Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,19
her face.
“Back up, Beau. I told you, you don’t have to get that close. She can hear you,” Dallas scolds.
Beau scoots back a hair and continues to talk to her.
Her eyes open wide, and she starts kicking her legs, watching her brother in rapt fascination. Then, she starts to form an O with her lips, making gurgling sounds.
Dallas walks over and watches them. “She only does that for him. She gets so excited when she hears his voice. She’s too small to be able to turn her neck and look for him, but if he walks into a room and starts babbling, her eyes perk right up, and I can tell she is trying to search for him. When he talked to my tummy while she was cooking, she used to kick up a storm too. It’s the strangest thing.”
“It’s because I’m her favorite person,” Beau says matter-of-factly.
“I thought I was her favorite?” I say and stick my bottom lip out in a faux pout.
Beau shakes his head. “You can be her fifth favorite. I’m first, then Daddy, then Mommy, and then Cowboy,” he whispers.
“I heard that,” Dallas says, “and I’d better be both your and her favorite.”
She pokes a finger into his ribs. Then, she gets down on the floor with us and starts tickling him and kissing him all over his face as he squirms and complains.
“At least you made the list ahead of the dog,” I grumble.
After he catches his breath, Dallas tells Beau to go clean up and grab a bag because he will be staying the night with Momma and Pop and me.
“I am?” he asks excitedly.
“Yep, you and I are going to pick up Elle and then go check on the progress over at Mr. Walker’s house. Then, we are going to try and talk him into taking us all fishing out on the boat.”
“Yay! Pop-Pop bought me my own rod!” He jumps up and races toward the stairs.
“I’ll go help him pack,” Myer says as he follows him up to his room.
“Have you gotten any news on the job front yet?” Dallas asks as she drops one shoulder of her pajama shirt, and I pass Faith off to nurse.
“Not yet. They should be making the decision sometime this week. I’m going to call the head of the department on Friday if I haven’t heard anything by then. It’s hard. I’m trying not to be pushy and impatient, but I want to know so badly. I put all my eggs in one basket, and I don’t have a backup plan at this point.”
“There’s always Ohio,” she says and gives an exaggerated shiver.
“My thought exactly. Although I’d really like to be in the same city as Derrick, I have zero interest in Ohio. I got enough of the cold muck in Chicago for the last four years. I know it gets cold and snowy here in Poplar Falls, but that weather is a whole different level of miserable.”
“I’m sure it will all work out just like it’s meant to. God has a plan and all. Jeez, I’m starting to sound like Doreen, aren’t I?” She rolls her eyes.
“A little bit,” I agree on a laugh.
We hear tiny feet pounding down the staircase as Beau comes carrying a large duffel bag over his shoulder and a child-sized rod in his hand.
“I’m ready, Auntie Bells,” he says as he heaves the bag onto the floor at the door. He bounces over to kiss his momma and sister good night.
“You be good for Beverly and Winston tonight, okay? Go to bed without whining and make sure you brush your teeth first,” Dallas instructs.
“Yes, ma’am.” He hops up onto the sofa beside them and wraps his arms around her shoulders. “I’m going to miss you,” he tells her, and I see her begin to tear up.
“We’ll miss you too. Who’s Mommy’s favorite boy in the whole wide world?”
“Me!”
“That’s right, baby.”
He releases her and looks to me.
“Are you ready?” he asks impatiently.
Knowing that’s my cue, I stand up. “Dude, I’ve been waiting on you forever. Of course I’m ready!”
Myer walks us out to my car, which already has the top lowered, and he straps Beau’s booster chair into my backseat. Once he has his son secured, we pull out and head to scoop up Elle.
“You need a car,” I tell Elle something she already knows as she gets into the Mustang with us.
“Why? Between you, Sonia, and Walker, I have a ride everywhere I want to go, and I don’t