Her laughter ceased as if it had never been. And when she dropped her hands, her eyes seemed wounded. “She’s not mine, Jared. She’s yours.”
“I know that. I was just kidding.”
“No, I’m not sure you do know that.” She stood and walked stiffly to the kitchen.
I tossed another glance at the still-snoozing baby—thank God—and followed.
This time, Gina had bypassed the sink to stick her head in my refrigerator. She emerged with a package of fully cooked bacon, which she began readying for the microwave.
It was late, but I knew very well her penchant for eating while she was upset—it didn’t matter if it was eleven at night or noon. She was obviously very on edge, even if I wasn’t sure of all the reasons why.
I waited until she’d plated the bacon to speak, though I wasn’t sure I could talk reasonably without ripping the plate out of her hand. Naturally, she hadn’t offered me any.
Make a baby with a random woman, no bacon for you.
But before I could say anything, Sadie trotted in, lured by the scent of bacon. Earlier, she’d been lured by the scent of baby, but we’d managed to keep her out of the living room through an assortment of tactics from tossing her most-loved toys to plying her with her favorite treats. I didn’t know if that would work again after Gina gave her bacon.
She loved Sadie, so of course, she’d slip her some. Me? I was beyond in the doghouse. I might as well have been in a whole new village.
Sadie sat at Gina’s feet and gave her the most adoring expression ever. Gina immediately softened and dangled a piece over Sadie’s mouth. She took it so gingerly she probably didn’t even nip Gina’s fingers.
When I occasionally offered my dog table scraps, she usually tried to take my fingertips off too.
The two of them ate bacon and ignored me until Gina heaved a giant sigh and pushed the nearly empty plate into my gut on her way past. I snagged my fingers in the back pocket of her jeans to stop her, and the look she flashed me was pure ice.
“Watch where you put your hands, pal.”
“Technically, just my fingers.” But I eased back and held up the hand in question in apology. “All night, you’ve either been darting away from me or playing with your phone.”
“Oh, was that what I was doing?”
Judging by her pissed off tone, I ventured, “No?”
“No, I was not. I was scrolling through baby sites trying to make lists of what we need for her, and then you made that jackass comment about my wearing a snuggie at the diner. It finally woke me up. I can help, but I can’t do this for you. I want to make it easier, but I don’t want the lines to blur. And right now, they’re so wavy they’re wrapped around my damn ankles.”
With the promise of bacon gone, Sadie trotted out of the room. I was so focused on Gina’s flushed face, I barely noticed.
Until Sadie let out a bark from the living room.
Gina and I stared at each other before bulleting down the hall, elbowing each other to try to get there first.
We burst into the room to find Sadie standing in one end of the boat, nosing at the baby’s face while she awkwardly patted the dog’s cheeks.
“Aww,” Gina murmured. “See, you didn’t have to keep them apart. They’re already fast friends.”
“Am I asking too much of you?” I asked quietly. “Is that what you meant in the kitchen? Putting a burden on you that you don’t want, because hey, you’re my friend, not her mother.”
“No, I’m not her mother. And I can’t pretend to play that role even if I wanted to—which I do not, because she has one. One who could come back at any time.”
“She’s not coming back, Bee. Ever. I know you can’t believe something like that but it’s true.” I pulled out the folded note in my pocket, still ignoring the envelope I’d shoved in with it.
Gina took it from me and read silently while I watched the dog and the baby basically making kissy faces at each other.
“She said if she kept her, something bad would happen. She didn’t mean…”
“I don’t know. I also don’t know how I didn’t see that kind of darkness in her but maybe in the space I was in, I wanted that.”
“Are you saying you like chained her up or something kinky? Possibly involving your handcuffs?”