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Eli woke up Friday, groggy after another night spent with his restless granddaughter. He ran his hands down his face, trying to scrub some life into his morning when all he wanted was to go back to sleep. Get up, get your day started, get a plan.
All good advice. He had to be back at his desk come Monday morning. The thought only weighed him down. Getting a baby dressed, fed, and dropped off at day care meant setting his alarm at least an hour earlier than normal. If the last few days with Astor were any indication, he’d need every minute of the extra time.
“She’ll settle in.” He whispered the words to himself, both prayer and assurance. They’d made some progress to that end. Astor’s original nine out of every ten minutes of agitation now hovered around five out of ten. Still room for improvement, but not too shabby given the tension of the last seven days.
Eli headed to the kitchen, tiptoeing past Astor’s room, craving the pleasure of drinking his first cup of coffee in solitude. Grateful that he’d made the transition to one of the single cup brewers, he popped the cup into the machine, pressed the button, and leaned over to inhale as steam billowed from the machine. He’d be downing hot, black caffeine in thirty seconds.
He lifted the cup to his mouth and froze when he heard babbling from the new nursery. With held breath and closed eyes, he took the first sip and waited for the crying that had marked every morning this week. His shoulders relaxed a bit when it didn’t come. Ten minutes later, Eli stared into his empty cup with a triumphant grin. Astor’s voice still carried from down the hall, but she sounded happy this morning.
Gratified at the further proof of progress but not wanting to press his luck, he poured milk into a bottle while his second cup brewed. He noted that the gallon jug was approaching the half empty mark. He twisted the nipple into place. She was old enough not to need a bottle anymore. The idea of weaning an already anxious child initiated a shudder that started at the back of his knees and worked up to his shoulder blades. He decided to hold off on that little bit of trauma. Astor had plenty of change to deal with right now. If her bottle brought her some comfort...and him some peace...she could keep it for a little longer.
He took the bottle and peeked into Astor’s room. The baby was standing in the crib, talking to her reflection in the mirror across the room. She noticed him immediately and gave him a rare four-toothed grin.
“Papa.” Astor stretched out her hands and wiggled her fingers. “Up.” Holding on to the rail for balance, she bounced on the mattress. “Up, up, up.”
Eli crossed the room, placed the bottle on the dresser, and swung Astor out of the crib. He lifted her high. “Hey there, sugar plum, you’re in a good mood this morning.” He sniffed and wrinkled his nose. “And you’ve been busy.” He lowered her back to the bed, handed her the bottle before her lip puckering displeasure could become a wail, and reached for a fresh diaper.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, and then we can think about breakfast. How does a scrambled egg sound?”
Astor stared up at him with solemn blue eyes. The bottle slipped, and she rolled to grab it, making the diaper job just a bit more complicated. Eli put a hand on her belly. “Hang on, we’re almost done.” He fastened the last tape, lifted her a second time, and pulled her in close. He took a deep breath. “That’s much better. Are you hungry?”
She grasped his T-shirt in one chubby hand and held the bottle to her tiny chest with the other. Her little head bobbed up and down. “Bites now.”
Eli laughed. “Yes, ma’am. You can supervise from your high chair.” With Astor balanced on his hip he started back to the kitchen, detouring to his bedroom at the last second to retrieve his ringing cell phone. He sat on the side of the bed and stood Astor on the floor.
“Hello.”
“It’s Harrison. I have some information.”
“Your wife was able to trace the number?”
“Yes. Your daughter is in Miami.”
“Miami...Florida?”
“That’s what she said. Do you have a notepad handy?”
“Hang on.” He rummaged for a pen and paper in the nightstand. Astor toddled over to watch. The red numbers of his alarm clock caught her attention, and she yanked on the cord. Eli grabbed it just as it slipped off the edge. “No, Astor.” The baby sat hard on her diapered bottom and frowned. “And that look will get you nowhere.” Eli retrieved the phone and heard Harrison chuckling.
“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.”
“More than,” Eli agreed with a laugh of his own. “We might have turned a corner though. I just got a very ugly look, but she’s been awake for thirty minutes and no tears yet.” He clicked the pen. “I’m ready.”
Harrison gave him the address and waited while Eli wrote it down and then repeated it back to him. “Even though the address is in Miami, it’s located on a secluded beach. Sounds very upscale.”
Eli shook his head. “Boy she’s hooked up with probably lives in his parents’ basement. I swear, I taught her better.”
“Now that you have the address, what are your plans?”
Eli considered the question as he watched Astor circle the bed on her unsteady little legs. When she reached the other side, she went straight to the opposite night stand and stared at a picture of Celeste.
“Mama.” She reached for the picture, and when Eli stretched across the bed to grab the sharp-cornered frame, the child threw herself on the floor in a torrent of tears. “Mama...”
“When I find her, I’m going to kick her butt all the way back to Garfield.” He hung up the phone, circled the bed, and picked up the disconsolate child. So much for the ground they’d gained. “Shh...baby. It’s OK.” Jesus, how could she do this? How could she be so heartless? Please help me know what to do for all of us. He rocked and waited for the tears to pass.
Astor eventually snuggled into his shoulder with a shuddering breath. “Bites now?”
