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“I think you need to go. Don’t leave a little boy stranded. That would be

terrible.”

“His teachers know. They’re going to wait with him until I get there

since I’d be late.”

“You had better leave then. He’s probably worried about his mom and

his mom is probably worried about him.”

“I hate hospitals,” Taylor muttered. “I imagine Adriana isn’t fond of

them either.” She turned but turned back around just as fast. Her mouth

opened, but clearly she had too much on her mind and it was getting tangled

and not coming out.

“It’s alright. Go. I’ll look after her. I know you really don’t like me. I

know that we’ve clashed about this place and about my company’s

involvement in it. I know that— well— I know there are things that you

can’t stand about me, but right now, you don’t really have a choice and I

give you my word that Chloe will be just fine.”

Taylor’s face scrunched up. She jammed her hands into her pockets, her

face a riot of mixed emotion, but finally nodded again. This time when she

turned, she kept walking in the right direction.

Christina’s promise weighed heavily on her. She knew that she’d keep

Chloe safe, like she said, but as to whether Chloe would be happy about it,

she had no idea. She hoped that the little girl wouldn’t be too upset to wake

up and find that her mom wasn’t there. Christina wasn’t sure if she could

deal with a little kid meltdown. Christina inhaled deeply and glanced down

at the mass of dark hair pressed into her ribcage. That warm sensation

stayed with her.

“Somehow you’re stuck with me for another few hours at least. Hope

you’re okay with that,” she whispered.

Chloe went right on sleeping. Christina picked up her tablet, exited out

of the app she was working on her art in, and instead got the internet up and

running. Hopefully, there was a crash course on childcare that she could