First Kiss Last by Sara Miller (read e book .TXT) 📗

wasn’t bothering you. He gets crazy ideas sometimes . . .” she trailed off and did not expand. “I can tell him to leave you alone if you want.”

“Liam’s a good kid. I don’t mind him saying hello. In fact . . .” Leah motioned and Sky turned to see Liam had joined them.

“Wanna snack?” Emmie offered.

Leah was surprised. Emmie was usually shy. It was nice to see her coming out of her shell. But then again, maybe they knew each other from school.

“Sure!” Liam climbed up and sat on his knees at the table.

It looked like Sky would protest. After a few seconds though, she joined them at the table. Leah passed Sky the hand sanitizer and let her help her brother. Then she gave them both napkins and told them to help themselves. Liam dived right in. Sky was a bit more cautious and held back.

“Aunt Leah made the cookies. She makes the best stuff. Like one time,” Allison chatted easily. “She made donut holes. At home. Actual donuts!”

Leah smiled, knowing full well Sky had a weakness for cookies. Sure enough, the teen helped herself. Leah sat back and let the kids chat as they snacked. It was surreal to see them all together.

It ended too soon. Her nieces finished first, then Sky looked at her phone and jumped up.

“Oh no, we gotta go. Thanks!” She rushed Liam off in a hurry. Liam had to run to keep up. He turned to give her a little wave and almost tripped.

Leah watched as they weaved through the playground equipment until they disappeared on the other side. As she turned away, her eye caught movement. A black extended-cab pickup truck entered the parking lot.

Her heart raced. He was so close. And yet he was out of her reach. Leah let out the breath she had not even realized she was holding.

“Are you okay, Aunt Leah?”

Sweet Emmie, Leah thought. She tried to give her niece a reassuring smile but she was shaken and both girls could see it.

“We can go now if you need to,” Allison offered.

“I’m fine. You can play a little longer.” Leah checked her watch as if to determine how much longer they could play.

She made a mental note that Cade picked his kids up at exactly a quarter after three.

“Fifteen more minutes,” she said.

The girls raced off to play.

Leah stared at the table for a full minute. Finally, she shook off her thoughts and cleaned up. She packed away the untouched granola bars, everything else was gone, and went to find the girls.

Chapter 34

They came home to find Lily had recovered from her headache. Robert, not so much.

“I really hope he isn’t getting sick!” Lily fretted.

By the next morning, they knew for sure that Robert was sick. The stomach flu hit Lily on Monday and the girls followed quickly on Tuesday. Thankfully, they were all well on their way to recovery within 24 hours of getting sick.

When Wednesday came and went, Leah thought she had avoided it but it hit her full force on Thursday morning. By Friday afternoon though, she was showing no signs of improvement.

When she was still sick Saturday morning, Lily insisted on calling her doctor. The next thing Leah remembered for sure was being in the ER watching an IV bag drip.

Her head still had a dull ache but she was feeling better over all. Leah scanned the room and saw her sister. Lily’s head popped up.

“Hey,” Leah said. Her voice sounded dry.

“Hey yourself.” Lily came over to the side of the bed and passed her a styrofoam cup with a straw. Leah took a sip and eyed the IV bag.

“Only fluids,” Lily calmly reassured her as she took the cup and set it aside. “You were just dehydrated. You’re fine and the baby is fine.”

“Oh, thank God,” her hands went protectively to her belly.

“You scared Robert though,” Lily chuckled. “The big softy.”

“I don’t know how soft he is . . . he punched Eric!” Leah smiled remembering.

“He WHAT?!”

Lily’s face was so surprised it was comical. Leah couldn’t help but laugh.

“On Christmas Eve, when he picked me up. He didn’t tell you?”

“No!” Lily grinned. “Dang, I wish I saw that!”

“It was pretty awesome, I’m not gonna lie.”

The sisters giggled.

“I hear talking and laughing, I’m going to take that as a good sign.” A handsome African American man walked in. His dark skin contrasted sharply with his white lab coat. He looked young and fit. “I’m Dr. Thompson,” he put out a hand to Leah.

She shook his hand, then waited while he checked her vitals and looked over her charts. Leah was glad Lily had already told her everything was okay. The doctor’s silence made her a bit anxious.

She caught her sister’s eye. Lily waggled her eyebrows behind the good-looking doctor’s back. Leah suppressed a laugh and was caught off guard when he spoke.

“Has your sister filled you in?”

“What? Oh, yes. Yes, sir.” She floundered for a second and cast her sister a look.

Lily smiled back with mock innocence.

“Excellent.” He eyed the fluid left in the bag, “You were just a little dehydrated. Your sister did the right thing bringing you in. And as soon as you finish that, you are good to go. Keep hydrated, plenty of clear liquids. Rest the next few days. Otherwise, everything is good. You and your baby are sound and healthy.”

Lily thanked the doctor as he left. Leah felt reassured to hear again that her baby was fine. She palmed her bump and smiled.

Much later that evening, Leah was finally back home and tucked into her own bed. Lily insisted on waiting on her hand and foot.

“I’m fine!” Leah lost track of how many times she’d said that. “Please stop hovering. I love you but I have everything I could possibly need and then some. I really just want to sleep. Okay?”

Lily glanced around as if checking to make sure what she said was true. Leah knew it was. Lily had brought water, tea, granola bars,