I stared at Brian questioningly. "Well, that was just a bit awkward."
His jaw hardened. "Let it go, Sally."
But of course I couldn't. "What happened between the two of you?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "We had a huge fight. I think it might be over between us."
My stomach clenched. I had promised Ally I wouldn't tell Brian about her visit and intended to keep my word. "Please say this didn't have anything to do with me."
Brian smiled. "Okay, I won't tell you then."
"Brian…"
He looked at me, and his adorable Greek godlike face was stern. "Somehow your name got mentioned, and she let it slip that she went to see you. I was furious at her. Angry for her not trusting me and putting you in the middle of all this."
What a mess. "It's okay, really. She's crazy about you. That can lead a person to do all kinds of things they wouldn't normally do—"
I stopped cold for a moment and reflected on what I had just said. Apparently Brian was considering my words as well. "What exactly are you saying, Sally?"
"Nothing," I lied. "I only meant that she probably wouldn't have come to see me if she wasn't so crazy about you. You should talk to her and try to work things out."
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I don't like the whole nontrust, jealousy thing. I understand that her ex was a real piece of work, but I'm not him. Trust is a fine line with me. I honestly don't know how I feel about her right now."
My phone buzzed, and I looked down at the screen. It was my parents' landline. "Mom? Is everything okay?"
"Bella donna," my father's deep voice greeted me.
Now I was really worried. My father never phoned me. "Is Mom okay? What's wrong?"
"She's fine," he assured me. "But you got another message on my blog today."
Icicles formed between my shoulder blades. "What did it say?"
He cleared his throat. "It said Too bad she lived. What's really a shame is that it wasn't Sally."
My hand went numb, and I dropped the cell on the linoleum floor. Brian stared at me in surprise then reached down to grab the phone and handed it back to me. I clutched at it with shaky fingers.
My father was still talking on the other end. "Sal, are you there?"
"Yes," I managed to say. "Thanks, but I'm sure it's nothing, Dad." I hoped my lie had convinced him.
"Do you want me to answer them?" my father asked.
At that moment a crazy idea popped into my head. Maybe I could use the blog to somehow trap this person. Of course if I told anyone about this—Brian, Mike, my grandmother—they would never approve. I would have to keep the details to myself.
"No, Dad," I said. "But don't erase it in case the police want to see it."
When I disconnected, I told Brian about the message. "Can you track it somehow?"
Brian's expression was grim. "We've already looked into it. The user has a VPN, a virtual private network. It masks your IP so that your location can't be found."
My shoulders sagged. "So we struck out again."
A woman's voice sounded through Brian's radio asking for a certain badge number, which happened to be Brian's, and he rose to his feet. "I have to go. Remember what I said before, about calling Adam?"
I nodded. "Of course. I promise I won't bother you again."
His eyes darkened. "Sally, I was wrong to say that. If you need anything at all, I want you to contact me. We're going to find this maniac and put them behind bars where they belong. I don't want anything to happen to you."
My voice trembled. "Thank you."
The door opened, and Mike, Grandma Rosa, and Rob came back into the room together. Mike handed me a cup of coffee and pulled me close to him.
"You look exhausted, sweetheart," he said. "We should go home."
I shook my head. "Not until they let me see Josie."
"She's sleeping, Sal." Rob looked from me to Mike, his eyes tired and bloodshot. "I was wondering if I could ask you guys a favor."
"Name it," Mike said.
Rob shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and shifted from foot to foot in front of us. "This is a really big favor."
"Whatever you need," I said. "Anything at all."
"My mother's sick with the flu," Rob explained, "and Josie's mom is out of town. She's due back tomorrow morning, but Josie hates to ask her for anything. You know they've never been close. I can't reach our regular sitter, and the one who is with the boys right now can't stay the night at our house. She's a neighborhood kid, and her parents don't feel she's old enough or up to the responsibility. I'd like to stay here with Josie but don't have anyone to watch them, so I was wondering if—"
I jumped to my feet eagerly. "Say no more. Of course we'll watch them."
