Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
MADDOX
I checked the time on my phone for the hundredth time. Where was Natalie? She should have been here by now. I’d hoped that maybe she’d come early since we hadn’t seen her yesterday. She’d been on my mind constantly since the party, even with the flurry of Christmas activity—Violet’s toys and gifts and meals—and I was anxious to see Nat’s smile.
“What are you looking at?” Mom asked, coming to stand by my side at the front window.
“The snow,” I lied.
She laughed. “Sure, son. If snow is how you think of Natalie.”
“If you knew, why ask?”
“Because I’m your mother and forcing you to squirm is one of my job descriptions.”
I chuckled and put my arm around her shoulders. “Are you working today?”
“I’ve got a few things to hammer through in the office, but no. I’m going to try and take most of the day off. Your brother said something about watching the last season of State of Ruin already.”
“He was supposed to keep that a secret.”
“You have met Heath, haven’t you? Despite what he thinks, he’s never been able to keep a secret.”
“I’ll email you the link and login.”
She smiled. “It’s so good to have you home.”
Home . “It’s good to be here.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with us staying here?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
When I’d pulled Mom and Dad aside yesterday after breakfast and asked if they’d be okay with my accelerated move date, both had been ecstatic. When I’d offered to move into a condo in town, they’d both scoffed and insisted Violet and I stay right where we were. And since I was going to attempt life without a nanny, Mom had promised to help with Violet.
But first, we had a few days left with Natalie. If she’d get here already. I hadn’t been this excited to see a woman in years. She made me smile effortlessly. She made me hang on her every word. And she was a miracle worker with my daughter.
When I’d eavesdropped on their conversation in the bathroom at the hotel during the party, I’d had a hard time breathing as Natalie had spoken. Not because of the story about her own mom, but because no woman had ever spoken to Violet that way.
Like a mother.
Not Cece. Not Mom—who’d always tried her best but she would always be a grandmother, prone to saying yes .
The crunch of tires on snow sounded outside, and I let Mom go, leaning closer to the window.
“Oh, Maddox.” Mom laughed. “Don’t lick the glass.”
I shot her a scowl, then narrowed my eyes at the unfamiliar car coming down the lane .
That wasn’t Natalie’s Subaru. And it wasn’t Natalie behind the wheel.
“Expecting someone?” I asked Mom.
“No.” She shook her head and went to open the door.
We stood together, watching as an older woman stepped out of a gray sedan and walked our way.
“Good morning.” She smiled brightly, extending her hand my way. “I’m Cathy Caron.”
The owner of the agency where Natalie worked.
“Hi... Cathy.” I shook her hand and waved her inside out of the cold. Then we stared at each other, that awkward silence hanging over our heads until Mom cleared her throat and excused herself.
“Should we start with an introduction to Violet?” Cathy asked.
I blinked and rubbed my jaw. “I’m sorry, Cathy. Forgive me for the confusion. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, sorry.” Her smile dropped. “You must not have received my email.”
“No.” I hadn’t logged in this morning, and over breakfast, while I normally checked email, I’d played a rock, paper, scissors tournament with Violet instead. “I apologize.”
“That’s my fault.” Her facade cracked as her shoulders slumped and she smoothed the hair from her face. “It’s been a hectic morning.”
“Where is Natalie?”
“She’s not coming. And I didn’t have anyone else available over Christmas, so I came instead.”
I didn’t hear much of her explanation other than Natalie wasn’t coming. “Is Natalie sick?”
“No, she’s . . . unavailable.”
Oh, shit. Had she gotten fired? Because of me?
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. What the hell did I say? Did Cathy know about my feelings for Natalie? How? I wasn’t even sure exactly how I felt. “I, um...”
The last time I’d been this speechless had been when Violet had run away from one of her nannies in LA, locked herself in my bedroom and proceeded to remove the laces from my shoes and tie them together in one long string.
When I’d asked her why, she’d told me that she’d been planning to tie one end to the bed post and use the other to climb out a window. Granted, the laces combined had only been about eight feet long and my bedroom had been on the first floor, but her plan had been insane, albeit fairly well-thought-out.
“Yes?” Cathy asked.
“Nothing.” I swallowed my disappointment and waved her deeper into the house. “Welcome. Thanks for coming. Violet was just in her room. Please, make yourself at home and I’ll get her.”
Cathy nodded and unzipped her coat.
I took the stairs two at a time and strode down the hallway to Violet’s room, finding her on the bed with the Nintendo. I’d bought her a new game for Christmas and she was on a mission to dominate within the first forty-eight hours.
Maybe it would distract her today, so we didn’t have a wreck with a new nanny.
“Hey, princess. Can you come to the living room? I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
“Who?” She didn’t look up from her Nintendo.
