“Hmm.” She peered at me. Without her glasses, her eyes were even more lustrous, and my stomach flipped over a few times before she spoke again. “I’ll get it from your car now.”
“It’s already set up in mine. Why don’t I take Gretchen and follow you to your place?”
4
Faye
I got out of my car a moment before Jaz pulled into the driveway. I wasn’t sure how exactly she’d managed to invite herself over here. Yeah, she’d ingratiated herself to me with the free babysitting, and sure, her skills with kids meant maybe she wasn’t as empty-headed as I’d feared. None of that meant I wanted her seeing my private residence.
We were going to have to move the car seat from her car to mine eventually, anyway. It would’ve been just as easy to do it in Beasley’s parking lot as here. But Jaz was here now, and as she emerged and I caught sight of the wide grin on her face, I almost didn’t regret letting her come over.
While my Honda’s tires were nearly worn down to the rims, her Camry was practically more rust than metal. With a few snaps and buckles, we’d released the car seat from her car, and by reversing the process, we got it firmly installed in mine.
“You know, we’re both probably going to be driving her,” she said, grabbing a few large shopping bags from the backseat. “We’ll need to get another one.”
I raised an eyebrow. Jaz was acting like Gretchen was somehow her responsibility. And like she was going to be with me for more than a day or two.
“Don’t forget she’s going back to her mother as soon as possible.” I grabbed the bags from her and went up the steps to the door. “This is far from a permanent arrangement.”
Jaz climbed after me, Gretchen in her arms. “Nice place you got here, Prof.”
Both eyebrows went up, until I realized Jaz had only seen the outside. The building looked like a nice Victorian home—three levels high, with a gorgeous façade worthy of a Bronte novel.
I pushed open the door. “Hope you’re ready for a work-out.”
We passed the dim, dusty entrance hallway with the doorways leading to the ground-floor apartments. At the end of a dark corridor, I nodded to the staircase. The two that led up to my floor were steep and rickety, as if the builder had wanted to punish residents for daring to venture inside. Even after three years of living here, I felt as if I might put my foot through a floorboard at any second.
By the top, I was huffing and puffing with the extra weight of the shopping bags. As I should’ve expected, Jaz pretty much skipped the whole way, even carrying Gretchen. She didn’t seem fazed by the eerie gothic atmosphere, either.
“I guess that’s it,” she said.
Yet she made no move to leave, looking around as if she planned to come inside. I gritted my teeth. Politeness would dictate that I offer her a drink, or something along those lines. She had kind of saved my ass today. And if I wanted her to continue providing childcare, it was only right that I try to be… friends.
“You want to come in?”
Her face lit up. “I’d love to.” Inside, she peered around at my ancient “vintage” furnishings and my wonderful view of the parking lot. Her surprise was visible, but she kept quiet about it. Instead, she said, “Gretchen will need a high chair, won’t she? And does she have a crib?”
I let out a sigh as I grabbed two beers out of the fridge. “She’s not staying. She slept in bed with me last night. According to the Internet, that’s called co-sleeping and it can actually be healthier for the child. As for eating, she can do it on my lap.”
Passing a beer to Jaz, I sank into an armchair. This was technically my living area, but with the size of my kitchen—and my normal lack of company—I usually ate here as well. I kicked a few crumbs under the chair legs, unsure why I even cared what my student thought.
“That works,” she said hesitantly. “I just want the best for her. She’s such a sweet little girl. Aren’t you, gorgeous?” She brushed her cheek with the tip of her finger, an affectionate gesture that made me feel oddly empty.
“Sure, when she’s not screeching her head off.” I tipped back my beer, draining half of it in a gulp.
“She’s a baby, Faye. She’ll grow out of it.”
“I hope she’ll be long gone by the time that happens.” Realizing how bad that sounded, I hurried to explain. “Nothing against her, but I didn’t ask for a baby. And I didn’t play any part in making her, either. She just showed up, and I seem to be stuck with her.”
Jaz nodded, adjusting her denim jacket around her shoulders. She wasn’t bad-looking when she went serious like this. There was a certain appeal to her youthful features and her slender frame… although I still objected to the “half-shaved head” thing.
Too bad about the personality. Although to be fair, she hadn’t gone all daydreamy and unfocused when Gretchen was around. It seemed she could pull herself together when it mattered.
“You wouldn’t give her to… somebody?” she asked. “The government, or something?”
I sighed. “The way I understand it, my only option is CPS. I may not have any lost love for this child—” Gretchen’s face twisted up as if she knew what I was saying “—but she’s my blood, and she’s not going into the foster system while I’m here to stop it.”
“So if you can’t get her back to your sister…”