Page 60 of Falling Back to You

Or maybe the worst she could say was yes.

Chapter twenty

Noelle

Banging on my front door jarred me from a restless doze. I groaned and draped an arm over my face. “Go away,” I moaned.

The knocking started up again.

“I’m coming!” I hollered, not that whoever was crazy enough to knock at seven in the morning could hear me. Oh. It was eight already. Oops.

My body screamed in protest as I limped towards the front door. My legs were lead weights, slogging through quicksand. The lack of sleep wasn’t helping. No, not today. You do not get to flare up on me. Pick a different time.

I swung the door open. “Ruby, what do you . . .?” The words died in my throat.

“I’m not Ruby!” Khia giggled, clutching a Frozen backpack to her chest.

She was not. And neither was the slack-jawed man at her side, gaze trailing over me in surprise. And maybe a hint of appreciation. That was probably my sleep deprivation talking.

Cal Satterfield, in all his backwards-hat glory, was on my doorstep.

I crossed my arms. Stand strong against the backwards hat, woman.

“That’s my hoodie,” Cal said, bewildered.

Shoot. Me. Now. Let this be a lesson to never open the door without looking in the mirror first. Exhaustion tugged at my soul, and I sagged against the doorframe, already wanting to collapse back into bed.

He cleared his throat. “Are those gumdrops wearing Santa hats?”

Embarrassment flooded my cheeks. “Are you seriously judging my wardrobe right now?” I’d been too tired to do laundry over the weekend, and now I was paying for it since I was wearing my emergency pair of pajama pants. And of course Cal would have to witness that.

“I love them!” Khia piped up. “Can I get a pair, Daddy?”

My heart stuttered at the word. He was a good dad. I’d known he’d be amazing all those years ago. And it hurt to see how right I’d been.

“They’re, uh, cute.” Cal choked on the word, red creeping up his neck. “Is cute okay to say? Juliet chewed me out last time I used it on her. You know what, forget I said that. I—”

“Cal, what’s wrong?” His rambling was utterly adorable, but I wasn’t going to last much longer standing here. Not without kissing the floor.

“I need a favour.”

“At eight in the morning?”

His jaw tightened.

Snarky-still-half-asleep Noelle was not helping things. So I pasted on my problem-solving smile. “What do you need?”

“Can you watch Khia today? Juliet was supposed to watch her, but she’s sick, and oh, are you sick? A bunch of the family is after Sunday. Do you need anything? I could—”

“I’m not sick,” I cut in quietly, and his shoulders relaxed.

“Please!” Khia begged, eyes shining. “I’ll be good!”

As if I could say no to that face. “I’d be honoured,” I said simply.

Relief flooded Cal’s face. “Thank you. I’ll owe you big time.”

“Friends help each other.”