Chapter 6 Evangeline
EVANGELINE
Evangeline awoke with a start, and for a moment she had no idea where she was. Her right cheek was cold, her left was warm, and her body felt stiff all over.
“Hey,” a deep, masculine voice said softly. “We’re home.”
Home?
Everything came rushing back in a heartbeat—the motorcycle ride, the police, the journey from the city, finding Sam, and meeting Grayson and Leo by flinging herself on the ground.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
“It’s okay,” he replied as he got out of the car. “You’ve had a long day.”
She let out a breath slowly.
He wasn’t wrong. She basically hadn’t stopped moving since the moment she took the Anderson kids to the zoo what felt like a hundred years ago, but was really only this morning.
Her stomach growled and she realized she also hadn’t eaten since the zoo either, when she’d finished little Eloise’s soft pretzel.
Hopefully, Grayson would feed her at some point. She still wasn’t sure how she was going to break it to him that she didn’t have so much as a change of clothes with her.
“You okay?” he asked, opening her door.
“Oh, sure,” she said, sort of stunned all over again that he was so gentlemanly. He’d made her feel like Cinderella when he opened the door for her to get into the SUV back in the village. She thought maybe that was a one-time thing, but it looked like he made a habit of these chivalrous gestures.
He held his big hand out to her this time, and when she placed hers in it, a little shiver of something went through her.
She was so surprised that she ripped her eyes from his and hurried to the back to get Leo out herself.
“Oh,” Grayson said, stepping back. “Okay. Probably good for you to figure out how to do that.”
“Hi,” she said softly as she opened the door.
Leo was sleeping so sweetly, his lower lip puffed out like he had fallen asleep feeling wounded.
She unclipped his straps as gently as she could, and he didn’t even wake up. It was only when she scooped him up in her arms that he stirred, whimpering until she cradled him against her chest.
She held her breath, waiting for him to notice that she wasn’t his daddy.
But he only burrowed his little face into the crook of her neck and tried to go back to sleep, his little starfish hands clutching her hair.
“Oh,” she sighed in adoration.
“It’s nice to hold him, isn’t it?” Grayson said quietly.
He grabbed the sandwiches from the back of the SUV before she could answer. Evangeline turned to look at the house where she would be staying.
“Wow,” she murmured under her breath.
The house was enormous and everything about it was so pristine that she thought it must be new.
The wooden siding was painted a cheerful green with bright white trim that practically glowed in the moonlight, and a single light was glowing on a wide front porch where she could picture huge family gatherings.
She had been nannying in Society Hill, where the house prices were through the roof, and every property looked impossibly elegant.
But it was still in the city, where space was at a premium.
Grayson’s house was just so massive. And it sat on a lot so big you couldn’t see another house in any direction, at least not from the driveway.
Evangeline had a moment where she considered the fact that since she’d slept for most of the ride, she didn’t even really know where she was.
She was basically all alone in the middle of nowhere with a large man she had just met.
But she couldn’t bring herself to be worried about it.
For some reason, she felt instantly safe around Grayson Ward.
“Come on,” Grayson said gruffly. “Let’s get you settled.”
She let him lead the way to the front door and was stunned when he simply turned the knob and opened it.
It was one thing to assume that out here they didn’t have to worry much about burglars. It was another to watch someone just walk into their unlocked home, especially a home as impressive as this one.
Grayson flipped a light switch to reveal a center hall with a ceiling that was practically as high as the one at the YMCA where Evangeline and Rory had gone to summer camp.
A sweeping staircase took up most of the foyer.
There was an opening to a living room with a fireplace on one side, and a single sofa.
On the other side of the foyer, the office had a big desk and walls lined with imposing dark wood bookshelves that didn’t hold a single book.
Grayson headed down the hall, deeper into the house, his footsteps ringing out in the silent space.
If this had been Evangeline’s house, there would be framed photos of the family on the walls, including Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding photo, an art print or two, and maybe even a little case to display Rory’s wrestling medals.
Instead, she passed perfectly empty walls, feeling like she was in a ghost town.
Why buy a big house like this if you don’t have any stuff to put in it?
