Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Not only wasn’t I going to be unwrapping my boss, I was thinking that maybe I wanted to exchange him.
After another exhausting day of taking care of my young charge, soccer practice, homework, dinner, and doing some research for Miles, I finally got Henry to sleep.
It only took five stories, two songs, a drink of water, and the promise of going to the park the next day.
Not once had I seen Miles since that morning.
I wasn’t exactly sure how this nanny thing worked, but I was pretty sure the parent should have contact with the child more than once a day.
Don’t get me wrong, I hoped he was writing like crazy.
I really needed that book. But it wasn’t as important as Henry, who had broken my heart when I kissed him good night and he asked where his mummy and daddy were.
All I could say while I choked back tears was that they were in a beautiful place watching over him and they loved him so much.
Poor baby fell asleep clutching his bear with his lip quivering.
Miles really needed to be the one comforting him and tucking him in.
Not that I didn’t love doing it. I did, probably more than I should.
I knew there would come a day when I would have to say goodbye to Henry, and I already couldn’t stand that thought.
I pushed it to the back of my mind when I made my way to Miles’s office to hand off the monitor again.
It felt like déjà vu, me knocking on his door, him telling me to wait a minute while he hid his outline from me.
Him answering his door looking worn but well in jeans and a tight knitted sweater.
It didn’t help that he looked happy to see me.
My heart tingled more than stung this time. Definitely not a good sign.
I handed him the monitor, skipping any pleasantries. “Henry is asleep. Good night.” I turned to go.
“Aspen, wait.”
I stopped mid-turn.
“Please come in and tell me how your day was.”
“Thank you, but I’m tired. I’ll see you in the morning.”
His lips downturned. “That is a shame. Perhaps tomorrow.”
“Perhaps,” I said, only because he was my boss and I felt like saying no wasn’t the right course of action. But my plan was to prevent as much alone time with him as possible. I turned and walked away.
“Sleep well, lo . . . Aspen,” he called.
Sleep sounded so wonderful, but as I walked between the main house and the guesthouse on the cobbled stone path in the chilly night air, I received a call that unfortunately woke me right up.
“Hello.” There was no hiding the derision in my voice.
“Careful, I might think you don’t want me to call you.”
He was the last person I wanted to call me.
“What do you want, Leland?” I took a seat on one of the cushioned wicker chairs on the front porch of the cottage, and tucked myself into a ball, wishing I had worn a jacket.
I tried to never talk to Leland in front of Chloe in case things got ugly. Which was more likely than not.
“Same as always, to check on our daughter.”
That wasn’t always why he called. I used to get plenty of drunk calls from him a long time ago saying he was sorry and wanted me back.
Then he’d sober up and call to tell me all the things I had done wrong in our relationship.
I didn’t dredge it up with him. Best just to get the call over with as soon as possible. “She’s great.”
“I want to talk to her.”
“She’s not ready to talk to you.”
“She needs to get ready because I’m moving back to Colorado.”
I almost dropped my phone. My heart certainly took a plunge. “When?” I breathed out, sick to my stomach.
“Soon. I’m tying up some loose ends here and then I’ll be back. I’m taking a job at Mike Pratt’s auto body shop in Edenvale, so I’ll be close by.”
Good old Mike Pratt. He and Leland were old cronies from our high school days and were both douche bags. At last count, Mike had three baby mamas and didn’t support one of them.
“Chloe and I moved back to Carrington Cove.”
“To live with your parents?” The thought obviously gave him pleasure.
“As a matter of fact, no. I took a position with Taron Taylor.” I used Miles’s pen name on the off-chance Leland recognized his name.
“Who’s that?”
I figured it was a long shot. Leland only read the back of cereal boxes and his own lame songs. “He’s a renowned author and international bestseller.”
“So why did he hire you?”
“I’m going to forget you said that.” If not, I was going to rip into him, and he wasn’t worth the breath.
“You’re so touchy. He must pay well if you can afford to live in Carrington Cove.”
That was none of his business. “When will you and your family get here?”
He paused and paused some more. “It will only be me,” he obviously hated to admit.
That was quick. I wondered what happened to the love of his life, the woman who showed him what real love was. And what about his baby daughter? “Trouble in paradise?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re just taking a break.”
Right.
“I want to see Chloe when I get back.”
“I don’t know if she wants to see you.”
“Dammit, Aspen, you can’t keep her from me.”
