Page 32 of The Foul Out

“Right,” Cam said, though the way his lips pulled down belied the sentiment.

I set Kyle’s cup on the counter and stepped away, feeling entirely too flustered. What had just happened? I didn’t want to like Kyle, so what the heck was I doing? Kyle moved past me to the coffee on the counter. He fixed his cup with its lid again and took it with him as he exited the kitchen.

“I have decided that I am willing to go to Lang Field today.” Piper appeared, wearing her pink T-shirt, silver leggings, and bright blue Crocs.

“Great,” Kyle said from where he’d retreated into the living room. “We’ve got the car out front. No need for the Uber.”

“Ubers smell,” Piper agreed.

With a sigh, I hung my head. I gave up. This morning’s debacles had been more than enough. Cam was right. I had to choose my battles. I’d ride with them to Little Fingers and I could Uber from there.

“Okay, everyone out,” I called, grabbing my purse and coffee from the counter. As I stepped into the hall, I lifted my coffee to take a sip and was shocked at the burst of flavor that hit my tongue.

I froze.

“Everyone deserves some time to indulge,” Kyle whispered. His warm hand covered my shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze.Then he followed the kids into the elevator, cup of coffee in hand.

Had he really switched our cups? But I thought he hated black coffee?

When Cam droppedus off at Langfield Corp, a woman with curly red hair and a perma-grin met us at the door. “I’m Dylan,” she said, extending her hand to me. “We spoke on the phone.” Her smile grew almost impossibly wide when she crouched in front of my kids. “And I’m so excited to meet you both.”

Sam eyed her warily, tightening his hold on my hand, and Piper stared straight ahead without acknowledging her. This morning could go one of many ways. There was a good chance Piper would have a complete meltdown and refuse to stay. Although it didn’t happen as often as it had when she was younger, it was still a thing. The idea that she might take off running out the door, at any moment, into the road, made my stomach burn.

“I said we’d go through the turny door and then down a long hallway. Remember?” Kyle said to Piper.

She didn’t look at him, but she nodded and didn’t put up a fight.

I was still annoyed with him for bullying his way into coming with us, but he knew where to go and had explained it to Piper. He’d also given her a heads-up about the length of the car ride. And amazingly produced a book with a story about the first day at a new day care and read it with her on the way over. As annoyed as I was with him, I couldn’t deny that it made our morning go much more smoothly than it could have.

“Let’s do that, just like we talked about,” he said, turning toward the building.

“Sounds great,” Dylan chirped, taking off. “Sam,” she said over her shoulder, “I’ve heard so much about you from your friend.”

“Friend?” He scratched his head with his free hand, his bright red hair flopping into his eyes. His other hand was still firmly locked around mine.

“Yeah. Grey’s been talking about you all morning.”

His little brown eyes widened, and his hold on me loosened. “Grey’s here already?”

“Yes.” Dylan beamed. “You two are going to have so much fun. I heard you love finger painting. I swear the universe is looking out for you, because today is finger painting day.”

“Really?” He flashed a megawatt smile, though the expression quickly turned thoughtful as he peered up at Dylan. “What’s the you-no-vas?”

“It’severything. The world. Outer space. The whole shebang.” Dylan shrugged. “And you’re a lucky kid, ‘’cause it’s looking out for you today.”

“Cool.” Sam released my hand completely and moved closer to Dylan as we continued our hike down a long hallway.

On my other side, Piper almost seemed calm. She was keeping pace with us, and though she was blinking rapidly, herhands were mostly relaxed at her sides. That changed quickly, though, when we turned a corner, and the classroom came into view. Instantly, she pulled her hands up and pinched her arms. If I wasn’t careful, she would hurt herself without meaning to. Especially with her nails as long as they were. Clipping them needed to happen soon, but that was another battle entirely.

The room was colorful and bright, and there were a good fifteen kids running around, along with three adults and even a baby. The place was pure chaos. There was no way she’d be okay with me leaving her here.

“Sorry about the madness. We don’t normally have more than eight kids, but since there is no school today, the older kids are here,” Dylan explained.

With a nod at her, I turned to my daughter. “Piper.” I kept my tone calm and avoided touching her. As much as I wanted to stop her from pinching her forearms, I had to be strategic.

“I have an idea,” Kyle said before I could gather my thoughts. He squatted next to her.

Instantly, she took a step away.