Paige was alone in a house with a child. And four puppies.
How the hell did that happen?
A normal person would have taken a moment to process even half of the feelings she was having about the change in direction her vacation had taken, but Paige never claimed to be normal. So instead she stood in the kitchen listening for sounds of distress from either the bedroom upstairs or the living room. Didn’t they have monitors or something for this kind of thing? It was like she was one of those guards at Buckingham Palace. All she needed was a bearskin hat.
Then her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she jumped. Between the cell outage and the fact that she suspected Sammy had forwarded her calls as part of her work hiatus/exile, the device had been uncharacteristically quiet.
Speak of the devil, Paige thought as she looked at the screen.
“Hey there!” she said. She was actually surprised at how much she’d missed hearing his voice. At least the one that wasn’t chirping in her head like a snarky subconscious.
But when he spoke, Paige didn’t hear his normal voice, but rather one so deep it sounded like it came from his toes. “And on the fifth day of vacation, God said, ‘Let there be cellular service.’”
Paige laughed. “I seriously doubt God had anything to do with it.” More likely the crews working tirelessly to repair the towers on the mainland.
“Never know,” Sammy said. “He works in mysterious ways.”
“Because if there is a God,” she said, “and that’s a big if, his first order of business after the storm that he created would be to restore cell service.”
“Maybe it was so I could bring you spiritual guidance,” he said. “Now tell me everything that has happened.”
“So that you can dispense spiritual guidance?”
He laughed. “No, because I’m bored and I’m hoping you’ve got some spicy stories to keep me awake.”
Paige looked at her watch. Four thirty. Not exactly quitting time. “Aren’t you still at work?”
“Yes, which is why I am B-O-R-E-D.” He sighed. “Been getting everything done before lunch. Amazing how productive I am without the Boss Lady interrupting me all day.”
“Sounds like she’s a real shrew.”
“Totally,” Sammy said. “That’s why I’m hoping she’s been getting some on her vacation.”
Paige’s momentary silence spoke volumes.
Sammy gasped. “You got down and dirty with the sexy innkeeper?” He lowered his voice as though someone might hear. “Did he look like Ryan Reynolds everywhere, or just the face?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe?” She sputtered.
“So you haven’t seen him naked?”
“I saw him without a shirt on the first day I arrived, and at least from the waist up, Mr. Reynolds has nothing on Lucas.”
“But I thought you said you were getting some. Tell me you did not do it with the lights off!”
“I didn’t do anything.” She waited a beat, then added, “Yet.”
“Oooh!”
“Settle down,” she said. “Jeez Louise, it’s not that big a deal. And it’s not even a yes, it’s a maybe.”
“Boss Lady, you getting laid by a new man happens about as often as the Vatican gets a new pope. Should I send up the smoke signal? I’m sure there’s something around here I can toss into the fireplace.”
“Those are gas logs. Do not put paper in there.”
“Luuucas,” Sammy said his name as though he was tasting a fine wine. “I like how it rolls off the tongue. Speaking of rolling tongues—”
“Samuel!” Paige whisper-shouted into the phone.
“What’s with the whisper? Oh! Is he there? Should we FaceTime? Let’s FaceTime.”
“No, we should not FaceTime. And no, he isn’t here. He went to the grocery store.”
“Wait, back up. Did you say maybe?”
“Yes.” she paused. “I think we are but…it’s complicated.”
Sammy laughed. “Aren’t they all?”
“No, this one is extra-complicated. He was married.”
He tsked. “Was being the operative word. That bitch is gone.”
“Sammy,” Paige grew serious. “She died.”
“Oh, shit.” Sammy’s tone was somber. “Sorry. Didn’t mean it that way.” He took a deep breath. “How long?”
“Two years.”
“People move on, Paige. You don’t have to feel guilty about that.” Up until that moment, Paige hadn’t quite been able to work out the mix of emotions she felt whenever she thought about being with Lucas. Sure, there was the obvious attraction. Even the first day she met him, she’d wanted to push him up against the refrigerator and climb him like a tree. And sure, there was the obvious trepidation about getting involved with someone else after the way she and her ex had gone down in flames. But there was something else. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Until now.