There was an unmistakable look of sheer panic in Mike's eyes. "We will?" he asked. "How?"
"It'll be fun." I had newfound energy suddenly and was excited for this opportunity. Plus, it would be a wonderful distraction from everything else going on in my life. I adored kids. Sure, I'd never taken Josie's boys overnight before but loved going to her house to play with them on occasion. How difficult could this be?
"Where will we put them?" Mike wanted to know. "We only have one extra bedroom."
"We'll put two boys in there, another on the couch, and the baby has a portable crib that can go in our room," I said. "It will work out fine."
"I can grab them first thing in the morning," Rob volunteered. "Are you sure this isn't too much to ask? They—um, can be a bit of a handful at times."
Mike swallowed hard. "How much of a handful?"
Grandma Rosa looked at the both of us and chuckled. "Caring for babies when you two are very much like ones yourselves."
"What does that mean?" I asked, puzzled.
Grandma Rosa smiled in that all-knowing way of hers. "You will find out soon enough."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Okay," I rubbed my hands together eagerly. "Who wants to take a bath?"
"He does," three grimy-looking little boys shouted and pointed to each other.
So far we were off to a roaring start. The baby, Jeremy, had spit up in the car all over Mike when he'd lifted him out of his car seat. Mike was upstairs showering while I was distributing McDonald's Happy Meals for a very late dinner.
A french fry zoomed past my head.
"Stop it!" Dylan whined at Robbie.
Danny was the eldest. He was almost eleven and had red hair like Josie's, with a face full of freckles to match. Dylan was seven, Robbie Jr. five, and the baby, Jeremy, was just over a year old. It was times like this when I thought Josie and Rob should have been nominated for sainthood.
Spike had entered the room and was having a field day mopping up the food on the floor with his tongue as fast as the kids managed to drop it.
Jeremy was in the high chair we'd brought from Josie's, wriggling around and banging his little fists on the tray. When food sailed past him in the air, he had an absolute fit and opened his mouth wide like a guppy. I put some Cheerios on his tray and tried to spoon some applesauce into his mouth, but he shook his head at me. Greedily, he shoved the Cheerios into his mouth at a rapid pace with tiny fingers.
"You have to watch the baby," Danny said to me, a tone of disapproval in his voice. "He eats too fast. That's why he always pukes."
Even though his name was Jeremy, everyone referred to him as "the baby," so I found myself doing it too. I removed a few Cheerios from the tray, and as soon as I did, the baby started to howl.
Danny wrinkled his nose at me. "Don't you know how to cook?"
I filled the baby's sippy cup with apple juice which he grabbed from me and downed greedily like a drunken sailor. "Sure, I can cook. But it's awfully late, so it was easier to get you food already prepared."
"I was really hungry," Dylan whined. "Nancy can't cook. I hate it when she takes care of us. She always tries to starve me." He glanced at me pitifully with Josie's large blue
eyes.
"She didn't starve you," Danny yelled back. "She let you eat a whole bag of potato chips. She's like Aunt Sally because she can't cook either."
"I can too cook," I said defensively.
Mike was standing in the doorway, watching the scene play out in front of him. His hair was damp from the shower and curling at the ends. He was barefoot, in jeans and a gray T-shirt, and smelled of that spicy aftershave I adored. He kissed me and wrapped his arms around my waist as desire flooded through my body. Okay, best to get rid of those notions now. Romance probably wasn't on the calendar for tonight.
He whispered in my ear. "Do you think they'll fall asleep soon? I have plans for us later." He was using that sexy bedroom voice of his that I knew all too well and had the power to send my heart racing.
Dylan watched us with a frown. "Ew, gross."
Mike suppressed a smile as he reached into the fridge for a beer.
Danny watched him with curiosity. "Do you drink lots of beer? My dad likes it sometimes, but he won't let me have any."
Mike narrowed his eyes at the child. "No, I don't. But I need a stiff drink to help me get through this night."
