Yeah, that was kind of where Ian’s mind was going. Having Cassie and Emily in his life made him feel things on a level he hadn’t even known existed inside him.
Ian said his goodbyes to Max and his family and stepped inside his trailer. After settling Emily on a pink fuzzy blanket from her house, Ian placed her favorite toys all around her. Standing back to admire his feat of babysitting, he went to boot up his laptop, grabbed his phone and sat at the small kitchenette. Thankfully, the trailer was all open and small, so Emily couldn’t leave his sight.
After answering a few emails, Ian glanced at the little girl, who was chewing on one toy and pounding the other one against the side of her rainbow-striped leggings. So far so good.
As he dialed one of his clients, rising star Brandon Crowe, who was on his way to Texas for filming, Ian scrolled back through his emails, deleting the junk so he could wade through and find things that actually needed his attention.
“Hello.”
“Brandon, glad I caught you.” Ian closed out his email and opened the document with his client’s name on it to make notes. “You arrive in Houston yet?”
“About an hour ago. I’m ready for a beer, my hotel room and about five days of sleep. In that order.”
Ian chuckled. His client had been filming all over with a tight schedule; the crew had literally been running from one location to another.
“What’s up?” Brandon asked.
“I know your mind is on overload right now, but I need to discuss the next script. I have a film that will be set in Alaska and the producer has specifically asked for you. I’d like to send this script to you and see what you think.”
Brandon sighed. “Sure. Did you look it over?”
“Yeah. I think this character would be a perfect fit for you. I can see why they want you for the role.”
“Who’s the producer?” Brandon asked.
Ian told him more specifics and turned to see Emily...only she wasn’t there. Panic rushed through him as he jerked to his feet, sending his chair toppling to the floor behind him.
“Emily,” he called, glancing around the very tiny area.
“Excuse me?”
Ian glanced at the phone. For a second he’d forgotten about the call. “I need to call you back. The baby is gone.”
“Baby?”
Ian disconnected the call and tossed his phone on the table. Stepping over the toys and blanket, Ian crossed to the other end of the trailer. He peeked into the tiny bathroom: no Emily.
“Emily,” he called. “Sweetheart?”
In the small bedroom, Ian saw bright rainbow material sticking out from the side of the bed. He rounded the bed. Emily sat on her bottom, still chewing her favorite stuffed horse. Of course, when she saw him she looked up and gave that heart-melting smile.
“You’re rotten,” he told her. “Your mom is not going to let you come play with me anymore if you give me a heart attack.”
He scooped her up and was rewarded with a wet, sloppy horse to the side of the face.Nice.
The next hour went about as stellar as the first, and by the end of hour two, Ian knew he was an amateur and needed reinforcements. There was just no way he could do this on his own.
How the hell did Cassie manage? Not only manage, but still put up the front of keeping it together and succeeding at each job: mother, sister, daughter, trainer. She did it all.
Of course, now she was home, in bed, flat-out exhausted and literally making herself sick.
As Ian gathered up all Emily’s things, she started crying. The crying turned into a wail in about 2.5 seconds, so Ian figured she was hungry. Wrong. He changed her diaper. Still not happy.
He picked up the bag and Emily, stepped outside and strapped her into the stroller. Perhaps a walk around the estate would help.
Keeping toward the back of the main house, Ian quickly realized this also wasn’t making her very happy. That was it. Reinforcements were past due.
He made his way to the back door, unfastened the very angry Emily and carried her into the house, where—thank you, God—Linda greeted him with a smile and some heavenly aroma that could only be her cinnamon rolls.