If I was wrong, I hurt Ashlyn for no reason. The idea of that possibility makes me want to throw up. It also sends a chill up my spine.
Chapter 39
Ashlyn
Oh,how I’ve missed this.
I am in the middle of changing a diaper for a one-year-old who is making it very clear she has more important things to do that lay here nicely for me while I wipe her bum. I can’t help but be happy. It’s funny. Most people have no desire to work with children. Especially ones that need diaper changes and throw fits over their friend eating one of their hundred Goldfish crackers. But I am in my element.
The only thing that’s hard about being back here is that despite there being five infants, two of which are around Bentley’s age, they aren’t Bentley. Caring for him wasn’t like this. It wasn’t a paid job. It wasn’t childcare or babysitting. It felt real. It felt like motherhood.
It felt like forever.
I shake the thought from my head as I slide Jenna’s pants back up and let her get up. “There. You’re free,” I say, dusting off my hands and giggling as she heads off to destroy the block castle another little girl is constructing.
“You might be the only person I know who smiles while changing that child’s diaper,” Hannah says as she restocks the baby wipes at the changing station.
“She’s just a little sassy,” I say. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“Sassy? I’m half convinced that the little girl’s parents bring her here just to get a break,” Hannah says at the exact moment that Jenny ransacks the block tower, leaving two other kids fussing and walking away with a smirk.
Hannah sighs. “I really am happy to have you back. You’re a natural.”
“You know, I’m happy to be back,” I admit, and I mean it. Despite everything going on, I am able to back burner a lot of the pain when I am here. It might only be a band-aid for now, but considering how badly my heart hurts, I’ll take what I can get.
As if Hannah can read my mind, she steps a little closer and lowers her voice. “Have you been able to reconnect with Bentley at all?”
Tears burn my eyes, and I shake my head.
“I’m sorry,” Hannah says. “But maybe with time.”
“I don’t know. I am starting to accept that I might never see him again,” I say quietly, and Hannah’s normally gentle face shifts to stern.
“Don’t ever accept that,” she says. “You belong in that child’s life. You belong in that man’s life too. He just has to come around, that’s all.”
“I don’t know that he ever will,” I tell her.
“He will.”
“How can you be so sure?” I ask her.
“Because that’s how karma works. Someone framed you or betrayed him, or both. And things like that never stay hidden forever. It’s like splinter, you know. Eventually, it festers enough that it’s pushed to the surface,” she says before walking off to handle the Jenna situation.
I take a moment, restocking the shelves before the next shift of part-time girls comes in. Since I am full-time, I work both the morning and afternoon shifts. Around lunchtime, there is a trade-off with two of the other girls.
I want to think Hannah is right, and whoever is at fault will come forward. That all will be revealed. I think it’s safe to say I’m not feeling very optimistic these days.
“Ashlyn?”
I hear a voice behind me, and while it’s not familiar, it sounds a little odd. Like the person is surprised to see me. I turn around with a smile.
“Hi,” I say, and then the smile falls on the floor, and I gasp. “Becca. Hi.”
I don’t know who I was expecting, but it wasn’t Mitchell’s new wife.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I work here,” she says, and my jaw drops. “Only afternoon shifts and only twice a week,” she says.
