Chapter 8
eight
LACHLAN
“Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Baylor stood with Davina on his hip and looked Lachlan over.
“All right?” Lachlan was rushing to get the rest of the twins’ things that Baylor would need for the next two nights while he had them. So she was struggling to keep up with what he was saying.
“This is serious. If I could have your full attention.”
Lachlan winced. He’d always complained about that after the twins were born, that he never had her full attention unless they were at work. That she never wanted him or wanted to have sex with him anymore. That he was tired of how she felt about her body and how she just didn’t feel right in it because things weren’t in the same places that they used to be and because her body moved and worked differently than before.
“Right.” She put the diaper bag down and straightened upright so she could look at him directly. “What’s going on?”
Hopefully this wasn’t about Greer and the fact that she hadn’t brought the twins to the office yet. Or the fact that he didn’t like Greer, which he’d never complained about before, but she wasn’t sure that she could handle someone else poking at her life right now.
“I started dating someone last month, remember?”
“Yeah.” Lachlan held her breath. She was pretty damn sure that she wasn’t going to like where this was going, but she also didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on. He had told her about when he met Michaela, and he had told her that it was way more serious than any other girl —his word—that he’d dated since they’d gotten divorced two years ago. “Did you two break up or something?”
Was she going to have to play the shoulder to cry on for her ex-husband who left her for someone younger and prettier who could give him exactly what he wanted? Sex. Not that Lachlan was bitter. Their relationship had been breaking down well before that happened, and he hadn’t exactly cheated on her by most standards, but he had immediately jumped out of a relationship with her and into a relationship with someone else. And that had only lasted a month, too.
Lachlan bit her cheek. She really needed to stop this overthinking. It wasn’t going to do either one of them any good. Baylor was a fantastic father, for the most part they were able to co-parent well, and their communication had vastly improved since the divorce had been finalized and everything was in place.
“Michaela and I are getting married.”
Lachlan’s heart sank. She felt cold and clammy. She couldn’t feel her knees. Was that even normal right now? Also, what on God’s green earth was she supposed to say to that?
“Congratulations…” she dragged out the word, not quite sure if it was a question, a compliment, or a fear.
“Thanks,” he said, a slight grimace on his face. “I wanted you to be one of the first to know because I didn’t want you to be upset about it.”
“Why would I be upset about it?” She had many reasons she should be upset about it, but she wasn’t exactly going to list them out for him right here and right now. Nope, she’d do that in the privacy of her bedroom, with no one else around, and probably a bottle of wine that she wasn’t going to share with anyone.
There would probably be tears involved.
Many, many tears.
“I just didn’t want it to be awkward.”
“It’s always going to be awkward, Baylor.” She snagged up the diaper bag and shoved one more stuffy in it before she handed it over to him. “I wish you and Michaela the best of luck.”
Just don’t expect me at the wedding.
Oh God, what if they did invite her? She couldn’t tell them no, could she?
That was a problem for another day. And definitely not something she had to figure out today. But seriously, what would she do?
“I mostly just wanted you to know because if Greer doesn’t work out, for some reason, then Michaela will also have to be in on the conversations about hiring a new nanny.”
“No.” Lachlan put her hands on her hips and stared at him firmly. “No, she doesn’t. There’s absolutely no reason for her to be. She’s not a parent, and she doesn’t parent Davina and Halle. These two are our responsibility and no one else.”
“But she’ll be my wife.”
“And when you two have kids of your own, then you can include her in those conversations, but she doesn’t make parenting decisions for my girls.” Lachlan squared her shoulders. She absolutely wasn’t going to let this one go, especially since he and Michaela had only been dating a month before deciding to tie the knot. Were they really going to make it longer than another few months anyway?
“We can talk about this when you’ve had time to calm down and digest the information.” Baylor shifted Davina on his hip. “Halle! Come on, let’s go home!”
Lachlan was about to say something, but she bit her tongue. Whatever was going to come out of her mouth wasn’t going to be good for either one of them to hear, and she really needed to keep things civil between them, especially when the girls were present. She wouldn’t turn this into a situation like Ivy and Penny were in—not that the situation would ever end up like that because Baylor was at least reasonable. But still, she wouldn’t argue in front of the girls.
