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“You need me to get Nellie?”
“Yes.” A gust of breath burst from my lungs. “I’m sorry for asking you. My brother and parents are out of town—”
“You don’t have to apologize, Clara. I promised to take care of you, and this is part of that promise.” He shifted modes, getting down to brass tacks. “Text me the details for her day care. I can send my assistant out for a car seat, but they’ve changed so much since Sage was little. I need to know the brand and style I should buy.”
Tears welled in my eyes from relief and disbelief he was so willing to go the extra mile for me.
“I’ll text you in a few after I contact her day care. They’re incredibly strict, so I might have to send in a blood sample for them to okay it.” I was only half-joking, but I wasn’t laughing. I bit down on my bottom lip so I didn’t cry. “Thank you, Jake. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You did the right thing by calling me. I’ve got it handled. The only thing you need to do is text me those details and get yourself home safely.”
I nodded, but he couldn’t see me, so I squeezed out the words. “Okay. The plane’s finally moving. It looks like I should be back by seven.”
“Don’t worry about a thing. Between Sage and me, we’ll keep Nell-Belle entertained and happy until her mama shows up. I’ll let you know when I have her, all right?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I’ve got you, Clara.”
“I know.”
When we hung up, I finally let the tears escape my eyes. As the plane took off, I cried from my overwhelming mix of emotions. From Jake’s easy caretaking and my difficulty believing it could be so easy, from feeling like a failure of a mother, for not being home for my daughter. And hating myself for carrying guilt over things outside of my control—the weather, choosing an unworthy partner to have children with.
I hadn’t cried in a long time. After Miller went to jail, I’d cried gallons of tears. So much, my sobs became dry, hacking things, only producing clouds of salty dust. I hadn’t let myself dwell on what I’d lost since Nellie was born and I’d pulled myself together, focusing on the riches I had instead. It had been the only way.
But Jake…he sliced straight through the binding I’d kept around my bucket of tears, letting them spill freely. The flight attendant took one look at me and offered me a glass of wine and chocolate. I turned down the wine, though it would have done a world of wonder for my shaking hands, but gladly accepted the chocolate.
Sometimes, chocolate cured everything. This wasn’t one of those times, but at least it provided the distraction I needed to get me through the rest of the flight.
Chapter Thirty
Clara
Everything that could have gone wrong had. Once we touched down at the private airport outside Denver and I finally got in my car, traffic was an utter nightmare. Detours from downed trees caused by the earlier storm sent me well out of my way, so by the time I pulled up to Jake’s house, it was eight o’clock, past Nellie’s bedtime. I crossed my fingers she wasn’t being a grumpy beast for him. He’d sent me updates and pictures from the time he picked her up to about an hour ago, but I was nervous about what I was going to walk into.
I walked up the steps to his porch and peered through the picture window beside it. From my vantage, I could see the back of Jake’s head and Sage sitting catty-corner from him on their sectional sofa. I tapped lightly on the door, and Sage hopped up, waving at me through the window.
She swung the door open, allowing me in, and pressed her finger to her lips.
“They’re sleeping,” she whispered.
“Nellie?”
She nodded. “And Daddy. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She led me into the living room, and my heart skipped several beats. Jake was kicked back on the sofa, his feet up on the ottoman. Nellie was sprawled on his chest, her arms and legs hanging limp on either side of him. Her little lips were pursed, cheeks rosy, hair a fuzzy mess. She was sacked out. When I tore my eyes from her, I grinned at the sight of Jake, his head back, mouth slightly agape, just as asleep as my daughter. Even in sleep, though, he had a hand on Nellie’s back, keeping her safe.
Affection flooded me, washing away the day’s worries, and a thick knot formed in my throat. I didn’t know what to do with this feeling.
Sage tugged on my hand, taking me into the kitchen. “Aren’t they cute?” she asked, a little louder now that we were away from the sleeping beauties.
I nodded, getting ahold of myself so I could answer her. “I was worried Nellie would be a grump when I got here.”
“Nope.” She hopped up on the counter. “My dad and I took care of her all afternoon. She likes our yard, so I showed her how to play soccer out there. Then we had dinner and watched Finding Nemo. Right in the middle, Nellie climbed on my dad and fell asleep. He was a goner a few minutes later. I stayed up because I knew you were coming soon and wanted to see your reaction.”
I smoothed a hand over her silky hair. She really was the sweetest girl. “Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate you and your dad taking care of Nellie tonight. I don’t know what I would have done without you guys.”
She shrugged. “We liked it. My dad is good with kids. Sometimes he watches Dex and Cleo for my mom and Mike, so he has a lot of experience. We can babysit Nellie again if you want.”
