The After of Us (Judge Me Not #4)(16)

Jack leans in and I hear him whisper, “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay, Lily. We’ll keep you company.”

Great. I feel like an ass for bringing up the subject with the kids still seated at the table. I’m not the only one thinking it was a mistake. Kay winces at my blunder, and Chase just shakes his head and rolls his eyes at me.

“Why don’t you kids go play upstairs,” he says gently to the children.

Quietly—they can sense it’s adult-talk time—Jack leads Sarah and Lily from the room.

When the kids are out of sight, Chase twists in his chair to face me. “So, Will.” I can see he’s losing patience with me. “How exactly do you see this going down? I mean, like, what’s the long-range plan here? You didn’t mention a word about leaving Lily when we were over at the apartment.”

I throw up my hands. “Why the f*ck do you think I came here?” I ask.

With his words clipped, Chase says, “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I was stupid enough to think you wanted me and Kay to meet your daughter, who also happens to be our f*cking niece.”

Kay places her hand on Chase’s arm. “Chase, please.”

It’s a plea for him to calm down. I know my brother’s seething inside. I’ve pushed far too many buttons of his for too many years. I really can’t blame him for his wariness now.

Sighing, Chase says, “Seriously, Will, you have to think this thing through. You can’t leave that little girl here in Ohio. You think the best thing is for her to get used to being a part of our family for the next couple of weeks, maybe more, and then rip her away? Not to mention, she needs to spend time with you. Two days on the job doesn’t make you a father, Will.”

“Uh, um,” I stammer. “I guess I haven’t really thought it through.”

“Obviously,” Chase retorts.

He may be right, but his attitude still grates on my nerves. “Whatever,” I mutter.

When I hear him mumbling back, “Typical,” I lose my shit.

“I’m not asking you to watch Lily,” I snap, pushing my chair back so that the legs scrape on the hardwood floor.

I’m feeling more trapped than ever now that I’m faced with the cold, hard truth.

“Look, Lily and I will just go,” I say, standing abruptly. “You said you’d help, but that was obviously a lie.”

“Quit being a hothead,” Chase spits out.

“Oh, that’s rich,” I snap. “A hothead, huh? Guess you would know.”

I turn, all set to storm out of the room, but then Kay chimes in with, “Will, please. Just sit back down so we can talk.”

I reluctantly comply, since Kay is a sweetheart. “Okay, okay.” I blow out a breath as I plop down on the chair I never pushed back in.

“Let’s hear your plan,” Kay says to me. And then, turning to Chase, she adds, “You have to admit Will’s stuck between a rock and hard place, hon. I think we need to at least hear him out.”

Chase, stubborn as he is, shrugs. “Yeah, sure, let’s hear him out.”

“Well,” I begin, “I figured Kay’s here every day with the kids anyway—”

Chase cuts me off. Pointing an accusatory finger my way, he says, “You are not pushing your responsibility off on my wife.”

“I don’t mind,” Kay interjects. “It’s only for a couple of weeks.”

I have Kay on my side at the moment, and I throw in, “At the absolute most.”

Chase still isn’t thrilled, that much is clear from his sour expression, but before he can derail my plan, I suddenly remember how he and Kay once mentioned that a daycare recently opened down at the school where Kay used to teach first grade.

After downing a much-needed gulp of ice water, I say, “Hey, I have an idea. What if I enroll Lily for a couple of days each week at that daycare you told me about, the one down at Holy Trinity Elementary?”

Chase, who hasn’t looked over at me since he got ticked off, finally meets my gaze. “Go on,” he urges.

“Having Lily out of the house a couple of mornings would lighten the load on Kay, right? Plus, Lily would get used to hanging around kids other than Sarah and Jack. Maybe that’d make it easier for her to adjust when she has to leave.”

“You don’t have to enroll her in daycare,” Kay murmurs.

But Chase overrides her when he says, “I think that’d be fair, for everyone involved.”

My brother smiles over at his wife, like an “I just want what’s best for you” assurance. When she smiles back, understanding and appreciation so clear on her face, I am struck with a feeling of longing for a bond like theirs.

Quit being a *, I chastise myself. Two damn days with Lily and I’m in some kind of weird nesting mode. Truly, I need to get the hell out of here. I need to haul my ass to New York, and start behaving like a man.

Yeah, leaving your kid behind is really manning up, dude.

Kay is speaking to me, not saying that of course, though she probably should. I mentally smack myself and whisk away all these stupid thoughts.

“You remember Emma Metzger, right?” Kay is asking me.

Oh, hell yes, I remember, but I carefully reply, “Hmm, not sure.”

“Emma is Missy’s cousin,” Kay continues, clueless to the fact that I know exactly who she means. “And Emma recently took over my old teaching position. Anyway, she also runs the daycare down at the school. You’ll need to talk with her, to see if she has a spot open for Lily. I’m sure she can fit her in. But, just to be sure, I’ll give her a call tonight and bring her up to speed.”