She sighed into her mouth, arching in for more as Sutton leaned back only a few inches, enough that her warmth breath washed over Charlotte’s damp lips, making her shudder as she whispered, “You changed everything for me, too. Both times you’ve come into my life.”
The emotion in her words echoed through Charlotte, and she moved to pull back, to be able to really look at Sutton, before Sutton’s hands fell to her waist and pulled her back in, pressing their lips together.
Charlotte returned the kiss eagerly.
Anything else she wanted to say could wait. They had time.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Layla—9:53 a.m.
What time are we supposed to be at Lucy’s school by? The absolute latest?
The alarm bellshad started ringing in Sutton’s ears before she’d evenreadLayla’s text, to be perfectly honest. Once she’d read the contents of the message, her concerns were simply confirmed.
Trying to take in a deep breath and rein in her agitation, she answered.
Sutton—9:54 a.m.
Supposed to arrive by noon. I suppose, if I go first, the latest you should arrive would be by one.
Even though she knewexactlywhat was coming, she tried. She really, really tried to give Layla the benefit of the doubt as she asked:
Why?
She set her phone down on the desk in her office, closing her eyes as she silently hoped that she was wrong about what was happening.
Layla—9:54 a.m.
That’s what I thought… I’m really sorry, but I actually won’t be able to make it.
She closed her eyes again, rubbing at her temples as her agitation tripled at the confirmation.
Since Lucy had resumed school after the holiday vacation ended a few weeks ago, every Friday for the remainder of the year was going to be Grown-Up Show-and-Tell. All of the parents and guardians in the class had been sent the info and sign-up sheet weeks ago. On Fridays after snack time, Lucy’s class was going to engage inreal-world experiencelearning. This meant the parents, guardians, and trusted adults in their lives would come in and give an explanation of what they did for a job as well as engage the children in an activity involving their respective careers.
Other parents were encouraged to attend whenever they could as well. Sutton herself had only been able to shift her schedule around to attend twice, but it had been interesting. She’d learned all about the life of an investment banker, a nanny (indeed, it was Lucy’s classmates’ nanny, not one of her parents), and a mom-fluencer.
Sutton had coordinated her own presentation with Layla’s schedule, as Lucy had expressed a vehement wish for them both to participate.
And now…
All she could picture were Lucy’s big, blue eyes, downtrodden with certain, imminent disappointment.
Layla—9:55 a.m.
Really, I AM sorry. I wanted to be there. But I’m on call, and I need to scrub into an emergency surgery that’s en route right now.
She’d been with Layla long enough to know that scrubbing in on an emergency surgery—no matter what that surgery was—meant thateverythingfor the next three to four hours was a complete wash. Any prior arrangements or plans had to be cancelled, no matter what they were. Birthdays, anniversaries, date nights, and—now—Lucy’s school events.
Sutton—9:55 a.m.
It’s not me you need to be apologizing to. I’m not the one who’s going to be devastated that you’re going to miss it.
Layla—9:56 a.m.
Well, Lucy is a little young for us to have given her a phone, so I can’t text her directly, can I?
Look, what do you want me to do? Not perform a surgery on this woman who was just in a horrific accident?
