Page 59 of The B!tch List

“Miss. Andwews, Miss. Andwews, Bobby fell and hurt his knee. He’s cwying.” The way she couldn’t say her r’s was adorable.

“Oh goodness, Melody. Where is he?”

“I’ll go,” Mrs. Baker said. “You take the trash out.”

Goddamn this woman was an evil bitch. She knew I wouldn’t argue in front of one of the kids. The only comfort I had was that Melody looked disappointed that it wasn’t me going with her.

As Mrs. Baker left with Melody, I stormed off toward the three huge black bags that the trash had been emptied into. When I picked the first one up, I almost told the old crone to shove her job and her trash up her ass. It was heavy and I had to pretty much drag it to the dumpster outside.

When I finally got it there, I looked up and sagged. There was no way I was going to be able to heave the bag into the dumpster. The bag was too heavy, and it was too high. I did consider leaving it and then going to find Davey but knew that Mrs. Baker would pitch a fit if I did.

“Okay, Nancy,” I muttered. “You can do this.”

I bent at the knees lifted the bag in my arms and then straightened. I tried to heave it up so that I could throw it in, but my arms just weren’t strong enough.

“Need some help, Miss. Andrews?”

I let the bag drop to the floor and turned to see Shaw. My heart skipped a thousand beats because he was standing there in jeans and a black t-shirt looking sexy as hell, and he was pushing Tia in her stroller. What the hell was it about men with babies? Damn it, he looked good. His hair was a little disheveled, he had a little stubble and the way he was gripping the handle of the stroller his biceps were bulging pretty nicely.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I blew out a breath and dropped the bag to the floor.

“I came to see you, and it seems like it was good timing.”

I glanced back at the bags, but my attention was on the little cutie dressed in a lemon dress with white rosebuds.

“Hey, Tia.” I stooped down in front of her and tickled her chin. “Do you remember me?”

Tia giggled and reached her chubby little arms out to me.

“Can I pick her up out of the stroller?” I looked up at Shaw who was looking down at us. He was rubbing one of his beautiful biceps and the look on his face wasn’t one I’d seen before. He kind of looked serene even though he’d just found out he was now a father and would be responsible for someone else for the next eighteen years or so.

“Shaw,” I prompted. “Is it okay?”

“What?” He blinked. “Yes sure, of course you can. So, what’s with the trash, is Davey sick or something?”

I picked Tia out of the stroller and held her in front of me and pulled a silly face which made her giggle. Shifting her to my hip, my attention went back to her dad.

“Mrs. Baker made me put the trash out even though Davey is around.” I cradled Tia’s head against my chest and put one hand over her ear. “But she’s a b.i.t.c.h.”

Shaw laughed. “She can’t spell and doesn’t know what that word means, Nance.”

“No, but she’s learning new words every day. Imagine if that was the next one.”

“Today’s is toast,” Shaw said with a laugh. “Well, it was more like Oast.”

“You said toast?” I asked Tia giving her wide eyes. “What a clever girl.”

Tia’s hands reached out and slapped at my face as she grinned at me. I snuggled her close and breathed in the smell of her baby shampoo.

“She’s doing so well, Shaw.” I grinned at him over his daughter’s shoulder. “She’s so happy.”

He shrugged and I thought I saw a little color to his cheeks. God he was cute. “She seems to be getting happier each day.” He cleared his throat and pushed the stroller back and forth a couple of times. “She called me daddy yesterday.”

“Shaw.” I held my breath for a few seconds and then let it out and grinned. “That’s amazing.”

He shrugged. “Got to admit I wasn’t expecting it so soon.”

“Like I said she’s learning new words every day.” I reached out for his hand and pulled on it. “You’re truly doing a great job with her.”

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