Ivy attempted to reassure Jake. “Sweetheart, do you know how often I went by myself with Ads? It’s no big deal, and I don’t want Addie in the waiting room. Goddess knows what germs she’d pick up.”
Noah still seemed frozen in place with an almost pained look on his face.
“Momma, I don’t want to leave O’Malley. We’re best friends. He’ll be so lonely without me,” Addie called from the nook, her voice trending toward a whine she was clearly trying to hold back.
Before I knew it, words spilled out of my mouth without a conscious decision to say anything. “How about Noah and I keep Addie, then you can both go.”
Ivy stopped swaying and patting the fussy babe on her chest and turned toward me with a glance at the still-silent Noah. She seemed to study him even as he didn’t pipe up with any thoughts on my suggestion. Finally, she moved to a spot in front of him, her sway continuing as she walked and patted, Lorelai still fussing, but it was much quieter now.
“Noah,” she said in a low voice, her comment making him focus on her.
Noah shook his head, then looked around to the nook, then at Jake, then Ivy again, before focusing on me. Clearing his throat, he said, “Addie and I can go to my place—you don’t have to give up your afternoon.”
“Da-ddyyyyyyyy.” Addie poked her head out of the opening to the platform as she shot her parents a look.
I laughed at her incensed voice before looking at Noah. “I’d love you guys to stay.”
He watched me for a moment, probably to determine if I really meant what I said, then gave me a nod before looking at Ivy. “We’ve got Ads; you guys go ahead.”
Addie cheered and went back in her space without further comment to us, but some words were being mumbled to O’Malley. I heard “Silly parents” and “I’ve got you, sweet kitty.” My poor cat didn’t know what he was in for with that pint-sized dynamo.
“Excellent, guys. Let’s go, babe.” Jake grabbed their diaper bag and was ready to roll, looking all sorts of impatient.
Ivy hugged Noah, saying something in his ear before coming over to give me a squeeze. She whispered to me, “We’ll chat later, Jules. Take care of him.”
“I’ve got him,” I replied, hoping I was telling the truth.
Chapter 12
Unpacking Some Baggage
Noah
We’d had a text from Ivy an hour ago with an update on Lorelai. They’d been sitting in the waiting room at convenient care for almost an hour, but after seeing a doc, the double ear infection had been confirmed. They’d headed to pick up some meds and get them in Lorelai as soon as possible so she could start feeling better. Jake had offered to drop them at their place and swing by to get Addie, but I’d let Jules convince me to tell them we’d keep Addie until dinner. Jules had made no moves to tell us to leave either, not that I’d wanted her to, thereby prolonging the longest breakfast date ever into one that was now stretching into early afternoon.
I looked over at Jules’s living room. She and Addie had made a fort with sheets and blankets over the tops of chairs and the couch.Blueywas on the television, and Addie and O’Malley were set up to watch it from their cave-like location. Jules had just popped back over to check on them and was headed back my way.
And how was I doing? Pretty shitty if I was being honest. I’d escaped any conversation about it so far. In the past three hours, we’d made homemade chocolate chip cookies, checkedout Jules’s new bird feeder, identified birds that were about, Jules had helped Addie make an illustrated “book”—printing paper stapled together—about Addie and O’Malley, and had some sandwiches for lunch. Then fort building had commenced and here we were.
I had a funny feeling my time of avoidance was at an end. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to Jules, but I wasn’t even sure where to start. The expressions she’d been giving me for the past few hours were wary, which was the last thing I wanted. Yeah, it was high time to make sure we were on the same page and get out whatever other crap we had hanging there, ready to weigh us down.
Then again, what did I say? I thought we had potential together and absolutely wanted to kiss her again but didn’t think I should date until Addie was an adult. Oh, and I was carrying around several suitcases full of baggage of my own? That seemed like a great conversation starter. And to think this morning I just wanted to talk to this woman and let her share her own stresses. Now I was asking her to take on some of mine. Fuck.
Oblivious of my inner torment, Jules plopped down on the stool next to me at the island, still in hostess mode. “You have enough tea?”
“You don’t need to wait on me, Jules.”
“And you, Noah, have been avoiding a real conversation,” she said bluntly, her foot knocking against mine.
I looked over at her and she, like she had ever since I met the woman just under a week ago, took my breath away. Her hair was still in a bun on her head, but far more than a few strands had escaped at this point. She’d kicked off her shoes when we got here and had been barefoot since. Her vibe was relaxed and unpretentious, and I was a huge fan.
I took a deep breath and sat back in my seat. “What would you like to talk about?”
She looked like she was going to give me shit, but I held a hand up when I realized how that sounded.
“Swear I’m not trying to avoid this, but there’re so many directions we could take a conversation… The kiss, your writing, et cetera. What baggage do you want me to start with?” I worked to lighten the conversation, though it felt anything but.
She ignored my quip and leaned forward, clearly trying to keep this between the two of us. She didn’t need to worry—Blueywas on and Addie had a cat with her in a homemade fort. She was in her happiest of places, and whatever we were discussing wouldn’t even factor into her world over there.
