Free The Hearts We Mend by Kathryn Springer Page B

carpeting.
    â€œShe’s in the car. I figured if worse came to worse . . .”
    â€œLily can’t watch them all, Nic. It’s way too much responsibility for a ten-year-old.”
    â€œThen what am I supposed to do?” Nicki set the squirming toddler down, and she immediately made a beeline for Jack. He scooped her up in one easy motion and settled her in the crook of his arm.
    â€œI’ll try and get ahold of Trav.”
    â€œDon’t bother—he isn’t answering his phone either.” Nicki’s fingers plucked at the ragged end of her ponytail. “I’ve been begging Sue for more hours. She’s going to fire me if I leave her shorthanded tonight.”
    Jack glanced at the clock on the wall. “I can leave a few minutes early and watch the kids, but it’s going to have to be at my apartment.”
    â€œThat’s okay—”
    â€œAnd you’re going to have to drop them off. I don’t have enough seat belts in my pickup for the whole crew.”
    â€œBut I’m already late!” Nicki’s wail was only a few decibels softer than her daughter’s had been in the foyer.
    Evie took a step forward. “I was about to leave for the day too. I can drive.”

    Jack wasn’t sure who was more surprised by the offer. He or Evie.
    Before the polite refusal forming in his head had a chance to become actual words, Nicki jumped at the opportunity.
    â€œReally? That would be great! Thanks, Evie!”
    Jack scrubbed a hand across his jaw in order to stifle a groan. “Pull around to the back of the church, and I’ll transfer the car seats. Tell Lily we’ll be out in a few minutes.”
    â€œOkay.” Nicki shot out the door.
    Leaving Jack, once again, to deal with the fallout from someone else’s choices.
    And Evie.
    He could only imagine the thoughts running through her mind when Luke and Ava attached themselves to his legs like barnacles. Grace played shy, tucking her face into Jack’s shoulder.
    â€œI didn’t realize you and Nicki knew each other.” Jack shifted Grace to his other hip.
    â€œGinevieve introduced me to Nicki at the diner a few weeks ago, but I didn’t get to meet the rest of the family.” Evie smiled at Luke and Ava. The same smile that had surfaced when he’d asked her about the bunting.
    The one he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
    â€œLuke, Ava, and this little peanut”—Jack removed the toddler’s finger from his ear—“is Grace.”
    Evie bent down until she was eye to eye with Ava. “And how old are you?”
    Ava carefully pressed her thumb into her palm and wiggled the remaining fingers.
    â€œFour.” Evie looked impressed before she turned to Luke. “And what about you?”
    â€œI’m almost six. Lily can stay in the car by herself ’cause she’s ten.”
    Luke sounded a little envious, but Jack’s lips tightened.
    A few nights ago he’d stopped over and found Lily making a grilled cheese sandwich for supper. She’d told Jack that her mom had had to work a double, so Jack had stuck around until Travis finally came home.
    â€œSomething came up. It was only for a couple of hours.” His brother had brushed off Jack’s concern about leaving his niece alone in the house. “Lily’s a responsible kid.”
    Who needs a responsible adult at home , Jack had wanted to say.
    Instead, he’d told Trav that Lily could hang out with him on the nights when “something came up.”
    But why had Cheryl bailed on Nicki if she’d promised to babysit? Jack deliberately shut down the possible scenarios before they could take root in his mind.
    â€œCan we have spaghetti again?” Luke tugged on Jack’s pant leg. “I like it the best.”
    Jack knelt down, careful not to dislodge Grace as he wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Well, you’re in