Once Baylor was gone and his car so far down the street that Lachlan couldn’t see him anymore, she immediately marched to her kitchen and pulled out a bottle of red she’d been saving for exactly this type of occasion. She stared at it, glanced out the kitchen window at Nathalie’s house, and then made a snap decision.
She couldn’t do this alone.
Without rethinking her decision—a rare moment for her—she snagged her jacket off the hook by the back door and immediately walked outside and into the cold air. She didn’t bother locking the house as she walked directly to Nathalie’s, the path between their homes well-worn from the number of times she and the kids walked back and forth.
It had been a brilliant moment for the three of them to buy homes right next to each other, Nathalie right in the middle. Lachlan had never been so happy that she’d managed to make that decision. And it had been the tipping point for Penny, and when Ivy had finally decided to cut her off and divorce her. Then again, who wouldn’t with that kind of spouse.
Lachlan opened Nathalie’s back door and let herself inside. She immediately stopped, the feeling in the house far different than it normally was. She canted her head to the side, trying to figure out exactly what it was, but she didn’t manage to do it.
She stepped into the kitchen to find the bottle opener and a glass—she wasn’t insane enough to drink straight from the bottle, although the thought was tempting. And she stopped cold. Greer sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by textbooks and a computer. They both looked at each other with wide eyes.
“I didn’t realize anyone was coming over tonight.” Greer grimaced.
“Emergency.” Lachlan held up the bottle of wine in her hand. “Where’s Alaric?”
“Sleepover with a friend. It’s his first one.”
“Ah.” Lachlan couldn’t tear her gaze away from Greer. She looked so comfortable in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, legs curled up under her and hair falling down by her ear as if she’d just been leaning over the books to read them. “So then where’s Nathalie…?”
Lachlan trailed off when she heard the woman in question, keening and moaning, the echoes reverberating through the house.
“Oh.”
Greer frowned. “She had a date the other week that was cut short because of the process server. She invited him back over tonight since Alaric is gone.”
“Got it.” Lachlan tried not to pay attention to Nathalie groaning and crying out, but she couldn’t get that sound from her brain. They’d all roomed together in college and during med school, so this wasn’t something that Lachlan was unaware of. But since they’d all moved into their own homes, she’d managed to avoid it—mostly. “And what are you studying?”
“I decided on a whim last Christmas to re-enroll and finish my Master’s in Business.” Greer sighed. “My parents always wanted me to be a CEO or something, I’m not sure, but they definitely didn’t want me to be a nanny. But I never finished the program after I decided to cut them off. There wasn’t much reason for it, really.” Greer mumbled the last bit.
“So why now?” Lachlan snagged the corkscrew and a glass before coming over to sit at the kitchen table. She wasn’t going to make Greer sit here by herself and listen to Nathalie orgasm more than once, because God that woman could never do anything half-assed, could she? Lachlan had a hard enough time orgasming with Baylor and most often just gave up and faked it.
“I thought it’d be a good backup plan if I didn’t find another job. And then you all appeared and now I’m doing both.”
Lachlan hummed and then held the wine out to Greer. “Did you want a glass? If not, I’m probably going to drink the whole thing by myself.”
Greer glanced down at it, reading the label. “Sure, but I’ll warn you that I’m not a huge fan of red wine.”
“I’m sure Nathalie has some white around here if you wanted. I don’t really care right now which one I drink.”
“Bad day?” Greer asked.
Lachlan shot her a glance. “Baylor’s engaged.”
“Oh really?” Greer frowned. “Didn’t he just start dating Michaela? Like I swear they weren’t dating when I started working for you all.”
“Right. Exactly.” Lachlan stood up and fished around in Nathalie’s cabinets until she came back with a nice white wine. She showed it to Greer. “Better?”
“Yes. Much. Thank you.”
Uncorking the bottle, Lachlan poured each of them a glass as Nathalie started crying out louder and louder. “You’d think she’d realize just how much her voice carries in this house,” Lachlan said conspiratorially.
