Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Nellie
Stupid, stupid, stupid! I scolded myself when I got back to the apartment with my groceries. What in the hell was I thinking? Saying yes to Noah’s ridiculous idea to go on a date?
Especially when I knew it was all bullshit. Going on a date and saying there was no chemistry between us wasn’t going to magically throw the Hartley sisters off our trail. If anything, they’d see right through our antics to the chemistry that so clearly existed between us.
The very chemistry I was trying my hardest to ignore, because I knew—I knew—that once I told Noah I was pregnant, everything between us would change.
And yet…I’d been unable to resist his charm, his crooked smile, and his affable attitude about the whole situation. It was almost like he thought the whole matchmaking business was a silly little joke.
At first, I’d said yes to test him. To see if he’d retract those words, but when he didn’t, when he proceeded to pick a date, I’d found myself growing excited and hopeful.
For one blessed minute, I’d forgotten about the circumstances between us, circumstances that Noah had no idea about, and let myself imagine the date going well. The possibility of a kiss at the door, of more dates in the future.
For one singular moment, I’d allowed myself to imagine what it’d be like to fall for Noah. Then reality set in, and the fear that came with it.
But it was too late. The date was set. Noah said he’d pick me up at seven Saturday night, and to leave the planning to him.
I put away my groceries, still trying to think of a way out of the situation I’d gotten myself into.
My phone rang, and I pulled it out of my coat pocket. It was Sage, video calling me. “Hey, Sage,” I said, setting my phone down on the counter and propping it up against the fruit bowl.
“I heard a rumour,” Sage’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, and I froze, the bag of sugar I’d been about to put away in the cupboard suspended in the air.
“What rumour?”
“That you and Noah were spotted at the grocery store, making plans for a date,” Sage relayed.
“How fast does news spread in this town?!” I scowled, shoving the sugar bag in the cupboard. “I literally just got home.”
“It spreads fast, very fast,” Sage said sympathetically, though she couldn’t hide her excitement. “So, it’s true then?”
“Kind of.” I sighed, bringing my hand to my forehead to massage my temple. I could feel the beginning of a headache coming on.
“How do you ‘kind of’ plan a date?” Sage’s lips quirked. “Either you planned a date, or you didn’t. No ‘kind of’ about it.”
“We’re going to go on a fake date to get the Hartley triplets off our backs. Apparently, they’ve got their sights set on us as a love match, and if we don’t get ahead of it, they’ll start meddling.” I accentuated the fake part of the date, so she’d know.
Sage snorted. “And you think that going on a ‘fake date’ will help with that?” she asked, using air quotes.
“I don’t know, maybe? It was Noah’s idea.”
“Of course, it was,” Sage said. “But I’m pretty sure you already know that’s not going to work.
If anything, it’ll encourage them more. Especially because you and Noah have some serious chemistry going on.
If you weren’t pregnant already, the looks alone he was giving you at the New Year’s party would have done it. ”
I felt a little sick at that. I mean, I knew we had chemistry, and I knew Noah knew it. But was it that easily detectable to outsiders, or was Sage seeing it because she knew our history?
Sage could see me internally freaking out. She moved her phone closer to her face, like she could get closer to me. “It’s not a bad thing, Nell. I think this is a good thing. Fake date pretense or not, it’ll give you the opportunity to talk to him, and you do need to talk to him.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Sage had a point, as reluctant as I was to admit it.
Noah had been understanding about my request for taking another Friday afternoon off, but he’d also sort of reprimanded me.
I could easily switch my appointments with Dr. Kramer to Mondays, but he was still going to wonder why I needed time off so frequently.
Plus, I’d started showing. It wasn’t detectable to anyone but me, but that would change in no time at all. I needed to put my big girl panties on and tell him already.
“This is a good thing,” Sage repeated. “And, I mean, if your intention was to have word get back to the Hartley triplets about you two pursuing a romantic relationship, you are kind of ahead of the game now. If I heard the news, they probably did, too.”
“I guess so,” I sighed, wondering if that was a good thing. Maybe we’d put even more pressure on ourselves.
The week passed in a blur. I was busy at work booking reservations and staying on top of the daily tasks required of me.
