Teagan's lips parted.
"I won't say that again, but I had to tonight. And one more thing."
She licked her bottom lip then quietly asked, "What?"
"In the hall." He blew out a slow breath of air. "That was intense, and that you put the brakes on because of them?" He nodded toward the floor. "You're really something special. A good mom, person in Bella's life-friend."
Teagan's cheeks pinked at the flattery, and he meant every word of it. "We're going to be good friends."
She stared at Will and Bella sleeping peacefully. "Despite the absurd number of times today that you proved I grossly misunderstood who you are. And I just met you."
A platonic friendship with Teagan could've meant death by slow torture, and maybe it was because he'd just experienced the hottest kiss of his life. But "I just met you" suddenly made him believe everything happened for a reason, and he'd have to sit back and figure out what that reason was.
CHAPTER TEN
"I'm ready." Bella stood in front of her bedroom with a backpack on and the Velcro straps on her shoes fastened in place. "Uncle Noah." The little girl all but tsked. "You do not look ready."
That was because he wasn't. What were they ready for? School was over. He hadn't burned down the house in days. Heck, the weekend was so close he could taste it. But Noah seemed doomed for disaster, or at the very least disappointment, because whatever he was supposed to have done or gotten ready for, he hadn't even started.
His list of all things Bella-related had been left on his desk at Nuts and Bolts.
"Today's the day that I read to Gambler."
Gambler? Gambler! His buddy Zane's dog. How could he forget picking Bella up at the library a few months ago? Gambler was one canine that was hard to forget. A little bit crazy, a lot bit excitable, and unable to resist. Noah smiled, seeing that Bella was clearly under Gambler's charm as well, though he was clueless about the after-school activity.
"That's today?"
"Uh-huh." She nodded hard enough to make her glitter headband fall off.
"I have to be honest, ladybug." She wouldn't understand the level of mental exhaustion he was struggling with. "I didn't even have Gambler on my radar."
This week had kicked Noah's ass. Bella had morphed from his sweet niece to an unrecognizable tornado of a child after he purchased the wrong color of glitter hand sanitizer-no one had mentioned he should expect that. Then there was the drama of a monkey bar contest gone wrong, where Noah had choked down the urge to teach her how to elbow the little cheaters when no one was looking.
What he would've given for some pure physical exertion to drain him. He had dreams of BUD/S training where they dead lifted a telephone pole in the Pacific Ocean. He wanted to crawl to the top of a mountain with too much gear and not enough air. All of that sounded far easier than trying to figure out why she did, said, and ate nothing at school every day based on his after-school and dinnertime interrogations of her time spent at kindergarten. Though after checking in with her teacher, he found out that Bella was indeed doing, talking, and eating, and that he should ask different types of questions. Starting next week, he had a plan.
"How was lunch?" would become "How many bites of your sandwich did you eat?" Instead of "What did you do today?" he'd ask "What color markers did you color with?" Come Monday, Noah's tactics would be on point and ready to be deployed.
But right now he needed a strategy to achieve balance. Or sanity. How did moms manage everything? Bella barely had any activities outside of school, yet Noah's head was overloaded. There was a running list of birthday party invites, classroom volunteer opportunities, appropriate meal planning options …
"Okay. I won't practice reading aloud today." Her shoulders slumped. "I suppose I could read to you, though I excel when I read to Gambler."
Ugh. She was breaking out her SAT words on him and likely knew the definition of manipulation. "I think we have to RSVP for those things. Gambler might not even be there."
"He's always there. Gambler's daddy likes Miss Grace."
Noah cocked an eyebrow, thinking back to Teagan's concerns about how Bella might read things into adult relationships if she saw one forming. "Really? How do you know this?"
"They like each other." Bella took her backpack off. "What should I read to you?"
Noah's curiosity was suddenly stronger than his exhaustion. Would Zane know how Bella knew about him and Harper? Hell, what was Noah doing? Trying to see how much Bella could piece together about adults dating? That wouldn't change anything with him and Teagan. Still … "You're sure it's today?" He checked his watch, though he didn't know what time the program started.
"Yes, today. But we need to leave now. I have enough time to have a snack then drive without being rushed." She paused. "You can Google it if you want to check."
"I trust you." There was no point in double-checking the calendar, and he was struck by Lainey's words falling out of Bella's mouth. Enough time to have a snack then drive without being rushed. It sounded so like her. Never rushing. Always preparing for others, and that killed him. Everybody in Eagle's Ridge had had time to prepare for Lainey's death. Everyone except him.
Noah cleared his throat. "Sure thing. Let me go-"
Bella beamed. "I already packed my snack."
Of course, she did. She prepared like her mother. "Then let's load up."
Noah turned, and Bella skipped past him and pushed out the front door like the five-year-old that she was. All traces of her mom and the gifted, verbose child were gone. Either way, he was glad Bella was getting him out of the house. The fresh air and a new set of walls might do him some good.
###
"Please, Mom. Please. Please. Please. I never want to go. And now I want to go." Will pouted in the backseat as Teagan watched him in her rearview mirror.
She had a headache that wouldn't quit, and with school dismissing early today, she hadn't finished everything that she needed to. Will dropping a library bomb on her shouldn't have been a problem. But his complete overreaction to her balking was.
Not that she wanted to punish him for wanting to read, but Teagan wondered why it had to be today. Oh, what the heck. How often did Will beg to go to the library? Never. "Only … "
"Thank you!" he chimed with a quick kick of his legs.
"Only because we love books and we love libraries, but we do not love attitude problems. Do you read me?" She flicked a glance at the rearview mirror, and he beamed.
"I read you!"
If anyone ever said that advisors had kids figured out, they were nuts. Teagan changed course and maneuvered through town, easing down the quiet tree-lined street, then pulled into the parking lot.
She gave another glance into her backseat. She had never seen him this ready to be at the library before, and as soon as she shifted into Park, Will fumbled with his belt. She unbuckled her own seat belt, and he was out the door, barely slamming it hard enough for it to click before he rushed toward the library.
The quaint library was one story and wrapped with a thick line of old trees shading its expansive porch. Teagan loved its bright red doors, but Will beelined away from the entrance.
"What on earth?" She didn't see where he was-or why he didn't go inside-and Teagan snagged her purse from the passenger seat then swiftly trailed him. "Will?"
The parking lot was filled, but that wasn't a surprise. It was a busy place, but there was nothing to indicate what had caught his interest. Her heart pounded. He wasn't one to take off, and truthfully, he was a bit tenderhearted. If he was ever separated or lost, he'd worry.
Teagan rushed around the corner, no longer able to see her son. Until she did. His little feet had carried him across a small field to a group of kids and dogs nestled on blankets.
This was the program where kids read to animals. Teagan took a relieved breath and pushed her sunglasses into her hair, getting a better look at the faces. Certainly, Will had sat with Bella. Then a quiet laugh startled her from behind.
She spun and saw two men. "Noah? And … Zane?"
Teagan had met the other man at a fundraising race, and she'd seen him around town lately with Harper Grace, the librarian.
Zane gave a quick wave. "Nice to see you, Teagan. I was just catching up with my old friend."
"Don't let me interrupt you. I was"-she gestured toward the group-"catching up with my kid."
Both men cracked smiles, but Zane begged off. "I need to keep an eye on Gambler. He's fine until a rabbit hops by. Then … " He shook his head. "Pandemonium. Gets the kids laughing, though."