“Where is she, so I can kill her ass, after I can move, that is.”
“She’s gone. She left him.”
“Left him? For how long?”
Jayne shrugged. “For good.”
“She abandoned him? That fucking whore!”
“Tamar said she couldn’t handle him anymore. She made it clear that if Seth didn’t want him she’d find someone else to give him to.”
The thought made Jayne shudder. If neither of them had been home, would she have abandoned him on their doorstep, or worse, left him somewhere else defenseless just so she could be on her way? Fruitless anger filled her, but she pushed it aside, realizing Seth needed her and those feelings would be counterproductive. They couldn’t afford to labor on the whys because it looked like they might never know.
Jayne patted Lucy’s shoulder then leaned forward to remove the safety pin from her blouse. “Why don’t you get cleaned up and dressed and you can meet him.”
Lucy absently stared down at the note and then, as though realizing Jayne was talking to her, said, “Oh, yeah. I’ll be right there.”
“There’s breakfast tacos.”
Lucy made a faint gagging noise.
Returning to the living room, Jayne smiled as Seth approached her with Toby in his arms. Toby gave her a little smile as he laid his head on his dad’s shoulder. The two of them together was almost more than Jayne could handle, a lump coming into her throat. She was totally in love with both of them.
“She okay?”
“A little embarrassed, maybe, and definitely in pain, but she’s okay. She said she’d be out in a few minutes, just needs time to wake up properly, I think. Give the caffeine and ibuprofen a chance to kick in.” Turning her attention to the boxes and bags, she said, “You have a lot to sort out. Would you like some help?”
Seth seemed so relieved that it was almost comical, coming from someone who was normally so serious. “Yes, I’d love help.”
“And that’s our cue to skedaddle,” Teresa said as Angel hefted Eleazar into his arms. “We don’t want to start World War III when a certain little angel sees things getting passed down.”
Joaquin shook his head decisively. “No. We’re a little possessive.”
Seth and Jayne thanked them for their generosity, and Eleazar kissed Jayne good-bye, gave Seth a high five, and waved at Toby.
Sitting on the rug in the living room, with Toby playing with his toys nearby, they began sorting through the boxes and bags of clothing.
“Wow, it’s a good thing I found an apartment yesterday,” Lucy said in a rusty-sounding voice as she took a seat beside them on the couch. “You’re going to need the second bedroom, aren’t you?” She looked like she felt a little more human after her shower. Smiling tenderly at Toby, she murmured, “Well, hello, you little handsome man.”
“Lucy, this is Toby,” Seth murmured, pitching her a baby toy.
“Welcome to the family, Toby.” She shook the rattling toy for him.
Toby couldn’t resist the toy or Lucy’s winsome greeting and crawled to her with a half smile on his face. He studied her with big, serious blue eyes, so very much like his father’s, as she studied him in return, and then used her pant leg to pull himself up to a standing position.
Seth gave her a big-eyed look and said, “I’ll visit the hardware store today.”
Baby-proofing this house just skyrocketed up the priority list.
Glancing at Lucy, Seth said, “Joaquin found your cowboy hat in the flowerbed.”
Lucy held Toby to her and hugged him gently as she said, “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t embarrass you in front of Teresa and her men.”
Seth and Jayne both made dismissive noises, and Jayne felt her cheeks heat as she said, “I can’t speak for the others, but I’ve tied one on, recently, and it’s good to know people will be there for you.”
Seth took a stack of board books out of a box as he said, “Vance is a pretty nice guy. I appreciate that he got you home safe without taking advantage of you. What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Jayne detected the barest hint of a big brotherly tone in his words and could tell he was holding back for her sake. She also recalled that he’d told her Lucy had been hurt by somebody in her past as well.
Toby squirmed to get down and went to investigate what Seth had, and Lucy picked up a stack of clothes and started absentmindedly sorting them. “I found a little house I liked, and dropped by Madeleine’s to introduce myself and make out an application. She set up a time for me to come for an interview. To celebrate, I went out to The Dancing Pony. I wanted to give the two of you some time alone, you know?” They nodded and she continued, “It was a quiet night, at least until Vance showed up. My gosh, that cowboy can dance. And just my luck, the two jerks were there too.”