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“You don’t.”
“I sort of do. I’ve been with him all afternoon.”
“What happened to work?”
I swept past her, into the living room, as I told her about Knox and Ava bringing the baby into Henry’s and how he’d promised to pay me if I helped him. “He wants what’s best for the baby even with the weird circumstances,” I said. When Jewel was still quiet, I said, “What?”
“It’s just… I worry about you.” Her voice had gone from worried mom to concerned friend. “You want to be part of a family so badly. A good, loving family, I mean. One where the stepmonster doesn’t run things. This is, like, a hot guy and a baby. Ready-made family.”
I laughed. “I’m staying overnight, not moving in and doing the guy.” I put some dry sneakers on. “And now he’s a hot guy? I thought he was an old dude,” I added, slinging her words back at her for fun. She wasn’t upsetting me. In fact, I appreciated that she cared.
“I’m not blind. He’s good-looking in an older-guy way.”
She did not lie about that.
I went to Jewel and threw my arms around her. “I love you for worrying about me. I’ll be fine.”
She hugged me back. “Just watch yourself. And text me if he sneaks into your bedroom for any reason.”
I laughed. “Maybe we’ll have wild monkey sex on the nanny cam. I can send you a link.” There was, of course, no nanny cam, nor would there be sex, wild monkey or any other kind.
She shuddered with exaggeration. “Don’t you dare. Love you.”
“Love you. Get some sleep tonight so you don’t look like you got in a bar fight.”
“Did I?”
Laughing, I said, “Not that I’m aware of. Tell Piper where I am if you see her. Then you two can gossip about how foolish I am.”
“For sure,” she said, laughing back as I walked out the door.
I went downstairs and got in my car this time. I didn’t want to leave Knox alone with Juniper any longer than I had to—because I knew he was so nervous.
Notbecause he was a hot guy who caused butterflies in my belly at the thought of seeing him again.
CHAPTER8
KNOX
By two p.m. on Thursday, Juniper and I had finished at the doctor’s office.
The paternity test itself, times two, was quick, but I’d opted to have Dr. Julian do a well-baby check while we were there to make sure Juniper was healthy. There’d been a wait due to a four-year-old boy who required stitches in his noggin, and I’d watched his distressed parents with a new level of empathy and held Juniper closer.
I hadn’t met Dr. Julian before today, but his knowledge about paternity tests, his gentleness with the baby, and his compassion for the position I found myself in had easily won me over. He’d laughed sympathetically when I’d asked, tongue-in-cheek, whether I could get a two-for-one deal on paternity tests, then assured me he could have the lab compare my DNA to both Juniper’s and Simon Henry’s. His nurse would see to the details.
He might be a stereotypical near-retirement-age, small-town doctor, but he knew his stuff and had a heart of gold. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to him, for myself or Juniper.IfI still had her in my care the next time she needed medical attention.
We wouldn’t get results for a few business days—early next week would be the best-case scenario—and I’d decided to keep Juniper in my care until then.At leastuntil then. If it turned out she was mine, I wasn’t sure I could hand her over to anyone else, Gina included. If she wasn’t mine… Well, that was an even tougher decision.
I’d parked in the lot behind the doctor’s office. I liked walking, but not with a baby, not until I had a stroller. So far I hadn’t given much thought to getting one, but I could suddenly see the appeal.
“You were a good baby, weren’t you?” I said, catching myself using that silly voice reserved for babies as I fastened the car seat into the base and tossed our brand-new diaper bag to the floor. I touched my finger to Juniper’s button nose and could admit to the gratification brought on by the smile she flashed at me before I closed her door and jumped into the driver’s seat. This baby was slowly worming her way into my heart.
I’d survived nearly four hours alone with her now and figured I deserved some extra credit for leaving the house with her without an all-out panic attack. Quincy had dressed her this morning before her shift at Henry’s, and Juniper had been asleep when it was time to leave for our appointment, but she’d woken up hungry during our wait to be seen. I’d had a bottle at the ready as Quincy had advised, mixed it up, and fed her like a pro, or at least not like a scared dumb ass, which was exactly what I’d been less than twenty-four hours ago. I’d remembered to burp her and changed her diaper twice—in public.
My baby-care confidence had grown since last night, but whenever she cried, my anxiety still shot through the roof.
Last night, around three o’clock, she’d had a crying jag for close to forty-five minutes, which had drawn me to Quincy’s room to see if there was anything I could do. Of course, she’d had the situation under control when I’d tapped on her door. She’d explained that Juniper’s diaper rash was likely bothering her and kindly told me to go back to bed, that this was what I was paying her for.
