been missing out on all those years. This was what she was fighting to get back.
Awesome.
Just as Leslie got Tyler settled in his bed and Paige got Mandy all cleaned up, something drew them both into the hallway.
The sound of more barfing, but out of baby mouths.
Paige ran into the nursery in time to see projectile formula vomit erupting from Bobby’s mouth only to land back on his face. He jerked with surprise, then let out a loud, piercing scream.
Her first reaction was to pick him up, but he was covered in vomit. His bedding was covered. The floor was hit. If she’d thought Mandy had been a mess to clean up, she had another thought coming. How could so much barf come out of one tiny mouth?
It wasn’t all him. Kamden shared the crib and a good portion of that barf was his. Together, Leslie and Paige got the two boys cleaned up and the rest of the room picked up.
“I hate the smell of vomit,” Leslie complained, closing the last snap on Kamden’s onesie.
“You’ll never get it out of everything.”
“At least not for a few days.”
“Right?”
“What started all this?”
Paige looked around the room and spotted Tyler’s backpack in the nursery. “Why would Tyler’s backpack be in here?”
Leslie shrugged. “Are you thinking Tyler came in, poisoned himself, his sister, and then these two?”
No. But something was amiss. Normal kids? Something like this happens, you think something must be in the water. These kids were witches, though. Kids who were still learning the cold, hard hand of consequences. “How else do you explain it? These two didn’t go to school with them.”
A Barrel of Whiskey - (An Urban Fantasy Whiskey Witches Novel) Page 14