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Chapter Two
Trish
“Are you hungry, sweet girl?”
I cradled my daughter to my chest. These were the moments I lived for. The food truck was a dream come true, but nothing compared to this. She was only eleven months, and I still hadn’t come to terms with the joy my baby brought me. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it.
I held the bottle to her lips, and she sucked greedily. Ella had my hair, but her dove gray eyes were unlike any I’d ever seen. Her nose was a tiny button that bore no resemblance to mine, though our lips had a similar bow. The circumstances under which she was conceived were evil, but I’d go through every second of that torture again if it meant having my baby girl.
She gave me a reason to live. She gave me hope. Ella was all mine. No one could ever take her away from me.
“Hey. How’d it go today?”
I turned. My friend Baker stood in the doorway to the nursery. “Great. What about you?”
Baker worked at a fashion magazine through the mentor program at Paths. She’d been at the shelter about a year when I arrived eleven months ago, and both of us had lived at Paths far longer than any of the other women. We had our reasons, and no one was pushing us out the door.
“Crazy.” She crossed the room and tickled Ella’s tummy. “Did you know we can make our own lip gloss? One of the girls in the beauty department showed me how.”
“Do you have it on?”
She puckered her lips. “Like it?”
“Love the color.”
“Rose mica powder tints it.” Baker pulled out a little tin and dabbed her finger in the gloss, smearing some on my lips. “I’m going to show Mrs. Quinn. We can make all kinds of makeup.” She rocked on the balls of her feet.
“This feels amazing.” I rubbed my lips together. “You should sell this stuff. Is it organic?”
“Yes. I’m going to try powder next. I got the supplies on my way home.”
“Let me grab a bite to eat, and we’ll come help you.” I held up Ella, and Baker kissed her forehead.
“I haven’t had dinner yet, either.” Her stomach rumbled loudly. “I missed lunch too.”
“You didn’t like the one I packed for you?”
“I loved it. Just no time to eat today,” she reassured me. “Come on. Let’s see what Miss Nece left for us in the fridge.”
It wasafter ten when Baker and I parted ways for the evening. Turned out she had a knack for making her own facial powder. I ended up being the model, though I didn’t wear much makeup. I agreed to test it out with her for a few days before we talked to Mrs. Quinn about showing the ladies at the shelter how to make it.
I snickered before I splashed my face with water. Baker dubbed us lab rats since we were experimenting with our own product. Everything was natural, so I figured it was fairly safe.
A gentle tap sounded on my bedroom door. I glanced at Ella, who was sleeping soundly in her crib, before I moved to answer it.
“Sorry it’s so late.” Mrs. Quinn’s gray hair was limp after a long day, the lines around her eyes deeper than usual. “Did I wake Ella?”
“No. No.” I stepped aside, allowing her into my room.
“I only need a minute.” She pushed at her glasses before removing them. I tensed, afraid she had news about Huxley. “I was concerned after your text earlier.”
I exhaled, the tension flowing out of my body. “It was nothing really. Just a last-minute customer who decided not to order anything when he saw me. He took off like there was a fire.”
“You didn’t know him?”
“I don’t think so.” I quirked my mouth to the side. “The whole thing was just odd.”
“I checked on Huxley’s whereabouts. He’s still Upstate.”
