know what a baby is.” Her eyes narrowed, and she pointed. “Is that your baby?”
He was beginning to resent the way no one believed he could be a father. “Yep. Mine.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, I see. You must have heard about me, then. But all the advice is on my website. I’m thinking about adding Skype chats, but you’re a little early for that.”
“Excuse me?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here? You’d like some advice? Is she not sleeping through the night? Colic? Do you want to know the best diaper to use?”
He cleared his throat, because damned if he couldn’t use all of that and then some.
“No. I’m fine. Okay, let’s start over. I’m Levi Lambert, your next-door neighbor.” He stuck out his hand and shook hers.
“Carly Gilmore.”
“I’m in a bind this morning. My sitter, Annie, well, she ran off and got married yesterday and forgot to tell me about it. So...she’s not coming.”
“Annie. Yeah. That was not a wise choice.”
“You’re telling me. I’m new in town, and one of my friends recommended her.”
“Yes, she’s sweet but unreliable.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure how I can help you.”
A little worried that his cute neighbor might have been dropped on her head as a baby, and not encouraged by that possible fact, Levi took a deep breath. “Could you maybe just fill in for her today? I’m a pilot at Mcallister Charters, and I’m about to be late for a flight.”
“Me? You want me to watch your baby?”
“Don’t you hand out baby advice? So you have children, right?”
She had a ring on her finger, but that didn’t mean she had children.
At this, she went a little pale, then gave him a tight smile. “I...I know a lot about babies, yes, of course. I’m what you would call an expert.”
“Wow. This is my lucky day. If you could watch Grace just for a while, I’d be so grateful. I’ll try to come home early, too, right after my flight, if I can arrange it.”
“B-but where’s her mother?”
Levi always hated this part, and the pity that flashed across people’s faces. He didn’t want or deserve their pity. “She passed away.”
Cute Carly drew in a sharp breath, and sympathy flashed in her eyes right on cue. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. It’s just the two of us.”
She shifted from one leg to the other. “Well, okay. I can help you, since I’m a baby expert and all. Plus, I don’t want you to think that I’m not neighborly, because I am. But just today!”
Levi let his shoulders unkink and carried Grace’s car seat inside. He set it down on the hardwood floor of the entryway and handed her the diaper bag he’d packed.
“Thanks. I owe you one.”
“Here.” She handed him a scrap of paper and a pen. “Write down your phone number so I can reach you.”
He gave her his cell phone number and also the number for Mcallister Charters and Magnum Aviation. And the local hospital. And poison control. He had all of them memorized. He also got Carly’s phone number, then with one last kiss on Grace’s sweet forehead, he headed out the door.
Levi climbed in his truck, where he studied his neighbor’s house for a moment. Like his rental, it was a small tract home. Unlike his house, she had rows of colorful flowers lining the front yard and several others in pots hanging from the eaves. Fit right in with this older residential neighborhood. He made a mental note that he should probably buy some of them flowers at some point if he was going to stay in the rental. Grace should grow up in a home that reflected some kind of femininity. Not that she wouldn’t play sports with the boys if that was what she wanted, and of course he prayed that she did, because he could help her with that.
Should he go back and get his baby and rethink this whole thing? He tended to reconsider every one of his decisions thanks to Sandy’s parents. One false move on his part, one mistake, and he might give them ammunition. The last thing he wanted was a long, protracted legal battle he couldn’t afford.
But the warmth in Carly’s eyes when she’d heard about Grace’s mother told him she was compassionate. Kind. Maybe he’d assumed too much and far too easily, but he had a good sense of people, and it hadn’t failed him yet. No. This was good.
He started his truck and headed to the airport.
FROM A SHORT DISTANCE, Carly Gilmore had definitely noticed her new neighbor. Once when she’d had the day from hell. But up close and personal, the way he’d been on her doorstep this morning, he was a blend of tall and rugged, with a bad-boy charm that scrambled with her brain. He had deep and dark blue eyes that promised the fun kind of trouble, sun-kissed dark blond hair and a cleft in his chin that made him ridiculously gorgeous. She was grateful for a small scar through his left eyebrow that at least kept him from being prettier than her.
She’d done a double take on the baby because, really? Some woman had tamed this dude and made him a father. Which proved, as one of her best friends, Zoey, believed, that miracles happened every day. They just didn’t happen for Carly.
But what kind of a father left his precious baby with a complete stranger?
Answer: one like her neighbor Levi Lambert, who had probably rarely heard the word no coming out of a woman’s mouth. He’d so easily trusted her on the whole baby-expert thing. An exaggeration on her part, of course, but she was trying. That counted for something. His timing couldn’t be better. She’d say that for him. Today, of all days, she could use his baby.
“You’re a good sleeper.” Carly carried the car seat and diaper bag into the kitchen.
The poor, motherless child.
Normally, hearing of such a sad situation, Carly would shed tears on a dime. But these days, she was all cried out. She bent down to get a better look at Grace. This must be the baby she’d seen Annie pushing last week in the newest Koolbaby stroller on the market. But until now she’d never had a good look at the baby. Her lashes were long and beautifully dark, and she had her father’s dark blonde hair. Did she also have his beautiful dark blue eyes?
“Your daddy is quite the looker,” Carly said quietly.
He had one of those rare and one hundred percent real Southern drawls that turned most women into limp noodles. Good thing Carly would not be one of them. She found the formula bottles he’d packed in the diaper bag and put them in the fridge. He owned some of the nicer baby bottles made by Just Like Mommy, the ones with the nipple that was supposed to most correctly resemble a human one. She’d given it a high rating last month on the blog and pretty much guessed at the efficacy. Maybe she’d ask Levi later, if she could ever bring
