Page 26 of Laying His Claim
“Generous kid,” Justin observed.
“Like his dad.” She smiled at him. “I’ll be glad,we’llbe glad when you’re back.”
“Me too,” he confessed.
Chapter10
Jalissa clicked her phone off and slipped it into her pocket. It felt good to know that Justin had been thinking about them, that he missed them so much that he couldn’t go half a day without getting in touch.
Well, maybe hewasreally calling to see Seb, but she’d live with that, for now. She walked Seb out of the nursery, enjoying the comforting weight of him in her arms, and then bumped directly into Lorena. “Sorry,” she said instinctively. It irked her that Justin had insisted that this woman would have to come in to work every day and she would have to put up with her presence, but it was Justin’s home and the nanny was his employee.
She made another attempt to get to the patio, but the nanny shifted her position, holding out her arms. “It’s time for his dinner. Let me give it to him.”
Jalissa turned her body sideways as if protecting Sebastian from a kidnapping. “I will give him his dinner.”
“Are you sure?” the other woman asked placidly. “I mean, if you’re tired, I can do it.”
“I am not tired. I’m well rested, thank you. AndIwill feedmy son.”
Loud, elaborate sigh and exaggerated eye-roll from Lorena. “Very well. At this time of day, he normally eats pureed food—”
“I know that!” Jalissa snapped.
“There are bottles of baby food on the cupboard.”
“I know that. I put them there.” Lorena and her smug sense of superiority, and her constant hints that Jalissa was unable to care for her own child, were really getting on her nerves. Without another word, she marched to the cupboard, took down a small jar of pureed yams that was right up front, and armed herself with a teaspoon, a bib, and a baby bottle of water to wash it all down. Seb was eying the jar of food eagerly; he knew what was coming.
“You’re a hungry little guy aren’t you,” Jalissa commented indulgently. “Don’t worry. It’s coming.”
She sat him in his highchair, popped open the bottle, and began to feed him. One mouthful, and then two; he liked it so much she didn’t even have to play ‘airplane’ to get him to open his mouth. As she was about to put the third spoonful into the baby’s mouth, the food was slapped away, going flying onto the carpet and leaving a streak of brown mush that would be hard to clean up. Lorena was standing over the highchair, panting.
“What the—”
“That food is tainted!” Lorena announced, snatching up the baby bottle and holding the label out to her. “See?”
“That’s not possible. I bought and stocked those bottles myself, only yesterday.”
“Well, it’s past its expiration date, see?” She waved the label on the bottle in front of Jalissa’s face like a semaphore flag.
Jalissa couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was true; the Best By date was almost a week gone past. She looked in horror at Seb, who had thoroughly enjoyed the first two spoonsful, and was waiting eagerly for his next, mouth open like a little bird’s. “I just bought these!” she insisted, confused. “And I checked the labels before I did so.”
Lorena looked triumphant. “Well, maybe you made a mistake. You know, with your…” she pointed at Jalissa’s head, “… injury.”
“I did not… wait… how did you know the food was off?”
Lorena lifted her chin stubbornly. “I always check the labels. I take very good care of the little one…”
“But you came in here, already knowing that there was something wrong with it!”
“I did no such thing. I simply had a hunch, so I checked it. And my hunch was right. But I am afraid that it will be my duty to let Justin know what happened today. To ensure that Sebastian is protected from future mistakes.”
Jalissa groaned in horrified realization. “You set me up! You did this! You put that old bottle up there, didn’t you?”
“That’s absurd.”
“Why? Why would you do this? You’d risk getting a child sick just to make me look bad?”
Lorena looked mulish. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She folded her arms and looked away.
