Chapter 2

Present

Paisley rocked Garrett in her rocking chair as she stared out at the rain coming down. She was grateful they didn't have any leaks in this crappy apartment. As it was, the drafts didn't help the cold that she was trying to deny she had.

Today was Thursday, which meant that groceries would show up, and she hoped to get Garrett down to sleep before they did. Every Thursday since the day Luke had shown up at her doorstep, he had sent more than she could use for her and Garrett.

Once a month, someone would contact her from the delivery company and ask if anything had changed or if she needed anything else. Luke had even sent her new clothes and bedding. She had been tempted to toss them out, but she wasn't in a position to do that.

Not once had she heard from Luke, though, and it was strange. She'd gotten a notice in the mail that her medical bills for having Garrett had been paid. Then, when her rent hadn't auto debited from her account, she'd learned that Luke had paid her up for a year.

"Sleep, little one," she whispered to Garrett and bit back a cough.

Garrett stirred and then settled back down. He was getting bigger every day, almost four months old now, and her heart broke when she'd found the favorite outfit she had for him didn't fit.

Knocking on her door interrupted her musing, and she laid Garrett down, hoping he stayed asleep before answering the door. The delivery person always waited for her to carry everything over the threshold and lock the door before he left.

It was weird but she was comforted by the fact that someone cared even though this guy was probably being paid to. As soon as she bent over to grab the first bags, the cough she'd been fighting bubbled over.

The fit lasted several seconds and had the delivery guy reaching in one of the bags and giving her a bottle of juice that he'd brought.

She took it, grateful to wet her throat, and smiled at the man. "Thank you," she said when she finally got her coughing under control for the moment.

"I will be back with medicine. Anything else?" he asked.

Paisley started to shake her head before stopping herself. This man was going to go to the store for her no matter what she said so she might as well be honest.

"Can I get cough medicine and cough drops please? Maybe some of that chest rub stuff?" she asked.

He nodded and helped her set the groceries just inside her apartment. "Lock up, miss. I'll be back soon."

She nodded and closed the door, flipping all the locks. It wasn't as unsafe here as most people assumed though. It wasn't "leave your door unlocked" safe, but the extra locks she'd installed were unnecessary.

The groceries had extra things this week: new clothes for Garrett in a bigger size. She hadn't told Luke he was growing, but then simple math might have made that easy to know. Luke had put effort in on this one. She pulled out pens and notebooks, markers, sticky notes, all things she loved.

It made her smile to think that he remembered anything that had happened between them. It had been a running joke of Luke writing things on random sticky notes and her coming across them later. It was entirely possible that Luke had just told someone that she liked those things and they'd gotten them for her.

Nevertheless, she couldn't resist flipping through the sticky notes, looking for a message from Luke. Shock caused her to drop the pad on the floor, and it took her a moment to find the one that Luke had written on again.

I remember this, too.

That was all he'd written, but it confirmed that Luke had gotten some of these things for her and that his mind was in the same place hers was. It was hard not to remember when things had been going well. Then they'd fallen apart.

Pushing that from her mind, she carried on putting groceries away. If there was anything a small baby might need, Garrett had it, just in case.

No sooner than she'd put it all away did the knock return to her door. Sure it was the delivery driver back with her medicine, she opened it without looking and nearly fell over at Luke standing there.

"Why didn't you message me?" he demanded.

"About what?" Her voice was hoarse even to her own ears.

Luke arched a blond brow toward the ceiling. "Your medicine will be here soon. Let me in, Paisley."

She opened the door wide and backed away for him to come in. "You probably shouldn't stay long. I think it might be the flu."

He nodded but didn't acknowledge her. Looking around her apartment, he saw something and moved to the counter.

"You got my note," he said.

She had peeled that one off and stuck it on the fridge. Now her face flamed at being caught.

"Go shower, Paisley. Take your time. I'll answer the delivery guy when he gets back with your medicine." Luke urged her away from the kitchen. "I've got this."

"Garrett," she reminded him.

"Is he asleep?" Luke asked.

Paisley nodded.

"If he wakes up and I can't handle it, then I'll let you know. Please go take some time for yourself."

Some time alone where another adult would let her know if Garrett needed her sounded like heaven. She was at the point in life where she thought she heard him crying while she was in the shower all the time. He never was.

Maybe with Luke here, she could relax for a change.

"Promise you'll get me if he wakes up?" Paisley asked.

"I'll get you if he needs you," Luke amended. "I'm not going to come get you right away if he doesn't need anything."

"You won't leave?" she asked cautiously.

Luke went to her and pulled her into a hug. "I hate that you would even think that, but I know why. I'm not going anywhere and neither is Garrett. I give you my word." He leaned in and kissed her on top of her head.

"But—"

Luke grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. "Go."

Giving in, she sighed and headed for the bathroom. She could ask him questions later. Right now, she'd take advantage of the few minutes he was giving her.

She had no idea how long she was in the bathroom before Luke knocked on the door. The water was lukewarm and she still had a few bubbles from the bubble bath she'd used that Luke had sent the first time he'd had groceries delivered.

"One second," she called out.

"I just need to know how much he gets in a bottle," Luke said through the door.

Paisley let the water drain as she stepped out of the tub and quickly dressed. "I'll be right out."

"You didn't have to do that," Luke said with a sigh.

The second she was decent, she opened the door. Luke was there with Garrett in his arms. She moved to take him but Luke held back.

"Can you show me what to do, please?" Luke asked.

Garrett was only just getting a little fussy but hadn't gone to a full meltdown yet, so she backed away. It was sweet to watch Luke hold him, but also heartbreaking because she wasn't all he had anymore.

"Sure." She cleared the emotions from her throat.

Luke followed her into the kitchen, and she went through the motions of making a bottle and explaining the steps to him. To his credit, he paid attention the entire time with Garrett nestled in his arms.

"Got it." He nodded. "You can go back to showering. I didn't mean for you to come out."

"I know," she assured him.

The medicine had been delivered and was sitting on the counter. She tore open the package and downed two pills with a glass of water.

"Has his diaper been changed?" she asked Luke.

He froze and looked shocked. "No. Should it be?"

Paisley nodded. "Yes, typically he's wet when he wakes up."

"I didn't know," he explained. "I'm sorry. We can do it now."

Her heart warmed at the use of "we," but she reminded herself he wasn't here to stay. "It's okay. If he was too uncomfortable, he would have let you know. We can change him after his bottle."

He seemed unsure but rested back in the chair with Garrett again. "I'm sorry, Paisley. I just wanted to give you a break."

"It was appreciated. You didn't do anything wrong. As I said, if he was too uncomfortable, then he would let us know." She wasn't upset with him for that. It wasn't the end of the world.

"I'm going to stay a while if that's okay with you. I can't guarantee there won't be any drama from my life touching either of you, but I don't want to leave." Luke watched her as he spoke.

Shocked, Paisley gripped the counter before she asked, "Stay where?"

"Here? With both of you," he said.

"Luke, there's nowhere for you to stay for long." Her apartment was one small living room, dining room combo, an open kitchen, and a bedroom that was small at best. Well, and a bathroom, but that was hardly living space.

"I can make do."

She let it drop for now. Garrett finished his bottle, and she showed Luke how to burp him and then change his diaper. He soaked up the knowledge, asking questions and wanting to make sure he did things right. It was touching, and she knew she wouldn't make him leave just yet.