Call Her Mine (Harmony Pointe #1)- Melissa Foster Page 0,66
working at the pizza place because the hours are flexible, but books are my jam,” Lazarus said. “I want to be a writer one day, and I read just about everything—nonfiction, fiction, graphic novels. Professor Dalton said your hours were flexible.”
“Yes,” she said, trying not to show how frazzled she felt as she bounced the crying baby on her shoulder. “I was hoping to get ten to fifteen hours a week. Is that doable?”
“Yeah. No problem.”
Bea let out a loud wail, causing Kase and the other workers to look over. Aurelia cringed. “Sorry!” she called out to them. “I’m so sorry about this, Lazarus. I know how unprofessional this looks, and I assure you, working here won’t be like this all the time.”
“That’s okay. I have a three-month-old niece and three younger siblings. Have you tried laying her on her belly across your legs and . . . I can show you, actually.” He looked around and pulled over a chair, then sat down and held out his arms. “I babysit a lot. My mom got remarried and had two more kids. They’re four and five now. I learned this trick for when they had bellyaches.”
“Oh. Um, sure, thank you.” She handed Bea to him.
“Hello, baby girl,” he said with the confidence of a boy who’s had loads of experience with babies. He laid her on her belly across his legs and began bouncing his legs as he patted her back.
Aurelia dropped to her knees beside him. “Are you sure about this? Will that hurt her brain? You’re not supposed to shake babies. What if she pukes?”
He chuckled as Bea’s whimpers became softer.
“It does something good to their stomachs.” He patted Bea’s back, and soon she quieted. “It would make me puke, but I’m not a baby.”
“Holy cow. You’re hired.”
He grinned. “For real? ’Cause I would love to work here.”
“Yes, for real, but you’ve got to tell me all your baby secrets.”
They finished the rest of the interview in blissful quiet, and when she took Bea back, she was fast asleep. She walked Lazarus out and went to check on Everly’s progress. She didn’t dare put Bea down for fear she’d wake up.
Everly stood on a ladder painting the background, which was mostly done. The right side of the wall was varying shades of light blue with fluffy white clouds, which blended into darker blues as the mural progressed toward the left, ending in midnight blue with sparkling white stars forming the words, OH, THE THINGS YOU’LL SEE . . . She’d painted bubbles to give the lighter blue skies a sealike appearance. The final picture would include colorful fish, a smiling crescent moon, green plants with bright pink and white flowers, and in the center an ark filled with characters from children’s books: Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Cat in the Hat, one of the monsters from Where the Wild Things Are, and several others.
“That’s beautiful,” Aurelia said softly.
Everly continued painting, and Aurelia realized she had earbuds in. She moved toward the wall and waved to get her attention.
Everly pulled out her earbuds and said, “Sorry. I plugged in when Bea started crying.”
“It’s okay. Sorry about that. The mural is amazing. Kids are going to love it.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at Bea and said, “She finally tuckered herself out?”
“Lazarus, the guy I just interviewed, showed me a trick that worked like a charm.”
“I hope you hired him.”
“Damn right I did. I’m glad my other interview rescheduled. It was embarrassing trying to interview while she was screaming.” Bea whimpered again. Aurelia patted her back, bouncing a little in hopes of soothing her, but her cries escalated.
“Wanna run after Lazarus?”
“Ugh. I’m going to try the thing he showed me. I feel so helpless not knowing how to help her.”
“Good luck.” Everly climbed down the ladder and headed for the bathroom.
Aurelia sat down, laid Bea across her lap, and bounced her legs while patting her back exactly as Lazarus had shown her—but Bea continued wailing. She tried bouncing slower, faster, rubbing her back in circles, up and down, and straight across, but nothing helped. Finally she gave up and put the baby on her shoulder, patting her as she paced. Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it from her pocket and saw a voicemail from Ben, only now remembering that it had vibrated when she was interviewing. She put it on speakerphone and set the phone on the counter, needing both hands to try to soothe Bea.