Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
“Miranda, this is Harper. Cinderella is ill and needs to be picked up.”
“How sick is she?”
Shaking her head at the first adult who’d asked that question to wiggle out of picking their child up early, Harper strove for a firm tone. “Cinderella cannot remain at daycare, Miranda. She has a fever of a hundred and one.”
“That silly rule. Maybe the thermometer isn’t working. Try it again.”
“Miranda, come pick up your child.”
“Fine. I’ll be there within the hour.”
“Thirty minutes, Miranda.”
Harper stared at the silent phone, shaking her head. The woman had disconnected in a fit of anger.
Settling Cinderella in an isolated crib, Harper covered her with a soft blanket. She stopped to wash her hands and grab the disinfectant wipes. Harper sat on the floor with the remaining healthy children.
“Time for music. Are you ready to sing?”
Yeses filled the air.
Harper led everyone in a series of fun songs as she carefully wiped down all the common spaces to control whatever was spreading through the daycare. By the end of the fourth song, the door opened and Miranda entered. A hush fell over the toddlers. Even they could sense it wasn’t smart to capture the attention of hurricane Miranda.
“Cinderella will be glad to see you,” Harper said, rising from the floor. She tossed the wipe she was using into the trash.
“Too bad you didn’t do that earlier.”
“My cleaning schedule exceeds the state guidelines, Miranda. Cinderella is over here. She’s the third to come down with some bug. Things spread through children fast.”
Miranda scooped up her little girl. “Mamma’s got you, Cinderella. Let’s get out of this germ fest. Consider this my official notice that I will take her somewhere else from now on.”
“Got it. I’ll mark that down that your two-week notice starts tomorrow. I’ll mail your final bills home. Miranda, I’ll share that one of the sick children threw a block at Cinderella. She has a small red mark on her left arm. It’s listed on her incident sheet as well as details about her illness for your doctor.”
“Someone hurt Cinderella? Really, this place is out of control.” Miranda searched for the injury and looked disappointed when she couldn’t see it. Exasperated, she looked up at Harper.
“It was right here above her elbow.” Harper smoothed a finger over the toddler’s arm. “It looks like she’s okay now, but there might be a bruise at some point.”
Harper’s phone buzzed, and she looked at the screen. “This is the parent of the first child who got ill.”
After a quick conversation, Harper pushed her phone back into her pocket to report, “I have permission to tell you that Thomas has a virus going around town. I’ll write the virus name on the form for Cinderella’s doctor.”
Breathing a sigh of relief when the unpleasant woman left, Harper reassessed the other children. Everyone seemed fine. Thank goodness!
A call notification lit up her cell phone screen. Colt. He wasn’t really going to break up with her over the phone, was he? She’d show him. Flipping the phone upside down, she placed it screen down on the flat surface.
Harper needed something to occupy her brain. Pulling her thoughts together, she announced, “Time for art. Let’s get your smocks on and we can fingerpaint a picture for your mommies and daddies.”
The messy activity took all her supervision and management skills. She didn’t notice the frequent buzzing of her phone on the counter. Any calls from the parents would ring out loud.
By the time her day was over and she’d sanitized all the surfaces again, Harper’s energy had evaporated. Dragging herself home, she considered what she should have for dinner and decided it was too much effort. Grabbing a soft drink from the refrigerator where Colt had pushed them to the back to discourage her from drinking, Harper stopped in her bedroom to pick up Wombles before settling on the couch to tell him about her day.
“And Miranda announced Cinderella wouldn’t return. So, that’s one positive, I guess.”
Wombles’ face expressed all his sympathy about her challenging day.
“Thanks for listening, Wombles. I’m glad you stuck around,” Harper bemoaned before looking at her phone. Maybe she should call Amber to check on Rio. When it buzzed again, she almost dropped it in surprise. Forcing herself to be brave, she answered the call.
“Colt, I don’t think we have anything to say to each other.”
“Are you okay, Angel?”
“Perfect,” she proclaimed, sounding as perky as she could manage.
“What is going on, Little girl? I’ve called fourteen times and left messages. Why are you avoiding me?”
“You’ll have to ask your girlfriend. If you’re not naked anymore,” she snapped.
“The only girl I have in my life is you. Can you tell me what happened?”
“I called to tell you about Rio and the shooting at Murphy’s. Your new sweetie answered and told me you didn’t want to talk to me and that you were naked,” Harper said as she tried to stabilize her voice to keep it from wavering with emotion.