Even though watching her disappear into her house feels like losing something I never actually had.
CHAPTER 18
ALEXA
Rain drums against Jordan’s kitchen windows with the kind of steady persistence that suggests it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. It’s Saturday morning, and both Ash and Henry seem to have absorbed the gloomy weather into their moods.
“I’m bored,” Ash announces from his spot on the couch, where he’s been flipping through the same comic book for the past twenty minutes. “There’s nothing to do.”
Henry, strapped into his high chair, Cheerios scattered around him like confetti, expresses his own displeasure by throwing a handful of cereal onto the floor. He’s been fussy all morning, refusing his bottle and rejecting every toy I’ve offered him.
“Maybe the rain will stop soon,” I say hopefully, though the weather forecast suggests otherwise.
“It’s supposed to rain all day,” Jordan replies, pacing the kitchen with a cup of coffee. He looks as restless as the kids feel, which somehow makes me feel better about my own fidgety energy.
Three weeks. It’s been almost three weeks since I started working for Jordan, and we’ve fallen into such a comfortable routine that days like this feel like an interruption to our normal flow. Saturdays are usually park days or backyard soccer days, times when Ash can burn off energy and Henry can enjoy the fresh air from his stroller or a blanket on the grass.
“What about the science museum?” Jordan suggests suddenly, stopping mid-pace. “The Boston Children’s Museum has that hands-on science exhibit. Ash might like it.”
Ash’s head pops up from his comic book. “A science museum?”
“Interactive exhibits, experiments you can actually do, that kind of thing.” Jordan looks between Ash and me. “What do you think?”
“Can we see explosions?” Ash asks with the kind of hope only a nine-year-old can muster.
“Probably not explosions, but definitely some cool chemistry demonstrations.”
“I’m in.” Ash jumps up from the couch, his boredom evaporating instantly. “Can Henry come too?”
“That’s the idea. Family outing.” Jordan pauses, and I catch something shift in his expression, like he’s just heard what he said. “I mean, group outing. All of us.”
The slip makes my chest flutter in a way I try very hard to ignore. We’re not a family, no matter how much it sometimes feels like we are. I work for Jordan. We’re neighbors. Maybe even friends at this point.
Nothing more.
An hour later, we’re walking through the museum entrance, and I’m reminded why I love seeing the world through Ash’s eyes. His enthusiasm is infectious as he reads every sign, points out every exhibit, and asks a hundred questions about everything we pass.
“Look at this!” Ash calls from a display about simple machines. “Jordan, come see this pulley system!”
Jordan follows him eagerly, and I’m struck by how naturally he’s taken to being around children. Three weeks ago, he could barely change a diaper without panicking. Now, he’s explaining the physics of levers to a nine-year-old while bouncing Henry in his arms like he’s been doing it for years.
It is, quite honestly, the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
Unfortunately for me.
“The mechanical advantage increases based on the ratio of the input force to the output force,” Jordan explains, demonstrating with one of the interactive pulleys.
“So, if I pull this rope, it makes lifting that weight easier?” Ash tests the mechanism, his face lighting up when it works exactly as Jordan described.
“Exactly. You’re using physics to multiply your strength.”
“Mom, look!” Ash waves me over to another exhibit. “This one shows how electricity works!”
The next two hours pass in a blur of exhibits and excited discoveries. Henry, recovered from his morning grumpiness, seems fascinated by all the lights and sounds around him. Jordan proves to be surprisingly good at explaining complexconcepts in ways that make sense to a curious kid, and Ash soaks up every bit of information like a sponge.
“This is the coolest thing ever,” Ash declares as we approach a chamber labeledTornado Simulator.
The exhibit creates a miniature tornado using fog and carefully controlled air currents. We stand around it in a semi-circle, mesmerized by the swirling column of vapor spinning inside the clear chamber.
