Chapter Seven
I’ve put off finding Liam long enough. I need to leave soon to walk over to Aubrey’s for dinner, and now the time is here.
After promising myself I’d tell Liam that I need to focus on the blog and what I’m building with Tommy, I chickened out.
It’s harder than I thought to tell your brother that you don’t love the inn as much as he does.
More so when he’s about to tell you that you need to move out. All of that combined means that I’ve spent my afternoon avoiding him and Emma like the plague.
“Jesus, there you are. I’ve been looking for you for hours. Mom said you were here.” I finally sat still long enough for him to find me in the living room stocking the firewood up for the night.
“I’m here. Just tackling some of the chores.” I don’t look back. Not ready for the conversation that is about to happen.
“Well, can I talk to you for a minute?” He sits on the couch. “It’s kind of important.”
Closing my eyes, I suck in a breath. “I know you want the cabin. I already talked to Tommy about potentially renting the one on his property. I’ll let you know when I’ll be out.”
“It’s not… Emma just wants to rent it out for the weddings coming this Spring. Now that Hunter’s done. I have other spots for you to go—”
I cut him off, saving him from his misery. “It’s fine really. I knew this day would come. And honestly, I’m tired of living out of suitcases. I want my own homebase. Plus, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“You don’t want to work here anymore. You want to work with Tommy,” he says flatly.
“I’m sorry. But with the blog up and running, I need to spend more time there, and that doesn’t leave me with a ton of time. I don’t want to stop helping Tommy. I actually enjoy planning the events with him. Aubrey and I are—”
“Oooh, you and Aubrey, huh?” he teases me.
“It’s not like that. She’s helping me with the clues for the scavenger hunt, and Lily invited me over for dinner.”
He smiles, and I know that I’ve lost him to the girls. They’ve pulled him into their gossip committee and he thinks he’s sitting with the next big headline.
“Okay. I’ve gotta go before you have Ma over here planning a wedding with you.” I roll my eyes before finding my coat and leaving.
That conversation went better than I hoped. He doesn’t seem mad at me, so that’s already better than what I anticipated.
Before I feel fully prepared for a night with Aubrey, I’m knocking on her door.
She whips open the door frazzled, her hair in a messy bun sticking out everywhere, and what I assume to be is pancake batter smeared across her cheek. From somewhere in the house I hear a wailing Lily.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. Please feel free to turn and run. I’m the worst mother ever because I asked her to clean up her toys. And then she tried to lick the pancake batter and I stopped her. And then she got popped with bacon grease because she didn’t believe me that it spits hot grease—”
“Hey, it’s okay. Tell me what you need from me. I’m here to help, not to stress you out more.”
She runs a hand through her hair until she hits the clip that holds it together. “I just… can you hang out with her so I can just finish cooking?”
“Sure thing. I’m here for duty.” Saluting her gets me a small smile and I’m counting it as a win.
I follow her through the living room where I see the floor covered in dolls and doll clothes, and one crying little girl.
“Coopa!” She wails my name.
“What happened here?” I gesture to the dolls.
“Mommy… yell me… cwean up, now!” she gets out in between hysterical sobs.
I can practically feel Aubrey tense next to me before she starts to defend herself. “I didn’t yell…”
“Well Ms. Lily May. I can see why. I don’t even know what color the floor is. Think I could help you clean up so we can enjoy our dinner together?”
She nods her head, wiping at her chubby cheeks.
Kneeling down on the floor, I can feel Aubrey’s eyes on me, watching my moves.
Whether it’s because she thinks I’m crazy for not running, doesn’t trust me with her daughter, or a combination of both I’m not sure.
But I’m not leaving until she tells me too.
“I guess I’m going to finish cooking.” Aubrey slowly walks out of the room, back into the kitchen. I watch her go, while she watches me.
I still can’t shake this feeling that there’s something about her. Something familiar and comforting.
Home, my brain keeps shouting.
The bacon pops once more, breaking our spell and I return my attention to helping Lily.
“Alright, you did such a good job cleaning up, but where do these buckets go? In your room?”
