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“C’mon Erika,” I sighed. “It’s me. Harper.”
She shook her head, looking bored.
“Harper Hayes.”
If I hadn’t been looking I would’ve missed the quick flash of recognition in her eyes. It happened lightning fast, but disappeared just as quickly as she suppressed it immediately.
“Look, it’s been years,” I told her. “If I’m going to be watching Brayden from time to time, we should probably learn to—”
“Is this is SCRATCH?” Erika shouted suddenly. “On his FACE?”
Taking a finger, she tried rubbing the red line off her son’s tiny cheek. It only served to upset him. Little Brayden swatted her away repeatedly. His eyes teared up and he began crying.
“About that—”
“You’re forbidden from watching him!” Erika shouted. “Do you hear me? Never again!”
Her face was contorted in anger, but I sensed it was mostly a mock outrage. She’d obviously been caught off guard. She hadn’t expected to find me here, and my presence enraged her. And now her finger was in my face.
For Brayden’s sake, I resisted the urge to grab it.
“Look, Adrian said you’d be away for a few days,” I said evenly. “He told me he had the baby until—”
“Well, I came back early,” Erika snapped.
“And that’s fine,” I said placatingly. “But you can’t just show up and take him.”
Her eyes went so wide they looked like something straight from a horror movie. It actually frightened me.
“I mean you can, of course,” I amended quickly. “But at least let me call Adrian, so you can tell him you’re—”
“SHUT UP!”
Her frantic screams were affecting both children, of course. Brayden’s tears flowed freely now, and Emma was crying openly again. I’d gotten her to stop by bouncing her off my hip, but now she was cowering against me, looking fearfully back at Erika.
I didn’t try stop her as she stormed off. All I could do was watch Brayden stare back at me over her shoulder, wondering why our fun little playdate was so suddenly and violently over. He sniffed miserably, his eyes welling with tears as he reached back for us both.
The last thing I saw was his expression of pure misery as his mother slammed the door behind her. I turned to Emma for comfort, her tiny lip quivering wildly.
We were both in tears as I reached for my phone.
~ 19 ~
HARPER
Once the tears started flowing, I couldn’t stop them. I had to though, for the sake of Emma.
Her precious little eyes watched my every move, willing me to smile, to somehow feel better, to comfort her in all the same ways she was comforting me. After making the phone call I took her back into the kitchen, and finished feeding her. Emma ate very little. She kept pointing to the empty high chair, beside her.
“Bray?”
“Yes, honey,” I’d assured her with a smile. Brayden’s fine. He went to see his mommy.”
My words calmed her, and eventually I was able to clean her up and get her into her sleep sack. Jax’s daughter was loving, trusting, and incredibly sweet. This was only my second time watching her, and yet the two of us had connected on a deep, special level that seemed to supersede everything else. Somehow, I could sense that I filled a void for her. It was in the way she clutched me, the way she looked at me. The way she’d held so tightly onto me, as Adrian’s bitch of an ex-fiancée ranted like a lunatic in front of two little kids.
And I had to admit, the tiny toddler did the same for me. There was a hole in my heart I never even knew existed; and that void was suddenly filled to overflowing by the love of this incredible little girl. I must’ve kissed her a hundred times as we sat there on the couch, calming each other down. When she fell asleep against my chest, I kept her there for a long while, just watching the slow rise and fall of her tiny body in rhythm with her breathing.
Adrian flew through the door about an hour after I called him. Which was remarkable, considering he was nearly an hour and a half away.