“You got it, sweetheart.” He held her away and looked into her tear-drenched eyes. “I think we’ll have pancakes instead of eggs. We deserve some sweet on top of this morning.”
Five minutes later, Eli stood next to the stove and poured the first of the batter into a skillet. While it cooked, he looked at flight schedules on his phone. Last minute flights to Miami weren’t cheap, but he had his choice of departure times. He could fly out in the morning and be back late tomorrow night.
He looked at Astor, almost tempted to take her on the trip, but she’d be better off here while he did battle with her mother. Which meant he needed to touch base with Randy before he booked the ticket. Hopefully she didn’t have any plans that would prevent her from watching Astor while he made an impromptu trip to Florida.
* * *
“OK, LADIES, KEEP THOSE legs straight and reach for your toes. Stretch those back muscles.”
Folded almost double on the mat-covered floor of the exercise room at Soeurs, Randy grinned as her finger made contact with her toes. Despite the healthy dinner choices of the night before, Mac had worked them extra hard this morning. Randy could almost feel the calories evaporating. Good thing, cause I plan to treat Eli to a full spread Tex-Mex meal in Dallas tomorrow night. Topped off with something sinful for dessert.
She shook the thought aside and concentrated on Mac’s instructions. This was Randy’s favorite part of the routine, and she willed every muscle in her body to get a good stretch before she settled behind her desk for the rest of the day.
The sounds of Unchained Melody pulled Randy’s head up. She gave Mac an apologetic smile, pushed to her feet, and scrambled to dig her phone out of her gym bag. “Sorry.” Eli wouldn’t call during her workout if it wasn’t important.
“Hello.”
“Good morning, sweetheart. Sorry to interrupt, but I needed to touch base with you early.”
“I’m glad you did. Hang on for a second.” Randy motioned for her friends to gather round. She’d waited to share the surprise. Their gift was so generous she wanted her friends to be in on it. She put the phone on speaker and held it up. “I’ve got surprise for you.”
Eli chuckled. “And I have news for you, but ladies first.”
Randy knew her grin covered her whole face. “We’re going to see Reba in concert tomorrow night, in Dallas. Floor seats, backstage passes, the works!” She waited, her smile fading a bit with each second of silence. “Eli?”
“That’s...that sounds really fun.”
“It’s a gift.” Randy’s excitement waned in the face of Eli’s reluctant response. “From the girls.” She looked around at their dumbfounded, maybe even embarrassed, faces.
Eli’s sigh carried through the phone. “Sweetheart, I found Celeste. I need to fly to Miami first thing in the morning.”
Randy took the phone off speaker and raised it to her ear. “What?”
“Celeste called me yesterday afternoon. We traced the number to an address in Miami. I was calling to see if you could sit with Astor tomorrow while I fly out there.”
Randy held her peace while she walked into the hallway, closed the door between her and her friends, and leaned against it. She explained about the tickets in clipped words. “They spent a lot of money on this, Eli. Celeste will still be there on Monday.”
“If we want our two week honeymoon, I have to go back to work on Monday.”
Randy’s grip tightened on the phone at the reminder.
“I know you aren’t happy. I know your friends went to a lot of trouble, but this is something I have do. She said she got married. I need to get to the bottom of this before it goes any further.”
“Fine.”
“Look, why don’t you go to the concert with one of the girls? Terri Evans has emergency weekend child care. I can make other arrangements for Astor.”
Oh yeah, that works. Then I can be a spoiled brat, just like Celeste. “It’s not the same, Eli.” Randy pulled up her big girl panties and accepted the loss of the concert. “What time do I need to be there in the morning?”
“Are you sure?”
She answered him with silence.
A sigh sounded from his side of the connection. “Five. I’ll make it up to you.”
Where had she heard that before? “I’ll see you in the morning.” Resentment surged, swift and piercing. He’s been putting me in second place all week.
Reason battled back. You know he has to do this.
“Randy, I love you.”
“I love you too.” She disconnected the call and returned to her waiting friends.
“Well?” Alex asked.
“He found Celeste.”
“In Florida,” Jesse said. “We got that much.”
“He’s going after her first thing in the morning.”
Her friends looked at each other. There was almost as much disappointment on their faces as hers. “Yeah. He called to make sure I didn’t have any plans. He needs me to watch Astor.”
Alex put an arm around Randy’s waist and squeezed. “The timing stinks, no question, but you know he has to go.”
“Yeah, I know.” She returned Alex’s hug and faced the others. “But you guys...those tickets are just about the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me, and now, they’re just wasted.” Randy crossed the room and grabbed her gym bag and her purse. “I need to get cleaned up for work.” I need to be alone. She fumbled with a side zipper on her purse and pulled the concert tickets free. She stared at them and bit her lip. “It’s just a concert, right?”
Silence greeted her question. She looked up, focusing on Mac. “Do you and Dane have plans for the weekend?”
“Not yet,” Mac answered.
Randy slipped the tickets into Mac’s hand. “Well, now you do. Have a good time.”
The door closed behind her, and her gym bag thudded on the stairs as she descended. She didn’t have the energy to sling it over her shoulder.