Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
ELLY
“Then Princess Nutria rode her alligator, Mr. Bitey, all the way back to the castle, far away from the evil rat king’s nest,” Mimi says, picking up speed as she nears the end of her bedtime story.
“And the rats were still alive, but it was okay because they were too scared of alligators to follow them. So, they were safe, and they had a great night playing in the castle moat and catching fireflies and eating brioche because it’s their favorite.
” Mimi yawns so wide I worry her jaw might unhinge. “The end.”
“That was a good one,” I murmur, smoothing her damp curls from her forehead. “How did I get so lucky? Most moms have to tell their kids night-night stories. All I have to do is sit back, listen, and enjoy.”
“And buy the storyteller a brioche so she can have energy for pretend. Maybe this weekend?”
I smile. “That can probably be arranged. One of the big ones from Sweet Magnolias Bakery?”
She nods. “One of the biggest ones. Fresh. So, the bread is still hot and the sugar is extra crusty. ”
“The crustiest,” I promise, smile fading as I add, “You were very brave tonight, Meems.”
“I cried,” she says, sounding sheepish.
“That’s okay. It’s okay to cry. You were still brave. Having rats in your wall is scary. But you rallied and had fun playing in the pool, and now you’re going to sleep tight in your big new bed.” I nod. “You done good, kid.”
“Thanks. I like to be brave.” Her lips part on another canyon of a yawn. “Like you, Mama.”
My chest clenches tight.
If only she knew how often I’m faking it…
But that’s okay.
I’ll just keep faking it until eventually I am the strong, capable woman I’ve been pretending to be since I was a seventeen-year-old girl, alone and terrified that I didn’t have what it takes to be someone’s mother.
Someday, I’m going to look in the mirror and see Eloise, fully grown with her feet on solid ground, not Elly, a kid walking around in her mother’s shoes, hoping no one notices they’re still way too big.
“Thank you, baby. I love you so much.” I lean down to kiss her forehead, breathing in that sweet Mimi cocktail—cherry shampoo, a hint of chlorine, and bubblegum toothpaste—as I check for signs of a fever.
She rallied from her night in the hospital amazingly well, but worrying is a habit I can’t afford to break.
Not yet.
Not when the nurses at the ER still have our names and Mimi’s chart number memorized.
But thankfully, tonight, her skin is cool and her lids are already drifting closed.
“Your water is by the bed,” I whisper. “And remember, the bathroom is on the opposite side of the hall from what you’re used to, okay? Just in case you wake up in the night and need to go?”
“I be-member.” She’s drifting now, her fingers loosening around Miss Sparklehorn’s neck as her breathing slows. “This bed is so…comfy.”
It really is. The mattress is a cloud draped in petal-soft cotton sheets—completely luxe, just like the inch-thick carpet, heavy doors, and walls so solid a rat would be flat out of luck trying to gnaw a hole through that plaster.
Everything in Grammercy’s smaller guest room screams “I have money and taste,” from the neutral gray walls to the solid mission-style furniture.
And yes, it’s a touch somber for a little girl’s room, but compared to the dingy paint, popcorn ceiling, and infestation in our old place, this might as well be Versailles.
And I’m sure Grammercy won’t mind if I hang some of Mimi’s artwork when it arrives tomorrow to brighten things up a bit.
He’s been so cool about everything so far, a real-life knight in shining armor with an easy smile, who keeps his cool in a crisis. Exactly what Mimi and I both needed in the worst way.
Especially tonight.
God, if we’d had to sleep in the rat house…
I shudder, not even wanting to think about it. I was playing tough, but I was ready to scoop Mimi up and run for the elevator the second I realized what Katy was screaming about.
“Sweet dreams,” I whisper as I back toward the door. “I’ll have scrambled eggs ready when I wake you up for school. ”
“Okay, Mama. Night-night. Tell Gee night-night, too.”
“I will,” I promise as I ease the door shut, leaving it cracked enough for the hallway light to creep in.
As I wander out down the hallway leading to the two guest bedrooms, the penthouse opens up around me, one giant living room and kitchen area that’s so big, there’s room for three couches and two televisions in the lounging section.
One big television claims the wall to my left, while a smaller one services a comfy couch in the far corner, where some kind of gaming system is set up.
Thank goodness Mimi hasn’t noticed that yet.
I’ve done my best to keep her away from video games until she’s older. I’ve read too many articles about how bad screen time is for a kid’s brain development. But even if she spies the console, the pool is going to keep her entertained without screens for a long time to come.
