CHAPTER SEVEN
“Tanner, we have to get to swim lessons, hurry up!” I call out as I quickly run a comb through my hair. I let out a curse when the teeth of the comb gets caught in my curls and with a glare I toss it into the sink. Looking in the mirror, I take in my rough appearance. Eyes with bags starting to form under them, hair a tangled, dry mess.
Sighing, I run a hand over my face. As per usual, we’re running late, and Lilly needs to be at swimming lessons within the next fifteen minutes and it’s a ten minute drive. Lilly is the only one ready, sitting in the middle of my bed and playing with a pile of her toys, just in view outside my bathroom door.
“Okay, hat,” I decide, knowing there’s no way in hell this hair is going to be tamed in time. I tie it into a messy bun, just neat enough that it’ll fit under a cap. I grab a baseball cap from my dresser and try not to cringe at my sloppy appearance. The sweatpants I have on have a stain from the SpaghettiOs that the kids ate for dinner last night and the shirt is rumpled.
“Fuck.”
Lilly’s eyes turn toward me, and her little lips pull into a smile before she claps her hands. “Fuck.”
“Oh no.” As if I needed more proof that I suck at this job, now the two year old is dropping F bombs.
A problem for another time.
I scoop Lilly up, praying that she doesn’t repeat her new word. “Tanner!” I call out again. The child wasn’t happy when I pulled him out of my bed this morning and I’d heard him mutter something under his breath about swimming lessons being stupid, but I chose not to listen. Someone doesn’t care about any activities that aren’t baseball.
“I’m coming!” He calls back from the bathroom where a stream of water is running.
Please don’t tell me he’s still brushing his teeth.
I move down the hall and when I stick my head in the room, I find that he is surely enough bent over the sink with barely open eyes, slowly brushing his teeth. His eyes meet mine in the mirror and I feel like he starts to move even slower.
“Tanner.” A throbbing starts in my head and I rub at my temples.
“Aunt Ivy,” he says back, and I don’t miss the bit of sarcasm. That’s new. “You woke me up like five minutes ago. It takes a while for me to get ready.”
My mouth falls open before I compose myself. “I woke you up about ten minutes ago.”
“I had to poop first.”
Jesus.“Okay, that’s enough, if your breath is still stinky, I’ll give you gum in the car,” I tell him, turning the sink off and taking his ninja turtle toothbrush and placing it on the counter.
He looks at me, pursing his lips before wiping the stray toothpaste off his face with the back of his hand. Sitting Lilly down, I grab a baby wipe and quickly wipe his face off, getting all the crust and toothpaste off. “Now, go get dressed,” I say, eyeing his pajamas.
He doesn’t put up an argument but the slight attitude I’ve detected from him this morning doesn’t go unnoticed.
Maybe it’s just because he’s still sleepy.
I decide to give him the benefit of doubt.
I move to the kitchen and start shoving snacks and water into a bag, keeping an eye on Lilly as she moves around the living room. I look at the clock and realize we now have less than ten minutes to get to the swimming arena.
“Tanner!”
“Coming!” Oh yeah, that’s definitely attitude.
I grab a couple of ibuprofens and swallow them dry, preparing for the long day ahead of me. The doorbell rings just as I’m about to call out for Tanner again and I frown. We’re not expecting anyone and it’s still pretty early in the morning.
I glance at Lilly, but she’s fully content as she sits on the floor and plays with a rubber duck. Still, I keep an ear out for her as I move to the door.
The bell rings again.
“I’m coming!” I yell as I hurry to the door. I pull it open and nearly throw it back shut when I see who’s standing on my porch.
“Hello?” The man from next door that I assaulted with an ice cream cone looks at me in mild confusion. Emmet, I remember Nathan calling him. He has on a pair of ripped jeans, his hair is pulled back into a low bun, revealing the sharp lines of his face. His dog sits by his feet and it looks up at me briefly before laying its head back on the ground.
“Yes, how may I help you?” I ask, trying to be patient, but my nerves are already on edge and for some reason this man sets them off even more.