Mom Over Miami by Annie Jones Read Free Book Online

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    “I got some of it cleaned off.” Sam sniffled. His lip trembled, but as soon as he saw her lunge for a roll of bargain-brand paper towels, he held out his hands to take someand dropped to his knees beside her to start sopping up the spot. “The saddle part was easy. And the rocker. But I can’t get it all out of the nose or the ears.”
    “Hmm. I really had hoped we could use that thing.” Their small church had gone through some upheaval in the past few years. They didn’t really need much space or many toys for the young children. But with a new minister and a renewed commitment from the congregation, they had begun to grow. Hannah had hoped to stay one step ahead of that growth by planning ahead for the time when they could fill both rooms with kids and the things kids need. “But if we can’t get every last bit of it cleaned up…”
    He stood up and used the toe of his shoe to mash an enormous wad of paper towels into the sodden—and not particularly fresh-smelling—carpet. “Maybe if we took it to the car wash?”
    “You going to ride it through, little buddy?” She dabbed at the edges of wet stain.
    “No, but maybe we could strap it to the top of the minivan. You know, on the luggage rack?”
    “I am so onto you, pal.” She sat back on her heels and laughed.
    “Huh?”
    “It wasn’t enough that I humiliated myself in front of Stilton’s mom with the nachos and the baby juice. Or came off looking like a slob in front of the DIY sisters when they stopped to find me doing my best Pippi Longstocking in pink fuzzy slippers on skunk-stink day. You want me todo something that the whole town can get a big chuckle out of.” She poked him in the ribs, then spread her hands out as if to better visualize the whole scene. “Me and my minivan with an old, beat-up rocking horse strapped to the roof, riding through town like a one-woman parade!”
    He covered his mouth and laughed.
    She couldn’t recall ever having felt so worried, so tired, so anxious and so happy all in the expanse of a few minutes. Well, not since the last time Tessa had put her through it.
    Children.
    How had she ever lived without them?
    “I didn’t think how it would look.” Sam spun off some more towels. “It just seemed like it would work .”
    “You know what? It probably would.” Hannah gathered the dirty, dripping towels into one large lump. She scooped them up in both hands, got to her feet and headed off to deposit them in the bucket. “That’s what I like about you, kid. You are a source of almost boundless imagination!”
    His eyes lit up.
    “Boundless imagination! Did you hear that, Jacqui? It’s almost as if Hannah heard us coming!”
    “Jacqui! Cydney!” Hannah gasped, or did she gulp? Whatever she did, it was involuntary. At the sight of the sisters standing inches away in the toddler room doorway, all conscious thought had fled her mind.
    “Good. We caught you!” Jacqui stuck out her hand.
    In one fluid movement—a bit too fluid, as it turnedout—Hannah thrust the mess of waterlogged paper directly into the woman’s open palm.
    “Oh, no! I am so sorry.” Hannah pulled back, snatched up the bucket and dumped the foul mess into it. “Really. So, so sorry.”
    “Don’t be.” Jacqui laughed—though not nearly as much as Cydney did.
    “That’s right.” Cydney pushed past her sister into the room. She turned on her glittery tennis shoe and waved one hand in the air. “We don’t mind getting dirty. We’ve come to help.”
    More like come to witness another of her disasters, Hannah thought glumly. Not that they had intended that, but more and more it seemed the obvious conclusion to anything Hannah did that involved interacting with normal human beings.
    Hannah stepped into the hallway hoping the sisters would follow her lead.
    Not only did they not follow, Cydney sat down at the table and began shuffling through Hannah’s parcel of mail, humming as she did.
    Distraction. That’s what was in