She knew it was ridiculous. Lucas was a young man. His wife had been gone for two years. He was entitled to move on. None of which made her feel any less guilty. But for what exactly? For wanting this woman’s husband? For being alive when Jenny wasn’t? Paige hadn’t even known either of them then. She had no reason to feel guilty. But there was something else swirling around in the pit of her belly.
Fear.
“I just don’t know if he’s ready.”
“That’s for him to decide. You have to take him at his word.”
At his word. Like when her ex used the words “Will you marry me”? Or how about when he said “I love you”?
“I know that’s hard for you,” Sammy said. “But it’s time, Paige. Well past it, if you ask me.” He always read her like an open book. For a while, she thought she must have given clues with her body language or facial expressions, but apparently his skills extended to phone calls as well.
“That’s not all.”
“What, has he decided to switch teams?” Sammy teased, clearly trying to lighten the mood. “Because if so, I’m on the next flight.”
“He has a four-year-old daughter.” She paused before dropping the bomb she knew would send her assistant over the edge. “Who I’m currently babysitting.”
Sammy erupted in a fit of laughter. “Good one.”
“I’m not joking.”
“You? Babysitting?” The laughter started again. “Then what are you doing talking to me? Shouldn’t you be playing Barbies or something?”
“She’s sleeping.”
“Ah, that explains it.”
“You don’t have to sound so smug. I’ll have you know I actually get along quite well with her.”
“Have you bonded over your mutual love of chocolate?”
“Not yet,” Paige said. “I can’t explain it really. She’s just a lot more curious and insightful than I expected a kid her age to be. Don’t get me wrong; if dessert is on the line, she works every angle with her dad.” Something Paige could totally relate to. “And she drags this ragtag team of stuffed animals with her all over the house.” A level of clutter Paige could do without. “But her outlook on life is just so…refreshing.”
“Is that the tick-tock of a biological clock I hear?”
Paige snorted. “Absolutely not.” If she were being honest, she would have admitted that earlier, when she was watching Lucas with his young daughter, she found herself starting to think maybe she could have room in her life, not to mention her heart, for a child. But the moment the idea crept into her mind, she swatted it away. What in the world had she been thinking? She’d opted for a cat because dogs were too much responsibility. What would she do with a baby…leave a litter box in its nursery? Although to be fair, the puppies in the living room were starting to do a number on her resolve as well. Paige shoved the thoughts aside, deciding this was just the type of crazy thing that happened when a person had too much downtime. She’d return to normal once she was back in Chicago. “My life is perfect just the way it is,” she said, more to herself than her friend. Problem was, even to her own ears, she didn’t sound very convincing.
Paige heard a yelp from the living room. “Gotta run, Sammy. Something is up with one of the puppies.”
“Puppies?” His voice was so high she was surprised anyone but a dog could hear.
“Yeah, Lucas and I rescued them from a storm drain. Long story.”
“Call me back then because this I have to hear.”
Except she didn’t call him back because by the time she got the pups settled, Lucas had returned with the groceries. He’d no sooner walked into the room when Maddie appeared at the bottom of the stairs, crying because she’d been put to bed without Stanley—was that the avocado or the bear?—and Samantha began barking by the back door.
“I swear everything was under control until a minute ago,” Paige said over the din. She had been totally killing the whole babysitting thing. As long as all the babies she was sitting were asleep. Talk about striking out at your first at-bat.
But Lucas took it in stride. “Why don’t you go let Momma out, and I’ll see if I can find Stanley.” He turned to Maddie. “Did you see if maybe he had just fallen off the bed?” Paige heard him ask as she left the kitchen.
Once the dogs and the child were settled, the three humans in the household began to make dinner. Lucas tossed the salad while Paige made the pasta sauce, with Maddie in charge of dumping ingredients into the bowl. She was also chief food taster, a title that was bestowed upon her with an official ceremony that involved her standing on a chair wearing an apron and trying not to giggle while her dad knighted her with a wooden spoon.
They sat in the dining room with Maddie at the head of the table, which seemed only fitting seeing as she was the only one in the room who had received a royal accolade. “That was yummy,” she said after she took her last bite of pasta. Judging by the amount of sauce on her face, Paige wasn’t entirely sure any had made in into her mouth. Still, it was sweet of her to say, and Paige found herself more than a little gratified by Maddie’s seal of approval.
