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“Wow, I’m impressed. You’re a natural,” Kyle said, his eyes never leaving Whitney standing in the middle of the kitchen, rocking his daughter.
“I’ve always loved kids,” Whitney shrugged, but her face glowed happily.
Kyle gave Katie the teething ring and she sucked on it while nestled in Whitney’s arms. “I wish her mother felt the same way,” Kyle muttered, his expression darkening.
I knew the relationship between Kyle and Katie’s mother, Josie, was fraught at times. Josie had taken the breakup with Kyle incredibly hard and Adam had intimated that Katie’s mother hadn’t taken to parenthood in the same way Kyle had.
“Everything okay with Josie?” I asked Kyle, sipping my tea. Whitney was right, the ginger settled my stomach almost instantly.
Whitney continued to bounce and sway Katie, but I noticed the way she listened closely to what Kyle was saying. I knew that Kyle had been in love with Whitney for years, but the older Galloway girl had never seemed interested in Adam’s best friend. There had been murmurings of something happening between them at some point, but I took that as idle gossip and nothing more. Now, looking at the two of them standing so close together, I wondered.
“Not really. She took off a few days before Christmas. She said she was going to see her mom who lives in Delaware. She didn’t want to take Katie because she said she wasn’t sure how she’d do on such a long car journey. Katie was supposed to be with me for Christmas anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to have her early. I won’t ever turn down a chance to spend time with my girl.” Kyle leaned down and kissed the baby’s head. He straightened and then as if realizing how close he was standing to Whitney, he backed up slightly.
“So, she’s still not back?” I asked, feeling slightly awkward by all the tension radiating between the two of them.
Kyle cleared his throat and turned back to me. “I didn’t hear from her on Christmas. She didn’t even call to see if Katie had a good day. Then I got a text from her right before I came here. She says she’s staying with her mom for a while. That she can’t be a mom to Katie right now. So, I guess I’m officially a single parent.” Kyle didn’t seem angry, just sad for his daughter.
“Oh, Kyle, I’m so sorry.” I put an arm around him. “But Katie is so lucky to have you.” I felt a stirring of longing for Jeremy, wishing he could be the kind of father Kyle was.
“I’m the lucky one,” Kyle replied, reaching out to take his daughter from Whitney. But Katie wasn’t having it. She yelled at the top of her lungs when Kyle tried to extract her from Whitney’s arms, burying her face in Whitney’s shirt.
“It seems you’ve got a fan, Whit,” I laughed.
Whitney rubbed the little girl’s back. “It seems so.” She tried to hand the baby to her dad, but Katie still refused.
“If it’s okay, I think I’d like to hang out with her for a little while longer,” Whitney said with a soft smile and a hint of wistfulness in her tone.
Kyle couldn’t hide his feelings as he nodded and watched the woman he had been in love with most of his life walk his daughter into the living room.
“Looks like you’re second fiddle today, Web,” I teased, elbowing him in the side, amused at how his eyes never left Whitney and Katie, as though he were seeing something he wanted so much he could taste it.
I knew how he felt.
Kyle finally turned to me. “How are you doing? Adam filled me in on what’s been going on.”
“Of course, he did, the blabbermouth,” I grumbled, finishing my tea and putting the mug in the dishwasher.
“Lena, he’s only worried about you. Don’t be too hard on the poor guy.” Kyle started picking at the cheese and crackers Mom had put together earlier.
“I know he is. I know everyone is. It’s bad enough being the jilted soon-to-be single mom. I don’t need everyone hovering over me like I’m going to fall apart. Yeah, the situation sucks, but it is what it is. And I’ll figure it out like I do everything else.” I sounded so confident. So sure.
I was such a good liar.
“Still haven’t heard from Jeremy?” Kyle asked.
Now that my stomach had settled, I allowed myself to eat some of the crackers on the platter. I needed some real food in my belly stat. “He texted me before Christmas saying we needed to talk, then nothing. Jeremy Wyatt is all games and honestly, now with this going on,” I waved my hand over my belly, “I don’t have the patience for it. It’s probably in everyone’s best interest if he stays out of our lives. I don’t want a man who yo-yos in and out on a whim. If he can’t be a constant, then I don’t want him around at all.”
