Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
But by the time I had all the clothes, toys, blankets and towels put away and the mess cleaned up in the bathroom, I really could only conclude that someone was desperately looking for something.
And, well, I had nothing at all worth stealing.
I’d pawned my laptop and tablet to be able to buy Lainey her stroller and car seat combo. All my cash had gone to living expenses. And the tiny bit I had left over was sitting in a bank account.
Nothing I owned was worth anything to sell.
Chances were, this was just a random break-in. Brooke was probably right that someone noticed I hadn’t come home, then had tried to find something they could sell for drug money or something.
“It’s going to be alright,” I told Lainey, who was having a ball kicking the mesh on the side of her playard. “Sometimes, people do bad things to innocent people, but that doesn’t mean we should let the fear get the better of us. Plus, it looks like we made some new friends today!”
Lainey gave me a hoot.
“Exactly. I bet you and Joshua will have lots of fun playing together. He’s a little older, but that won’t matter as much once you’re just a teeny bit bigger. And the twins will probably coo at you. I thought babies were so fun when I was little like them.
“Plus, we can go swimming. You’re going to love the water. It’s like a great, big bath. Maybe we can go to the thrift store to buy you a little bathing suit after we get some work done today.”
So that was exactly what we did.
And despite deciding that I wasn’t going to worry about who tossed my room, I sat up the entire night, watching the door, jumping at sounds, coming to scarier conclusions with each passing moment.
But no one came in, guns blazing, ready to finish what they started on that street.
Not that night.
Or the next night.
But on that third night? Something even more terrifying happened.
“Lainey?” I yelped when I picked up my baby and she flopped like a rag doll. “Lainey?” I cried, finding her skin scalding hot. “Oh, God. Oh, God.”
I clutched her to my chest and ran down the balcony to kick Brooke’s door frantically.
“Well, keep your panties on, will ya? What could possibly—” Brooke cut off when she opened the door and saw my face. “What is it?”
“Lainey’s sick. She’s… I think she’s really sick.”
Brooke’s hand shot out, putting her hand to Lainey’s head.
“Oh, she’s burning right up. How long has she been like this?”
“She seemed fine when I put her down for her nap.”
Well, maybe that wasn’t true. She’d been restless all day. Whiny. And she hadn’t had her usual interest in her bottles.
But we were still in a wicked hot spell. I thought she was just miserable about that and all the dog-walking and delivery trips.
God, what was wrong with me?
I should have noticed sooner.
I should have…
“Okay. Alright. Well, we don’t have to panic. But she’s really burning up good. I think you need to take her to see someone. I know this really good clinic. They have some kind of funding where they work with mamas like us on a sliding scale, so it doesn’t break the bank to get care. Hold on. Lemme get that name. No, you march your cute little butt right back inside,” she called to Scout. Or Soleil. I still couldn’t tell them apart. “Don’t need you or your siblings getting sick, now do we?”
I watched, jiggling Lainey, heart gripped in a vice, as Brooke dug through her purse for what felt like forever before finding the business card she was looking for.
“Here it is! Now, you want me to come with you? I could get Tasha up here to watch mine.”
“No. No, thanks. I’ll be okay.”
I would be no such thing.
I was already very much not okay.
“Alright. Go get that baby some medicine. Give me a knock when you get home.”
“Thanks, Brooke. Really.”
I was already blinking back tears as I ran down to my car, strapping my weirdly listless infant into her car seat and plugging in the clinic to my GPS.
I wasn’t sure I noticed a single stop sign or red light on the drive in toward Miami. Then through a shady area of town that had me double-checking my locks and making sure the windows were all rolled up completely.
The clinic was situated in a well-lit strip mall—looking like a shining beacon of hope for a worried mom with a sick baby.
I grabbed Lainey, holding her hot body to my chest, then ran in the front doors of the clinic.
“Zo?” a voice called, making my belly flip-flop as I whipped around to see Coast walking toward me, blood trickling down his face.
“Coast?” I croaked, the dam breaking again and tears pouring down my face. “I need help.”