Surprised by Family: a Contemporary Romance Duet by Noelle Adams

Author:Noelle Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub

Epilogue

“All right, Charlotte,” Leila said, trying to keep the tiredness out of her voice. “It’s time to sit down at the table again. Our food will be here soon.”

Leila’s back was hurting. She was exhausted from all the end-of-the-semester work she’d finally finished up. She still hadn’t done any of her Christmas shopping, and all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep.

“I’m Hannibal,” Charlotte declared from the top of the bronze elephant sculpture she’d climbed onto a few minutes ago. “And I’m crossing the Alps with the Carthaginians!”

Leila shook her head, wishing they hadn’t come to a restaurant with décor that was so tempting for children to play on. The restaurant had opened just a few weeks ago, and it had become such a hit that most people had to get on a list and wait for three months before they could get a reservation.

Not Baron, of course.

Leila hadn’t felt like going out at all tonight, but the girls had been restless and Baron had been wanting to try this new place.

“Hannibal made it across the Alps,” Leila said, pitching her voice as cheerfully as she could. She wondered if any other seven-year-old girls knew as much history as hers did. “And it’s time for the victory banquet.”

Charlotte looked briefly interested in this new possibility for her game, but then she kept rocking enthusiastically on the elephant, as if the poor, lumbering thing could manage a gallop over the mountains. “It’s not time for the banquet yet,” Charlotte whined. “I still haven’t made it across the Alps to fight the Romans!”

Leila very well recognized the stubborn jut of the girl’s chin, and she was just too tired to deal with it.

Baron had taken Jane to the bathroom, and she couldn’t let her daughter get away with bad behavior, no matter how exhausted she was. “Charlotte, now,” Leila said, trying to convey authority in her tone as she put a hand on her aching back. “This is your last warning. Come to the table with me.”

Charlotte looked over at her, hesitating and pausing in her ride. Then she scowled and patted the elephant's head. “Go, Carthage, go!” she cried, waving her hand in what was probably supposed to be a war rally.

Leila was close to tears now, her eyes burning with fatigue. She’d been grading for two weeks straight. She hadn’t been sleeping well for the last month, since she could never seem to get comfortable. Plus, she was embarrassed over the scene Charlotte was making at the restaurant. It wasn’t a stuffy, formal place, but it was exclusive—since only the most influential guests could get reservations—and it felt like everyone was staring at her and wondering how the frumpy woman with the poorly-behaved child had managed to get inside the doors.

Leila had tried to dress decently this evening in an expensive, navy blue cardigan and flowing pants set that didn’t wrinkle and draped somewhat attractively, but she still felt sloppy, with her hair slipping out of her low braid and her face red from the heat in the room and her frustration.

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