He Left Me at a Rest Stop on Halloween, So He Came Home to No Wife novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Church Line

We dressed in ninety seconds and I did my sweater up wrong.

Eli drove with one hand on the wheel and the other holding mine.

"She can't take her," I said. "A phone call can't take her."

"No."

"Then why am I shaking?"

"Because it's her," he said. "Breathe."

My friend's house had a county sedan in the driveway.

Kendra stood on the porch in her coat with her arms folded, and the girl's face was in the front window.

"The county woman's inside," Kendra said. "Her name's on a lanyard. She's been very polite. I haven't let her in the baby's room."

"You did right."

"I wanted to call you sooner."

"You called me exactly when you should have."

Inside, a woman in a parka sat on the arm of my friend's sofa with a clipboard on her knee.

She looked about forty and she looked tired.

"Ms. Brewer?" she said. "I'm from the county's child protection unit. I'm sorry about the timing. We're required to look into every report within seventy-two hours."

"What's the report?"

"A caller says the infant is staying in a house with an unrelated adult, an unrelated child, and no stable guardian."

"She says you left your husband while pregnant and have a history of instability."

"She said that."

"I'm telling you what the intake sheet says."

My friend, from the kitchen doorway, said, "May I show her the nursery? I made a crib out of a dresser drawer, and I'd like it noted that it's very clean."

The caseworker nearly smiled.

I showed her the baby's room.

I showed her the pediatrician's card on the refrigerator and the shelf of diapers.

I showed her the doctor's note from the week before.

The baby slept through all of it with her fist against her cheek.

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend