Debbie nodded. She had plenty of space for lots of things she didn’t have. She also had plenty of things she didn’t necessarily need, because she had no one to help fill up this house.
“I’d better get my groceries home.” Austin stepped toward the door.
“Are you sure I can’t pay you for delivering my diapers?”
He held up both hands, palms out. “That’s not necessary. Congratulations on becoming a foster parent. I hope you get to foster lots of babies who will use up those diapers.”
“Thanks, me too.” She followed him to the garage door.
He turned back after stepping into the garage. “I know it’s none of my business, but um…when you do get a child or children, it might be easier to take them places if you…had a car that was a little…more family-friendly.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Debbie smiled at him. It was kind of cute the way he tried not to say something she might take offense to. “It’s on my to-do list. And after tonight’s fiasco, it’s at the top of the list. I’ll probably go buy a new car tomorrow.”
His brow furrowed again as he gave a slight shake of his head.
Debbie knew the look well. She’d seen it often enough on the faces of her family. And she hated it. When she wanted something, she bought it. She didn’t need to look for the best deal that fit her budget. Heck, she didn’t even need a budget.
She’d grown tired of feeling like people judged her for spending her money. It wasn’t like she was wasteful or anything. She always put the things she bought to good use. That’s why she planned on turning the Porsche in when she bought another car. She’d miss it, but she didn’t need two cars.
Austin waved and continued down the steps.
Debbie watched him climb into his truck before pushing the button to close the garage door. It’s just as well he was probably married. She had a difficult enough time with her self-esteem; she didn’t need some stranger–no matter how good looking and nice he was–judging her for her life choices.
CHAPTER3
Austin looked in his rear-view mirror as he drove away from Debbie’s house. Talk about extravagant. No wonder her family considered her impulsive.
He’d worked in construction long enough to know there was nothing impulsive about building or buying a house though. Especially a house that size. Of course, with the kind of money she seemed to have, maybe she hadn’t needed to jump through as many hoops as most home buyers. She didn’t sound like she’d have much trouble buying a new car tomorrow.
Must be nice.
The thought of her being independently wealthy made her a little less attractive. He shouldn’t hold her financial status against her, but he’d been criticized… and burned by the wealthy too many times to count.
He shook off his somber mood and pushed Debbie’s pretty red hair and blue eyes out of his head as he pulled into the driveway of his much smaller rental home.
His boys must have been watching for him, because they both ran out of the house before Austin stopped the truck. They wore pajamas, which meant they’d already had their baths. A lot of good it did, since they came out barefoot.
Austin opened his door and slid from the truck only to be enveloped in a double hug. He wrapped an arm around each boy and squeezed. Most boys weren’t this demonstrative at ages seven and nine, but the last five years had been rough on all of them, and the kids spent too many hours alone.
Austin worked long hours with a lengthy commute. He hated it, and he hoped to someday get to the point where he didn’t need to work so much to support his family. That wouldn’t happen for a long time yet, thanks to Cheyenne.
“Daddy, guessss what?” Cody said with a hiss.
“What, buddy?”
“I lost another tooth. Sssee?” He grinned, exposing his toothless front gums.
“Another one, already? Did Savannah have to help pull it out?”
She probably hated having to do that.
“Nope. It fell out when I wasss eating an apple.”
Austin grinned. He hoped for Cody’s sake, his top teeth grew in faster than the bottom two did. The poor kid had finally lost his lisp a few months ago after almost a year of waiting for his teeth to grow in. And now it was back.
He patted the boys’ backs. “I’m glad my big strong helpers are here to carry in all the groceries.”
By the time he got the boys loaded with the mega-sized packages of toilet paper and paper towels, Savannah had come out to help. He gave her a quick peck on the forehead then loaded her up with groceries. After a second trip for each of them, they all worked together to unpack the goods. The boys kept up a constant discourse about their day, often talking over each other, especially when they talked about the video game they’d played.
