The Baby Magnet. Terry Essig

I was tired of arguing every time I ask him to do something. If it didn’t get done, I said I’d do it myself but then I wouldn’t take him driving again for at least a week.”

      Luke’s eyes widened. “Whoa, we’re talking hardball here.”

      Marie was immediately defensive. “Well, I am tired of arguing.”

      Luke held up his hands, palms out. “I’m not disagreeing.”

      “The thing is, I know he’ll sulk for a while before he caves. At least until after the sun goes down so the neighbors will think I’m mean and evil for making him do it in the dark. I want to get home and cut it first so I have the next week free of experiences similar to the one I shared with you yesterday. My nerves can’t handle a whole lot more. I’m about to lose it, no joke. I need the week off. At the rate things are going, I’ll be twenty-five and look fifty—provided I live to see my next birthday at all.”

      Luke stuck his hands in his pants pocket and jiggled his change while he studied her. He had stumbled onto a good thing here. He’d dreaded this afternoon, his first alone with Carolyn. In fact, the anticipation of it had caused him to wake up in a cold sweat around two in the morning. What did he know about entertaining a two-year-old—for the rest of her life? But instead of a nightmare, it had been a dream and—he’d never admit it out loud—mostly due to Marie.