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And absolutely nothing more.
When they reached the area where the food was, a couple of food trucks had joined the barbecues. There were line-ups for every truck, but they weren’t too long.
Charli was glad that the school hadn’t required the teachers to be part of running the carnival. They’d gotten volunteers from the community as well as from the high school, where they’d offered an extra credit mark to each student who helped. There were quite a few teens manning the different areas, so apparently, it had worked.
“Can I have a hotdog and a bag of chips?” Layla asked as she leaned against Charli’s side while they waited in line.
Charli wrapped her arm around Layla’s shoulders. “Yep. What juice do you want?”
“Apple, please.”
The school had brought in a bunch of picnic tables, and after giving her order to Jay, Misha took Ciara over to see if she could find one for them.
Jay was ahead of them in line, and after he placed his order, he motioned for Charli to give hers. “My treat tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Charli said.
“I know, but I want to.” He looked past her to Blake. “You and Amelia too.”
Blake protested as well, but Jay was nothing if not stubborn, and in the end, he prevailed. Once they gave their orders, it didn’t take long to get their food.
Layla carried their bags of chips and her juice box, while Charli carried the rest, trailing behind her on the way to the table where Misha waited. When it became clear that she and Blake would be sitting on the same side of the table, Charli maneuvered things so Layla and Amelia were between them.
Jay had Peyton and Layla pray for the food, then they began to eat. As they did, Charli had to take a moment to consider how she’d ended up there, sitting at the same table as the man who’d abandoned her, his daughter, and the daughter they shared—but that he didn’t know about.
Her relatively uncomplicated life had suddenly become very, very complicated.
But a kids’ carnival wasn’t a great place to contemplate the sharp left hand turn her life had taken. Since Misha was seated across from her, Charli tried to focus on her instead, leaving Jay to interact with Blake.
“How was your day?” Charli asked. “Busy at the clinic?”
“It wasn’t too bad,” Misha said as she handed a piece of her hamburger to Ciara. “But it looks like tomorrow is going to be busy.”
Saturday was the day Misha operated the free clinic for people who might not have access to insurance, for whatever reason. It had previously been a half-day, and the doctors had rotated shifts each week, but since Misha had become part of the clinic, she’d taken it to a full day on Saturdays and assumed full responsibility for it.
“We all ended up with treats from the coffee shop because Aria was craving a chocolate croissant.”
“Oh, nice. Funny how she’s continued to have these cravings even though she’s not pregnant anymore.”
Misha chuckled. “Well, the sweet cravings have always been my favorite because whoever goes to pick something up for her usually gets treats for all of us.”
Since Gareth and Aria had decided to wait until their baby was born to find out the gender, they’d all been eager for the baby’s arrival. Charli understood why they might want to build the suspense until the baby was born, but it had driven the rest of them a little crazy. Her mom, especially, had wanted to find out what they were having, so she’d know what to buy the baby.
Though she didn’t have the big family she’d always dreamed of, Charli had Layla and all the nieces and nephews to love on. She had no idea if or when Jay and Misha might have a baby, given they already had two. Janessa and Will were still in the newlywed stage, and Charli doubted they’d want to have a baby until they moved into a place of their own.
Hudson and Kayleigh weren’t married yet, but that would change in a few weeks. Though Kayleigh had never really expressed an interest in having kids, she might have changed her mind now that she had Hudson in her life.
As far as Charli was concerned however, Layla was probably going to be her one and only.
She didn’t necessarily feel that what Blake had done had spoiled her for every other man. But after Layla had been born, her focus had been on raising her. Getting to know a man well enough to feel comfortable with them being around Layla had felt like too much effort.
So she’d just lived her life focused on Layla and her job, and she’d continue to do that. Blake’s reappearance in her life had changed nothing.
“You should bring Amelia to church,” Jay said. “She might find it easier to get to know kids in a Sunday school class. Some of them are probably in her grade at school, so if she has a chance to interact with them at church, it might make her more able to connect with them at school.”
Charli fought the urge to sigh and roll her eyes. Was Jay just going to include the man in every part of their lives? She couldn’t even object without revealing why.
Her family had long since stopped asking who Layla’s father was, for which Charli was glad. But that also meant that she didn’t want to do anything to rouse their suspicions.