"How come?" Robbie asked.
I shot Mike a murderous glance. "Okay, guys, if you're done, you each need to take a quick bath. I promised your father you'd go to bed clean."
"You only have one bathroom," Danny protested. "It's gonna take forever."
"Well, Robbie and Dylan can have their baths together, so that will save time," I said pragmatically. "And then I'll bathe the baby in the sink while you take yours." I was feeling good, great in fact. I was in charge, a regular Mother of the Year candidate in training. Hey, this wasn't so bad. Parenthood was going to be a piece of cake after this.
"I don't wanna take a bath with Robbie," Dylan whined. "He poops in the tub."
"No! Do not!" Robbie yelled. His feet connected with our small wooden kitchen table, and before I even knew what had happened, it was lying on its side. The floor was suddenly awash with soda, apple juice, milk, and remnants of hamburger and fries. Poor Spike howled and rushed into the other room to escape the chaos.
"God da—" Mike finished the curse under his breath when he caught my look. He sighed in frustration. "I'll go get the mop."
Danny yelled at Robbie who was stomping his feet in frustration while Dylan cried to anyone who'd listen. Josie had warned me before that the kid was a drama queen, but I had no idea it was this bad.
Dylan held out his hand to me. "There's soda all over my fingers."
I grabbed a dishtowel from a drawer. "That's okay. It won't hurt you. And you're going to take a bath anyway." I started throwing the empty cups into the garbage pail. Mike came back with a mop from the hall closet and started to fill the bucket in the sink.
I glanced up to see the baby in his high chair, staring at us and giggling. At least someone was happy. Then the stench hit me like a wall of bricks. I covered my nose with the dishcloth while the kids all gagged and plugged their noses.
"What the—" Mike glanced in the garbage pail. "Is there something rotten in there?"
"It's the baby," Danny cried. "He pooped his diaper again. That's all he knows how to do."
I started mopping the floor. "You guys go in the living room." I glanced at Mike. "Can you change his diaper?"
Mike looked at Jeremy still giddy from his recent accomplishment. His midnight blue eyes went wide with alarm as he stared at me. "Sal, I've never changed a diaper before in my entire life."
I winked. "You'll need to start sometime. It will be good practice for you. The diaper bag is on our bed. There's a changing pad in there too, along with wipes and diaper rash cream. Call me if you need help."
He began to say something else then watched as the two older boys ran into the living room to turn on the television and started fighting over the remote. He sighed, moved the tray, and lifted the baby out of his seat. Jeremy waved bye-bye to me over Mike's shoulder as they left the kitchen.
I finished cleaning up and shooed Robbie and Dylan away from the television and into the bathroom. I started the tub, made sure it was the right temperature, and then turned the other way to give them privacy while they undressed. Once they were situated in the tub, I left the door open and went out into the living room to find pajamas for them then took a minute to arrange a blanket and pillow on the couch for Danny, who I thought was in there watching television. No such luck.
I could hear the baby giggling from the bedroom, so I assumed all was well in there. After stealing another peek into the bathroom, I was about to go check in the kitchen for Danny when I heard Dylan crying.
"Aunt Sally!" Dylan called. "Robbie's splashing water at me."
I went into the bathroom again. Robbie stood up in the tub in full naked glory and pointed a toy pistol at me. The stream of water hit me straight in the face. I gasped and reached for a towel to wipe my eyes.
"Sal," Mike yelled. "These tabs won't stick."
Robbie and Dylan were both giggling and pointing at me. I reminded myself of the fact that they were children and to count to ten first. Okay, they might be part demon as well. I had to give Josie credit—I would have pulled my hair out long ago.
"Did you happen to get diaper cream on your hands?" I yelled back at Mike.
There was silence for a moment. "Damn it," I heard him growl.
Dylan started jumping up and down in the tub. "Uncle Mike said a naughty word!"
I grabbed two towels off the railing and held them out to the boys. When they were bundled up inside them, I reached in and drained the water from the tub. "Tell Danny it's his turn. I don't know if he'd rather have a shower or a bath."
