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I shake my head. “No, I don’t think I will be.”
The truth is, I think I’ll be too excited to be tired. The chance to take care of a baby that really needs it and spend more time around Hunter, a man who intrigues me and thrills me in ways that are both terrifying and exhilarating?
There’s a smile on my face as I slip the key into the ignition.
Yes, I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow.
Chapter Ten
Hunter
One of my old officers used to say, ‘If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, you’re dead.’ Since I can’t afford to die before I kill Victor Moretti, I arrive at Ironwood Falls Meds & More well before I’m supposed to. It’s still late in the evening, only a half hour until close, and I feel almost alive for the first time in too long; last night, Charlie slept the entire night. That’s never happened before. Something about Emily and how she is with him is magic, and while one good night of sleep isn’t enough to erase the physical toll of the too-many nights before where I didn’t sleep, where I spent hours watching over a crying, confused, sick baby, wondering just what the hell I was going to do to make it through all of this, I feel good enough that I can scrape together the beginnings of a plan.
First things first: Charlie and Emily are going to spend some quality time together and I’m going to have a few hours to myself.
Is this what parenthood is? I wonder as I heft Charlie out of his car seat and put him under my arm like a football. Taking care of someone so important they consume most every waking thought, while at the same time longing for those rare moments where your life is your own?
Less than a week into being a dad and I’m already a wreck. This is my most daunting mission.
“Come on, little man, we’re going to see your favorite person in the world. I’ll bet Emily is going to be really excited to see you, too. Won’t that be great? You’re going to be good for her, right?”
Charlie coos a little at the mention of her name. Or maybe he’s just gassy. I don’t fucking know — babies are indecipherable little blobs of cuteness that make incomprehensibly large messes in their diapers.
I shiver.
Not halfway to the door, I spy someone familiar lounging in wait. Sophie.
Her eyes light up when she catches sight of me and Charlie. She strolls toward us with a sway in her hips and a smile on her face.
“Hey there, daddy,” she says. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up.”
“Something tells me that isn’t the first time you’ve said that,” I say.
“You’d be right. No shame in that. Single dads need love, too.”
“This one ain’t interested,” I say. “What are you doing out here, Sophie?”
“Waiting for you. Emily asked me to.”
“Are you sure Emily asked you to, and you aren’t doing this for some ulterior motive?”
“I have no idea what you mean,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But maybe you shouldn’t close yourself off to the opportunity, you know?”
“Again, not interested.”
“Really though, Emily asked me to wait out here for you, Hunter.”
“Why?”
“She had a feeling you’d get here early, because you’re the crazy military type who gets places early and probably had that beaten into you by some angry drill sergeant who desperately needed therapy,” she says.
“True.”
“So, you’re to give the baby to me, and I will watch over it inside the store until she’s off work.”
“Are you qualified to watch over a baby?” I say.
“No,” she says. “Not in the slightest. But let’s be honest real about this, even though I’m the one who’s ostensibly going to be looking after that little cutie that you’re holding, we both know Emily is going to be doing all the work. Now, give her to me, and you can go hit up the Twisted Devils and make sure they don’t kill you for trying to do anything in their territory.”