“Yup! Fowwow me!” She picks up the smaller of the two buckets and starts running down the hall.
Finding her, I’m met with a very pink room. Pink carpet, pink bed, pink stuffed animals, and pink dollhouses are all over the room.
“Do you wuv my woom?” She jumps up and down excitedly.
“Of course, I love this room! Who wouldn’t?” I set the bucket down next to the one she placed before me.
“Dinner is ready!” Aubrey yells from the kitchen.
“Come on, Lily May. Time for dinner. Let’s wash up our hands.” I hold out my hand for her to take as she shows me to the bathroom.
“Why?”
“Because we want clean hands to eat dinner. If you don’t wash your hands you’re going to eat your germs. That’s pretty gross.” I try to explain.
“Okay.” She sings to herself as she scrubs her little fingers under the water while standing on her very tippy toes to reach.
“I a big girl now. I don’t need dat.” She kicks at the small step stool in the corner of the bathroom.
While I want to argue that she probably does, she seems to be managing okay without it so I let it go.
We sit at the table while Aubrey brings plates of food over. She has pancakes, home fries, and bacon.
“Everything smells and looks amazing, Aubrey. Thank you so much for cooking dinner.” I reach for the tongs to put a pancake on Lily’s plate.
“Tank you, Mommy. Sooooo yummy.” Lily repeats after me.
“You’re welcome, both of you.” She smiles over at me while she fixes Lily’s plate.
I take her plate and start loading it up with food before placing it back in front of her and making my own. If there’s one thing I learned from Pops, it’s to always take care of your woman. And while she isn’t mine, I’ll make damn sure she feels taken care of.
Watching Lily eat pancakes with sticky syrup makes me feel like I need my own shower just for being at the same table as her. That bath time is well earned tonight.
Aubrey fills me in on how she’s looking for a daycare for Lily to make some friends, and Lily adds in her thoughts about that, thoughts that aren’t great because in her words pigwets are mo fun complete with a very pouty lip.
“Well how about you two go take that bath and I’ll clean up the kitchen?” I offer.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I can clean up the kitchen after she’s in bed and you’re gone. No worries.” Aubrey answers while hustling a very sticky, maple syrup covered child to the tub without touching anything else on her way.
Ignoring her, I begin to bring the dirty dishes to the sink to wash them for her. There is no dishwasher in the kitchen so she handwashes every single one and I’m glad that I can help her tonight.
Once I’m done with the dishes I move over to the table, dousing it with a heavy amount of cleaner to cut through the maple syrup.
“I told you not to worry about cleaning.” Aubrey rushes into the kitchen, trying to grab the rag from me.
“And I told you I’m good. I wanted to help you. Now tonight you can just relax.” Dropping the rag by the washing machine off the kitchen, I return to find Aubrey pouring two glasses of wine.
“Would you maybe like to join me? I usually just watch TV and fall asleep on the couch. But I promise to try and keep my eyeballs open for you.”
“If they close, I’ll put you to bed and lock up. Scouts honor.” I give her the salute I learned in boy scouts as a kid, the one season I participated before I discovered a camera.
“Deal.” She hands me a glass and leads the way over to the couch. “I usually watch this doctor drama that I didn’t know existed but it has six seasons. Is that okay?”
“Perfectly fine. I’m used to watching everything because sometimes when I traveled I was placed with a host house instead of a hotel. You learn to like everything.”
We settle into the couch with precisely one couch cushion between us while she finds the episode to play. The sounds drone on but I can’t hear anything. I’m just focused on my proximity to Aubrey. The urge to reach out and touch her is strong.
This whole evening feels like Deja vu. Something we’ve done together a million times, and the comfortable feeling mixed with the awkward is-this-a-first-date vibes is really confusing for me.
She looks over, catching me staring at her. “This is weird right?”
“Wondering if this counts as a date or hanging out as friends?”
“Yeah. I mean I can’t remember the last time I had a first date, or made a new friend before my best friend Sophia.” She half laughs in a nervous giggle.
“This can be whatever you’re comfortable with. I’m good with anything you are.” I inch closer to her just a bit so she doesn’t even notice the movement.
