Page 74 of Baby, Be Mine

“I can handle that.” I walked over to the pack and play to see Adriana was still sprawled out with her arms over her head sleeping the sleep of the innocent. “I’ll send a few of the guys out from the kitchen to set up one of the pop-up tents for some shade. It’s going to be another hot one.”

“Thanks.” Emma gave me a reassuring smile. “We’ll get it all done. You’ll see.”

“I know.” I gave Maddie one last smile. “Thanks again, Maddie.”

“No problem!”

I turned on my heel and headed for The Mason Jar. Putting a little space between Emma and I was definitely in order.

Problem was, I was beginning to think no amount would be enough.

FIFTEEN

Maddie’shappy chatter kept me from dwelling on how weird Mason had gotten right before he left. What the heck was going on in his head?

I thought we’d had a good day, what with Lucky taking care of the boat and plans progressing outside. Well, after I got all the work done anyway. I could see it all in my mind. A side benefit from years of set design.

The drama department never had enough money so all of us would do the work. I’d gotten very good at finding ways to stretch a dollar, or in this instance, a mason jar.

A few hours later, we had a good system going. Breakfast sandwiches and a white pop-up tent had arrived for our morning break. I even got to eat the whole sausage, egg, and cheese croissant before Adriana woke for another feeding between the next round of naps.

Maddie and I had an assembly line going as we filled the larger jars with the spiky purple shoots, greenery, and fluffy bits of baby’s breath. I tucked a battery-operated tea light into the bottom of each jar. They were cleverly linked to a remote so I could set them on a timer for Sunday.

I set the next jar with the rapidly growing pile and gave a quick glance to the playpen where Adriana was blissfully sleeping. The long morning naps were key for getting a lot done. I wished I could lay down next to her. She’d been fussy during the night again. Growing pains according to the baby books and baby reddit I was always on.

Was this my new reality? Not knowing anything?

Sure felt like it.

“Everything okay?”

I blinked out of my think-a-thon. “Yeah. Just tired. Miss Fussypants didn’t know what to do with herself last night.”

“Yeah, Vee, my sister-in-law, is going through another round of sleep regression. I think that’s what she called it. I went over to babysit the twins yesterday for a few hours so she could crash.”

“Twins? God, I’d cry.”

Maddie huffed out a laugh. “Some days she does. Being a mom is hard. I can’t imagine doing that right now.” Her hazel eyes widened. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay. I couldn’t imagine it either. Definitely wasn’t what I thought I’d get with my college diploma.” I glanced over at the crib again. “Now I can’t imagine a different path.”

“Bet you didn’t imagine a path with a big boat.”

I laughed. “I sure didn’t.”

The squeak of an axel that definitely needed some tending announced the arrival of Jensen. He had a secondhand truck that had seen better days. But the back of it had exactly what I was looking for.

I only winced a little when I got up this time. Things were starting to heal up finally. “Can you watch bean?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Maddie was looking at the truck when she answered absently.

Good sign. I crossed the grass to meet him beside my wagon. “Hiya, Jensen.”

He slammed the door of his truck, the hinges making a mighty squeak in protest. “Hi, Em. Sorry it took me longer than I thought to fabricate what you wanted.” He turned to reach into the bed of the truck.

“No problem. We’re just working on something else while we wait.” Manners be damned. I rushed to his side of the truck. “Oh, it’s perfect!”

He grinned. “Yeah?” His hair was sticking up and I was pretty sure he had a weird powder in his sideburns. A black streak across his cheek made his angular face even more interesting.

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