On Friday morning, I put together all the check-in packets for that weekend’s guests entirely by myself, the additional task serving well to distract me from tomorrow night’s plans.
Despite Fridays being check-in days for many guests, I had limited contact with them. Most folks arrived after I’d left for the day.
There were two wooden boxes mounted to the wall beside the door labeled check-ins and check-outs. The check-in box was slightly bigger, the lid opening to reveal the packets with each guest’s name on it. The check-out box was smaller and locked, with a slot for the keys to drop in.
All payments were processed the day guests were set to arrive, so there was no need for them to wait around until the office was open to pay for their stay.
With all the check-in packets ready to go by noon, I put them in the check-in box then returned to the office and keeping myself busy while I waited for someone to come in and relieve me so I could go to my appointment in Springwood.
I was simultaneously hoping and dreading that someone would be Noah.
I hadn’t seen much of him this week because he’d been busy helping with some plumbing issues one of the cottages was having. The only time I caught a glimpse of him was at lunch briefly, and despite the winks and flirty smiles he sent me across the table, he’d kept his distance.
I expected his brothers to call us out, to demand to know why we thought it’d be appropriate for us to go on a date, but neither Damien nor Easton said a thing about it.
It was as if they didn’t know—and maybe they didn’t.
I wasn’t about to bring it up, even if I’d entertained the idea briefly as a way to get out of the date in a moment of insecurity and panic.
The bell in the back chimed, and I waited with bated breath until the door to the laundry room swung open, revealing Charlotte.
“Hope it’s going better in here than it is in the Sprucewood Cottage,” she winced, shaking her head.
“Yeah, it’s been quiet. Booked a few more reservations and I have all the check-in packets ready to go out front. I take it the plumbing issue isn’t going so well?”
“You could say that,” Charlotte sighed. “The guys are still trying, but I’m going to make an executive decision and call a plumber. They might be handy, but they aren’t that handy, and I’m worried about the hardwood floors if they keep trying it their way.”
“Ommf, yeah.” I opened the web browser, about to type in local plumbers.
“I’ll call James, he’s our usual plumber.”
“Right,” I wrinkled my nose at myself. I should have guessed they already had contacts.
“Noah tells me you’re off to Springwood for an appointment?” Charlotte asked, picking up the phone and dialing a number straight from memory.
“Yeah, I should head out soon if I’m going to make it in time,” I replied, hoping Charlotte wouldn’t ask any further questions, like what my appointment was for. I didn’t want to have to lie to anybody, but I wanted to tell Noah first.
“Okay, no problem. Thanks for getting all the check-in packets ready,” Charlotte smiled warmly, sitting down in the desk chair, and turning her attention to the phone. “Hi, James? Yeah, it’s Charlotte. We’ve got a bit of a situation here, can you come out?”
I grabbed my coat and outdoor boots, dressing and putting away my indoor work shoes on the shoe stand. Then I made my way to the kitchen to grab my lunch bag and headed out.
The drive to Springwood passed quickly with the help of my extensive playlist. Waiting for Dr. Kramer, however, felt like a slow and torturous process.
The OB was running a few patients behind, so I didn’t get seen until forty-five minutes after my appointment. Dr. Kramer came in, looking a little frazzled. “Sorry about that, Nellie. We had a delivery last night, and it set me back.”
“No worries,” I assured her. I figured that was typical for an OB. They did deliver babies, after all.
“How have you been feeling?”
“Pretty good,” I answered. “A little nervous about everything we talked about last time, but otherwise, I’m okay.”
“A little nervousness is to be expected,” Dr. Kramer smiled kindly. “You’re growing a human, after all. But your progesterone levels look good, your blood pressure is on par with where it should be.”
“That’s good to hear,” I murmured, relieved.
“Sure is! I want you to watch for the following symptoms: facial swelling, headaches, trouble seeing or changes in vision, and pain below the ribs. Those are all signs of preeclampsia, which as we discussed last week, you are at an elevated risk for.”
“I have been having some headaches, but I’m probably not drinking enough water, and stressing too much,” I said.
