“And while I hate to sound like a whiny baby, but what about me?” Alyssa looks as lost as I feel. “If you would have told me you were moving, I could have gotten a hotel and been out of everyone’s way.”
“No no no. I want you to be here.” Beth rounds the island and wraps her arms around Alyssa for a quick hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the move, but when you called to say you could start your visit early, I got so excited and forgot to share my own news.”
“It’s okay.” Alyssa pulls her cell phone from her back pocket and swipes the screen. “I’ll just find a hotel.”
“No.” My one word shocks all three of us. I clear my throat and lean back against the counter to try and look like everything is cool and my heart isn’t racing a thousand miles an hour with what I’m about to suggest. “Beth is right, you can stay here. We have the space and that way you don’t have to waste money paying for a hotel. Pitch in for some groceries if we don’t have something you want and we’ll call it even.”
“I can’t stay here for free,” she starts to argue. “That wouldn’t be—”
“Not that we’d care if you stayed here forfree,” Beth throws up double air quotes, “because we don’t, but what if I had an idea for you to work while you are here?”
“Doing what?” Alyssa and I say the same thing at the same time—again.
“Jinx,” Alyssa claims a millisecond before I can.
“Look at you two, being in sync already,” Beth says with a smile and a quick fast clap. “This is gonna work out great!”
“What are you talking about, Beth?” I don’t mean to be snippy with her, but if she doesn’t get to the point in her roundabout crazy idea, I’m going to pull her into a headlock and give her a noogie like I used to do when we were kids.
Beth locks eyes with Alyssa, pretending like I’m not even here. “Since I’ll be in and out, moving my stuff to the house, and Bode will be at the shop, would you be okay to watch Hazel during the day?”
“Do what now?” she asks Beth for the both of us.
“Bode works crazy hours during the week because he’s penny pincher and refuses to hire another mechanic to help lighten his workload—”
“Hey now—” I try to interrupt but get cutoff.
“You know I’m right,” Beth points a finger at me, “so shut your piehole.”
“I can’t ask your friend to watch my kid when they’ve never even met until today. That’s just crazy,” I argue. “And wouldn’t you want her help getting things settled into the new house? Or with the wedding? She’s here to see you, not be a nanny for Hazel.”
“I know for a fact that she has years of childcare experience.” Beth glares at me with the look that tells me I’m about to eat some crow. “Alyssa grew up in foster care and was raised around kids of all ages. Then even when we were in college, and she had a full class load, she worked two sometimes three jobs at the same time. On top of bartending, or a receptionist job, or whatever else she could find to fit her crazy schedule, she babysat nights and weekends for several families. She is Red Cross first aid certified and has a reliable SUV. Shit, it’s newer and nicer than both of our vehicles, so I know it’s perfectly safe for her to take Hazel somewhere if need be. I’d trust her to watch Hazel more than the guys at your shop, and I know for a fact that you’ve had them keep an eye on her the couple times you’ve taken her to work with you. But this is not one of those times you can do that. It’s summer vacation and the daycare center is full, I called and checked, and you need help.”
“Can I pipe in here for a second?” Hand raised like she’s in school, Alyssa’s words break the stupor I’m in from Beth’s speech.
I try to hold back my smile, but I feel the corner of my mouth raise in a small smirk. “By all means.”
“While I appreciate what Beth is saying,” her glare makes Beth shrink back just a smidgen, “but I think I can speak for myself.”
She’s not wrong. I think this is a perfect opportunity for me to get a moment alone with the woman who has put some kind of spell on me, so I take it. I grab her hand and head for the front of the house.
“Beth, go out back and watch Hazel. I left her out there with Amy and Todd, but I see more guests have arrived. We’ll join the party in a minute.”
Not bothering to watch and see if my nosey sister listens to a word I say, I pull Alyssa into my empty office and shut the door.
“Look, this all just came out of left field for me too,” Alyssa starts talking so fast, her words spin through the room like a hamster on a wheel, “but you don’t have to do this. While I’d love to take care of Hazel, because she seems like a great kid, I’m not here to step on anyone’s toes. If you’d prefer to find someone else to watch her, I totally understand. But I’m not gonna lie, I love kids and I’m all in, if that’s okay with you. I think me coming here was meant to be.”
Whatever comes over me hits me hard and metaphorically knocks me on my ass, because what I do next is so not me . . . at least it never was until this ray of sunshine appeared on my front porch and woke me up for the first time in way too long.
CHAPTER FIVE
ALYSSA
Finding this man attractive will never be a problem, but that isn’t what I came here for. Bode is the hottest fucking thing on two legs that I’ve ever seen, I just don’t think he sees me as anything but his annoying younger sister’s best friend, especially since he had no clue I was coming to town, or staying in his house, until I arrived.
Got to love Beth, that sneaky woman. Not only is she moving in with her fiancé before their wedding, she is going to leave me alone in this house with the hunky object of my newest affection, but also his four-year-old daughter. The same daughter who I just went on a word ramble on about, saying I’d take care of this summer.
I don’t know why I’m so okay with this, but for some reason I am. If you would have asked me a few weeks ago what I was doing this weekend, I would have told you I had no set plans. I probably would be doing laundry, grocery shopping, spending time with my boyfriend, and going to brunch with my friend on Sunday morning . . . but obviously none of those things are happening. Stupid liars and cheaters.
