“Oh, that. We kind of made a mess.”
His smile is powerful, and I have to steady myself on the desk to keep from falling over.
“I can see that.”
“Well, it was mostly Henry’s fault. He made the mess. Emma and I just sort of got stuck in the crossfire,” I tease.
“Is that right?” Grayson takes Henry out of the pack-n-play and kisses his cheek while I gather the wet clothes and blanket. “Did you make this mess?”
“No.” Henry shakes his head and squeezes his dad’s cheek.
“Okay, fine.” I tweak Henry’s belly. “It’s mostly my fault.”
“Always keep the little dude’s little dude covered. I don’t know what it is, but a waft of fresh air and the fountain goes off.”
“Trust me, I’ll never make that mistake again,” I say, setting the soiled linens beside the diaper bag. “These need to be washed.”
“Another thing to add to my never-ending to-do list.”
I can’t imagine how long his list is. Being a single dad of three can’t be easy, and yet that’s how he makes it look.
“You have one of those too?”
Grayson laughs and puts Henry on the floor beside us so he can play with his toys. “Probably the longest one known to man.”
“What are the kids doing here with you today?” I ask.
“Angewa was sick today,” Emma says from her spot on the floor by Henry.
I frown. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Grayson motions toward the other room, and I follow him into the reception area. He lines himself with the door, so he has a clear view of the kids. “Angela isn’t sick. I just didn’t know what to tell the kids. Her husband, Ed, had a stroke last night. That was her on the phone; she was calling to give me an update.”
“Oh, no.”
He nods. “I know. She was calling to let me know that with everything that’s going on, she won’t be able to watch the kids for me—at least for the foreseeable future. Ed will have to go through extensive occupational and physical therapy, and after that, it’ll depend on how well he recovers.”
“I’m so sorry. That’s awful. If there’s anything I can—”
“Sorry, bro,” a husky voice interrupts.
A side door opens and in walks a man who looks so much like Grayson that they could be twins. They have the same blue eyes, blond hair, and square jaw, but where Grayson is built and a little stocky, this guy is lean.
“The line was awful and—” The man stops, finally noticing me. His smile grows increasingly large. “Who is this beautiful creature?”
“I’ve been called a lot of things, but never a beautiful creature.” I hold my hand out and smile. “Nora.”
“Oh, I know who you are,” he says, taking my hand. He brings it to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “Nora Hayes. You’re Nick’s sister.”
“I am,” I say, happy that he didn’t refer to me as Nora Mitchell or that girl from TV. “And you are…”
“Duke. I’m this guy’s brother,” he says, nodding toward Grayson, who is staring at our hands with a sour face. “I’m helping him with the kids today.”
I’m not at all attracted to Duke, and I don’t want Grayson to think I am, so I pull my hand back. “That’s nice of you. I was just about to offer to stay and play with them until he gets done with work, but—”
“That would be great.” Duke pushes the bag of food into Grayson’s chest. “Because I have a million other things to do today.”
Grayson frowns. “When I called you this morning and asked you to help, you told me you didn’t have, and I quote, ‘a damn thing to do today’.”