Miles chuckles as they stumble toward us, and he reaches for the baby, who’s busy grinning at him with a two-tooth smile.
“Thank you,” Kelly rasps out.
Miles adjusts his hold so he has the baby in one arm and then comes back to the grill to help stir the scrambled eggs as I flip the bacon.
He looks good holding the baby. And he looks so happy as Penny has a fistful of his T-shirt that she’s trying to eat.
Ben and Kelly sit at the table next to Andrew and pour themselves some coffee.
Miles passes me Penny so that he can grab a pan to scoop the eggs in.
I wrap both arms around the baby and stare at it. She looks back at me with wide eyes. She wiggles, and I gasp as I try to adjust my hold so I don’t drop her.
“You’ve held a baby before, right?” Miles whispers as he finishes scraping the food off the griddle.
“No.”
“What?” He nearly drops the spatula.
“When would I have held a baby?” I whisper back furiously. “Can you take it back?”
Miles looks at me with wide eyes. “Think about it like holding a tiny puppy.”
“Oh.”
I stare back at the baby, then carefully adjust my arms to keep a steady hold of her while letting her lean back. She looks up at me in surprise and sticks a fist in her mouth.
“Hi. I’m Lucy. You and I are going to have to figure this out while Miles finishes breakfast.”
Penny seems to be paying attention to the whispered words, and her big, blinking eyes start to drift closed. I don’t know when I started swaying, but she seems to like it, so I don’t stop.
Less than a minute later, she’s asleep.
Kelly stands up and walks over to me as more family members filter toward the table with coffee, and now food, on it. “I’ve never seen her sleep on anyone except Ben and me. She must feel safe with you,” Kelly says with a smile. “Thank you. She was too excited to go back to sleep this morning, and she was exhausted.”
“You’re probably tired too,” I comment.
Kelly nods. “Maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea to try camping with a baby…but we love spending time with family.”
A car pulls in next to the campsite, and someone lays on the horn, startling the baby awake.
Kelly immediately reaches for her as she’s scared into crying. “Dammit, Preston.” She glares at the car that has tinted windows. “Of course he would wake her up.”
A man climbs out of the car, followed by a beautiful woman, who’s wearing a cute sundress and wedge heels. I glance down at my oversize sweatsuit that’s barely keeping me warm. She’s going to freeze her knobby knees—poor thing.
“I’m here! The party can start!” Preston calls loudly as he makes his way toward us.
I catch Miles’s eye and mouth,I already hate him.
Miles’s concerned look turns into a grin, and he reaches for my hand, pulling me to his side.
“Oh, you’re who he married?” Preston demands as he stops in front of me. He stares at me—from my tennis shoes up to the mess of wavy hair on the top of my head. “You’re kind of below his league, aren’t you?”
“Completely. But far above yours.” I smile sweetly at him and watch Andrew spit coffee out of the corner of my eye. I can feel Miles shaking beside me. “Who are you?” I ask as I hold out a hand to shake his.
Preston’s missing the smug look, and I know I’ve made an enemy with a few simple words. My job here is done. I’m not about to let him try to belittle Miles or me.
He ignores my question—and my hand—and turns to everyone at the table. “Grandma said that whoever won the bet had to be married for six months. They won’t last. Carly and I will still win.” It’s his first acknowledgment of the beautiful woman with him, and I can’t help but feel sorry for her.
