him giggle. The very thought had her crying again. Jesus, how would she ever pull this off without turning into a blubbering mess?
Pulling herself together, she wiped her face, fixed her eyes, and considered walking in there but for what? Pulling out her phone, she Googled most common car issues. What could she possibly sabotage on her own car that wouldn’t cause too much damage, but just enough for her to need to get it checked out? Then there it was. Some frustrated person was asking why their brakes only squeaked sometimes. Danica read the last sentence out loud. “I took it in to have it checked, and they wouldn’t squeak for the mechanic who insisted my brakes were fine.” She smiled big. “Perfect.”
Only her plan wasn’t so perfect. Both times she’d driven into the parking lot she got choked up just thinking about seeing the baby and drove off again, one of the times nearly colliding with another car pulling into the parking lot. How in the world would she hold it together when she finally did?
“He has the baby with him, you idiot,” she chided herself in the rearview mirror as she dabbed her eyes and powdered her nose. “He’s not there to work, so he won’t be there all day. You’re gonna lose this chance.” Her face scrunched up again. “Please don’t lose this chance.”
Somehow, she found the courage deep within her. The thought of missing out on seeing the baby was enough to make her dig deep and gather her strength. But she had to have a plan because she knew just the sight of him, or God forbid hearing him cry or giggle, would have her falling apart.
With a plan together finally, she drove back into the parking lot, relieved to see the truck still parked in the back. “You can do this,” she whispered to the pair of red swollen eyes in the rearview mirror. Taking one last very deep breath, she got out of the car, hoping she hadn’t wasted too much time. She was supposed to meet Ted and a few other friends for happy hour at five. It’s why she’d chosen today to do so. She figured, if she was going to go in there, she may as well do it on a day she was all done up. On a count of she was trying to make her best impression—that’s all. Only she was now regretting her choice of shoes. They were higher than what she was used to wearing and why she didn’t wear them often at all. But they were all kinds of sexy, and she was trying to leave an impression after all.
She glanced down at her phone. It wasn’t even four-thirty yet. Her brakes were fine, and it shouldn’t take too long for them to figure it out. She’d get that much needed glimpse of the baby and be on her way. To her disappointment, Orlando was nowhere around when she walked in. Good thing too, because she nearly went down when one of her ankles wobbled in the big shoes. The guy behind the counter, another tatted-up sight for sore eyes, smiled at her when he glanced up. “What can I do for you?”
She glanced down at the name embroidered on his shirt. Nine? That was odd, but she wiped her clammy hand on her pants and went back to concentrating on her plan “My uh . . . brakes are making this squeaky sound. I just wanted to have them checked to make sure I don’t need new ones.”
“When’s the last time you had your brake pads changed?”
“Few months ago?” She had no idea. Her mind was so befuddled with everything else she couldn’t even think straight, and she hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Few months?” he asked, looking surprised. “And they’re squeaking already?”
“Could be longer,” she said, backpedaling and not sure why placing her hand on her hip would make her sound more believable, but it felt like the thing to do, so she did and lifted her chin a bit. “I don’t remember to tell the truth.”
Thankfully, they got through the technicalities about which was her car, where she parked, and she handed him her keys. He told her to take a seat. Danica took one and sat there for a few minutes as Nine walked outside. She was anxious to hear a baby. He had to be here, somewhere, right? She’d begun to think maybe the baby hadn’t actually been in