Dr. Kramer nodded sympathetically. “Keep an eye on those headaches, and try to up your water intake. It’s always good to be hydrated, especially while pregnant.”
“I can do that. When is my next ultrasound?” I asked.
“Your next ultrasound will be scheduled for the twenty-one-week mark, so six weeks from now,” Dr. Kramer answered. “If you want to find out the gender, we can do so during that scan.”
“Okay,” I nodded again.
Dr. Kramer gave me a quick examination, and then I was free to go.
Noah
My body was aching from hours of laying on my side in frozen mud, trying fruitlessly to fix the pipes under the Sprucewood cottage with Damien and Easton. Most of the cottages didn’t have basements, just a small crawl space.
Easton and I were secretly relieved when Charlotte called James. Damien wouldn’t allow us to admit defeat, at least not until he had no choice in the matter.
When James took over, he was able to spot the problem that had evaded us all day in five minutes. Unfortunately, fixing it was going to take a little longer. He’d have to squeeze us into his already busy schedule, and order the proper piping to replace the old stuff that was all but rotting away.
“Truth is, all of the cottages could use new pipes,” Easton grumbled. He was as filthy as I was. We were debriefing in the laundry room, waiting for Charlotte to lock up the front before we all called it a day and went home to shower.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Damien scowled. “We’ve already had to move the Joneses, and we’ll have to reschedule anyone who booked the Sprucewood cottage for the next two weeks at least.”
“We could always open up the Rustic,” I suggested.
“It’s smaller, and we’ll have to comp the price difference. But fine, whatever, do that then. Wait until after we open it up tomorrow and make sure it’s good to go. With our luck, the heat won’t work or something,” Damien’s scowl deepened.
The door to the laundry room swung open, and Charlotte entered. Damien’s scowl immediately vanished.
“Alright, we’re all locked up for the night,” she said. “Was James able to figure it out?”
“He’ll need to come back,” my older brother explained, his tone much gentler with his fiancée. “We’ve got to replace all the pipes in the Sprucewood.”
“That’s to be expected,” Charlotte sighed. “Unfortunately, a lot of the cottages need their pipes replaced.”
Damien didn’t get irritated at her for the remark, even though he’d seemed close to throwing a punch at Easton for making the same comment. Easton grinned, noting the difference, too. They took off, leaving me and Easton to make sure the back door was locked up.
“So…” Easton said when it was the two of us, his eyes sparkling with entertainment. “I heard something interesting the other day.”
“Oh yeah?” I had a feeling I knew what he was referring to.
“You asked Nellie out on a date, huh?” my younger brother shook his head, like he couldn’t believe how stupid I was.
“Yeah, I did. What of it?”
“Messing around with employees,” Easton whistled. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
I usually made sure to avoid entanglements with employees. So far, it hadn’t been a problem, but most of our employees were either related to us, or older than us by a couple of decades. Minus Jeannine, who’d tried her best to get with each one of us—even Damien, who’d been in a happy relationship.
“Technically, I messed around with her before she was an employee,” I pointed out.
“Damien’s still not going to like it. He already thinks you hired her because you have a crush on her.”
“I do have a crush on her, but that’s not why I hired her, and you know it. She’s good at her job. She seems to fit in great with everyone.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m not saying anything contrary there. She’s leagues better than Jeannine. But you know Damien’s going to have a burr in his ass about it.”
“He has a burr in his ass about most things, so I don’t really care,” I shrugged.
“When are you going to tell him? You’ve been lucky so far that he—and Charlotte, for that matter—haven’t heard the gossip.”
“Whenever it comes up, I guess,” I said, reaching my truck.
“Well, I hope you know what you’re doing. If this date doesn’t work out, then you’ve created an uncomfortable situation for an employee of ours. What if she decides to quit?”
I opened the door to my truck and climbed in. “Or, what if the date works out and she’s here long-term, like Charlotte?” I said, closing my door in his face.
Easton’s eyes widened, like he hadn’t realized how serious my feelings were for Nellie. Heck, I didn’t even realize it until I found myself saying it out loud.
I didn’t wait around for him to say anything else. Peeling out of the parking lot, I went home to shower the mud and cold off my skin.