Bad Traveler (21 page)

Guilt flooded her system. How could she denigrate the past? She would never regret Chloe. No matter how little she wanted to see him, he was right. They were forever connected. Too bad a better man wasn’t her daughter’s father.

***

Kyle rolled out of bed and started a pot of coffee. He dropped the stainless-steel carafe into the sink. The carafe remained intact. The quiet morning did not. He turned his head toward the loud moan emanating from the couch. “Sorry, Logan.”

“If I can’t get some sleep, can I at least get some coffee?”

“I’m working on it. Besides, you didn’t have to stay out so late last night.” With the press of a button, the machine whirred to life. His coffee would pale compared to Gwen’s.

“I did have to stay out. I was on a mission for you, remember?”

Coffee dripped into the carafe, and he pulled two mugs from the cabinets. “Right. Let’s debrief.”

Listening and prodding his cousin with questions, he learned a considerable amount, in spite of Logan’s disorganized recounting and his hazy memories. He assessed the situation later in the day, after Logan went home.

As expected, Cody had accepted Logan into his confidence during the game, when the two grumped about a bad call. They went out for beers after the game. At the bar, Cody commented on the cute coeds, bought several rounds, and claimed he was in town visiting his girlfriend. According to Logan, he made no mention of having a daughter. Instead, he waxed poetically about Gwen as beautiful, smart, and hot in the sack. The accurate assessment only made him want to hurt the guy more. He confessed to being on the outs with his girlfriend, some hormonal thing. Apart from the occasional nagging, she was all right and desperate to return to his bed.

Perhaps his opponent for Gwen’s affection was delusional. That would be the best and most likely scenario. Nothing in her behavior made him believe she returned the guy’s affection. Cody insisted she wanted him. He’d failed to mention Chloe to Logan. On the other hand, if Cody appealed to Gwen’s sense of family and duty, would she go with him?

***

Gwen struggled to turn Chloe over to Cody in the afternoon. She didn’t want to trust him. Part of her wanted to say yes when Cody asked her to join them, but he would read it as a sign of her interest in him, not as a sign of her protection of her daughter. How much trouble could they get into running to the store for diapers anyway? This was all about Chloe needing a relationship with her father. In their absence, she cranked up music and worked on developing new recipes. Her mind refused to focus on budgeting. She called Kyle.

“Caramel brownies? I’ll be there in ten minutes.” And he was.

Knowing Cody could return any second, they stayed in the kitchen, tasting samples using different types of caramel and running projected costs for materials. Not only had he rallied customers when she first opened and talked her through the rough spots, but he cheered her success. Since that awful airplane ride and a chance meeting in Detroit, her life had improved. Her business and her life seemed like a partnership with Kyle. And he liked chocolate.

Her ringing cell phone startled her. She checked the number. Cody. Through clenched jaw, she answered. “Hello.”

“Hey, babe. Chloe got a bump, and she’s bleeding, so we’re going to the hospital.”

“Oh, my God!” Her chest tightened. Kyle gestured for her to take deep breaths. “Which hospital?”

“I don’t know. We’re in the car still.”

“Go to the one near your hotel. I’ll meet you there.”

She ended the call, certain she would crumple in a heap on the floor if not for Kyle’s supportive touch.

The next few minutes blurred into a series of motions achieved without her awareness. Somehow, he got her out of the house and into the hospital. His presence kept her from spilling into utter panic.

At the reception desk, she stuttered, unable to form the words. Kyle took charge, explaining how her daughter had been brought here. When they learned Chloe wasn’t registered as a patient, the nurse directed them down another hall toward triage.

The vise of terror squeezing her lungs broke free. If it were serious, Chloe would be under the doctor’s care already, given her age. Walking away from the desk, she sensed the receptionist giving her the stink eye, accusing her of being a bad mother who’d lost her injured child. Why had she let Cody go off with Chloe? How could he have let her get hurt? Her fists itched to inflict bodily harm of her own, but Cody’s muscles put a bodybuilder’s to shame. Her mind raged, blaming Cody’s lack of attention and her own foolishness for Chloe’s injury. At least Kyle stood beside her.