“Honestly? I don’t think she cares.” Greer raised her eyebrows at Lachlan. “I think she’s a very sexual woman, who is unashamed by the fact that she likes sex. And I respect that in a lot of ways. I wish more women were like that.”
“Very true.” Lachlan took the first sip of wine and held back what she was really thinking. Because she wasn’t sure she’d ever had good sex. She wasn’t sure that was possible for her. And after the twins, she was damn sure it wasn’t going to happen again. Not only had she gained seventy pounds when she was pregnant with them, but she was still fifty pounds heavier than she had been. And the very thought of getting naked in front of someone was enough to send her over the edge into a panic some days.
Except perhaps Nathalie.
Maybe.
Lachlan had always wondered?—
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were all free to just love who we love and not be ashamed about it? I mean, how much nicer of a place would this world be? Without judgment. Without fear. Without feeling like we weren’t enough just because we happen to be different.” Greer’s passion shone through her words.
Lachlan was nearly taken aback by them. She hadn’t ever heard Greer talk like this. “Are you sure you’re not studying philosophy instead of business?” Lachlan teased.
“Definitely not.” Greer smiled, her cheeks pinking slightly, which she covered up by sipping the wine Lachlan had poured for her. “But I do think about it a lot. I don’t understand why people stay in relationships that aren’t healthy. My own parents did that. Then again, I think I’ve learned that my dad wasn’t only a victim of my mother’s, but he was an enabler of her blatant narcissism.”
Lachlan held her breath, staring at Greer. She never would have guessed that about this woman, that she had come from a house that was that unhappy. “So he stayed with her despite what she did to you.”
“Yup.” Greer frowned into her wine before taking another sip. “And he’s still with her. I don’t talk to either one of them anymore. Kam has become my family, and by extension, Elia. I think they really are good for each other.”
Lachlan sobered slightly, the anger that she had raging from her conversation with Baylor less tangible now than it had been before. She reached out and touched Greer’s arm, curling her fingers around her wrist and squeezing lightly. “I know that the kids think of you as family. And I’d like to think that Nathalie and Ivy and I will get there as well, the more we get to know you.”
“Maybe.” Greer gave her a sad look, but it was quickly masked by a smile. “Temporary family for sure.”
But this felt more than temporary. Lachlan wasn’t sure why or how, but it did. Greer was thus far the only person they’d introduced to this arrangement who had stuck it out long enough to make a difference in their lives. “Please know that we do all appreciate you.”
“I know you do.” Greer grinned, her face lighting up. “All in your own individual ways.”
“What do you mean by that?” Lachlan was now very curious.
“You’re always giving me compliments. You do that a lot though, especially with the kids. You’re always talking to them about how amazing they are and all the good things they’re doing. Nathalie is all about rigidness and structure, but she’s so soft with the kids, so forgiving in her own lines of what is and what isn’t acceptable. She’s never mean when those lines are crossed. And Ivy… well, she’s a chaotic mess of excitement. All the kids go there for fun and adventure because she is seriously lacking in rules. But that’s more than half the adventure right there.”
“Huh.” Lachlan had never had them summed up so well, or had it put so well as to why the three of them worked together perfectly. “I never quite thought about it like that.”
“Yeah, so it makes sense that you three are wrapped around each other. And anyone who tries to separate you is probably going to have a run for their money and be booted out very quickly.”
That did make a lot of sense, especially when Lachlan thought about the past—people they had hired for their kids, but also people in the offices. Baylor had only managed to survive there because of his connection to Lachlan, she was pretty damn sure about that. And Penny? Well, no one had really ever accepted her.
“I didn’t realize you were over here.” Nathalie’s voice caressed Lachlan’s back. She spun around, finding her dressed in leggings and a tight t-shirt.
“Done already?” Lachlan asked.
Nathalie hummed, but that was the only response she gave. “Yes, Dean left about ten minutes ago.”
“Glad I could make it for the finale.” Lachlan lifted her glass toward Greer with a shared smile on her lips. “We need to talk about Baylor.”
Nathalie groaned. “What’d the idiot do now?”
“Got engaged.”