Chapter 4 Liam
LIAM
You’d think after being a parent for ten years I would learn not to let my kids have ice cream before bed, but no, I just had to let Millie give them a scoop of her famous marionberry.
That was only an hour ago, and now Mila was standing in the tub, crying, while Maddy was arguing with her over it being her turn to take a shower.
Seraphina was trying to brush her teeth at the sink, and I was standing in the hall with my head hanging in defeat.
They had two speeds when they had too much sugar—they either became incredibly cranky or hyper. It seemed tonight was going to be a full-on meltdown.
“It’s my turn, did you take all the hot water?
” Maddy yelled, which made Mila cry harder.
I just needed Mila to wash the ice cream out of her hair before her tangles got any worse.
She could usually do this on her own, but when she felt like her sisters were mad at her, she had the tendency to overreact.
“Stop yelling at me!”
“Girls, that’s enough!” I bellowed from my place in the hall.
Maddy turned toward me with a red face and her arms tucked into her chest.
“Maddy, go take a shower in my bathroom. Mila has to wash her hair before the ice cream dries.”
With a roll of her eyes, Maddy agreed and took off upstairs.
With Mila turning five, we were past the point where I helped her in the bath anymore, unless she wore a bathing suit.
I was her dad and I’d never hurt her, she knew that, but I wanted to drill into her head that she was growing up, and there were ways to be safe as she grew up, no matter who it was.
We kept a suit hanging on the towel rack for situations like this.
“Seraph, toss Mila her swimsuit, will ya?” I asked and waited for my five-year-old to yell at me when she was ready.
When she finally gave me the green light, Seraphina headed out, and I knelt next to the tub to wash Mila’s hair.
“Daddy, I’m sorry I got it in my hair.”
I used the plastic cup to scoop up warm water.
“Close your eyes, baby.”
Pouring it over her head, I grabbed the shampoo and began lathering it into her hair.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, I probably should figure out how to comb your hair better and keep it out of your face.”
She let out a little sigh. “Yeah, my teacher says I look like I just got out of the jungle.”
I dipped my sudsy hands into the water and scooped up more water with the cup.
“Close your eyes again.”
I didn’t like that my girls looked like a single dad was raising them.
I just didn’t know how to brush hair the way I should.
Lacey never really had patience for it either, she was always tugging on Maddy’s hair roughly and yelling when she cried.
I never liked it, which was why I didn’t like doing it now.
It was getting bad, and we definitely needed help––and soon.
My mind went back to earlier tonight when Haley had shoved her contact info at me.
I could admit that I was a prideful man, but I didn’t need some rich girl here on vacation babysitting my kids as some hobby while she got her fill of mountain living just to have her leave and head back to her rich boyfriend in Malibu again.
My girls liked her, and they didn’t like women easily.
I guess that wasn’t entirely true. They had warmed up to Nora quickly, but they never liked Cassie or really any of their other babysitters.
Lathering the conditioner in Mila’s hair I let out a sigh.
“You want to play with your Barbies for a bit while this sits in your hair? Maybe it will help us brush it out.”
“Okay.” She shrugged her little shoulder as I handed her the little basket of Barbies we kept at the back of the tub.
Once she was playing, I turned my back and rested against the tub as I pulled up my contacts.
What did it say about me that I had already added Haley in?
I had been sitting in the diner listening to Millie talk about how she couldn’t help me watch the girls tomorrow because she would be going to Portland to look at something wedding related for her daughter, Rae.
I already knew I had no one else to ask. Colson wasn’t in the right state of mind to watch the girls. He was stressed out over Nora and drinking more than he normally did, and I had no idea if he was still working or what the situation was.
Fuck, my kids deserved to have fun for once.
They were always in my gym, waiting for me, and by the time I got off work it was too dark to take them to the park.
We also never seemed to have the money to do anything fun, like bowling or heading to a big city for one of those party places with all the arcade games.
The girls had asked for Haley and wanted to spend time with her.
Would it be so terrible to let them have a little fun until she decided to head back home to California?
Hanging my head, I tried to discern what was really holding me back.
I had no idea why I was being so weird about this, she was just Cole’s little sister.
