Chapter 22
Cedar putthe car in park and cut the engine. Teo’s house was dark, the windows black and the solar lights ran low on energy. The sound of her door opening echoed down the row of adobe houses. Her heels clicked on the stamped concrete walkway and the keypad light lit up the front porch. All of it drew attention to the fact that she was late—so very, very late. She’d texted Teo when she left Harley’s office, but hadn’t gotten aresponse.
Noah had met her in the lobby of the office building in downtown Dallas. The place was huge, with glass walls and chrome accents. Harley was detained, but Noah had given her the grand tour, ending in a small kitchen with a kind woman who offered them homemade cookies and fresh lemonade. They talked for a while—reminiscing over pranks between their cabins and asking where other counselors were now. The longer she waited, the more she understood that Noah had set this up as a favor. She wondered if she should just offer to come back, but three weeks was so long, and she was readynow.
Harley breezed in at three-twelve, looking as composed as if she’d just had a day at the spa. That wasn’t the case. Cedar could hear her on the intercom to the secretary and receptionist throughout her time in thekitchen.
Noah had introduced them, and Harley wanted to know as many stories about Noah as possible. She was good friends with Paige, Noah’s sister, who was also Cedar’s good friend. Paige had a baby not much older than Akoni. Their conversation merged into business, and before she knew it, they were ordering in dinner. There wasn’t a break in the evening where she could politely step away and call Teo. The heaviness of letting someone down—someone who was important to her—settled on her mind as she discussed first-quartergains.
Cedar looked around, hoping for some sign of life. If Teo was in bed, she couldn’t walk into his house—his bedroom—and wake him up. She’d never set foot in his room, and she wasn’t going to go in now while he was sound asleep, like some weirdstalker.
She slowly made her way back to her car. Despite having secured the funding for the Doggie Café, she had the feeling that things were slipping away. Between missing dates and phone calls and texts, she was becoming the world’s worst girlfriend. The longer she was away from Teo the more she missed him. That was a sign, right? A sign that they were meant to be together, that he was her match. Deja said there was no doubt—when the timing and the person were right, then she’dknow.
Cedar looked around for a shooting star or a spotlight to land on thehouse.
Nothinghappened.
The timing could be off because she had decided to go after the doggie café with a vengeance. Which meant this void in their relationship was her fault. The realization hung around her neck like aboulder.
“I am in control,” she said to the windshield in an effort to convince herself she had everything undercontrol.
The answering silence was notreassuring.
Chapter 23
“Are your hours flexible?”Teo looked up from his phone where Mrs. Park’s résumé stared up at him. She had all the right qualifications, and Akoni hadn’t run to hide behind the couch when she camein.
“You bet.” Mrs. Park smiled, creating several parentheses around her lips. She wore a long, light-pink T-shirt with the Texas Titans logo on the front and a pair of darker pink slacks. Her running shoes were white. “My husband passed a couple years ago, and my son lives out of state. I can schedule my visits during the off-season.” She tucked both sides of her short blond hair behind herears.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Teo nudged Cedar, who was staring at herphone.
She jerked in her seat. “Huh?”
Teo tipped his head towards Mrs.Park.
“Oh—I’m sorry.” Cedar clicked her screen off. “How do you feel about a variableschedule?”
Teo waved off Mrs. Park, who looked like she was about to launch herself into the same speech he’d already heard. He’d had enough and got to his feet. “Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch.” He escorted her to the front door and made sure she was headed down the street before going back inside. He found Cedar balancing Akoni on her hip while she scrolled through emails on her phone. She’d come dressed the part of an executive nanny today with her long, flowing skirt and button-up blouse. The large belt around her middle accentuated her curves, and her hair was in a messy bun that looked justright.
He reached for his son, hoping to steal a quick kiss. Cedar handed Akoni over without making eyecontact.
Teo checked his hold as his hands began to shake. The familiar feeling of being dismissed crept over him. Cedar wasn’t freezing him out to spite him, but the chill was just asstrong.
He set Akoni in the ball pit. A few steps and shots of courage later, he slipped his arms around Cedar from behind. “Hello in there,” he murmured in her ear before kissing herneck.
Cedar leaned into him. Her phone went to her side and her head tipped back to allow him better access—a fact he would make good use of. “Hmmm, mmm,” shehummed.
He kissed her earlobe and she gasped. Teo smiled against her sweet, pineapple-smelling skin. He splayed his fingers across her belly, loving the way she fit againsthim.
Cedar’s phone signaled a text, and she jolted and hurried to read the message. The warmth between them cooled as quickly as fresh muffins on a granitecountertop.
Teo released her and ran his hands through his hair. “You’re like a big storm cloudbrewing.”
Cedar looked over her shoulder, her thumbs over the keyboard. He made sure they made eye contact. That didn’t happen all that often these days. Her eyes were still ocean blue with green waves in them. Stillbeautiful.
“What’s wrong?” Her phone went back to herside.
Teo scratched the back of his neck. There were so many things he wanted to say, like,Can you put your phone away long enough to look at me?But he wasn’t looking to start a fight. He’d had enough fights to last a lifetime. “I missyou.”