They passed a closed door and entered the kitchen. Grayson put the sandwiches in the fridge while Evangeline tried not to let her jaw drop.
The kitchen had a huge wall of windows across the back, a giant table, and even a seating area with a sofa that looked like the only lived-in part of the whole house.
A handmade quilt had been thrown over the back of the couch.
But there wasn’t a thing on the walls, not a curtain or shade to give privacy from the moonlit view, or even a single magnet on the fridge.
The kitchen itself was so well-equipped that it could have been the set for one of the cooking shows she and Grandpa used to watch.
What looked like miles of granite countertop stretched from the deep sink to the wine fridge and spanned the massive island.
The stainless-steel appliances all gleamed like they had never been used.
“Wow,” she let herself say out loud this time. “You must be a really good cook.”
“Not really,” he admitted. “I got all this stuff because my mom always wanted it.”
“She must love visiting,” Evangeline said with a smile.
“I hope she will,” he replied. “My parents are in Florida now, and they don’t seem inclined to come up.”
“Do you go down there much?” she asked, swaying slightly to help the baby stay asleep.
“Nah,” he said. “It’s not my scene.”
Evangeline frowned, trying to understand how an entire state could not be someone’s scene, especially when their parents lived there.
But she’d spent a lot of time wondering why her friends didn’t treasure or at least appreciate their parents. After a lifetime without theirs, she and Rory would have given anything to know someone had their backs, especially since Grandpa passed.
“Your room is this way,” he said, heading back toward the center hall and opening a door they had passed on the way to the kitchen.
He flicked on a light and she looked around the biggest bedroom she had ever seen. A massive bed stood in the center, covered with pillows and the softest-looking comforter and flanked by two enormous windows, each with a window seat. There was even an open door that led to a private bathroom.
“Of course, you’re free to get your own place,” Grayson said. “But if you want to live in, then this will be yours.”
“This is perfect,” she enthused before she could stop herself. “Grayson, it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said gruffly. “I need to give Leo his bath. Do you want to settle in while I do that, and then we can have a sandwich and make some plans?”
“I’ll help with the bath,” she said. “I need to know where all his stuff is anyway. And after that a sandwich sounds amazing.”
He nodded and they made their way back to the center hall and then up the sweeping staircase. Grayson headed into the first door off the second-floor hall and Evangeline followed him into the nursery.
If the rest of the house was empty and echoing, it only served to make the nursery feel more cozy and beautiful.
A thick, fluffy, oatmeal-colored carpet covered most of the hardwood floor.
On one side of the room, there were two pale green upholstered rocking chairs, one on either side of a small bookcase full of children’s books.
On the opposite side of the room stood a snowy white changing table, and Leo’s matching crib with a soft green bumper inside.
A mobile of colorful butterflies hung over the crib and Evangeline could just imagine how magical it must be for the baby to look at.
There was an overhead light, but Grayson didn’t turn it on, opting instead for a floor lamp that cast a golden glow throughout the space.
“This is the nicest room in the house,” she remarked.
“I’m glad you think so,” Grayson said, smiling again for the first time since they’d talked in the parking lot. “If you want to hand him off, I can just walk you through our routine.”
“Perfect,” she said, moving closer.
“Okay, buddy,” Grayson said, his deep voice gentle. “Time to get ready for bed.”
The little one fussed a bit as he woke up and had to let go of Evangeline’s hair, but mostly looked around his nursery with wide eyes while his daddy got him ready for his bath.
Evangeline did her best to remember every detail. She wished she had a notebook, or that she could turn on her phone to take notes. But she had made a promise to her brother.
So she just watched and listened and asked all the questions she could think of, and tried not to get too lost in admiring the handsome dad who was so capable with baths and pajamas and everything in between.
She had noticed the scars on his hands earlier and the way he rubbed at the ones on his jaw and neck, but they didn’t seem to slow him down any as he fastened all the tiny buttons on Leo’s pajamas.
Something about seeing the big man with the tiny baby tugged at her heart. His voice was so gentle when he spoke with his son. And he showed such care, and none of the awkwardness that seemed to slip over him earlier.
He’s in his element now, she realized. He’s good at this. He likes taking care of Leo.