Page 46 of Baby Blue
Blue nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I will most certainly do that.”
“Good. Goodbye, Mr.Wallace. Have a good day.” She stepped out the door and Blue closed it behind her. As soon as he heard her start her car, he slumped against the back of the door and sighed. God, he was exhausted from all of it!
Indigo had started to fuss, and he was pretty sure she was a little hungry. He’d gotten a bottle for her and was getting ready to feed her when the front door opened. “Is the coast clear?” Anne asked and grinned.
“Yeah.” He held the bottle up in front of the baby and she started to squeal and squirm. Once the nipple was in her mouth, she settled right down.
“How do you think it went?” she asked, settling beside him on the sofa.
“I think it went well.” He began recounting everything that was said and felt comfortable with the way it had gone. From what he could tell, he’d done a good job of fending off the woman. “And then she left.”
“She didn’t give you any idea what she thought?”
Blue shook his head. “Except she did say the place was much better than she’d been led to believe by Galloway.”
“She actually told you it was him?”
“No. But we both know it was.”
Anne sat quietly and watched as he fed the baby. When Indigo finished eating and he readied to burp her, Anne smiled. “Do you mind if I do that?”
“Of course not,” Blue said and handed Indigo off to her. He pulled Anne’s hair back and draped the cloth burp pad over her shoulder, and he watched while she jostled the baby against her shoulder and patted her back. In seconds, Indigo let loose with abelch that could’ve been heard in the next room. “You’re a pro!” he said, laughing.
“Done it a million times,” she said, nestling Indigo in her arms. “She’s such a good baby, and pretty too.”
“Yes, she is.”
“What now?” she asked.
“Now I go looking for a job, preferably this afternoon if you can watch her.”
Anne nodded. “Sure. Don’t mind at all. Where are you going to start?”
“I have no idea.” And he wasn’t kidding. He really didn’t have a clue.
He searched the house over,but he never found Mr.Wentworth’s business card. It probably went through the wash and was gone forever. And there was no way he’d go to Vanguard without it. They’d laugh him right out of the building. They’d probably do itwiththe card, but without it? He wouldn’t even attempt it.
Thankful that they kept Saturday hours, he went to the state career services office first, but they had nothing on file that he was qualified to do. After that, he went to a couple of automotive parts places, but none of them had openings, even the ones he knew personally from working in the industry for so long. His next attempts were at small repair shops, but they weren’t hiring either. One guy told him to come back the next week and check again, but wouldn’t let him fill out an application. He didn’t figure much would come from that.
After that, he didn’t know what to do, so he started with the fast-food places nearby. Every one of them gave him an application, told him to fill it out, and then bring it back in a couple of days. Every one of the managers looked at him like there was something seriously wrong with a grown man trying to get a job at a taco place or burger joint, but desperation had begun to set in. He had to find something, even if it was part time.
That evening’s set at the bar went well, but even the warm response he got to one of his original songs didn’t make him feel better. Nothing did. All he could think about was the baby he loved and how he’d let her down. What if he couldn’t find something? Would they take her away from him?
“You okay, man?” Devon asked just before their last set.
“No. I’m not.”
“Wanna talk?”
Blue didn’t know what to do. He never talked to anyone about the things that bothered him, but Devon seemed like a good guy, so he launched into everything that had happened. He finished with, “And now I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do.”
“Do you want my opinion?” Devon asked. Blue was used to people just giving him their opinions and not giving a shit what he thought about it.
“Sure.”Got nothing to lose, he told himself.
“I think you need to be aiming higher.”
“What do you mean?”
