“Perfect. I’ll email the paperwork over for you to sign.”
After hanging up with Marsha, I feel like I’m in shock. An enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders by getting the house under contract, but—
“Did you just accept an offer on your house, Anna?”
I look up to meet Laura’s eyes, and I nod. “I did. But… holy hell, Laura, where are we going to live?”
Discarding my undrunk coffee cup on the small side table in Laura’s office, I stand, feeling antsy. The kids still have four more months of school until summer break. I had hoped that whoever bought my house would allow me to lease it back through the end of the school year. Which would make it easier for Grace and Claire to stay at their private school and give me more time to buy a new place.
Obviously, that plan has flown out the window.
“What about renting?” Laura suggests. “It’s not ideal, but better than hurrying to buy a new house and regretting the purchase later.”
Renting could work. It would suck to move twice, but as Laura said, that’s a better alternative than suffering from buyer’s remorse.
“You can always rent Loverboy’s house for a couple of months.”
“Loverboy?”
“Dave.”
“OMG, are you still hung up on the idea that he likes me? I think he’s just… awkwardly nice.”
“Nice? Please, Anna," Laura scoffs. "Matt, in accounting, moved a few months ago, and Dave never offered his house to him. Just saying."
Sixty percent of adults have engaged in a workplace romance, so it’s not uncommon for feelings to develop between co-workers. “Ugh. You might be right. He’s already stopped by my cubicle twice this week to talk, and each conversation was weird. I hope he doesn’t have feelings for me. It would make for an uncomfortable situation if I rented his house, and he became my landlord.”
Laura rolls her eyes, her unspoken form ofI told you so.
Slumping back onto the couch, I pause for a sip of coffee. “You don’t think he’s the type to plant hidden cameras in the bathroom or anything, do you?” I wrinkle my nose at the thought.
Laura barks out a laugh. “No, I don’t think he would. He’s a character, but he’s not a perv.”
As soon as I hear the quiet knock on my front door later that evening, I rush to open it, and before Hayes can even step through the doorway, I fling myself into his arms. I put Grace and Claire to bed almost an hour ago, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for Hayes to arrive.
With a laugh, Hayes catches me. “I could get used to this kind of greeting.”
“I could, too,” I admit. “I missed you.”
Christmas at the ranch with the girls and Hayes was a balm to my once-broken, now-healing heart. Witnessing his interactions with Grace and Claire, becoming acquainted with his friends who are quickly becoming my friends, too… it was a magical holiday.
As promised, Hayes bought Christmas presents for the girls. Nothing too extravagant, just thoughtful presents that the girls loved. Pink cowboy boots, Barbie fishing poles, children’s books, art supplies, dress-up clothes.
And a piggy bank for Grace so she has somewhere safe to store her ill-gotten proceeds. That gift made everyone laugh since, by the time Christmas morning rolled around, she’d already pocketed sixty-five dollars from her swear jar fines. Even Bailey had to pay Grace a couple bucks.
He also broke our no gifts agreement and bought me one present. A new bottle of his body wash. My face went as red as the label when I realized he’d figured out I’d swiped his from Tank’s after our one-nightstand. I don’t know how he knew, but the lopsided smirk on his face when I unwrapped it told me everything. He definitely knew.
When the cabins lost power and Hayes and I had to share a bedroom, I worried about how the girls would react, but they didn’t blink an eye. I suspect Hayes was correct in assuming that Grace already had her suspicions about us.
Wanting to be honest, we sat the girls down after Christmas and told them Hayes and I were dating. Claire, who was only four when Kyle passed, doesn’t remember much about life with her father and took the news in stride. She didn’t seem bothered at all, which was a relief. Grace wasn’t upset either, but she did have questions. Some of them were a little uncomfortable to answer, since they focused mostly on the future.
Will Hayes be like a dad to them?
Will Hayes and I get married?
Will we have kids together?
Even as I sweated, Hayes answered each and every question thoughtfully and truthfully. The gist of which boiled down to that he can’t predict the future, but he wants nothing more than to love all three of us and to build a life together. His patient answers seemed to pacify any doubts or fears Grace held.
