Okay, maybe he wasn’t so thoughtful.

“Today, please,” Maureen huffed.

My hands were shaking as I tried to push a needle into a drunken idiot’s arm as smoothly as possible, but it was worse than trying to wrestle pants onto a toddler. I could feel Maureen’s hot breath on my neck as she hovered over me, waiting for me to screw up.

“Ow! That hurts, bitch!” Drunk Guy yelled, showering beer-tainted spit droplets all over my face.

Suddenly, I didn’t care very much whether it hurt him or not. It’s not like he would remember it tomorrow anyway.

I went toward him with the needle again and he yanked his arm back as far as the handcuffs would allow. “Stay the fuck away from me.”

“Calm down,” the police officer standing next to him said as he pushed his shoulders back down.

“Maureen, I need you for a minute,” Darla called from the hallway.

Maureen glared at me. “Hurry up. We have a full house tonight.”

Once she hurried out of the room, I narrowed my eyes at Drunk Guy. “Listen, dude. I want to give you this IV about as bad as you want to get it, but it’s my job to make your sorry, drunk ass feel better. Sit back, relax, shut your mouth, and I’ll get this done as quick and as painless as possible. Got it?”

The officer pulled his fist up to his mouth and coughed, trying to cover up his laugh.

“You’re hot,” Drunk Guy slurred at me with a lopsided grin.

I rolled my eyes and bent over him to try the IV again. Second time was a charm, thank God. I got him all set up and walked out to the front desk where Darla was sitting.

“How did that go?” Darla nodded her head toward the room I just came from.

“Awful. I got hit on.”

“Is he cute?”

The corners of my mouth curled down and I frowned at her. “He’s plastered.”

“That doesn’t scare me.” She winked. “The drunker, the feistier.”

“Well, if you like obnoxious, overweight, drunk guys with mullets, he’s your man.”

The rest of the night moved at lightning speed, and for that I was thankful. As soon as midnight rolled around, I was out of there for the whole weekend. Brody was coming to get us bright and early and we were heading up to his parents’ farm. I made the Parenting 101 mistake of telling Lucy and Piper days ago, and they’d been asking every five minutes since then if it was time to leave. I couldn’t wait to wake them in the morning and finally say yes!

Midnight rolled around and I was gathering up my things from my cubby when Darla plopped down on the chair next to me dramatically.

“Tired?” I asked.

“Exhausted,” she said through a yawn.

“What time are you out of here?”

“Six o’clock.”

“Just in time for breakfast. You’re almost there.” I smiled sympathetically at her. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“Nothing. This will be my first weekend off in months. I’m going to order Chinese and lie in my underwear all weekend, watching trashy reality show reruns.” She clapped.

“Did someone say underwear?” Zach slid up to the counter and flashed a cocky grin at us. Chitchat time came to an abrupt end as I grabbed my lunch bag and slipped my hoodie over my head.

“What are you still doing here, handsome?” Darla cooed at him in such a way that it made my stomach roll.

“Not still. I just got here.”

“Where’s your uniform?”

“I’m not working, just here catching up on some paperwork.”

“Good night, Darla. I’ll see you next week,” I said quickly and turned toward the door.

“Have fun this weekend, Kacie. Give those girls a kiss for me.”

Knowing that Zach was standing right there listening to Darla mention the girls made me cringe. It was the colossal white herd of elephants in the room between us, and I was trying desperately not to be trampled by them. I just wanted to put in my hours and be on my merry way so life could be the way it was before.

“Wait up!” Zach called out as the ER doors slid open and a rush of cool night air hit me in the face.

“What do you want?” I asked, walking faster without making eye contact.

He jogged to catch up to me. “What are you guys doing this weekend? Can I see them?”

“No.”

“No?”

“That’s right. No.”

“Just like that?”

“Pretty much.” I reached into my purse and grabbed my keys and my pepper spray. The parking lot was well lit and in a safe area, so it wasn’t random weirdos I was concerned about; it was the asshole next to me.

“Can I ever see them?”

“No.”

“Kacie, stop.” He tugged gently on my elbow and I stopped and spun to face him.

“I warned you once before not to touch me. This is the last time I’m going to say it. Do. Not. Touch. Me. Got it?” I said as sternly as I could.

“Got it, got it. Please, talk to me.”

“No. I have to go.”

He didn’t attempt to touch me again. He just stopped and watched me climb into my Jeep. I locked the door, started the engine, and pulled out as quickly as I could, praying that my heart rate would return to normal by the time I got home.

“Mom! Mom! It’s today, right?”

My eyes bolted open and attempted to focus on Lucy’s tiny face, but she was too close to me. I closed my eyes again as I felt them crossing involuntarily. “Yes, baby. It’s today.”

“Yay!” she cheered loudly as she ran out of my room.

I rolled over and let my eyes drift shut, secretly wishing I had three more hours of sleep. When I got home from work the night before, I was so exhausted I went right to sleep instead of packing ahead of time—something completely out of character for me. Clearly Brody’s laid-back, go-with-the-flow demeanor was seeping into me. I kinda liked it.

“What time are we going?” Piper crashed through my bedroom door.

“Brody is picking us up at nine o’clock.” I yawned.

“He’s here!” she shrieked and slammed my door shut again.

“What?” I called out and sat straight up in bed, realizing I was talking to an empty room. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and blinked several times, trying to focus on the time.

9:12 a.m.

Shit!

I flew out of bed and into the kitchen where Brody was leaning against the island, blowing on the coffee cup in his hand.

“Morning.” Brody cocked a small smile at me.

I stood with my mouth open, my eyes darting back and forth between him and the table where my mom and Fred sat with their own steaming cups of coffee. “I overslept.”

“I can see that.” He raised an eyebrow as his eyes traveled down to my feet and back up to my face. He walked over and planted a kiss on my forehead. “You’re still the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Quickly, I threw some clothes in a duffel bag for the girls and myself, kissed my mom good-bye, and we were out the door.

“Where are you going?” Brody asked as I headed for my Jeep.

“I need to grab Lucy’s and Piper’s booster seats. Hang on.”

“No you don’t. I got it covered.” He grinned.