Absentminded Angel(Divine Creek Ranch 20)(67)

“Sure, what’s up?”

He gestured at his broad shoulders and torso. “Those…thingies that you’re making…”

“You mean the baby slings? I’m making one for Gwen soon.”

“I heard one of the girls talking about that. I wondered…” he said again, gesturing at her red sling and at himself as he glanced around. “I wondered if you ever make those for men.”

“Oh,” she said, realizing what he was getting at before quietly asking, “Would you like me to make one for you?”

“If you could, yeah.”

“Well, I don’t see why not. I’d just need to measure you and maybe extend my pattern a little bit to allow for your height and size. Sure, I would be happy to make you one.”

“You think you could do it in something that looks more…”

“Masculine?” At his expressive nod, she said, “I’m sure I could make you something that looks hunky. Do you like dark brown or green, or navy blue?”

“Any of those, as long as it’s not a girlie color or pattern. I’ll need you to teach me how to tie it, too.”

Presley Ann giggled and nodded. “I get it, and of course I’ll help you. Maybe you’ll be a trendsetter among the Divine daddies.”

“Well, I don’t care about that so much as I do about being helpful to Gwen.”

Presley Ann could so easily picture this big, lovable teddy bear of a man wearing his little baby in a sling. Chris swiftly changed the subject as Clayton Carlisle walked in and greeted them.

Thinking she really didn’t deserve such awesome friends, Presley Ann patted his arm and told him she’d deliver the pants and measure him for the sling the following morning and then turned back to face the busy store. She had just enough time for a few quick bites and then she needed to get started. Chris’s words echoed in her mind as she grabbed her purse and lunch from Evelyn and entered the employee break room where the time clock was located.

“You need a keeper, you know that?” Willie said over a mouthful of chips. “If you can’t even keep up with a simple job, I can’t imagine how you give that baby the care he needs.”

“No, what I need are loyal family members who aren’t obsessed with whether or not I keep my baby. I’m your coworker, Willie, not your flunky in need of advice or a daily dose of shame. I wish you and your mother would butt the hell out of my personal life.”

Over the last ten months, Presley Ann had believed, mistakenly, that given how she’d lived her life to that point she must deserve all the hatefulness Willie seemed determined to heap on her. But this wasn’t karma, or reaping what she’d sown, that Willie visited on her. It was hate and jealousy.

“You think you can put a spit shine on your life and adopt a sweet demeanor and fool everybody else, including all your pervert friends, but you don’t fool me. I know the old, spoiled, entitled Presley Ann is under the surface just waiting to be served like some princess.”

“There is no ‘old’ Presley Ann. It’s just me doing my best to live my life and take care of my son. You’re not happy unless there’s drama and strife all around you. I’ll take my life with all its mistakes and imperfections over your game playing any day. Why don’t you type that up in a Facebook status update and cyber-shove it.”

Willie gasped and slammed her bottle of soda down on the table and it frothed all over her hand and the table as Presley Ann walked out. Presley Ann decided to just take her lunch back out to Evelyn’s desk and eat there, knowing Evelyn wouldn’t mind. This was going to be a long work day so she might as well hurry up and get it started.





Chapter Fourteen




Kendry grinned at Jared when they heard Presley Ann’s car come down the drive. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he followed his brother out the front door. She was murmuring to Whit as she finished tying on her sling and then lifted him from his car seat. “Yes, I missed you, too, sugar pea pie. Come to mama.”

She looked up in surprise as they stood waiting for her on the stoop. She made an attempt to smile, but then her expression crumpled as she wrapped her arms around the baby.

Kendry and Jared both ran down the steps, all romantic plans forgotten, and closed in around her. Kendry lifted her chin and saw the tears in her eyes and felt the way her jaw trembled. “Kitten, what is it?”

“It’s nearly ten o’clock. I hate leaving him all day like this,” she said, her voice breaking, and then she sobbed. Whit looked dazed, as if he’d been awakened from sleep once already that evening, and appeared ready to fall back asleep any moment. Another sob escaped. “I missed his whole day.”