She harrumphed. “He does not. Don’t get me started on his toilet.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Chris leaned back against the island. Amusement made his blue eyes dance, and I could feel the corners of my own mouth lifting in response.
He really was so very pretty to look at. Not that he was pretty in the feminine sense, but...
I bit back a sigh. Hadn’t I told myself to stop swooning over him? This was just some sort of rescuer complex because he said I didn’t owe him, and I had no way to repay him back for his kindness.
People are kind for kindness’s sake, Erykah. You know this.
I did, but I didn’t. It was something I lived by, but not something I necessarily believed other people did too. But Chris went above and beyond. No way I could categorize all he did for me and my nieces as mere kindness. This was heroics.
Ugh, don’t use that word.
Right, because this wasn’t a romance book, and I certainly wasn’t a heroine. Heroines in the books Ellynn read were teachers, nurses, or even single moms. I couldn’t remember ever picking up one with a doctor or surgeon. Come to think of it, an animal conservationist who also happened to be a YouTuber was missing from the mix as well. Proof my feet were firmly planted in reality.
Now to get my head and heart on the same page and remember that Chris was not for us. None of my current circumstances were permanent. I’d find a new place and learn how to parent alone.
I suppressed a shiver. That made me want to curl up and cry, but I’d save that for later. Later when the clock struck midnight, and I was avoiding sleep because of the nightmares or crying myself to sleep because this would be my first time not visiting Kentucky for the holidays. Maybe one day, when the wound wasn’t so fresh, I’d go back and visit the cemetery where Ellynn and Asher lay. But not this year.
Twenty-Eight
The next morning, Chris had somehow found himself kicked out of the kitchen. He and Erykah had come up with a menu that both the adults and the children would enjoy. Yet Mom had taken one look at the sleep-deprived expression on Erykah’s face and Chris’s usual comatose-but-awake face and told them they were off kitchen duty this Thanksgiving. Erykah had mumbled a thanks, then gone right back to sleep.
Cheyenne sat in the living room, watching TV, and when Ash woke up, he took her from the crib and fed her since he’d offered to watch the girls so Erykah could get more rest. Now Ash sat near her big sister, safely in her Pack ’n Play, eyes glued to the TV.
He really needed to try to get the girls outdoors again. Yes, it was cold, and Colorado had already seen several winter storms, but there was so much to enjoy outside. Maybe a ski trip would be fun. The docuseries had paused filming because of Thanksgiving and would pause the last two weeks of December, too, so there was plenty of time before the new year to head up to the mountains.
He grinned. Seeing Erykah on skis could be interesting. Hedidn’t know if she’d ever gone before or if she was someone who preferred to remain indoors by a fireplace, sipping hot chocolate.
Chris splayed out on the couch and closed his eyes. He just needed to rest them for a moment, then he’d go back in the kitchen and see if Mom needed help.
“Chris. Wake. Up.”
Someone shoved him, and he blinked his eyes open. Cheyenne’s small face frowned at him. He heard Ash crying. He jumped up.Crap!How could he have fallen asleep on kid duty?
“What happened?” he asked.
“She’s hungry. Or she stinks.” Cheye shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“Right.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay.”
Ash held out her arms as he neared, and he scooped her up. She snuggled closer, but if the soggy diaper weighing on his arm could talk, she needed a change.
“Sorry, baby girl,” he murmured. “Let’s go get you changed.”
He headed down the basement stairs, then froze. Quiet sobs reached his ear. Erykah wasn’t asleep. She was grieving. He squeezed his eyes shut, mentally kicking himself in the rear. Why hadn’t he checked on her this morning? When the girls were occupied, he should’ve made sure she really was sleeping and not sobbing her heart out.
Chris quickly changed the baby’s diaper, went back up the stairs, and deposited her in the Pack ’n Play.
“I’m going to go talk to your aunt. Be back, Cheye.”
“Can I have a snack?”
“Come on in here,” his mom called. “I’ll get you something.”
Cheyenne ran into the kitchen, and Chris took his cue. He had to make sure Erykah knew she wasn’t alone.
Hetapped on her door. “Erykah?”