“There’s a new nanny here to play with you today while I’m working.”
Her fingers stopped moving. Her eyes lifted to mine. “Where’s Natalie?”
“She’s not coming today.”
“Why? ”
Because I fucked up. “I don’t know,” I lied. “I’m sorry.”
Violet stared at me for a long moment, then huffed and put her game aside.
The introduction to Cathy went about as well as expected. I showed her around the house while Violet begrudgingly followed. But she didn’t throw a fit. Maybe that was because Cathy was in her fifties.
Violet’s outburst at the party had been eye-opening. How was it that I could run a multi-billion-dollar business, but I didn’t have a clue how to read my own child?
The nannies we’d had over the years had always been younger women. I assumed that was typical—my colleagues in California had caretakers around the same age. Sure, there’d been times when a former nanny had stood too close. Had laughed or blushed too often. I hadn’t thought much about it because I hadn’t considered any of them attractive. Who cared if they had a crush? I hadn’t thought twice about a single one in that way.
Until Natalie.
But Violet had seen it all along while I’d been oblivious to just how much she noticed. And just how much it had bothered her.
“Do you have any special instructions?” Cathy asked as we ended the house tour.
“No. My parents have a chef here for the week, so he’ll have lunch and snacks prepared. I have a meeting outside the house this morning but please call if you have any questions. My mother and father are around here somewhere. Violet can track them down if needed.” I smiled at my daughter, earning a pout.
That pout actually made me happy. That pout meant she wanted Natalie here as much as I did.
So why the hell wasn’t she here? I’d come on strong at the party but she hadn’t seemed to mind. She’d put her boundary in place too, one I’d respected.
Damn it.
I knelt and took Violet’s hand. “Have fun today. I love you.”
“Love you too,” she mumbled.
“Thanks, Cathy.”
She smiled and nodded. “My pleasure.”
Leaving her with Violet, I retreated to the office for my first call with the office in LA. I broke the news to my assistant about my expedited move first. As expected, he immediately got to work and promised to do whatever necessary to make it a seamless transition.
After that call, I spoke with my general counsel and the head of human resources who informed me that one of our employees had been leaking content to Russian piracy sites.
Then I spoke to my CFO who reported that our actual revenue numbers as we approached year-end would be higher than the projections. But even with that good news, I was stuck on Natalie’s absence.
Where was she? It had been a while since I’d flirted with a woman, but she’d flirted back, hadn’t she? Why wasn’t she here? Why hadn’t she called?
By the time my conference calls for the morning were finished, I was late getting out of the house for my meeting with Tobias.
Holiday Homes was closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s, so when I pulled into the parking lot ten minutes late, my Audi and Tobias’s GMC were the only vehicles around.
Tobias was leaning against the empty reception desk, staring off into space, when I walked through the door.
“Hey.” The scent of strong coffee and sawdust clung to the air. “Smells like Dad’s old office in here.”
Tobias nodded. “Brand-new building and it smells like the old one. But I like that.”
“Me too.” I shook his hand. “Thanks for meeting today.”
The rest of my week was slammed, and this was the only free spot I had to talk construction plans. The second that property was officially mine, I wanted the permits approved and the crew ready to break ground.
Tobias would be designing my home because I wanted the best architect in town.
“Want some coffee?” he asked, leading me toward the break room.
“Sure.” I followed, taking in the office. Dad had built it three years ago and today was only my second visit. “This is nice.”
“You know Mom and Dad.”
They’d declared a few years ago that they were going to spend some money. They’d worked their asses off their entire lives, teaching us boys how to do the same. And now they were reaping the benefits.
A custom home. New office buildings. Travel. Dad had bought Mom a three-carat Tiffany diamond ring for Christmas because the jewel in her original wedding ring was beginning to dull. Mom had bought Dad a five-thousand-dollar Bremont watch because he was always letting his phone run out of power and never knew what time it was.
The watch was almost identical to one Cece had bought me our last year together. She’d always been one to splurge on the holidays. For me. For Violet. For herself.
At the base of our tree, she’d have a mountain of gifts. After the divorce, I’d gotten rid of the gaudy watches and cufflinks she’d bought me over the years because none of them had meant a thing.
What I wanted was a woman who bought me a gift because she knew how much I’d love it, not simply because the price tag was five digits. I wanted gifts to make me smile. To make me laugh.
I could use more laughter in my life.
And from the look on Tobias’s face, he could too.
“You okay?” I asked as he walked into his office and took a seat behind his desk. He’d been quiet yesterday through the Christmas festivities. I’d thought it was just because there was so much activity, but even now when we were alone, he seemed just as distant.
“Yeah.” He rubbed his bearded jaw. “Great.”