The patient intake room had low-back vinyl couches, low tables, and a more modern decor than the waiting room where she sat weeks ago with Kyle and Coach Meyer’s wife. She scanned the room, trying to spy Cody. Her diaper bag rested on the floor at a nurse intake booth.

Sweeping Chloe into her arms as soon as she reached the cubical, she glared at Cody. He looked humbled. For once, his expression lacked swagger, arrogance, and lust. Her fingers traced Chloe’s face. Relief flooded her body. Chloe’s fat lip needed an ice pack, not stitches.

The nurse drummed her fingers on the countertop. “Identification and insurance card please.”

“Not necessary. I’m so sorry to have wasted your time for a little bump. I’ll follow up with her pediatrician tomorrow.”

The nurse shook her head, closed down the screen, and dismissed them. Gwen indicated Cody should follow her to a quiet corner of the waiting area.

Chloe’s presence kept her from throttling Cody. Restraining her voice to no more than a hiss, she started with a few sugary words, praising his concern and willingness to attend to Chloe’s medical needs. She bit her tongue as Cody explained that he let Chloe down on the floor of the toy store because she was fussing in her stroller. When she climbed on a shelf, she slipped.

“Accidents happen.” Inwardly, she seethed. Who let a nine month old loose in a store? Still, Cody had panicked the same way she did when her baby got her first scratch. Bloodcurdling screams brought nurses running from all over the nursery ward. Her cheeks burned in remembered embarrassment of the nurse’s casual assessment that Chloe’s fingernails needed a trim. She’d come a long way as a parent. That Cody freaked out in the store proved he was trying to become a good one, too.

Still seated in the cubical chairs, he questioned her willingness to have Chloe checked out by doctors.

“The bleeding stopped, and she’s acting like herself.” Her meager health insurance coverage had factored into her decision to wait. She couldn’t afford a trip to the hospital, not unless it was a true emergency.
No time like the present to discuss this idea
.

“Raising a child is expensive, especially medical care. If I use my insurance too much, they’ll raise my rates or, worse, drop me. The Christmas gifts were nice, but maybe you could also help with expenses like the health-insurance premium.”

He sat back, looking deep in thought, or as deep as a shallow man could. He nodded. “I’ll make some calls, see if I can get her on my coverage.”

His offer was more than generous. At most, she hoped he might contribute a bit of money, but this was better. The fire department offered great coverage. Adding Chloe to his policy would be a huge help. Maybe, just maybe, he was growing up a little.

“That would be great. Maybe we should cut today’s adventure a little short. I’ll take Chloe home with me, but we’ll make sure you spend more time with her, that is if you will still be in town.”

“I haven’t booked my return flight yet. I have another three weeks of disability leave.”

“The library offers a story time on Wednesday mornings. We haven’t tried it because of work, but the program sounds nice.” Toddler time at the library seemed like a safe outing. To get Chloe better insurance, she could make some concessions.

As they walked across the room, he offered to drive her and Chloe back home, except Kyle insisted he needed to pick up some folders left on the kitchen table. Gwen noted the men prowled around each other, neither one wanting to take the first attack, and yet, neither wanting to step aside and look weak. She stepped toward Kyle, narrowing her eyes at Cody before suggesting they
all
go together to get the car seat from his rental car.

***

Kyle respected her pensive mood on the short drive home. It suited him as well. Through her glances and body language, she affirmed his importance in her life, but something nagged at him. She’d been too nice today, almost laughing off Cody’s ineptitude rather than giving him the chewing out he deserved. Perhaps she had unfinished business with him or some unresolved feelings. She should be more assertive and send the jerk away, tail between his legs too ashamed and hopeless to ever come back. That wasn’t all. He wanted her to pick him, to proclaim to the world they were a couple and prove she loved him back.

Tension formed in his neck. What were Cody’s motives? He presented himself to Gwen as a man wanting to be a responsible father and involved in his child’s life, yet Logan’s report provided contradictory information. The kindest word he could use to describe Cody was shifty.

