The waitress returns and pushes a menu toward Kaci’s hand. “Are you joining this table? If you would like your own, I can add you to the waitlist. It’s about twenty minutes.”
“Oh, a twenty-minute wait.” She twists her wrist to look at her watch, and frowns while she turns to Bella. “Baby, I don’t know if we have time to eat. I have to get to that funeral.”
Bella’s face reflects disappointment, and before I can stop myself, I blurt out, “You can join us.”
Why did I do that?
It’s the people pleaser in me, and the fact that I can’t stand to see a hungry kid. Kaci’s stress is evident in the lines of her forehead. She looks exactly how I feel. Like I deserve a nice meal and a moment to sit down.
“Nah.” Kaci’s foot slides back as if she’s physically rejecting the invitation, but Bella’s face pales. I get what she’s feeling. I would be devastated if I was standing in the middle of a barbeque restaurant and didn’t get to stay for even an appetizer.
Rigsby waves his hand over the table to show our lack of drinks. “We haven’t even ordered yet. It’s perfect timing, and Bella’s hungry.”
Bella’s already climbing in, and Kaci flashes me a hesitant smile. “If you really don’t mind, we’re both starving and so pressed for time. I have a funeral and…” her voice drops off as her gaze latches on to Bella, and she adds, “If I can even go with Bella. I’m not sure that’s such a great idea. I got kicked out of my test because of the distraction.”
“Sounds like my morning.” I pause and ponder how to speak in code. I hate to speak negatively about Rigsby in front of him, but my morning was a disaster. “I got kicked out of my practice because of my distraction.”
Kaci tips her head to the side before she levels her gaze on me with a bit of a pointed glare. “That sounds awful. I know you think this is on the same level of atrocity, but it really,reallyisn’t.” Her words are slow, as if she’s weighing each one very carefully. “I got azeroon a test because ofyou. Not because ofmy child, but because of you calling me. You knew I was in class. Do you understand what that does to my grade?”
I blink and slide to the edge of my seat, emotion budding in my chest. It’s not anger, but confusion. How is this my fault? “Why did you answer it?”
“I didn’t know who it was. I thought it was an emergency with the school since I never called to let them know Bella was absent. I didn’t want them to report her missing or call the cops or something.” She isn’t unkind in her tone, but there’s an edge, warning me that she’s not one to be pushed over. Though that wasn’t what I was trying to do. She sure knows how to speak up for herself. Feisty.
“Ah, I guess I clearly wasn’t thinking.” Raking my hand through my hair, I take a deep breath. “I’ve been doing this parenting thing for one day, and I’m just frazzled. I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble. To be honest, I never went to college. It didn’t dawn on me that you could get a zero for that. I’m sorry.”
Her gaze remains unwavering, as if she is studying my every twitch. I run my hand through my hair again.Maybe inviting her to eat wasn’t a great idea? Not if she’s going to glare at me the whole time.I attempt to glare back, but her bright eyes spiral all the light back at me. They aren’t frightening or even that effective for glaring. It’s like when a poodle attempts to growl. You can’t help but laugh because they think they are tough, but they are the only ones. I guess if anyone is going to glare at me, it might as well be someone with a gorgeous face like hers.
The waitress walks up, taking a moment to smile at everyone. “Did you have time to look at the menu? I’m happy to answer any questions.”
“I’m good.” I look at Kaci, and she nods, so I order. “We’ll have a couple of root beers, and the bucket of boneless wings—one half Fire Inferno and the other half plain with about five sides of ketchup.”
The waitress jots down the order and then looks at Kaci. “And for you, ma’am?”
“We’re going to share a cheeseburger with a side of fries and two glasses of water, please.”
“Sounds good.” The waitress gathers our menus and points to the tablet on the table. “If you need to add anything to your order, you can do so on that tablet, and there are also games for the kids.”
That catches the attention of both kids. Rigsby snatches the tablet, but I place my hand on top of it and caution, “Only if you share.”
“And you put it away as soon as the food comes,” Kaci tacks on. Rigsby has already decided to crawl under the table. He pops up on the other side, squeezing between Bella and Kaci to get a better view of the tablet.
“That was easy.” I never cease to be amazed by Rigsby’s lack of shyness. I raise my hand and rub my temples, my brain throbbing. I can’t believe how badly this morning went. If I don’t find something to do with Rigsby for my press conference, I’ll likely be benched for the next game—if I keep my position. I need a babysitter. Someone who can watch him for an hour or so. I let out a heavy sigh and stare across the table.
Kaci’s peering at the tablet, making sure the kids are taking turns. She’s not my favorite person on the planet, but she’s in the same position . . . and a solution pops into my head. I lean forward. “Hey, I have an idea.”
“Oh, yeah. What’s that?” She barely glances at me, just sweeping her lashes up for a mere second before bringing her focus back to the tablet.
“I’m sorry about this morning. As I said, I wasn’t thinking,” I swallow, as I’m still hoping she’ll look this way. She seems to be doing everything she can to ignore me. I go on. “The truth is, I’m super stressed right now. My day is packed full of things, as I’msure yours is. I was wondering if we can form a truce and team up to help each other get through our day. I can watch Bella for anything you need to get done, if you can take Rigsby for my press conference.”
Her lips slowly bend into a smile as she catches up, and her gaze peels off the tablet to focus on me. “I like the idea of having some help. I can take them for your conference. I have a funeral and another class. I would love help during my class before I end up failing that one too.” Her eyes widen as her hand digs into her coat pocket. She pulls out her phone and reads a text. “My car is done, and they are going to drop it off. Isn’t that another relief?”
“It sounds like this day finally got better.” I sigh and lean back.
“Right.” The airy chuckle that slips from her lips is so cute that it causes me to look at her mouth. She really does have a beautiful smile with full pouty lips that seem to naturally pucker. Hmm. It’s weird I didn’t notice that before, but maybe it’s because, up until now, she was mostly scowling at me.
The waitress drops off our food. I don’t waste a moment digging in. My first bite is so delicious, it hits the spot, further solidifying that today is finally turning around. After taking another bite and swallowing, I can’t resist saying, “I’m so glad the worst of the day is over.”
Her lips pucker until they land at an impish pout. “Please don’t jinx it.”
