And she knew at this moment that her Laney Bug was right where she was meant to be.
“Weren’t you supposed to go out with Lance tonight?” Zeke said in a muted volume, so he didn’t cause his granddaughter to stir from slumber.
“We weren’t going out. But yeah, Laney and I were supposed to go over there for dinner and book club stuff.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. “Thank you for reminding me, actually. I’ll cancel.”
“Don’t cancel. You should go.”
“I’m not going to leave you and Mom with a sick baby.”
Jill and Zeke passed a look between them. “Then at least have him come over here,” Jill insisted. “We’ll make ourselves scarce. And you’ll still be near in case Laney needs you.”
Sarah would honestly rather just cancel. She wouldn’t be good company tonight. Despite her parents’ reassurance that all was well, she was still out of sorts.
“Think about it,” Zeke offered. “You still have a few hours. Who knows? Laney might take a turn for the better between now and then.”
CHAPTER 14
The text came through right as Lance was in the middle of pulling the dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets from the oven.
He’d gone overboard. He knew that. But he didn’t want to risk the chance that Laney wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat. So he’d made it all. Every childhood recipe and menu item he could think of.
Crinkle cut French fries with lots of ketchup on hand. Ants on a log with extra creamy peanut butter. Grilled cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Even the spaghetti spiders recommended by the young man at the market, along with Spaghetti-O’s for good measure. To drink he had a jug of apple juice (he’d remembered that from the other day at Nana Jo’s), carton of milk, and bottle of water, just to cover all of his bases.
He could open up a daycare with all of the kid-friendly options.
But reading Sarah’s text proved he wouldn’t need any of it.
What can I do?he typed back quickly, less concerned about the overage of food and more worried about Laney’s health.How can I help?
I’ve got things handled,Sarah responded, but Lance knew that was always her go-to.
The woman never wanted to be a burden. Lance thought it was crazy that she could ever become one. Hewantedto help. Had a deep-down desire to take some of the weight off her weary shoulders.
He dialed her number, knowing he’d never be able to convince her over text alone.
“Has your family eaten yet?” he barreled right in.
“Hi, Lance.” She gave the greeting he’d skipped over. He could hear the smile in her voice. “We haven’t, but Mom’s about to place a to-go order from Cornerstone.”
“Tell her not to.” With his cellphone wedged between his jaw and shoulder, Lance opened his upper cabinets to pull down the clear plastic food storage containers stowed away there. He made quick work of transferring the meals from their plates, snapping the lids in place. “I’ve got dinner covered for everyone. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Lance, you don’t—”
“I know I don’t have to, Sarah. Iwantto.”
She paused like she was thinking it over, while probably also overthinking. “Okay. Thank you. We really do appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said playfully. “You haven’t seen the menu.” He glanced down at Tahoe, who had been resting at his feet. “And I’ll be bringing someone with me.”
“Oh, Lance. This is sofun.”Jill Hart plunged another French fry into the ramekin of ketchup, submerging it almost completely. “Where on earth did you get the idea to cook all of this?”
“Sarah had said that Laney could be picky at times, so I really wanted to make sure she had plenty to choose from.”
“I’m sorry that she hasn’t even woken up to be able to enjoy any of it.” Sarah’s brows tugged tight over narrowed eyes. She cuddled Tahoe close in her lap, ignoring Zeke’s statement that dogs didn’t belong at the dinner table. But Lance saw the man sneak Tahoe a piece of chicken when he wasn’t looking, so he knew the warning was half-hearted at best.
“Don’t apologize,” Lance told Sarah. “There will be plenty left for when she wakes up, if she’s hungry.”
Zeke plucked a raisin “ant” from the celery stalk and popped it into his mouth. “Talk about nostalgia. I remember making these for you and Holden when you guys were little,” he said to his daughter. “You’d always lick all the peanut butter off and toss the rest.”
