Chapter Twenty-Six
Afew daysafter talking to Val, Letty received a call from her.“Hi, Val.What’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
“Shoot.”
“Can you come stay with Vivian tomorrow night?I know it’s last minute, but my parents can’t do it and neither can Liam’s mom.”
“Of course I can.Where are you going?”
“Liam’s got a meeting with a man who wants to take us to dinner.He’s trying to sell us on some new kind of fencing.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“It is.That’s why he’s taking us to dinner.”
“Is Liam thinking about it?”
“There’s a small area, a part of a field he’s considering for it.He wants to see how it works before he commits to a lot more.”
“That makes sense.What time do you want me?”
“About six.Thanks so much.We really appreciate it.”
“You know I love to be with Vivian.It’s no problem at all.”
The following evening Letty drove out to the McFarland ranch.Val was rushing around trying to finish getting ready and Liam was patiently waiting for her.He held Vivian in his arms.The baby, who was about eight months old now, wore only a diaper and was babbling earnestly to her father.
“Do you know what she’s saying?”Letty asked him curiously.
“Nope.But I know when she says dada.”
Vivian began chanting ‘dada, dada, dada.’
“I am so sorry, Letty,” Val said.“I meant to have her fed and bathed before you got here but, uh, things happened.”
“We’ve been feeding her while she’s only wearing her diaper, which is why it’s a hundred and two in here.She’s a little messy.”He paused and looked at his wife.“Some of us think we should dress her anyway and then we wouldn’t have to die of the heat.Other people don’t want to wash the clothes.”
“I said you could wash them,” Val interjected.
“It is pretty warm,” Letty said, thinking it felt like at least a hundred and two.“Don’t worry.Vivian and I will be just fine.”She took the baby from Liam.Vivian was a beautiful baby, blond-haired and blue-eyed like her mother, but the shape of their faces was different.Maybe Vivian looked a bit like her biological dad.“Are you ready to eat some yummy dinner?”
Vivian began babbling again, the only discernible words being mama and dada.As she left, Val said, “There’s some cooked shredded chicken in the fridge if you want to give her that along with some veggies.”
Letty got the chicken out to heat in the microwave and then let it cool.She had been over to Val and Liam’s at mealtime enough to know where the jars of baby food were.Last she’d heard Vivian hated peas and loved carrots, but she could have changed her mind.There was also baby cereal so she made up a little of that as well.She put a bib on Vivian, put her in the high chair, and offered her a bite of the cereal.
She didn’t want it.In fact, she grabbed the spoon and turned it over so it dripped on the tray.Letty tried again, with little success.Then she decided to try something else.She had a little more success with the carrots, but after she ate a bit, Vivian grabbed the spoon and managed to fling mushed carrots in Letty’s face.Then she giggled madly.
Letty got up and grabbed some paper towels to clean herself off.She was working on the chicken when she heard the kitchen door open.“Did you forget something?”
“I don’t think so,” Riley said.Vivian waved her arms and babbled madly and he crossed the room to kiss her forehead, that being the only slightly clean part of her.
“What are you doing here, Riley?”
“I could ask the same of you.I’m here to babysit.”
Letty stared at him.They both said “Val” at the same time.