She lifts one leg onto the couch, folding it in front of her when she turns to face me fully. “Can I… Can I say something that is probably super weird and might make you run for the hills?”
“I love weird. Lay it on me.” I turn to face her too, inching closer still.
“This, the whole night, feels like a night I’ve lived before. With you. It all just feels very familiar and like…”
“Deja vu?” I add.
“Yes! Just like that. Is that creepy of me to say?”
“No. I was thinking the same thing. I feel like I’ve met you before, lived a whole life with you, it feels comfortable here in your space. Which for me, is huge. I never feel comfortable anywhere and that includes with my own family.”
She rewards me with a huge smile before turning back, a little closer to me, to the show. I close the space between us, letting our arms and thighs touch.
At the end of the first episode, her head is resting on my shoulder and soft snores escapes her.
I slowly slip my arm behind her, pulling her to me so that I can bring her to her room, but she stirs and wakes before I can stand.
“I’m so sorry. This is why I’m still on season one.” She chuckles.
“Don’t be.” I slip off the couch. “But, I’m going to get going so you can get to bed. Text me and we can plan a time to get together to finish planning the Easter event.” Leaning over, I drop a kiss to her forehead. “See ya, Aubrey.”
“See ya, Coopa.” She giggles using the name Lily gave me.
Locking the door knob, I pull the door shut, leaving her safely inside when I hear the deadbolt click into place.
Then my phone pings with a message.
Aubrey: Is it too soon to ask if we can meet tomorrow?
Me: Nope. I’m
I take two more steps.
Me: Officially off your property so definitely not too soon. Tomorrow sounds great .
Aubrey: Perfect. Thank you for cleaning the kitchen. And not running for the hills when I told you my weird thing.
Me: I told you I love weird.
Aubrey: Seems so. Goodnight, Cooper.
Me: Goodnight, Aubrey.
I pocket my phone walking into the inn, hoping to sneak a snack without seeing any of my family members. Making it through the living room unscathed, I slowly push open the kitchen door, and find my mother standing at the steel island, in the dim lights, digging through a container.
“What exactly are you doing?” I say loudly.
Ma jumps in the air, spinning around to face me with her hand clutched to her chest.
“Cooper Keaton! How dare you scare your mother like that!” She scolds me, but I can’t hold back the laughter.
“What are you doing in here in the dark?” Walking over to peek over her shoulder, she’s digging through a container of freshly baked cookies. “Ma! Are you breaking into tomorrow’s cookie?” I feign horror.
“You shush. I raised you all, I can steal a cookie here and there.” She swats at my chest. “Besides, it’s not my fault she made snickerdoodles for tomorrow. She knows that’s my favorite.”
I watch as she grabs three more, and I reach in to grab two. “Want a glass of milk to go with them?”
“A cookie date with my recluse boy? I one hundred percent want a glass of milk.” Her grin makes me feel bad for holing up the last couple of months in my cabin with the blog.
“You got it.” Grabbing a glass and filling it, I drop it in front of her before grabbing my own and joining her.
“Where were you so late tonight?” she asks.
“Lily May invited me over for dinner.” She raises a brow in my direction so I add, “Yes, Aubrey was okay with me coming over. She made pancakes while I helped Lily clean up.”
“Now I know that child’s bedtime, so again, where were you so late tonight?” She dunks her cookie into her glass of milk.
“Aubrey and I watched an episode of her show before she fell asleep on me. And then I left her when the snores got a little louder. Nothing nefarious, I promise.”
A slow smile spreads on her face. “I see.”
“Ma, don’t you go getting any ideas. We’re friends and planning the Easter event together. Tommy has passed that off to her and I. He wants to focus on planting.”
“Me? I never get ideas. I don’t know why you’re accusing me of such things.” She gets up walking our glasses to the sink. “She could use a good friend. She’s got some demons in that closet of hers from Jack that won’t let her go. So you just be careful with her heart, okay?”
“Promise. Can I walk you home?”
“Oh well, I would just love that.” I hold my arm out for her to take and we leave the kitchen as if we didn’t just raid the cookie jar.