Vegas Baby(19)
Calypso exhales and smiles, taking ginger steps toward where Noelle sits with Emme.
“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t sure,” she says. “I’m terrible about assuming things.”
“He hasn’t told you about Emme’s mom?” Noelle speaks to Calypso but looks at me.
“I haven’t asked. It’s none of my business.” Calypso brushes her hand across Emme’s forehead before letting her grip onto her pinky. If I knew anything about babies, I might think Emme recognizes her from last night. It’s hard to tell.
“Saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” Noelle says with a sigh. “Who just abandons their baby? Drops it off like a Goodwill donation?”
Calypso rises, turning toward me, her blue eyes searching mine. She’s officially curious thanks to the incomparable Noelle Forrester.#p#分页标题#e#
“It’s complicated,” I say.
Noelle scrunches her nose. “Not really.”
“It’s okay,” Calypso says to my sister as our eyes lock. “If he doesn’t want to talk about it, I understand.”
“He needs to talk about it,” she says. “This shit is real, and he could use a friend right now.”
“Jesus, Noelle, you make it sound like I have no friends.” I blow a hard breath past my lips and lace my fingers behind my head.
“All your friends are skinflints and Black Jack dealers,” she says.
Mostly true.
“How’d you two meet?” Noelle’s gaze darts between both of ours.
“He came into my bookstore a couple of days ago. Bought every baby book we had,” Calypso says. “Then we realized we’re neighbors.”
“Oh.” Noelle chews her lower lip and stares off. “So you don’t know each other that well.”
“Nope.” My answer is unapologetically curt.
“I can come back another time.” Calypso points toward the door.
“Ignore Noelle,” I say. “We’re still trying to program some tact into her monkey brain.”
“I don’t mind,” she says to me before offering a smile toward my sister. “I just came by to thank you for the headphones and everything. And I wanted to make sure Emme was doing okay.”
“Headphones?” Noelle asks.
“Emme’s fine,” I say. “She stayed with my sister most of today. Getting ready to feed her a bottle and wind down for the night.”
Noelle laughs. “Look at you. Mr. Mom over there. I’m impressed, brother. Catching right on.”
“You know better than to doubt me.” I roll my eyes.
“So cocky, this one.” Noelle points at me and looks at Calypso. “Sure you want to be friends with him?”
Calypso’s expression is caught between a smirk and a polite smile.
“Noelle.” My tone is flat.
She ignores me, repositioning her body toward Calypso. “So, where are you from?”
“Oh, um.” Calypso’s fingers knit together for a second before she tucks them behind her back. “You’ve probably never heard of it. It’s a really small little community in Northern California.”
Noelle scrunches her nose. “What was it called?”
“No one ever knows when I tell them,” Calypso stalls. “There were maybe a couple of hundred of us there.”
“Oh. Was it like one of those commune things? A cooperative?” Noelle asks.
“Exactly.” Calypso’s shoulders relax and she releases a subtle breath. “A cooperative.”
“I’ve always thought it’d be neat to live like that,” Noelle says. “But only for like a week or so. Maybe a month. Or a summer. I don’t think I could do it forever.”
Calypso shrugs. “I did it for over twenty years.”
“Why’d you leave?” I interject.
Both women turn toward me in unison, as if I’m invading their conversation, but I don’t care. I’m curious about Calypso. I knew there was something different about her when we first met.
“It just wasn’t for me anymore,” she answers.
“Oh, come on,” Noelle huffs. “You don’t have to be diplomatic here. Tell us what really happened. We won’t judge. Promise.”
“Noelle,” I say.
My sister snaps her caramel gaze toward me, her brows lifted. “No one walks away from their entire life just because.”#p#分页标题#e#
“It’s okay,” Calypso says, worrying her lower lip. “We were a close-knit community, and it turned out some of the members there weren’t exactly as great as I thought they were, so I left.”
“You’re killing me,” Noelle laughs. “All right. Fine. I get it. You don’t know me. You shouldn’t have to spill your entire life story. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.”