Free Table for five by Susan Wiggs Page B

asked, shifting the baby awkwardly.
    “Not a word. We must’ve all got our signals crossed. Listen, I’m grotesquely late,” Jane continued, “so I need to hurry.” Spying Cameron, she said, “Come and get the car seat, will you? God, thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”
    When Ashley saw her brother, she squealed with delight and reached for him. “Cam! Cam!”
    “Yeah, I’ll be right back,” he said, and followed Jane out to her car.
    When the baby realized he was walking away, she arched her back and let out a wail that penetrated like an armor piercing bullet.
    “Hey, now,” said Sean, his chest filling up with panic. “It’ll be all right. He’s coming back.”
    She thrashed her head from side to side and cried harder. Her tiny fists alternately clutched Sean’s shirt and pummeled him. He was reminded of the creature in Alien popping from the stomach of an unsuspecting man. What the hell was it with babies? he wondered feverishly. They were like another life form to him, a dangerous and sinister one at that. She was loud and smelled funky, too. He suspected Jane, in all her self-important rush, had not bothered to check the kid’s diaper.
    It felt like an eternity before Cameron returned with the car seat. The second Ashley spotted him, she quit yelling and lurched toward him, nearly leaping out of Sean’s arms. He clutched the writhing little body to keep her from falling, then quickly handed her over. “I don’t think she likes me.”
    “Naw, she’s just cranky. Probably tired and hungry, aren’t you, sugar bear?” Cameron jiggled her on his hip. “I’ll go get her something to eat.”
    “’Nana. Want a ’nana,” Ashley chortled good-naturedly as he set her down and led her into the kitchen. In a heartbeat, she’d turned from the Tasmanian Devil into an angel. How did she do that so quickly?
    A moment later, Charlie came barreling in through the front door, a towheaded dynamo.
    “Uncle Sean!”
    He caught her up in his arms. Her wiry limbs felt surprisingly strong, and something—her hair or skin—had a bubblegum smell. This was more his speed, a niece who actually liked him. “Hey, short stuff. How you doing?”
    “I’m starving to death,” she said, clutching her stomach and reeling in his arms. “Where’s Mom?”
    He set her down carefully, keeping his hands on her shoulders. “I’m going to be staying with you until your mom gets back.”
    She gave him a look of skepticism, narrowing her eyes and twirling one pigtail with her finger. “Really?”
    “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”
    “Maybe I do.” She yelled with delight as he chased her to the kitchen.
    There, the baby was happily cramming a chunk of banana into her mouth. Charlie helped herself to one. “Did you know monkeys peel bananas like this, from the bottom up?” She demonstrated.
    “I guess that makes you a monkey.”
    “I wish I was a monkey,” Charlie said.
    “You look like one,” Cameron said.
    Charlie stuck her tongue out at him.
    “Monkey,” Ashley echoed around a mouthful of banana.
    “Why do you wish you were a monkey?” asked Sean.
    “Then I wouldn’t have to go to yucky, sucky school.”
    “Sucky,” Ashley said.
    Sean looked at Cameron. “Is she allowed to say that?”
    “Probably not.”
    Sean turned to Charlie. “Don’t say sucky.”
    “Okay.” Charlie bit into her banana.
    “Sucky,” Ashley said again.
    “I’ll be right back.” Sean hurried out of the kitchen and went to the phone in the front hall. He picked up the handset and glared at it. What the hell was going on? This was starting to be truly…sucky. He wondered how long he should wait before getting seriously worried.
    With a scowl, he dialed Derek’s cell phone. Derek always answered his phone, always checked his messages. When the voice mail clicked on, Sean said, “Hey, bro, it’s me. I’m here with your kids at Crystal’s house, and she’s not home. What’s going on? Call me.” He found Crystal’s