***

On Wednesday, she restrained herself from calling to check up on Cody. Every time the thought crossed her mind, she reminded herself that calling him during the library story time would be disruptive and rude to the other patrons. Her shop bustled with more activity than usual, thanks to that night’s basketball game. Once word spread through town the coaches breakfasted and talked strategy there in the mornings, the Sweet Spot attracted new patrons hoping for insight or a chance to offer advice to them. Thanks to her baking, they came back again.

The customers may have been disappointed not to see the coaches there this morning, but most stayed long enough to order a scone or muffin or some cookies to go. The pleasing scent of her chocolate-cherry muffins proved as irresistible to the other patrons as they had to Kyle earlier this morning.

When he slipped in the back door to pick up a box of assorted muffins to go, he’d given her a quick kiss. He’d sniffed the box, offered a cockeyed grin, and stepped back inside. “Chocolate?”

“With cherries. I was inspired.”

He put the box down and kissed her against the back wall with such intensity that when he pulled away, she couldn’t believe she was still fully dressed. After he left, she’d availed herself of the mirror and a hairbrush, replacing the stray strands Kyle’s roving fingers had pulled loose. She needed to move out of her parents’ house and into her own apartment stat.

Thursday morning, he didn’t disappoint her customers. The coaches enjoyed accolades from her patrons eager to extend their congratulations. She had her own reasons for celebrating. Cody had returned Chloe in one piece, with not a scratch visible.

***

Saturdays were the best day all week. And today was no exception. Chloe cooed in her play area, kicking her feet at toys dangling on a toy bar, and filling the air with the pleasant sounds of rattles and chimes.

The other days of the workweek had predictable patterns—periods of frantic work followed by brief lulls. Saturdays moved at a slower pace. She opened the shop at seven since she needed to be there to bake. In practice, few customers trickled in prior to her part-time help’s arrival at ten. She whipped up three flavors of muffins and two types of scones as soon as she arrived and pulled cookie dough made the day before from the walk-in refrigerators. As they baked, she brewed the coffee and enjoyed a cup while playing with her daughter.

When the first round of muffins came out of the ovens, she turned her attention back to the cookies, slicing the roll and then putting them on cold trays. To the drop cookies that looked skimpy, she added extra chips or candy, so they appeared decadent. When the jingle bells on the door announced the arrival of a customer, she scrubbed her hands and took care of their needs. Since most of the people got orders to go, often she and Chloe had the whole place and all of its warm, homey smells to themselves.

Once Chloe could walk, the bouncy seat and playpen would lose their appeal. Although her family helped with Chloe, she didn’t like taking advantage of their generosity. Her parents refused payment for watching Chloe and for rent.

Budgeting software Kyle recommended showed she could afford either an apartment or childcare. Too bad most of the apartments in her price range were rundown or had paper-thin walls except for a one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town geared more toward professionals and graduate students. With the decreased rent, she could pay for part-time daycare. But….

There was always a but. In spite of her baby’s giggles, she scowled. To afford the apartment, she needed her parents to watch Chloe three days a week, and a car of her own, and for Cody to pay the child support and get Chloe on his insurance. If he followed through on his promises. His change of heart remained mysterious.

In the weeks before she’d left Phoenix, after she moved out of the apartment, he’d tried contacting her a few times. His messages went to voice mail, and she got rid of that number without ever listening to them. The few friends she’d made there promised not to tell him her whereabouts. He’d been so hurtful and dishonest when he cheated on her as she carried his baby.

She’d deluded herself he would come around and share her joy after the baby arrived. Except, nothing changed. He’d missed the birth, left the name up to her, and only held Chloe once before they left the hospital. She had to sign the discharge papers so the nurse put their baby in his arms. At home, she couldn’t recall him changing a single diaper. His withdrawal from family grew more acute. Why the change of heart?

Chloe’s coos shifted to urgent cries, bringing her back to her current surroundings. Even without words, babies communicated in pitch. She moved her to the bouncy chair, knowing what came next. With a spoon and a jar of applesauce, she appeased her little girl’s appetite. Contentment filled her heart as the applesauce filled her daughter’s belly. Life was almost perfect. Her own place would be nice, but she had Chloe, Kyle, and managed a great little bakery. She couldn’t ask for too much more than that.