Page 67 of Return to Us
I get to my feet. “Of course, what’s up?”
Stella swallows deeply. “I have to watch Amelia tonight, but something has come up . . . an emergency with an old friend, but she has dance tonight and can’t miss it.”
“Okay . . .”
“I promise, I wouldn’t ask you this if there were any way around it. If there was another option, I swear, Jess, I wouldn’t do this. But I’m desperate, and I have to leave right away. I know it’s a lot, but can you please take her for me?”
I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I don’t know much about other people’s kids, but your ex-girlfriend who you made out with a few days ago and then rejected probably isn’t very high on your list of babysitters.
“Where is Grayson?”
“We had a huge issue out in Wyoming with Oliver’s property, and he flew out first thing this morning.”
“Oh.”
She smiles tightly. “Look, I know it’s a big ask, and I wouldn’t ask if I hadn’t already cleared it with Grayson and he said it was fine if I had no other options, and I don’t.”
“What about Winnie?”
My sister loves Amelia and has watched her before.
“Winnie said she’s bogged down at work.”
A sense of dread fills my chest, weighing me down. I love Amelia, but she’s Grayson’s daughter.
“You really have no one else?” I ask.
“I promise, I wouldn’t ask if I did. I swear, if I didn’t need to leave within the hour, I wouldn’t do this.”
“I can’t drive,” I remind her.
“I know. It’s fine. I will drive you to my place and you can hang out with Melia there since it’s in town a block or two away from her dance studio.” Which means it’s walkable. “She has her own bedroom, and there’s a guest room, so you’ll be completely comfortable.Please.” She begs with her hands in front of her chest. “If you say no, I’ll have to take her, and she’ll be crushed.”
Ahh, the Parkerson guilt trip. I’ve missed it. Still, I have nothing else to do, and it would be helping Stella, who has done a lot to help me.
“I guess, but I still get nightmares and don’t want to scare her.”
“You won’t. I promise. She would sleep through an entire army marching through her room.”
I release a heavy sigh. That was my last excuse. “All right. As long as you swear Grayson is fine with it.”
She grabs her phone, types something out, and then waits. Her foot tapping.
Then my phone pings with a North Carolina area code.
Unknown: It’s Gray. I swear it’s fine, just don’t listen to her if she says she’s allowed to eat KitKats for dinner.
Me: I am not that gullible.
Grayson: She’s just that convincing.
Stella clears her throat. “Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
I grab my bag, and we leave to pick up Amelia from the daycare before heading to Stella’s. She chats a mile a minute, telling us all about her day, what she ate—where she mentions KitKats—and how excited she is that I’m going to be watching her.
