Drew sank onto the couch like his legs had given out, running both hands through his hair. “I’ve been trying to get her to sleep for hours. I’m starting to think she’ll only go to sleep if she’s sung to.”
He looked at me then, and for a moment I felt like I was twelve years old again, sitting in the choir room while he listened to me practice.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I’m starting to worry I’m not cut out for this—that I might not be what she needs, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
I gently sat down next to him, careful not to jostle the sleeping baby in my arms. “You’re doing your best. That’s all anyone can do.”
I didn’t know why I felt the need to comfort him. I had no doubt, if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t be nearly as nice to me.
We sat there in the sudden quiet of the house, Rory sleeping peacefully in my arms, and I tried to ignore the way my heart was beating faster than it should. I’d known working with Drew was going to be dangerous, but I’d never expected it to be like this.
“So,” Drew said after a moment, his voice careful. “Psychology project?”
I glanced down at Rory’s sleeping face, then back at him. “Maybe we should focus on attachment theory,” I said. “I think we might have some insights to offer.”
Drew’s smile was small but genuine. “Yeah. I think we might.”
SEVENTEEN
“She’s got your stubborn streak already,” Ava said, gently bouncing Rory in her arms while I tried to focus on my econ homework spread across the coffee table. “Look at that little frown. That’s pure Dumontier determination right there.”
I looked up from my textbook to see my twin sister making faces at my baby, who was indeed sporting a tiny scowl that looked remarkably like the expression I made when Coach was lecturing us about missed plays.
“Great,” I muttered, highlighting another paragraph about supply and demand curves. “Just what the world needs—another stubborn Dumontier.”
Liam was sprawled in the armchair across from me, supposedly working on his own assignments but mostly just watching Ava work her magic with Rory. She’d shown up an hour ago with a bag full of supplies and immediately taken over, forcing me to take the first real break I’d had in days.
An hour later, I was deep in a paragraph about elasticity of demand when Rory started getting fussy in Ava’s arms,making those little whimpering sounds that usually meant a full meltdown was incoming.
“Try singing to her,” I said without looking up from my textbook. “Harper did that yesterday and it worked like a charm.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and I immediately felt heat creep up my neck. Fuck. Why had I just said that?
Ava raised an eyebrow. “HarperTinsley? As in our sworn enemy Harper Tinsley?”
“She’s not our sworn enemy,” I said automatically, then caught myself. “I mean, she is, but—fuck, I don’t know what I mean.”
Liam’s head shot up from his textbook. “Did you just defend Harper Tinsley?”
“I didn’t defend her. I just said she was good with the baby. It’s an observation, not a character reference.”
But even as I said it, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way Harper had looked yesterday when she was holding my daughter. She’d had this gentle expression on her face, swaying back and forth, and when she started singing… Fuck, it had thrown me back to a time I’d shoved deep into the recesses of my mind.
“Harper sang this lullaby when Rory was fussing.” I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to shake off the memory. “I hadn’t heard her sing since?—”
“Sixth grade,” Ava finished, her voice thoughtful. “The choir concert.”
“You remember that?”
“Of course I remember. You were obsessed with her for a few weeks up until that concert. Following her around like a lost puppy, helping her with homework, walking her to choir practice. I thought you’d lost your damn mind.” Avashifted the baby to her other arm. “Then something happened and you came home all angry and hurt, and suddenly Harper Tinsley was the enemy again.”
Liam was watching this exchange with fascination. “Wait, you two were friends? How the fuck did I miss that?”
“For like three weeks,” I said dismissively. “It was stupid kid stuff.”
“Wasn’t that when you were visiting your dad?” Ava asked Liam, and his face shuttered. We didn’t talk about Liam’s dad anymore, but Ava didn’t know the whole story.
“Must’ve been,” he muttered and then put his head back down and focused on his own homework.
