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“Glad it’s not me,” Tori muttered.
Another loud scream reverberated through the aisles of the grocery store. She jerked and cringed with a start. Whichever toddler was blasting their lungs to test them out was throwing the entire building for a loop. Tori’s lips curled at the thought. She had been there a time or two with Harley when she’d been younger. Thank God those years were done and over. All right, back to shopping. Where was I?
Eggs.
Milk.
Harley’s cereal.
Tori mentally checked off the items left to add to her cart as she ran a hand through her shoulder length hair. She cringed at the feeling, adding conditioner to the list. She’d run out a week ago and hadn’t managed to make it to the store to grab more yet. She’d had Harley all week, and when she had her daughter, she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her doing fun things.
She pushed the cart around the end of the aisle and something hit her right leg. That something was solid but not hard except for the top part that hit with force halfway up her thigh. Tori stopped short when pain shot through her knee.
A small cry came from the impact site. Her heart was in her throat as she stepped back and her heel hit something soft. Immediately, she lifted up on the pressure. Looking down, she saw a tangled mass of wild chestnut hair hanging over small legs that sprawled in front of a child. The child was on their backside, back curved into a C and head hung forward as though they had just bounced off someone’s leg.
“Oh no.” Realization hit. Tori dropped down, cart and list forgotten. Her entire world became about the kid in front of her, clearly hurt as big turtle tears raced down the kid’s face. Her heart hammered as she scanned the bruised chubby legs, bare feet, and fisted hands.
“Are you okay?” She lifted her head over the girl’s mop of hair, looking for the parents. Would they be worried? Frantically looking for her? Where were they? They had to be nearby, surely. Any parent would be.
At the sound of Tori’s voice the girl looked up, big dark eyes peeping through strands of the wild hair that half covered her face. She was adorable, even in her tears.
“Hi.” Tori smiled as a breath of relief escaped her mouth. “I’m Tori. What’s your name?”
The child narrowed her eyes, her face reddening as if she was going to scream again. Only this time, it’d no doubt be a cry from the unexpected collision. Tori bit down on her bottom lip, trying to stop the laugh that bubbled up from her chest. The adrenaline and fear slid away at the sight of the defiance, replaced by a warmth and fierceness she felt whenever a child was involved.
“How about I help you find your momma?” Tori’s smile relaxed as she offered her hand for the child to take.
But the girl’s bottom lip trembled, and Tori’s departing adrenaline turned on its heels and returned to the scene of the crime, a gleeful expression on its lips.
“Oh, it’s okay. You’re okay, sweetie.” Tori gently touched the girl’s shoulder, but at the child’s small flinch, removed her hand as though burned. She had worked with enough children to know when something scared them. The girl wore a shirt at least two sizes too small, with something crusted in various patches over it. She hoped it was food and hoped even harder that it was today’s dropped offerings, but there looked to be layers of dirt caked onto her clothes. The green hem was ratty and torn, in addition to the small holes in the well-worn fabric. Tori’s heart ached.
“Rebel?” The word cracked in the air like a gun being fired.
Tori flinched. With a steadying breath, she rested on her heels. A woman, stunning and oozing confidence in a dark pantsuit strode purposefully toward them. The click click click of heels against the linoleum raised goosebumps on Tori’s bare arms. As the woman drew closer, Tori noticed the suit had a subtle white pinstripe through the fabric which drew all manner of attention to the definition of curved hips and generous breasts that filled the white shirt beneath. Tori blinked and moved on from the woman’s cleavage and noticed that the accessories adorning her ears, neck, and even wrist looked more expensive than Tori’s car. But there were no rings—none whatsoever.
The woman remained focused entirely on the small child in front of Tori as she drew closer. The click click click echoed in Tori’s ears. She instinctively reached down and snagged the child’s hand, clasping her small fingers to protect her. She had no idea who this woman was, but the two of them did not fit together.
Tori got the impression the woman hadn’t even noticed her crouched down in front of the child. Which was disappointing as Tori definitely noticed her. Her eyes flicked between the child on the edge of tears and the woman in the power suit. Tori tensed as she waited to see what was going to happen, to see what this woman could possibly want with the two of them because surely it wasn’t the kid, right? Tori’s lips parted as she was just about to say something when a sob tore through the kid next to her.
The child glared at Tori’s hand though her eyes still watered with unshed tears. Was this a real cry or a fake one? Because she still hadn’t actually shed those tears that were building in her beautiful dark brown eyes.
A wave of nostalgia washed over Tori. Harley had had just the same defiant independence when she had been that small. She had seen her own fair share of grocery store time-outs throughout the years. Tori guessed the child to be around two, give or take a few months, because she still hadn’t spoken.
“Rebel, you can’t run away like that. I need to know where you are at all times.” The woman’s voice was harsh and loud as she spoke, still five steps away. A few shoppers nearby turned to look over at the colliding three.
Rebel looked over her shoulder and then back at Tori. Her bottom lip quivered once more, and Tori pulled Rebel into her side, pressing her gently against her hip. She would do anything to protect this child if she could, especially from someone who was coming after her when the two definitely didn’t belong together. Who would talk to a toddler like that?
Tori might not be dressed to kill or be as drop-dead gorgeous as this woman drawing closer, but no way would she meet her on her knees. She shook her head slightly, stopping the wildly inappropriate thoughts growing in her mind.
She dusted off her own pants, plain and comfortable for her previous client’s request to go for a walk during their session. By the time the woman stopped in front of her, Tori had her wide smile firmly back in place. Tori would kill her with kindness if she had to.
“Hi, is this one yours?” Tori flicked her finger on Rebel’s wrinkled nose. Rebel clung to her side, which was unexpected, especially since Tori was a stranger. Apparently this kid hadn’t ever met one.
“Why’s she crying? What did you do to her?” The woman reached long fingers down to Rebel, who reached up and grabbed onto those fingers instantly. She shifted from Tori’s side, reaching for the pristine woman with bright hazel-green eyes. Her jaw was set, however, the glare impenetrable as she turned it in Tori’s direction.
Tori’s skin burned as the woman’s eyes ran over her from head to toe and then back up to her eyes. Had she just been checked out? Yeah, probably, but not in a sexual way. This was a dressing down, as if Tori had done something incredibly wrong by helping out a wayward toddler who had run into her.