The pool and the view…
Mimi loves a view as much as I do. Most kids don’t notice things like that, but my girl is an artist.
I glance toward the city skyline, glittering beneath a nearly full moon, to see Grammercy still out on the terrace.
He’s closing the pool cover with the remote control he showed Mimi, the one that’s connected to an app on his phone, so he can close the cover from thousands of miles away or drop a pellet into the water while he’s at work if the chlorine levels drop too low.
He has a private pool that he maintains with cutting-edge technology.
I have a phone so old the company keeps sending warnings that it will soon be “incompatible with future updates,” and tonight is the first time I’ll be sleeping in a private room in three years.
I’m not just a fish out of water; I’m a fish riding a bicycle.
Backwards.
While learning to speak a foreign language.
The thought makes me pause a few feet from the sliding door, suddenly very aware that I’m wearing paint-splattered jeans and a faded Turkey Trot Fun Run T-shirt.
Not exactly penthouse chic.
I already know Grammercy well enough to know that he won’t care, but I care. This may be my fake wedding night, but I still married this man today.
Kissed this man today…
And tonight, I would like for him to think I’m beautiful, even if we are just new friends hanging out before heading to our separate beds.
But before I can make a detour to my overnight bag to hunt down a brush and some lip gloss, Grammercy glances up, his expression brightening as he spots me on the other side of the glass doors.
The genuine pleasure in his gaze instantly makes me feel like something special, even in grungy moving clothes.
This man…
What am I going to do about him?
And those eyes? And that smile?
And the way just being in the same room with him makes me ache for things I haven’t ached for in way too long?
“Hey,” he says, as I step through the doors into the warmer air outside. As they glide automatically closed behind me, sealing in the air conditioning, he asks, “Is Mimi already asleep? She swam hard.”
“Yeah, she went down fast.” I laugh. “After telling me a bedtime story about Princess Nutria and her alligator buddy defeating a terrible rat king with beady red eyes. I have a feeling rats are going to be the bad guys in her stories for a while .”
“Same.” He shakes his head. “I knew I shouldn’t look at the wall while I was grabbing her stuffed animals. But I did, El. I looked. And man…”
He shudders, an over-the-top, full-body twitch that makes me laugh as I say, “No! Why did you do that? Now you’re never going to get it out of your head. You’ll be seeing squirming bodies and slithery pink tails in your nightmares for the rest of your life.”
He arches a challenging brow. “Says the woman who looked.”
I shrug, still grinning as I say, “Well, yeah. I couldn’t help it. I had to see if it was as bad as the woman who ran screaming out of the room said it was. And…it was. It really was.”
“It so was,” he says in a haunted voice that for some reason has us both laughing again.
“Well, at least we’re at the laughing about it stage,” I say, once we’ve both caught our breath. “And on the upside, you’ll never forget your fake wedding night.”
“I was never going to forget it anyway,” he says, the sudden seriousness in his voice making my lips tingle.
Must stop thinking about that kiss.
For real.
Now.
“But you’re right. It’s been a memorable day all around.
” He sets the remote down on the bar to the right of the small pool and circles behind it.
“Want another beer? I think a courthouse wedding, packing with a side of rats, and sweet-talking a little girl out of the pool an hour before she wanted to get out of the water is grounds for two Monday night beers, yeah?”
“Yes, please, you’re an angel,” I say, sagging onto one of the wide lounge chairs with a view of the city.
“Just returning the favor, chère .” He appears beside me with two bottles of Abita, the same kind I offered him earlier, condensation already beading on the glass. “Thankfully, we both have great taste in beer.”
I smile as I accept the bottle. “We do. I like a solid, ordinary beer. The expensive stuff tastes like grass to me.”
“My friend, Parker, says the same thing.” He settles onto the lounge beside me with a laugh. “I think he said IPAs taste like cat piss, not grass, but…not far off.
“Parker as in Leo Parker, former star forward for Carolina?” When he nods, I shake my head, the surrealness of my new life hitting me all over again.
“Wow. I wonder if it’s ever going to feel normal that you’re friends with people I used to watch on television.
” I take a pull of the cold beer, enjoying the soothing rush of the bubbles down my throat.
“Used to?” he asks, playing up his irritation as he adds, “I hope you’re still planning on watching, woman. The season hasn’t even started. We can’t afford to start losing fans already.”