“I feel like that’s a trick question. I don’t want to lie to them, so I wouldn’t say I’mokaywith it, but I can handle it if it’s necessary,” he said.
“In this instance, it’s necessary.”
“Understood. Now, out with it,” he said and gestured for me to hurry up.
“He’s my half brother Ben’s son. Ben asked me to keep him while he serves thirty days in jail.”
“And you said yes?” Landon asked in disbelief.
“I didn’t have a choice. I mean, I could’ve said no, but Ben said he didn’t have anyone else and that he’d end up in foster care if I couldn’t help him.”
Landon scoffed. “He guilted you into it.”
“Pretty much,” I admitted.
“What about the baby’s mother? Or your mother?” he asked.
“Apparently, Kalen’s mother left him on Ben’s doorstep with a note saying she didn’t want to be a mother anymore. I didn’t ask about our mother. She didn’t want to raise her own kids, so I would assume it’d be the same for her grandchildren.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this until now,” Landon said.
“I didn’t really have a chance to. It was a rough weekend,” I admitted.
“Next time, call me so I can help.”
“Next time?” I asked incredulously. “There better not be a next time.”
“You know what I meant,” he huffed. “Now, can I hold him?”
“Of course you can.”
Landon clapped his hands together once and reached down to lift Kalen from his seat. “Come here, little cutie,” he cooed and cradled Kalen against his chest. “How do I look?” he asked and struck a pose.
“You look good with a baby,” I said sincerely.
“Thanks!” he beamed. “Oh, before I forget, something’s wrong with the security cameras. When I checked the app, it said the cameras were offline and have been since around six o’clock Friday evening. I’m not sure how we missed it before we closed. I did everything listed in the troubleshooting section, but nothing worked. Do you want me to call and see if someone needs to come out?” he asked and handed the baby back to me when he started to fuss.
“Yes, thank you,” I said and placed Kalen in his bouncy seat. “I’ll be in here for a while. This little guy wasn’t such a happy camper on Saturday, so I have some paperwork to catch up on.”
“I’ll give Jackson Security a call now,” he said and went back to the front desk.
Landon knocked on my door and pushed it open a few minutes later. “The earliest Jackson Security can have someone here is Sunday. The next available appointment after that is the following Saturday.”
I didn’t like the thought of not having working security cameras for almost two weeks, especially while I was taking care of Kalen. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about the situation with Ben wasn’t sitting right with me. I’d felt uneasy since he’d left his son with me. So, I opted for the first available appointment even though the office was closed on Sundays.
I’d already been thinking about adding on to our security system since several cars had been broken into at the apartment complex where Landon lived, which was right beside Stuff It. But when I realized the cameras stopped working the same night Ben showed up with Kalen, I decided to go ahead and have the security system upgraded when they came out to replace or repair the cameras.
3
BLAKELY
“Hello,” a male voice called from the front of the store. “I’m here with Jackson Security.”
I grabbed my cell phone from my desk and quickly closed the door to my office. “Sorry about that,” I started and turned around to introduce myself. But I damn near choked on my tongue when my eyes landed on the man standing in front of me. Dark blonde hair. Blue eyes. Muscles. Tattoos. I knew I was staring, but I couldn’t even make myself blink.
And then he grinned.
“Hi,” he extended his hand. “I’m Grant. Are you Blakely?”
