Page 33 of Your Hand in Mine

Sienna has James on her shoulder, rubbing his back oh so gently when a burp comes out. “See?” She looks to Garth. “You get a gig nice burp from justtouchingthis little guy’s back.”

“I’ll tell Grandy but,” he smiles, “you know she thinks she knows best.”

“Knows best my ass…I mean butt,” she whispers as James settles back into her arms and his eyes drift closed again.

“He sleeps, eats, pees and poops. I keep telling myself to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts but I love it when he stays awake for an hour or so.” Garth takes him from Sienna and feels his diaper to make sure he’s ok. “I’m gonna slip him into a dry one.”

“Ok.”

I shake my head even though I’m truly happy taking in my sister’s dreamy expression. “Jeez, you still look at your husband that way?”

“She loves me, Sky. And who could blame her?”

“There is something undeniably sexy about a guy who changes diapers.” Sienna turns back to me. “And yeah, you can definitely bring Olivia here. You talk about her so much that I’m kind of dying to meet her. And it’s not like we’ve been in a total bubble. People have been popping in to see the baby.”

“Yeah. My aunt and uncle were here last week, Sienna’s boss and her husband came over for dinner one night, and Tyler’s been by a few times.”

“He’s been here three separate times to be exact.” Sienna adds, “I think he comes by hoping he’ll run into you.”

“How is he?”

Sienna looks to Garth before answering, “Good, I guess.”

Garth says, “He’s still with Lila, but that’s a bit of a shit show.”

“How so? I saw a few pictures on her profile,” I feel my cheeks heat at the admission, “and they looked happy enough.”

“You’ve looked her up?” Sienna seems genuinely surprised.

“I get bored sometimes. And I did date the boy for over two years. I mean, I still care about him.”

“I don’t like Lila for him,” Garth says as he snaps James back into his onesie. “She can drink him under the table so she’s not exactly encouraging him to stay on the straight and narrow.”

“Yeah, I saw the picture she posted from Atlantic City on his birthday.”

“And that was all her doing.” Sienna shakes her head. “She surprised him with a road trip.”

My heart is heavy when I snap, “No one forces him to gamble. That’s on him. Just glad I don’t have to play the role of nagging girlfriend anymore.”

It’s quiet for a minute before Garth says, “It’s a shame, though. Lila’s a good time girl, nothing more. She doesn’t love him. No doubt she’ll drop his ass when someone better comes along.”

“Can you talk to him?” I ask Garth.

“He knows. And it’s like you said, Tyler has to change. No one can do it for him.”

Chapter Nineteen

Leo

Christ.

Olivia’s been up since six this morning. She’s so damn excited for today but the rain is coming down in sheets. No way am I letting the two of them drive an hour in this weather. And one look at the weather app on my phone shows there’s no sign of this letting up.

Just as I’m about to text Skylar and tell her not to come, I hear a knock on the door followed by the excited squeal of a preschooler not a moment later.

Skylar is wearing a jacket that’s doing a poor job of keeping her dry, with the wind whipping the hood back and off her head before she can get in the doorway.

“It’s wicked out there!”

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