I was a prick to her at the gym because she’d so quickly dismissed wanting to train just because we didn’t offer what she wanted.
It was such a typical rich girl response.
She didn’t even want to hear me out or see if we could eventually work her into something like that.
She just dismissed me and shut down the idea.
Suddenly my temper had flared and I was pissed.
Then she went and spoke out loud my biggest fears regarding my gym and fuck did it hurt.
I hadn’t really reacted to anyone like that in a long time.
There was no reason behind it, just that I was so tired of it being so easy for everyone else.
I was tired of stretching myself so fucking thin that there was nothing left at the end of the day.
I had gone on a date a few days ago, and it was such a clusterfuck because she kept asking me what I did for fun and all I wanted to tell her was that I occasionally woke up before my kids and got to drink a cup of coffee without having to be a dad for just a few minutes.
Otherwise, I didn’t do things for fun. I worked.
Every so often I got to see my best friend if he came to the gym or when he watched my girls.
Otherwise, that was it.
Pathetic.
“Is it ready, Daddy? I’m getting wrinkled.”
I turned around and used the cup to scoop up the warm water and rinsed her hair.
Once Mila was waddling up the stairs, tugging her towel around her shoulders, I pulled up Haley’s contact and instead of texting her, I pushed call.
It rang a few times while I gripped the back of my neck.
Then her soft voice hit my ears, and the weirdest sensation hit my sternum. It felt like a bird had got caught in my chest and was beating its wings like crazy to get free.
“Haley? Hi…”
She paused, and I realized I hadn’t said who I was…and she didn’t have my number.
“It’s Liam.”
“Oh, hey…” She trailed off, sounding guarded.
I walked into the living room, nearly tripping over one of Mila’s Barbie cars.
“Umm, sorry, I know it’s late.”
She gave a little laugh. “It’s only eight-thirty.”
Right, not late to a twenty-year-old. She probably partied back in California.
“Well, I would like to talk to you about your offer.”
“Okay.”
The living room was a disaster. I needed to have the girls pick up their toys before bed.
“Uh, well, is the offer for watching them tomorrow still open?”
She paused for a moment, and the girls started yelling upstairs. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“It is…”
Mila ran down the stairs shrieking at the top of her lungs. “Daddy, she put stickers all over my favorite Barbie!”
“So what? It’s just a dumb Barbie. You’re such a baby, Mila.” Seraph trailed after her sister, yelling just as loud.
Fucking hell.
“Girls, I’m on the phone.” I covered the receiver, but it was no use, they were already in a full-blown argument.
I heard Haley lightly laughing in my ear.
“Want to just call me back, or text me?”
“Uh…” I maneuvered around the kids and toys until I was in the kitchen, but the girls followed me.
This was a bit more serious than a text.
I also needed to be able to talk to her without being interrupted every five seconds.
If she were here in person, the girls wouldn’t behave like this.
They’d want her to be their babysitter, so they’d want her to be able to sit and talk with me without being interrupted.
“Would you be willing to come over? I know that seems weird, but it’s strictly professional, and the girls are here, so…”
There, that clearly established I was just asking her to come to my house at nearly nine at night because we had business to discuss.
“Sure, can you text me your address? I’m in sweats, so I’ll have to get dressed really quick.”
“We’re all in sweats too. Just come over, it’s not a big deal.”
Besides, maybe it would help to see her undone a bit.
She was usually so perfect: no hair out of place, her skin looking like something from an app filter, and her lashes were the longest I had ever seen on a real person.
She was young, but she intimidated the hell out of me, and I didn’t intimidate easily.
“Uh, okay. Sure, I’ll be there in a few minutes then.”
“Okay, thanks, I’ll text you the address.”
I hung up and sagged back into the chair, realizing I had tuned out the girl’s argument. They were starting to tire out, which meant I needed to finish up their bedtime routine.
This was a dumb idea.
My gut was screaming at me to just leave her at the door, let her knock and realize I’d changed my mind. She would get back in her car and leave. The end.
She’d already insulted me once. This whole plan of asking her to help with the girls was stupid. So fucking stupid.