“Let the window down,” his deep tenor sounded.
I cracked the window and immediately said, “I’m sorry.”
His frown deepened. “For what? Lying?”
“What? No,” my brows dipped. “I?—”
“Said you were fine. You’re not. Said you were leaving. You didn’t. Are those not classified as lies?”
“Yes, but?—”
“In case it’s not clear to you, love, I’m done allowing you to lie to my face,” he cut me off again. “It’s freezing out here, and you’ve had this child sitting here all day.” He shook his head, removing one his hands from his pocket to try and open my back door. “Open up.”
“What? No. What are you doing?” My brows dipped and I flipped around quickly in my seat as if I didn’t have the doors locked. “I told you that we were fine!”
“And we’ve established that your ass is lying,” he snapped. “I’m doing everything in my power not to call and report this, but if you don’t get her and get outright now, you’re leaving me no choice.” He glared at me but when my tears started to flow, his features softened. “It’s the holidays, and the last thing I want to do is tear a child away from her mother. Please get her and come inside. You both can warm up and she can sleep comfortably in a bed while we try to figure things out for you.”
All out of options, I nodded and got ready to get out, but I asked, “Can I just drive my car up? I don’t want to leave it down here.”
He eyed me for a second but reluctantly agreed before walking to my passenger side and tugging on the locked door. I didn’t want to risk pulling off and him really calling the police, so I unlocked my door and waited for him to get inside. I backed up to his driveway, then turned in and slowly made my way up. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to see, but I knew for sure it wasn’t the stunning home that was shining brightly with Christmas lights when I made it up the driveway. It truly looked like something straight out of a magazine.
There was a large window in front that gave a clear view of the inside. I wondered why it was so open, but I could see curtains hanging on the side. There was a large fountain in the circular driveway, lit with gold lighting to match the décor on theoutside. It was really beautiful and had me wondering what the inside looked like.
“Hang tight,” he said before climbing out after I parked.
He rounded the car to help me out first then waited for me to open the back door. “You can grab baby girl, and I’ll get your things.”
I nodded and leaned in to get Ava then waited for him to get our bags. Once he had them all, he led us inside. I had to force myself to keep my mouth closed when I entered. The inside of his home was beautifully decorated and had evenmeafraid to touch something in fear that I’d get it dirty. Everything was so white and in place. In the carpeted areas I could see the lines that were proof the space had recently been vacuumed, and the marbled areas shined brightly. Seeing it all made me feel like I didn’t belong.
“I-I don’t know,” I voiced when we made it to a bedroom on the second floor. “T-this might not be a good idea.”
He sighed heavily, placing the bags at the foot of the bed. “What’s not a good idea.”
“Us staying here,” I admitted.
“Well, it’s the only choice you have for now.” He turned to face me, pushing his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants. “Don’t fight me on this and don’t worry tonight. There’s fresh linen in the closet inside the bathroom, so you and baby girl can get cleaned up and rest. You look like you need it.”
With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him. I stood there staring at it as if it could answer any of the questions I had and wondering if I should follow him out and take my chances by leaving but when my baby shifted in my arms, I remembered the prayer I’d sent up while putting my baby to sleep. Even if it was only for the night, I was going to take advantage of this blessing and figure the rest out in the morning.
Chapter Four
“Idon’t even know if kids eat this shit,” I mumbled as I scanned over the groceries that I had delivered this morning. I could’ve called my mom or any other mother in my family, but it would have all led to a million questions on why I needed to know.
I’d barely gotten any sleep last night because all I was thinking about was why that woman had her child out in the car all day and where the fuck her husband was. I noticed the ring the first time I went to her car, and assumed he was the help that she was waiting on, but I’d obviously assumed wrong.
Deciding that I’d wait for her to get up to get answers to my questions, I put the refrigerated items away, left the rest of the stuff on the counter for them to find when they came down, then went to make myself a cup of coffee. I had a couple of meetings planned and decided to conduct them from home since I had unplanned guests.
While my coffee brewed, I looked over the day’s agenda that I had Mel send over. I ignored all of her texts asking me why I wasn’t coming in because if I answered it would open the floodgate to questions that I didn’t have the answer to yet.
“Good morning,” I heard from behind me.
When I turned around, I was nearly knocked off my feet by the refreshed and beautiful face of my impromptu guest. She was dressed in a white sweater, some jeans and the same Ugg boots I’d seen her wearing the day before. Her skin was more vibrant today and her eyes had more light to them. I assumed that it was all due to the fact that she was actually able to get a good night’s sleep.
Not wanting to seem like a creep or scare her by gawking at her, I found my voice and said, “Good morning. How did you sleep?”
“Great, thank you.” She smiled brightly. “I wanted to come down and thank you before waking Ava. You didn’t have to open your home up to us, but you did and I’m grateful, Mister…” she paused, waiting for my name.
“Dr. Ward, but you can call me Kiyan,” I answered.
