Temptation - Brenda Jackson [62]
“Thank you for taking care of her, Ms. Hopkins,” Bradford Price said as Sheila handed Sunnie over to him the next day at the TCC headquarters.
“You don’t have to thank me, Mr. Price. It’s been a joy taking care of Sunnie these past few weeks,” Sheila said, fighting back her tears. “And I have all her belongings packed and ready to be picked up. You paid for all of it and you’ll need every last item.” Sunnie was looking at her, and Sheila refused to make eye contact with the baby for fear she would lose it.
“All right. I’m make arrangements to drop by your place sometime later, if that’s all right,” Brad said.
“Yes, that will be fine.” She then went down a list of dos and don’ts for the baby, almost choking on every word. “She’ll be fussy if she doesn’t eat breakfast by eight, and she sleeps all through the night after being given a nice bath. Seven o’clock is her usual bedtime. She takes a short nap during the day right after her lunch. She has a favorite toy. It’s the one Zeke won for her at the carnival. She likes playing with it and will do so for hours.”
“Thanks for telling me all that, and if it makes you feel better to know although I’m a bachelor, I plan to take very good care of my niece. And I know a little about babies myself. My sister has twin girls and I was around them a lot when they were babies.”
“Sorry, Mr. Price, I wasn’t trying to insinuate you wouldn’t take good care of her.”
Bradford Price smiled. “I know. You love her. I could see it in your eyes when you look at her. And please call me Brad. Mr. Price is my father.”
A pain settled around Sheila’s heart when she remembered Zeke’s similar comment. Then later, he had explained why he’d said it. She was missing him so much and knew she hadn’t been fair to him when he’d called last night to explain his delay in returning to Royal.
“Yes, I love her, Brad. She’s an easy baby to love. You’ll see.” She studied him a minute. He was Zeke’s best friend. She wondered how much he knew about their relationship. At the moment it didn’t matter what he knew or didn’t know. He was going to be Sunnie’s guardian and she believed in her heart he would do right by his niece.
“I’m looking forward to making her an integral part of my family. Michael would have wanted it that way. I loved my brother and all of us tried reaching out to help him. It was good to hear he was trying to turn his life around, and a part of me believes that eventually he would have. It wasn’t fair the way Miguel Rivera ended his life that way.”
“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed.
“That’s why Zeke remained in Denver a couple more days,” Brad said. “Rivera’s shifty attorney tried to have the charges dropped, claiming Rivera wasn’t in New Orleans when Michael died. Zeke and the DEA agent had to fly to New Orleans yesterday to get evidence to the contrary. Now Rivera will pay for what he did. And I got a call from Zeke an hour ago. His flight home has been delayed due to mechanical problems.”
Sheila nodded. Now she knew why Zeke wasn’t there. She understood. She should have understood two nights ago, but she hadn’t given him the chance to explain. Now, not only was she losing Sunnie, she had lost Zeke, as well.
She’d pushed him away because she couldn’t let go of the past. She was so afraid of being abandoned; she couldn’t truly open her heart to him. And now she feared she was truly alone.
She continued to fight back her tears. “I call her Sunnie,” she said, fighting to keep her voice from breaking. “But I’m sure you’re going to name her something else.”
Brad smiled as he looked at the baby he held. “No, Sunnie is her name and it won’t get changed. I think Sunnie Price fits her.” He then glanced over at her. “What’s your middle name?”
She was surprised by his question. “Nicole.”
“Nice name. How does Sunnie Nicole Price sound?”
Sheila could barely find her voice to ask. “You’ll name her after me?”
Brad chuckled. “Yes, you took very good care of her and I appreciate it. Besides, you’re her godmother.”