"Danny's not out here," Dylan called from the living room.
"He must be in the kitchen then." I hoped he wasn't feeding Spike on the sly.
Mike came into the bathroom with the baby in his arms. Jeremy was wearing the diaper and nothing else. There was a piece of black masking tape wrapped around the top of it.
My jaw dropped. "What the heck did you do?"
Mike gave me a satisfied smile. "The diaper wouldn't stick, so I figured, hey, why waste another one? This one will never fall off."
I placed my hands on my hips. "What happens when he wets himself again? You're going to need scissors to cut it off him."
Mike's satisfied smile disappeared. "Oh. I forgot about that."
We heard a noise from nearby and cocked our heads to listen. It was the automatic garage door opening. Then the rumble of an engine hit our ears.
Mike and I stared at each other for a second, and then he instantly paled. "The key to the snowmobile—it was in the ignition!" He thrust the baby into my arms, sprinted down the hall and out the front door, still barefoot.
The baby started to howl, possibly indignant about Mike deserting him when they had just started to bond. Dylan and Robbie were smacking each other with cushions from the couch. I rushed to the front door in time to see Danny zooming over the grass in the snowmobile.
My heart leaped into my throat. "Stop him!" I screamed at Mike.
Fortunately the machine wasn't going very fast, but I was terrified that Danny might topple off of it at any moment. Apparently so was Mike because he ran to the side of it and wrapped his arms around Danny's waist. As he was about to lift him off the machine, Danny turned the handlebar, and it collided with Mike's nose. I shuddered and closed my eyes at the impact.
When I opened them a few seconds later, Danny was skipping toward me with a smug smile on his face that I longed to wipe off. Mike was lying on his back in the grass, struggling to move onto his side.
"Are you all right?" I examined the child quickly but secretly wanted to banish him to the corner until he left tomorrow. Fortunately there wasn't a scratch on him.
He nodded. "That was fun!" He pointed at the figure in the grass. "I think Uncle Mike might be dead though."
I hurried out onto the lawn and over to Mike's side, the baby still in my arms. "Are you
okay?"
Mike grunted unintelligibly as he slowly rose to his feet. A swear word popped out of his mouth, and I covered the baby's ears. Mike's dark hair was standing up on one end, and his face had been drained of color, except for the blood that dripped from his nose as he staggered over to me. "I have no idea what just happened."
"Don't worry. He's fine," I assured him.
Mike looked at me, a dazed expression on his face. "Who?"
"Danny." I wondered if he was having some type of temporary memory lapse. "We're watching Josie's kids, remember?"
Mike moved unsteadily toward the front door beside me. He looked like he had aged twenty years in those few minutes. "Those aren't kids, Sal," he said in a hoarse voice. "They're tiny devils without pitchforks who've been airmailed straight from hell."
I didn't say anything to Danny about the incident since I was just relieved that he hadn't been hurt. Also, I wasn't comfortable disciplining someone else's children, even if they were Josie's.
Danny went into the bathroom to take a shower while his brothers continued battling each other with the cushions in the living room. I brought the baby into the kitchen and undressed him, carefully cutting the masking tape off his diaper, then gave him a quick bath in the sink. He looked like he was growing tired, so afterward I dressed him in pajamas and hummed to him before I laid him down in the portable crib. He was so soft and cuddly, and I loved inhaling the smell of him. For a moment I might have even pretended that he was mine.
I gave the baby his pacifier and pulled the blanket over his tiny arms. As he stared up at me, all sweet and utterly adorable, the sight tugged at my heartstrings. I couldn't wait to do this with my own child someday. I glanced over at Mike, who was stretched out on our bed, wanting him to share in the moment with me. He had an ice pack propped against his nose, and his eyes were shut. For some reason, I didn't think he would be as enchanted as I was.
There was loud giggling coming from the living room. Mike opened his eyes for a brief moment then shook his head at me.
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