Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
What was he thinking, giving this to me? He’d never handed in shoddy work in the past. He was clearly not ready to be back in the office.
I shoved out of my chair and left my office in search of his. As I walked, I ignored all the employees who glanced up and quickly ducked their heads again, pretending to not see me. They were probably all praying that I wasn’t coming to see them. It didn’t matter. I was already running through ways to confront him about the report. I couldn’t just blurt out that this work was subpar and riddled with errors. My approach needed to be gentle and considerate.
The words were forming in my mind, only to have them fly out as I stepped into his tiny office. A baby was crying softly in one of those chair things with the handle, and there was no Parker. Why was there a baby in the office? Why did Parker have a baby?
Had…the person who’d died been his ex-wife?
No, Parker had said she was his best friend.
But didn’t a lot of people consider their wife to be their best friend?
No, that made no sense. I’d been over to Parker’s apartment dozens of times and there was zero hint that he’d ever been married or dating someone. Besides, he’d stated that he was gay. Not bi. Gay. So, where had the baby come from?
My head was spinning as I stood there staring at the small child, whose round chubby face was becoming more scrunched up and red with each passing second. Her cries weren’t ear-splitting wails yet, but they promised to reach that point if someone didn’t comply with her wishes soon.
What was I supposed to do? I knew nothing about babies. I was pretty sure that I’d never held one in my life, and I had no plans to start with this strange one.
Where the devil was Parker? Or anyone? I needed to find someone to help this baby.
“Shh, little baby,” I said in a soft voice. “This is an office. You shouldn’t be crying.”
The child quieted and blinked at me. She pursed lips and watched me, possibly trying to figure out who I was. That worked?
No, it didn’t. I must have confused her because she began crying in earnest.
“Please, tiny baby. I will find your…daddy? Uncle? I’ll be right back.”
I edged toward the door and poked my head out into the hallway, searching for any sign of Parker. Maybe she thought I was leaving, because her cries grew louder the moment my head popped out of the office.
“Hey, hey! I’m still here,” I coaxed as I darted into the office. The sound of my voice seemed to calm her, and the edge of panic left her cries. “I’m going to find someone to go look for Mr. Cain. You just relax.”
She did not relax. She began crying even louder.
Thankfully, as I reached the door, Parker came rushing in and slammed straight into me. He bounced off my chest and stumbled a step. For a heartbeat, he appeared as if he were going to shout at me, but his expression switched to shock and then horror.
“Mr. Foster,” he gasped.
I nearly rolled my eyes. That sounded almost as bad as when he’s called me “sir,” but now wasn’t the time to deal with that.
I stepped out of the doorway and motioned for him to enter. He inched inside, his wide gray eyes locked on my face. It was only as he was a few steps from the baby that he finally turned all his attention to the source of all the noise. He scooped up the crying child with a practiced ease and cuddled her to his chest, rocking her while rubbing her back.
“What’s all this about, Miss Fussbritches? I left you for a couple of seconds.” I could attest that it was longer than that, and I felt aggrieved for myself and the baby. “Did the big, grumpy man scare you?”
“I did no such thing,” I argued, but regretted those words as a small smile flash across Parker’s lips. He was teasing. It was the first hint of his old personality all day, and it gave me hope that the Parker I knew was not lost completely. However, that grin was gone again, falling away to worry and horror.
“Sir, I can explain. I—”
I held up one hand, stopping his words. “Soon. That is not the most important thing right now.” He didn’t need to explain that he’d felt trapped because he was out of sick days and for whatever reason, his daycare for the child had fallen through. The baby was stuck here with him for the duration of the day.
As I glanced around the room, my eyes fell on the chair with the handle and a large bag stuck in the corner with a cartoon elephant on it. Probably what he was using to carry what the child needed for the day. That couldn’t possibly be adequate for her needs. How could she be comfortable stuck in that chair all day? No, that wouldn’t do at all.