9. Leah
9
LEAH
L ogan: Thinking about you.
I stared at the text message like it was a death threat. It wasn’t, of course. But it was as unexpected as one.
“Miss Leah, can you check my math homework?” Gio called from the kitchen table.
I dropped my phone and pushed the thoughts of Logan out of my head. Why was he texting me out of the blue?
It had been a few days since the fateful twenty-four hours when he had shown up at my apartment, then cornered me at the DeRossi house the day after. I had barely slept since. I was running on decaf coffee, hoping for a little placebo effect to wake me up.
“Sure thing, buddy,” I said as I eased into the chair beside him. I couldn’t help the yawn that slipped free.
Gio looked at me curiously. “You okay?”
I plastered on a fake smile. “Just fine.”
Ellie tiptoed in carrying a stack of textbooks. Gio jumped up to empty her arms.
The kids were so sweet to each other. Before working for the DeRossis and the Lawsons, I had a lot of experience as a long-term babysitter and occasional nanny. But none of the kids I had kept before this had been as well-behaved, empathetic, and respectful as these two.
Although they were a year apart and not actually related, their parents were so close that Gio and Ellie had basically been raised as brother and sister.
We bounced between both families’ houses, depending on what the day’s schedule was like and where it was most convenient to crash.
Today, we were at Ellie Lawson’s house in downtown Beaufort. Her mom, Hannah Jane, had restored it to its historic, pristine glory.
“Looks good,” I said as I perused the paper filled with math problems. “You showed your work and everything.”
Ellie peered over his shoulder. “That one’s wrong.”
Gio groaned. “I hate math.”
She picked up his pencil. “You didn’t pay attention to the order of operations. You ‘EMPDAS-ed’ when you should have ‘PEMDAS-ed.’”
His eyebrows lifted. “Can we have empanadas for dinner?”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Math, not food. The answer is thirty-two, by the way.”
“Cooking is math, girl genius,” he countered as he erased his work and followed the laws of parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.
I laughed. “I don’t know how to make empanadas,” I said as I looked through both of their assignment books to make sure all their work had been completed.
“I do,” Gio said with a grin. “And Aunt Hannah doesn’t mind if I cook in her kitchen either.”
Of course she didn’t. Gio’s parents were both professional chefs and owned quite a few restaurants. At twelve, Gio was a better cook than most adults.
I glanced at the time. “If you want, go for it. You finished your homework.” It’ll keep you two occupied, and I won’t have to cook dinner. But I didn’t say that last part out loud.
Gio grabbed Ellie’s hand and nearly dragged her into the kitchen, leaving me alone with that text.
What the hell was I supposed to do? Respond?
I couldn’t do that. What was I going to say?
Okay?
Thanks for thinking about me?
It’s actually not the thought that counts, Logan?
I was thinking about you too?
The last option gave me pause because I had been thinking about him even before the text came in.
I felt like crap over the last time we had seen each other. I was hurting and defensive, and it made me lash out at him.
I believed the best in Logan. He was trying to process everything like I had. But believing the best in him didn’t change the protective instinct I had felt since seeing those two pink lines.
I was the one who had to make the tough choices, whether they were popular or not.
“Knock, knock!” The front door opened and closed with the greeting of a familiar voice as Kylie let herself in.
“In here,” I called out.
Kylie poked her head in. “How’s it going, Mama?”
“Shush!” I whispered, with my finger to my lips.
She raised her eyebrows. “The kids don’t know?”
“I think they’re getting suspicious. I’m trying to hold out a little longer.”
Kylie joined me at the kitchen table. “You still haven’t told anyone else?”
I told your brother. But I didn’t say that out loud. Then again, Kylie was technically the one who had told Logan. I had simply confirmed it.
The secret was eating me alive. It turned my insides to stone every time I saw Kylie. Every time she asked how I was feeling or offered her help. The guilt was crushing me. But considering she was still speaking to me, I guessed that Logan and Will hadn’t told her yet.
“No, there’s no reason to. I’ll tell the DeRossis and the Lawsons when it gets a little closer so we can work out the schedule for my maternity leave. I go to doctor’s appointments while the kids are at school, so it doesn’t mess with my day-to-day.”
She cocked her head. “You haven’t told your parents?”
I glared at her. “You know damn well why I haven’t told them yet.”
Kylie sighed. “Maybe they’ll take it well.”
“And maybe pigs will sprout wings and fly,” I countered.
Neither of us said anything else about it. We both knew my mother would lose her mind, and my father would hem and haw about me ruining my life. And heaven forbid they find out who the father is...That would be World War III.
“What brings you by?” I asked, changing the subject.
Kylie glanced around. “Hannah Jane has a set of swatch books she’s letting me borrow for a client. She said she had set them out for me.”
Under Hannah Jane Lawson’s tutelage, Kylie had also gone into luxury event planning. They were competitors, but often collaborated and shared resources.
“I think I remember seeing them in the living room,” I said as I eased out of the chair and let out a breath.
A clatter rose up from the kitchen. It sounded like pots and pans banging around.
“Everything okay in there?” I called out.
“We’re fine!” Gio and Ellie said in tandem.
Kylie snickered. “They’re so cute.”
“Literally the best kids ever,” I said as I rested my hand on the bump that had seemingly popped up overnight.
It was still small, but with the weather still leaning toward summer and t-shirts and tank tops being the only climate-comfortable options, it was a little more evident. Hopefully, the temperatures would drop before I really started showing. I could hide the bump a little longer beneath chunky sweaters and coats.
“I bet yours is going to be just as awesome,” Kylie said as we walked into the foyer. “You do such a good job with kids. I need you to give me pointers when the time comes for Bryan and me.”
I laughed. “You’ll be fine. But y’all will have to hurry up the baby-making if you want our kids to grow up together. You’re a few months behind.”
“How cool would it be if you had a boy and I had a girl and then they grew up together like Gio and Ellie and fell in love?” Kylie said wistfully.
Not cool at all. They would be cousins.
“Don’t rush it,” I squeaked out in a panic. “Enjoy newlywed bliss.”
Kylie found the swatch books and tucked them under her arm. “So, you’re still not telling me?”
I decided to play dumb. “Not telling you what?”
I knew exactly what she wanted to know—the identity of the baby’s father.
Kylie and I didn’t keep secrets from one another. It’s how we had managed to stay friends through the ever-evolving life changes we experienced in middle school, high school, college, our early twenties, and now our late twenties.
But now I was keeping the biggest secret.
“You didn’t hook up with some rich guy you met through the Lawsons who made you sign an NDA, did you?”
I laughed. “No, of course not.”
I was no stranger to NDAs. Working for the families I did required the utmost discretion. Gio’s parents were a little more relaxed, but Ellie was well protected from the digital internet mob. No pictures were posted. Not even a mention of who I worked for or what I did online or outside of people who knew the families.
I was an excellent secret keeper. Which was exactly why Kylie knew she wasn’t getting this secret out of me.