“I never have. That’s been all you. You left. Not me. So don’t you dare blame me. And if you think you’re coming back just to leave her again, then think again. I will not let you flit in and out of her life, breaking her heart over and over again.”
“I want a relationship with her.”
“Then prove it.”
“I will. I’ll be in touch.” He hung up.
I dropped my phone and rubbed my arms only covered in a thin layer of fabric.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I hated that my daughter was paying for my mistakes.
She deserved so much better. She deserved a dad like Sawyer, who cried during ultrasounds, or Ryder, who was already working on the nursery, or even Brad, who about threw up every time he changed a diaper, but he did it anyways because he loved Elliott and Jenna.
I couldn’t even trust Leland to watch her while I took a shower when she was a baby.
While I tried to compose myself to go in and face my daughter, a light switched on in the main house.
I looked up to find Miles standing at the window in the great room looking out, drinking what was probably tea.
He had an entire cupboard dedicated to it.
Before I could look away, he caught me glancing up and wiping the tears from my cheeks.
He cocked his head before he raised his hand and waved.
I ran inside. I didn’t want him to notice me. I certainly didn’t want to notice him.
The men in my life, past and present, were doing a good job of proving to me why I had sworn them off. Leland started my day off with a text. I’ll be there in two weeks. I expect to see Chloe.
I expected a lot of things from him too, but not once had he delivered.
And the thought of having to see him made me unable to eat breakfast. I wasn’t even sure how or if I should tell Chloe about the possibility.
Not only did I think there was a high probability of him flaking out, but Chloe truly didn’t want to see him.
She felt his abandonment acutely. Each and every broken promise of his shredded her tender heart.
I needed to talk to my parents and get their advice.
But first I had to get Henry up and then get Chloe to school.
Henry was already beginning to stir when I walked into his room. I loved sleepy little ones. And that smile of his when he saw me had me forgetting about Leland for a moment. I cuddled him for as long as he would let me. It soothed my heart.
After I got Henry dressed, he zipped down the hall, hoping for another dance party with his uncle.
This time to Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” I was beginning to see a pattern here—1970s British rockers.
Miles thankfully fulfilled Henry’s wish and they danced around together.
I hoped Miles would see how much Henry craved his attention, but like yesterday, as soon as the song was over, Miles set him down and went from fun uncle to brooding writer.
I took Henry into my own arms, trying to bite my tongue.
Get the lay of the land first, I heard my dad say.
It had only been a few days, I reminded myself.
It also reminded me of some of the ideas I had come up with for his social media pages.
I had stayed up late into the night, unable to sleep after my phone call with Leland, looking up different celebrities to get some ideas.
I also read several marketing blogs about branding.
“Would you be amenable to me filming you each morning during your ritual dance and posting it on social media? I think it would be the kind of engaging content your publisher is hoping for. I also have some ideas for some contests we can run.”
Miles gave it some thought. “Brilliant. We’ll start tomorrow. Have a nice day,” he dismissed me and Henry.
Yep, I still didn’t like it.
I didn’t like it even more that every day was the same thing.
The only difference was the rest of the week, I used my phone to capture his ritual dance with Henry.
It didn’t matter which band, whether it was The Kinks or Queen he sang and danced along to, his fans were eating it up.
The shares, comments, and reposts were through the roof.
It was a tossup who people found more adorable, Miles or Henry.
I did take note of PWPhotography, whose comments were at the top of every post. That made sense since Miles followed her, and he followed very few people.
She left comments like, “Looks like you’re in need of some grown-up time” or “We miss you, darling.” Out of curiosity, I clicked on her profile.
I assumed the edgy yet ethereal creature with short, asymmetrical ebony hair and striking violet eyes was the same PW, short for Penelope Williams, who had given Miles the pictures that hung in the hall.
I noted the similarities between the photos she posted on Instagram and the ones that Miles had longingly looked at.
She had a gift. I wondered how well she and Miles knew each other. Were they lovers, maybe ex-lovers?
What did I care? I was annoyed with him and all the comments about him being the best uncle.
I tried not to let them bother me. Maybe he really was.
I’d known him all of a week. And I knew he didn’t ask for this responsibility, but he had accepted it.
I kept thinking maybe I should say something.
Perhaps I should take him up on his invitation to talk to him one night.
He seemed frustrated I was always declining.
But how would he take some gentle parenting advice? I wasn’t sure.
But on Sunday, when I should have had the day off and he asked me if I could take Henry anyway, I knew that I needed to say something. First, though, I needed to talk to my mommy.