Page 3 of The P Arrangement

Rayne frowned. “But I thought this was your ex’s weekend. That’s why I scheduled it for today.” Her shoulders slumped. “Did I get it mixed up?”

Scooting to the edge of the booth, I shook my head and gave her a reassuring smile. “No. You got it right. But usually, Madison takes Paxton back and forth to my house and Preston’s, so without her, I have to drop him off.”

“Can’t Preston pick him up from your sister’s?” Vivian asked.

“He could, but it’s best if he doesn’t. My sister isn’t his biggest fan.”

Despite being my little sister, she was very protective of me. Natalie was one of the reasons I’d made it through my divorce as well as I did.

“Neither are you,” Vivian pointed out.

I snort-laughed. “Yeah, but my sister didn’t marry Preston and have his baby. I did, which means this is my responsibility. Also, I need to talk to my ex about switching weekends so I can go to that law conference in Vegas. Madisonwasgoing to watch him that weekend to make some extra money, but obviously, that plan’s not going to work out. And I can’t cancel because I’m supposed to be doing a presentation.”

Rayne smiled sympathetically at me. “I didn’t even think about your conference. Good luck, Delaney.”

I stood and flung my purse over my shoulder. “Thanks. I’m going to need it.”

TWO

DELANEY

The good partabout my sister babysitting my two-and-a-half-year-old was that he hadn’t wanted to leave when I came to pick him up. I was happy he had so much fun playing with his cousins. It made me feel less guilty about leaving him there all day.

Natalie had a son a year older than mine and a daughter a year younger, and Paxton always loved playing with his older cousin. It was times like these when I felt regret that I would probably never give my son a sibling. I was getting up in age, and after adding in dating, an engagement, and marriage, it would be a long time before I could possibly be pregnant.IfI even met someone. And I knew I didn’t have to be married to have another child, but being a single parent to one was hard enough. I didn’t think I could handle a second.

On the flip side, the bad part about my sister babysitting my son was that he hadn’t wanted to leave when I came to pick him up.

So far, my ex and I had been cordial with each other, but I didn’t want to find out what happened if I was late for his drop-off time.

Finally, I had told Paxton he was going to see his dad, and just like that, he had run to me to help him put on his shoes.

And now, I was the one who needed some coaxing.

“Mommy, go inside. See Daddy.”

Lifting my eyes to the rearview mirror, I looked at Paxton. “Okay, bud. Can you just give Mommy a couple more seconds?”

Since the divorce, I had managed to see my ex-husband only a handful of times, and every time I did, I still felt the ache in my chest. It wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been the day I left him, but it was still there.

One would think that after a year, I would be over losing the man I loved, but it still hurt. I was living for the day when I was well and truly over him.

Unfortunately, that day was not today.

And seeing the home I had lived in for ten years—nine and a half of them wonderful—only made it worse.

“No, Mommy. Now.”

“Paxton,” I warned.

He was starting to get more demanding, and I was doing my best to turn him into a polite young man.

“Pease.”

I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. I loved how he said please, and I was going to be sad when he was able to pronounce all the letters correctly.

“Okay, baby. Let’s get you inside.”

I exited my vehicle, unhooked Paxton from his car seat, and let him go to run to the front door while I trailed behind.

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