It Takes a Village: A wonderfully uplifting small town romance (Single Dads Club Book 1) by Hannah Ellis

Author:Hannah Ellis [Ellis, Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hannah Ellis
Published: 2023-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

Standing at the top of a low hill, looking out over an endless blanket of moorland, Leo closed his eyes and savoured the feel of the wind through his hair. The exertion of the steady incline to reach the lookout made his breathing heavy. In the baby carrier, Alice acted like a hot water bottle on his chest, but she was fast asleep and he was loath to disturb her.

Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Caitlin’s gaze boring into him as she waited for an answer to the question he was avoiding answering.

“Admit it,” she said eventually. “It’s a better view than your cliffs and water.”

His eyes snapped open as laughter burst from him. “Cliffs and water? That’s what you’ve boiled it down to?”

“That’s what it is.”

He beamed at her. “Fine. Your hills and heather are quite pretty. I’ll give you that.”

“Hills and heather?” She threw her head back as she laughed. “Hills and heather?”

“That’s what it is,” he said, mimicking her previous tone.

As her laughter faded, she planted her hands on her hips. Annoyingly, she wasn’t at all out of breath and showed no signs of exertion. “Shall we stop here for a rest? You look as though you need it.”

“I’ve been carrying a baby the whole way,” he said defensively while dropping his backpack from his shoulder to the ground.

“She’s tiny.” Caitlin produced a blanket from her backpack and laid it at their feet. “She barely weighs anything. Don’t use her as an excuse for you being unfit.”

He narrowed his eyes but failed to come up with a valid argument. “I may be slightly out of shape,” he said as he slid the straps of the baby carrier off his arms to remove Alice from his chest. “Can you hold her for a minute?”

Caitlin happily took her and sat down on the blanket with her. “She’s about as sweaty as you are,” she said, running a finger over the dark hair at the back of Alice’s head.

“That’s probably not good.” Leo gave up on wafting his T-shirt, which was covered in sweat and drool patches, and knelt beside Caitlin, feeling Alice’s clothes to check if they were damp too. They felt fine but as usual he went into panic mode. “How am I supposed to know if she’s overheating?”

“No idea.”

He dropped onto his bum and leaned back on his arms, staying close beside Caitlin. “I spend a lot of time worrying about her being too hot or too cold. It would be useful if babies came with some sort of gauge.”

“I think she looks perfectly comfortable,” Caitlin said quietly, her gaze fixed on Alice as she ran her fingers down the side of her face. “She’s just beautiful.”

“I know.”

“Do you ever look at her and think ‘oh my god, I made that’?”

“Yes.”

A smile full of wonder touched Caitlin’s lips as she continued to stare at Alice. “It seems so crazy, doesn’t it … like how do you make that?” Colour flooded her cheeks. “I mean, obviously I know how it happens, but it just seems incredible that you can create a tiny human.

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