Baby Kisses

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Midnight Snack

Tooty's stomach growled. She'd wanted to accept Harris' offer of half his hot dog, but that would have been too rude. Her stomach growled again. She glanced at the clock across the darkened room—one. Surely, no one would be up now and she could grab a slice of bread or something. She slipped out of bed and reached for her old housecoat to cover her even older flannel pajamas.

Tiptoeing toward the kitchen, she passed the other bedrooms and wondered if Monica was in Miles' bedroom. The thought made her queasy. After dinner Monica had accompanied Miles while he'd taken Tooty and Harris on a tour of his home. She'd still been there when Tooty clasped Harris' hand and bid everyone goodnight.

Tooty reached the kitchen, but instead of busting in, she decided to peek around the corner just in case someone was being a night owl like her.

OMG! She ducked her head back. Miles was in there with Monica! And the woman was still wearing red. Only this time it was a silk clinger that reached mid thigh and hung open to the belted waist. There was also a wine bottle on the island and wine glasses. Miles' shirt was unbuttoned and Monica was bending over kissing him while stroking his naked chest. Oh, golly. God help her, she wanted to peek again.

Slinking back to her room she walked to the windows to stare out over the city and sniffed. So what if Miles and Monica were doing the dirty. What did she care? She'd wondered if he was capable in that department. Now she knew. He sure looked sexy. He's got a great body. Stop it!

Opening the box with the diary, Tooty crawled back into bed, tucked the covers around Harris, and read the next entry.

Friday, March 31, 1865

Last night Eli slept well. He woke once and told me to go to bed. He said I needed to sleep in a real bed and not the chair. He seemed agitated when I said I didn't want to, but to please him, I did. I didn't wake until after it was light. Pa was taking the chamber pot out the door to dump when I got up. Eli was just staring at the ceiling and didn't say anything when I said hello, or even when I changed his bandages. It made me sad. All day he remained quiet. After supper I decided to read to him. I pulled out my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice.

Tooty read a few more entries. The last one really piqued her interest.

Monday, April 10, 1865

Eli has been eating good for several days now and he has no more infection. His stumps are almost completely healed. He pushes himself into a sitting position most of the day. He even sits at the side of the bed sometimes. Although he doesn't talk much, I think I see some kind of enjoyment in his eyes when I read to him every night. When I was in town today with Pa, I asked Mr. Maddox at the general store about those fancy rolling chairs for people who can't walk. He let me tear a picture of one from his catalog. I took it to Jed, the blacksmith, to see if he could build it. He said he could and that he'd only charge me for the materials. I asked him how much and he gave a price that was more than my savings, but I told him to build it anyway. I'll just take in more mending and washing and hope I have enough money by the time it's finished. If not, I'll ask him to let me pay it over time.

The next morning Tooty couldn't bring herself to look directly into Miles' eyes. Whenever she tried, she felt her face burn. He motioned for her to follow him to his office and said, "Go ahead and sit behind the desk. I've got the computer ready to go. You can check emails first and then proofread after that."

Tooty sat in the expensive leather chair and tapped on the keyboard.

Miles started to leave, but paused. "Tooty, are you okay? You seem kind of subdued."

"Oh, I'm fine," she lied. "Just getting used to being away from home."

"You're not worried about Harris, are you? Myrna will take good care of him."

"Of course not. I know he's having a blast helping her bake cookies."

Miles kept looking at her, but she still refused to meet his gaze. Finally, he said he had meetings all day and that evening, so he'd see her the next day and they'd go sightseeing. She wondered if Monica was included in his evening's activities or if she was going to join them sightseeing. Tooty sure hoped not.