AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She easily took him from me. He didn’t wake up.
"Oh, sure."
The first three nights I had him, I hadn’t slept one wink. I kept waking up at every sound, only to realize after forty minutes that the little guy was still sleeping. He was just moving around a lot. Then I read that babies had active sleep.
I'd instructed my assistant to place cribs in most of the rooms. I didn't want to drag one around.
"See you at tennis on Sunday?" Cade asked.
"I’ll let you know if I can make it."
He played tennis with our half brothers once a week, and I’d joined them before Ben came into my life. I needed the break, but Ben needed me more, so I had to play it by ear. Once everyone was done with the pizza, Ben woke up in earnest. By the way he scrunched his face, I knew he was going to start crying.
"Okay, everyone, I don't want to be rude, but it's best if you don't witness this. Trust me, he can get pretty loud."
"Oh, nonsense," Grandmother said.
But I shook my head. "I mean it. I liked having you all for dinner, but he needs his space when he's in crisis mode."
"Okay, okay. We won't disturb you," Grandmother said.
I walked everyone to the door, carrying Ben on my chest. Another thing I’d learned was that he calmed down if he was close to me.
Just as I opened the door, Grandmother said, "Promise you’ll meet your neighbor. It helps to know people around you."
"Jeannie," Grandfather said sharply, "leave the boy alone."
My brothers looked at him in shock. Grandfather was usually calm and indulged Grandmother in everything. She winked at him. "Spencer should do what's best for himself. Penny seems wonderful."
I couldn't believe Grandmother had already gotten my neighbor's name. Then again, this was Jeannie Whitley. She'd been a theater actress for decades and was a very sociable person. She'd been stuck indoors a lot with my grandfather lately and clearly missed meeting people. No one could make friends faster than Jeannie Whitley. But I also knew that glint of mischief in Grandmother's eyes, and I realized why Grandfather was chastising her. She truly hadn't given up on matchmaking. But she wasn't going to be successful with me. The last thing I had time for was a relationship.
Chapter Four
Penny
Morrison's was handsdown the fanciest grocery store I'd ever seen. It was also exorbitantly expensive. I’d only put a bag of chips and two apples in my basket. I didn't have the budget for the third one. If I wasn't completely starving, I’d take my car to drive to the nearest Walmart. In retrospect, I should have realized that any shop in this area would be expensive. But now that I was here, I perused the aisles and looked at non-branded items, hoping I could find something to throw together for dinner tonight. I found a salad on discount and put it in the basket. It was still three times more expensive than any salad I’d ever bought. I was going to enjoy every single forkful of it. Now, if only I could find canned tuna, that would be great. Taylor had offered to stock up the fridge before leaving, but I flat-out refused. I could take care of myself, as she’d done enough for me.
