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My face grows hot, and not just because I’m struggling to breathe properly—Landon hearing my name in the same sentence as‘bubble bath’makes me feel funny.
And as respectful as he’s been since he spontaneously kissed me, the fleeting way he glances over me tells me it makes him feel funny, too.
I catch my breath, clear my throat, and pull ahead of the awkwardness or whatever this is. “Yes, bubble baths are as magical as the cute ducks at the park, which is where Rae and I are going. Now. Before dinnertime comes around.”
“Of course,” Landon agrees. He gives me a thumbs-up and then swings it down to Rae. “Thank you so much for all your help. You can count me out of the park plan this time, but I bet I can hunt down some bubbles.”
Now,thatimage is funny. I don’t quite stifle a laugh at the thought of his tattooed body folding up into a foamy bath.
He notices and tosses me a harmless wink, then tells Rae, “It was nice to meet you, little lady.”
She gives him a cute smile and sticks out a hand. “Nice to meet you, tall man!”
He chuckles and extends a hand, too. And as he closes it around hers, I watch him find that not all of her fingers are fully formed.
He looks astonished, then disturbed. His eyes flick to me again like he’s remembering what I said about Kelle’s addiction problems. I’m sure he can piece together from this that she was using and drinking while pregnant.
And, damn it all, I can tell Rae has picked up on his reaction, too.
I’m struck with fear that she’s going to grow upset like she did at daycare—he wouldn’t be rude like that other kid, but Rae is no idiot. There’s no way the older girl’s comments aren’t still fresh in her mind, so of course she would notice Landon noticing her fingers.
Yes, whether her new acquaintance is nice or not, she’s self-conscious after what she dealt with earlier. She nervously shifts her weight from one foot to the other.
But he finally, gently shakes her hand and says, “I’m Landon, in case you didn’t know already.” Then he lets go and taps the pink beaded bracelet that came with her pajamas. “You are rocking this bracelet, by the way. You were born to wear pink sparkles. I’m jealous.”
And just like that, she’s giggling and her nervousness is evaporating.
My nervousness is, too.
Relieved and grateful, I smile when he looks at me. “Okay, then. See you around.” I think about wishing him luck with his emergency from before, but I can tell Rae and I have distracted him, and I don’t want him to be reminded of it sooner than he has to be.
He smiles, too, and summons the elevator for us because the doors closed some time ago. “Yep, see you guys!”
Rae waves with both hands. “Bye-bye!”
As she and I get on the elevator, Landon waves with both hands, too. It amuses me, especially since he does it until the doors are closed and we can’t see him anymore.
Before she can make a comment about him (because I know she’s got at least one in her head), I say, “Guess what I remembered earlier? You get to go to Abby’s birthday party tomorrow!”
She gasps, delighted by the reminder. “Oh! Oh! Her pool party! I forgot about it!”
She hasn’t chattered much about the party since getting invited a few weeks ago, but she’s on it now. She tells me who else has been invited and that she thinks there will be pizza, cake,andspecial party favors. She talks about how happy Abby will be about the Barbie shirt we bought, because‘she loves Barbie a lot, a lot, a lot.’Then she starts giving me ideas for how to fix her hair for the occasion.
I’ve just gotten her strapped into her booster seat when she finally takes a breath.
“Good Lord, girlfriend,” I say with a grin. “You excited about the party?”
“Yes!” she squeaks.
“Yay! You know I have to tag along, though, right? I have to sit by and watch out for you.”
“I know! It’s okay.”
Half-teasingly, I say, “I’ll try not to embarrass you in front of your friends.”
“You never embarrass me!”
I snort. “Oh, well, just wait until you’re a teenager.”