“Thank you,” Paige said. “My mom taught me how to make that. I would have made a crème brûlée for dessert, but I forgot to pack my torch.” She smiled at her own joke. “What’s your favorite flavor of crème brûlée, Maddie?”
“Crème bru what?” she asked.
“It’s a dessert,” Lucas said. “Kind of like pudding but with a sugar shell on top.”
Maddie nodded as though she understood the intricacies of burnt sugar. “I’ve never had a lady cook for me,” she said matter-of-factly. “Just a daddy.”
“What about your aunt?” Paige asked. “Doesn’t she cook for you?”
“Aunt Sophia gets me lots of meals in white containers,” Maddie replied, and the three of them shared a laugh.
“Did someone say my name?” Sophie said as she came through the front door.
“Maddie was just telling us how you keep her alive with takeout containers,” Lucas said.
“Hey, we can’t all be Martha Stewart.” Her eyes widened at the sight of the pasta primavera. “But it looks like someone here is.” She grabbed a plate out of the cabinet behind her and began loading it down with fettuccine.
Lucas stared at her nonplussed. “No, please, help yourself.”
Sophie stuck her tongue out at her brother before shoveling a forkful of pasta into her mouth. “This is good,” she said, echoing her niece between bites.
“Her mommy taught her how to make it,” Maddie said. She smiled at Paige as if they were conspirators in some secret club. Paige was cool with that. As long as the club didn’t involve toads. “What else did she teach you how to make?”
Assuming “how to make a vodka martini” probably wasn’t the answer she should give to a four-year-old, Paige offered the only other recipe of her mom’s she knew by heart. “Oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies.”
Maddie bounced in her chair. “Oooh, can we make them now? Pleeease?”
“Afraid not,” Lucas said before Paige could reply. “You and Aunt Soph need to put a move on if you want to watch an episode of Ryan’s World before bed.”
Maddie held up three tiny fingers. “This many.”
“One,” Lucas said. It was a valiant attempt to hold his ground, but even Paige knew he was fighting a losing battle. Lucas was a bit of a pushover when it came to his daughter. After being away from her for three nights, the poor guy didn’t stand a chance.
“Okay, two,” Maddie countered. The satisfied grin on her face gave Paige the impression that had been her goal all along.
“What is it with the women in my life and negotiations?”
For a moment, Paige wondered if she was included in that group, but then Lucas glanced at her and winked. It was a small gesture that not only answered her unspoken question, but set off a flurry of butterflies in her belly.
“Fine,” he conceded. “Two. Then right to bed.”
“But I’m not sleepy,” Maddie said on a yawn. What was it about kids and sleep? From what she’d learned from her friends who were parents, being stubborn about going to bed was a universal trait, something Paige couldn’t quite understand. What’s not to love about climbing into bed after a long day and snuggling deep beneath the covers? Were kids really that worried they were missing out on something important while they slept? Did they think the adults only imposed an earlier bedtime for pip-squeaks so that they could have an all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet without interruption? Or maybe they thought all the adults played with their toys after they went to bed. After eight o’clock, it was Barbie and Lego time for the over-thirty age group. Not a bad idea, Paige thought. Throw in a few themed cocktails, and you’d have quite the retro happy hour.
“Alright, munchkin,” Sophie said. “Time for you and me to hit the road.”
“Let me grab Kermit,” Maddie said as she slid off her chair. She returned a moment later with the shoebox in hand.
“I’ll walk you out,” Lucas said. He began to follow his sister and daughter to the door, then looked back to where Paige had started stacking dishes. “Leave those,” he said. “I’ll do them in the morning.”
Leave dishes until the next day? Was he crazy? Paige was about to launch into the million reasons why she could never do that, but then Lucas’s expression darkened as his eyes raked over her in a heated glance that took her breath away. Nothing went unnoticed—from the warm blush that rushed across her cheeks, to the stray curl she tucked behind her ear, to the way her sweater pulled across her breasts, and the way her jeans hugged her curves.
His voice was rough when he spoke, revealing the effect his once-over had had on him as well. “Wait for me.”
As if there was anything else she would rather do.