A Million Little Things (Mischief Bay, #3)

She got in the car and they drove to the day care center. This time, when she parked out front, she saw the neighborhood was family focused. Across the street was the playground at Founders Park. The trees were mature, the lawns well kept.

“Nice,” Lucas said as he climbed out. “Do they take the kids over to the park?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to ask.”

She got Jack out of his car seat. He seemed to remember the house and ran up to the front door. Jen and Lucas followed.

Rose answered, Buddy right behind her.

“Mrs. Beldon. How nice to see you again.” Rose turned to Lucas. “Mr. Beldon? A pleasure.”

Jen held in a chuckle at Lucas’s look of panic. “Please call me Jen,” she said. “And this isn’t my husband. This is Lucas. He’s a friend of the family. Kirk’s working, so he offered to come along.”

She helped Jack up the single stair, then crouched down. “Jack, honey, do you remember Buddy?”

Jack laughed and reached for the dog. Buddy bent his head, as if making himself more toddler-size. Jack squeezed his neck.

“Buddy used to be a service dog,” Jen told Lucas. “He’s good with the children.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

Rose took them on a tour. This time Jen tried to look past the mess made by children. She found the windows were plenty clean, as were the toys. Rose showed her everything from the cleansers she used to the bathrooms. There was a security system in place, along with a Nanny-Cam set up that allowed parents to log in and watch what was happening at the house.

“It’s a secure network,” Rose told her. “We can’t have just anyone watching our babies.”

Jen got a copy of the schedule, which included what would be served for lunch and snacks, along with the movies that would be shown and academic subjects to be covered. While he was here, Jack would be introduced to the concept of letters and colors, along with shapes and numbers. By the time the three of them left, she’d signed up Jack and paid for the first month of day care. She was starting him at three mornings a week. If that went well, she would expand the time.

“How are you holding up?” Lucas asked as they walked back to the SUV.

“It’s scary, but I know it’s the right thing to do.”

“Jack’s going to love it there.”

“I know. He’ll be around other children and that’s important. Children need to learn to socialize.”

“What about you, Jen? What do you need?”

She sighed. “I think I need to learn to get over myself.”





Chapter Twenty

Zoe was beginning to think that meeting her dad for breakfast had been a bad idea. Despite the fact that she needed to get more protein in her diet and she didn’t like cooking eggs at home, she wasn’t sure the delicious omelet had been worth the lecture.

“He’s the father of your baby,” Miguel said, his voice intense.

“I’m so very aware of that.”

“Do you want me to talk to him? Tell him what’s what? I could do that—man-to-man.”

Something she knew would not end well. She supposed most people would be worried about their dad. But Chad, for all his flaws, would fight fair. Miguel would not. Not exactly the normal quandary, Zoe thought as she sipped on her herbal tea. “I miss coffee.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I wasn’t. I was making an observation. Dad, I love you. You’re very sweet to worry about me, but I’m fine. And I’m not marrying Chad.”

“Because you don’t want to or because he hasn’t asked?”

She groaned. If they weren’t at the restaurant in the Inn at the Pier, she would start banging her head against the table. There was absolutely no way she was going to tell her father that Chad had proposed. Miguel would latch onto that tidbit and do his best to convince her all her problems were solved.

“For a man who has traveled the world several times over, you’re shockingly old-fashioned,” she said. “I miss Mom.” And way more than coffee, she added silently.

Her father’s eyes widened. “Why do you say that?”

“Because she would talk some sense into you. She would tell you to stop badgering me and start being supportive.” Plus, when a woman was pregnant for the first time, she wanted her mom around, Zoe thought wistfully.

“I’m not badgering you.”

“I feel badgered.”

“Then I’ll stop.”

“Really?”

“For now.”

She laughed. “Thank you for being honest.”

“I try. How are you feeling?”

“Great. I’ve been very lucky so far. Minimal morning sickness. Work is going well. Steven has been very supportive.”

Her father grimaced. “I don’t know how I feel about Steven.”

“Then it’s probably for the best the two of you aren’t dating.”

“Very funny.”

“Thank you. I think I have a future in stand-up.”

Her father shook his head. “You take after your mother. You know that, don’t you?”

“I like to think so, and thank you for the compliment. Not that you’re not wonderful, too.”

“I worry about you.”

“I know, Dad. But I’m fine. I’m going to have a baby without Chad. At least as little Chad as possible. I hope you’ll be supportive of that.”

“I’ll try. Where does Steven fit into the picture?”

“We’re still figuring that out.” She clutched her mug of tea. “I like him a lot. If I wasn’t pregnant, I would be drinking champagne and planning vacations to Hawaii. As it is, I’m cautiously optimistic, but taking things slow. There’s more than just me to consider. I have to worry about my child.”

And Steven, she thought, but knew better than to mention that to her dad.

“You think he can handle it? You having a baby?”

A legitimate question, Zoe thought. “He’s doing okay so far, but right now it’s just theory. We’ll see what happens when I start to swell up like a watermelon.”

“Your mother was beautiful the whole time she was pregnant with you.”

“You’re sweet to say that.” She put down her tea. “How are you doing, Dad? What’s been going on?”

“Not much.”

“What happened with Pam?”

Zoe knew their last conversation had gone badly but she hadn’t heard very much about her father and Pam.

“She and I disagreed.”