Page 10 of Burden to Bear

But I knew it bugged him that his little girl didn’t have her mom in her life. He wanted to give her that, but his time was always focused on working or raising his daughter. There wasn’t much time left for finding someone he wanted to date.

Of course, a little bit of time management would have gone a long way for him, and whenever I had the opportunity, I didn’t hesitate to remind him.

“I’m not complaining, because I’m looking forward to spending the afternoon with her, but you know you could save yourself a lot of time and hassle if you ordered everything online, right?”

Chris rolled his eyes. “I know. I did order a few things, but I still have a couple of items I’d like to get for her. I don’t want to risk them not arriving on time, so I’ll go out and get them. Plus, since she’ll be here with you, I’m going to deal with wrapping everything before I come back to pick her up.”

“That works for me. We’ll be fine here. And if you need more time, if you find a single lady while you’re out shopping and want to take her to dinner, I’ve got Izzy covered,” I teased him.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started,” he muttered. “That feels like a lost cause.”

Before I had the chance to respond, Izzy came running back. “I’m ready.”

“Did you wash your hands?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“With soap?” her dad pressed.

She lifted her hands up toward him and asked, “Do you want to smell them?”

My lips twitched as Chris bent at the waist and reached his arms out to pick up Izzy. He held her firmly in one arm and brought his other hand up to tickle her. Izzy’s giggles filled the room, and a moment later, Chris said, “I don’t want to smell your hands, silly girl, but I do want hugs and kisses before I leave.”

Izzy smiled brightly at her dad, wrapped her arms around his neck, and offered him a hug. She might have been tiny in comparison, but the abundance of love inside her hugs more than made up for it.

When Izzy loosened her hold around my brother’s neck, she pulled back and gave him a kiss. He moved with her toward the table, where he’d gotten her lunch set out for her, and gave her one more kiss and squeeze before setting her down on the chair. “Love you, princess.”

“Love you, Daddy.”

“You be good for Uncle Brock.”

“I’ll be extra good, because Santa’s watching,” she promised him.

Chris laughed and walked toward the door. I pinned my eyes on my niece and said, “You get started on your lunch while I lock the door after your dad leaves. Then I’ll come back and try to sneak snacks from that lunchbox. I saw some good stuff in there.”

Izzy giggled again, the sound making my heart swell with love for her, as she lifted her peanut butter sandwich to her mouth. At the sight of that, my lips twitched again. Just like me, Izzy refused jelly on peanut butter sandwiches. We both agreed it made them too sweet.

I followed behind my brother toward the front door. He was nearly there but far enough away from Izzy that she wouldn’t hear when he stopped, turned, and said, “Thanks again for watching her for me today.”

Shaking my head as I waved my hand in the air, as though dismissing his words, I insisted, “She’s the best, Chris. You know I’ll watch her any time you need.”

“I’m hoping to be back here before dinner.”

Shrugging, I said, “If you are, great. If not, we’ll be fine. Izzy and I have cooked together many times before. I’m sure she’ll have no problem having dinner with me.”

He nodded and was about to take a step forward when he glanced to the right and halted in his tracks. Chris shifted direction and moved toward the window. “Who is that?”

I didn’t have to see who was outside to know precisely who he was talking about. “My new neighbor, Mia.”

My brother leaned down to get a better look and focused on whatever he was seeing outside. I could only assume Mia had started doing what she indicated she would be doing this weekend—decorating for Christmas.

Chris looked back at me and said, “She’s cute.”

“I know.”

He raised a curious brow. “You know? What else do you know, Brock?”

“I know that she’s got a boyfriend who’s a dick to her.”

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