“I have a friend who runs a daycare. I can talk to her about John Henry. And I’m only part-time at the library for the next few weeks. I can watch him when I’m not working.” Natalie toasted her with her glass.
“My niece Tasha can watch him. She isn’t a daycare, but she has kids already. One is even close to John Henry’s age. She would be happy to do it,” Tess said.
Though Hazel hadn’t met them yet, she had seen Tess’s family, and her niece had a ton of kids—eight, to be exact.
“You guys are being too nice. I don’t really deserve it,” Hazel said to the group.
“Of course, you do. You’re our Hazel. What would this group be like without you?” Tess asked.
Mia took over the conversation again as she remembered another hot piece of gossip she needed to tell everyone. Hazel felt better for the first time since talking to her grandma. Maybe she had a better future than she had originally thought, a place to stay and a job.
Tomorrow she would start packing and getting her life organized. Tomorrow her life would begin.
CHAPTER16
It didn’t take longfor book club to break up and Hazel to head back to Ruston’s to pick up her son. She just needed to break whatever they were doing off and pick up her son. It wasn’t dark yet as she pulled up in front of the house, but it was close to her son’s bedtime.
Ruston met her at the door and pulled her into a kiss on the front step. Pushing him in to the cool interior, she let him continue the kiss. She could enjoy the kiss, even if she was going to end it.
Pulling her mouth from his, she was breathing heavily as she looked around the living room. John Henry was sitting on the couch staring at the TV; he hadn’t even noticed she was there yet. The popcorn bowl on his lap was keeping him busy.
“How was book club?”
“Good.”
“Whiskey and coke?” he asked.
“If you know, why do you ask?”
“Because I like to talk to you.” He ran his thumb over her cheek.
She pushed him away. “We have to talk.”
“I don’t like when we have to talk. That usually means you don’t want to talk to me anymore.” He tried to pull her back to him.
She walked into his little house, sidestepping him. The furniture fit with his personality, in browns and tan colors. It looked comfortable, and she could see him here. She wished she could spend more time with him there.
“We have to stop this.” She forced the words out.
“What is this?” he questioned.
“This. Us.”
“Why?”
“Mia heard something at church. There’s gossip.”
“I don’t care.”
“You have to care. This could end your career.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think it will come to that.”
“I don’t want to be the reason you have to leave.”
“If I leave, Hazel, I’m probably taking you and John Henry with me.”
“You know there’s no future in this.”