and it began rocking again.
Within seconds, Paige settled back down and was sound asleep.
“Sorry,” Amy apologized as she readjusted the towel that was wound on top of her head. “I should have told you that. During the day, she only sleeps if the chair is rocking. My mind is as mushy as their baby food these days.”
“I think your mind is just fine,” Uncle Henry, who was always one to be positive, stated.
“Oh my gosh!” Amy startled, clutching her hand to her chest as she spun around. “Hi! I didn’t even see you there, Henry.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I was just stopping by to see how all my girls were doing.” Henry motioned to the babies and Amy and Shelby.
“Well, I am feeling a little more human now that I’ve showered.” Amy smiled brightly at Henry. Then, turning to Shelby, she shook her head. “I can’t remember the last time I got a shower in before noon.”
“Glad I could help.”
“Do you want something to drink? I think we have some soda and water,” Amy offered to Henry.
A comforting warmth, like stepping into the sun on a hot day after having been in the shade, washed over Shelby. She was so happy that her brother had found Amy. After Matt’s first wife, Jess, had been tragically killed in a car accident, Shelby hadn’t been sure Matt was going to come back from it. Before Kevin had gotten her fired from her job at a local bar called Midnight Hour, she’d seen Jess’s brother, Aiden, who was a musician. His band had been playing at the bar, and he’d asked about Matt. Shelby had been happy to report that her brother was doing great. Sadly, Aiden had still looked haunted from his sister’s passing. Shelby didn’t know how people moved on from the death of a loved one. Thinking of the look in Aiden’s eyes put Shelby’s issues into perspective.
“Oh, no. I’m just fine,” Henry answered, right when a ring sounded.
It had been so long since Shelby had heard a landline ring that it took her a second to register that it was Matt and Amy’s phone. After quickly picking the receiver up, probably in an attempt to catch it before a second ring could wake one of the girls, Amy’s voice was quiet as she said, “Hello.” When she glanced over at Shelby, her eyebrows went up and her eyes sparkled. “Yep. She’s right here. Hold on.”
When Amy held the cordless phone towards Shelby, panic gripped her. Had Kevin found her? She’d changed her number. Had he tracked her down here?
“It’s Levi,” Amy half mouthed, half whispered.
“Oh.” Relief that it was not her ex on the other end of the phone rushed through her like a tidal wave. It was followed immediately by nervous butterflies wildly flitting inside her.
Then she froze.
Yesterday, she’d hightailed it out of the baby shower so fast that she wouldn’t have been surprised if her sandals had left skid marks on the hardwood dance floor. Once they’d been named the winners of the grand prize and Nikki had handed them the envelope containing the gift certificate, Shelby had barely said bye to Levi before rushing out the door.
Was he calling her to cash in the prize they’d won at the baby shower the day before? Was he asking her out? On a date?
One way to find out , her inner voice piped in as she bit the inside of her lip.
Why was she so terrified of an inanimate object?
Because the voice on the other end is all kinds of scary.
Old Shelby’s reaction to her current predicament would have been: Game on. She wouldn’t have been running through all kinds of excuses in her head to avoid the phone call. Sudden laryngitis. Sprinting to the bathroom with an emergency stomach ailment. Running out of the house with no explanation at all.
No. This was ridiculous. Maybe Shelby didn’t know the exact path to take to return to her old self, but she did know that, if she gave in to the panic she was feeling at taking this presumably innocuous phone call, it wasn’t just a step in the wrong
Within seconds, Paige settled back down and was sound asleep.
“Sorry,” Amy apologized as she readjusted the towel that was wound on top of her head. “I should have told you that. During the day, she only sleeps if the chair is rocking. My mind is as mushy as their baby food these days.”
“I think your mind is just fine,” Uncle Henry, who was always one to be positive, stated.
“Oh my gosh!” Amy startled, clutching her hand to her chest as she spun around. “Hi! I didn’t even see you there, Henry.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I was just stopping by to see how all my girls were doing.” Henry motioned to the babies and Amy and Shelby.
“Well, I am feeling a little more human now that I’ve showered.” Amy smiled brightly at Henry. Then, turning to Shelby, she shook her head. “I can’t remember the last time I got a shower in before noon.”
“Glad I could help.”
“Do you want something to drink? I think we have some soda and water,” Amy offered to Henry.
A comforting warmth, like stepping into the sun on a hot day after having been in the shade, washed over Shelby. She was so happy that her brother had found Amy. After Matt’s first wife, Jess, had been tragically killed in a car accident, Shelby hadn’t been sure Matt was going to come back from it. Before Kevin had gotten her fired from her job at a local bar called Midnight Hour, she’d seen Jess’s brother, Aiden, who was a musician. His band had been playing at the bar, and he’d asked about Matt. Shelby had been happy to report that her brother was doing great. Sadly, Aiden had still looked haunted from his sister’s passing. Shelby didn’t know how people moved on from the death of a loved one. Thinking of the look in Aiden’s eyes put Shelby’s issues into perspective.
“Oh, no. I’m just fine,” Henry answered, right when a ring sounded.
It had been so long since Shelby had heard a landline ring that it took her a second to register that it was Matt and Amy’s phone. After quickly picking the receiver up, probably in an attempt to catch it before a second ring could wake one of the girls, Amy’s voice was quiet as she said, “Hello.” When she glanced over at Shelby, her eyebrows went up and her eyes sparkled. “Yep. She’s right here. Hold on.”
When Amy held the cordless phone towards Shelby, panic gripped her. Had Kevin found her? She’d changed her number. Had he tracked her down here?
“It’s Levi,” Amy half mouthed, half whispered.
“Oh.” Relief that it was not her ex on the other end of the phone rushed through her like a tidal wave. It was followed immediately by nervous butterflies wildly flitting inside her.
Then she froze.
Yesterday, she’d hightailed it out of the baby shower so fast that she wouldn’t have been surprised if her sandals had left skid marks on the hardwood dance floor. Once they’d been named the winners of the grand prize and Nikki had handed them the envelope containing the gift certificate, Shelby had barely said bye to Levi before rushing out the door.
Was he calling her to cash in the prize they’d won at the baby shower the day before? Was he asking her out? On a date?
One way to find out , her inner voice piped in as she bit the inside of her lip.
Why was she so terrified of an inanimate object?
Because the voice on the other end is all kinds of scary.
Old Shelby’s reaction to her current predicament would have been: Game on. She wouldn’t have been running through all kinds of excuses in her head to avoid the phone call. Sudden laryngitis. Sprinting to the bathroom with an emergency stomach ailment. Running out of the house with no explanation at all.
No. This was ridiculous. Maybe Shelby didn’t know the exact path to take to return to her old self, but she did know that, if she gave in to the panic she was feeling at taking this presumably innocuous phone call, it wasn’t just a step in the wrong
Similar Books
