Page 7 of Hope After Loss

At that, I turn off my computer and sprint out to my car.

Not a bad first day.

Sara-Beth’s car is in the driveway when I make it home. Leona meets me at the door with Kaela in her arms.

I immediately reach for my daughter and pull her into a tight hug.

“Hi, baby. Mommy sure missed you today,” I say as I pepper her face with kisses.

“How did it go?” Leona asks as she follows us into the living room, where Sara-Beth is waiting on the couch.

“It went great.”

“See, you had no reason to be nervous,” Leona states.

“I know. I just wanted to make a good first impression.”

“You and Weston already know each other,” Sara-Beth says.

“I know, but not well. We’ve met in passing in town or at the firehouse. I wasn’t sure if our personalities would mesh well professionally.”

Sara-Beth giggles. “Sorry. It’s hard for me to imagine my wayward son professionally.”

“He’s really smart, and the operation he has going on over there is impressive. It’s not at all what I expected,” I tell her.

I can see the pride wash over her features.

“He is smart. He just hides it behind that handsome face and quick wit of his.”

“Although his recordkeeping and organizational structure are a mess. You’d think he was raised in the ’80s,” I quip.

“I know. I’ve been in that office, trying to help. Why do you think I sent you his way?”

Leona stands and shrugs into her coat. “We have to run. Our ladies’ quilting club meets tonight.”

“Of course. I’m sorry I was late,” I apologize.

She waves it off. “No worries. Kaela was a delight today. She took all the bottles you left and a bit of the infant cereal. I tried to feed her the jar of peas at lunchtime, but I think we both ended up wearing more than she swallowed.”

“Yeah, she’s not a fan of any of the green vegetable baby foods. She’ll inhale the sweet potato, carrot, and butternut squash though.”

“We’ll work on it tomorrow,” she says.

“I want to talk to you about that. Weston offered to let me bring Kaela to the office with me.”

“Really?” Leona asks, and I watch as she and Sara-Beth exchange a look.

“Yeah, um, so as much as I appreciate you offering to keep her while I work, I think I’ll give it a try, and maybe I can take her a couple of days a week and she can stay with you the other days. That way, we aren’t taking up all your time.”

“You just let me know when you need me, and I’ll be here,” she says.

They both give Kaela squeezes and kisses before they leave for their club meeting.

I close the door behind them and look down at my girl.

“Well, kiddo, we did it. We both made it through our first day apart. Was it as hard for you as it was for Momma?”

She blows bubbles at me in answer.