Not great. “Missed you at the party at The Baxter.”
“Yeah. Had something come up.” His eyes were unfocused as he stared at his desk.
“Tobias.”
He swallowed hard.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Talk to me.”
Between Tobias and Heath, it was Tobias who I’d lost touch with the most. He’d been busy in college and working afterward. And I hadn’t made time to keep in touch with my brothers.
With Heath, it hadn’t mattered. He’d made up for my shortcomings over the years. Not a week had gone by since I’d moved away from Montana where he hadn’t texted me at least once.
But Tobias and I had begun to drift apart. I hoped to make up for that now that I was home.
“I’ve been a shit older brother as of late. Give me the chance to make up for it.”
The color drained from his face as he turned to stare blankly at the wall. “Do you remember Eva? ”
“I never met her, but yeah.” Eva had been Tobias’s girlfriend through college. I wasn’t sure exactly why they’d broken up, but according to Heath, it had wrecked him for a time.
Mom had always loved Eva, and during one of her regular phone calls—the ones where she’d gossip about my brothers—she’d told me how much she wished they’d get back together.
“She came over the other morning,” Tobias said. “Christmas Eve.”
“Okay,” I drawled. “Are you getting back together or something?”
“No.” He rubbed his hands over his face, then dropped the bomb. “She’s pregnant.”
“Oh.” Shit .
“We hooked up a while back. The condom broke. She’s pregnant. And she’s moving to London.”
Four statements, delivered with no inflection. Like he didn’t have a clue how to deal with a single one. Before I could think of something to say, Tobias shook his head and picked up a pencil from his desk. “Let’s go through what you want for your house.”
“We can do this another day.”
“No, today’s good.” He slid a notebook under the graphite tip and waited.
“Tob—”
“Five bedrooms? Or would you like six?”
I sighed, not wanting to push. “Six. And one in the guesthouse.”
“Bathrooms?”
We spent the next hour discussing the house. Tobias asked questions and I answered. When he was done, before I could bring up Eva again, he stood from his desk. Meeting adjourned. “I’ll get a preliminary draft sketched and bring it over soon. ”
“Thank you.” I nodded, taking the hint that it was time to go.
I’d give Tobias some time to adjust to the pregnancy news, then talk to him again. I wasn’t going anywhere, not this time.
The minute I was in my Audi, I pulled out my phone, hoping to see a missed call from Natalie. The screen was blank. Where was she? Why hadn’t she come today? My curiosity was driving me insane.
Fuck it. I sent a quick email to my assistant that something had come up and I needed him to reschedule my next two meetings. Then I dialed Heath’s number.
“Hello?” he answered, his voice muffled.
“Are you still in bed?” It was after eleven.
“Maybe.”
“I need a favor.”
“What?” he yawned.
“Do you happen to know Natalie’s phone number? Or her address?”
“Why do you need it? Isn’t she working for you today?”
“Heath,” I grumbled. “Do you have her number?”
“Hold on.” There was a rustling sound, then I was put on mute.
“Christ, what am I doing?” If Natalie wanted to see me, she would have showed up at the house this morning. The right thing to do would be respect her privacy and leave her alone. But did I hang up the phone? No. Because damn it, there was something different about her.
Maybe not different but... familiar. She wasn’t fake like many women in the entertainment world—my world. She didn’t seem interested in status. She was grounded and real. Being around her was like being blasted to the past, before Madcast. Before the money.
Before I’d left Montana .
I wanted to taste her lips. I wanted to feel her curves beneath my palms. I wanted to thread my fingers through her soft hair and devour her whole.
I wanted her more than I’d ever desired a woman.
The silence on the other end of the phone ended abruptly. “Maddox?”
“Still here.”
“I guess Natalie lives in the house where she grew up.”
“With her father?”
“No, I think she bought it from him. Or something. I’m not sure. But do you remember where it is?”
“Vaguely, but a specific address would be good.”
“I don’t have one. It’s in our old neighborhood. Dark green house two blocks over.”
“Which direction?” I clenched my teeth.
“Uh . . . toward the elementary school?”
“You’re killing me.”
“Dark green isn’t that popular of a color. You’ll find it. How many could there be?”
Two. There were two dark green homes on the street that was two blocks away from my childhood home.
The first of the two dark green homes was occupied by a lovely older woman—Christine—who’d threatened to sic her Pomeranian—Roxy—on me if I didn’t get my soliciting ass off her front porch .
Apparently in faded jeans and a black sweater, I resembled a door-to-door solicitor.
At the second dark green house, I figured I was in the right spot when I read the welcome mat.
The Neighbors Have Better Stuff.
I chuckled as I stood outside Natalie’s home, uninvited. Before I could knock or ring the bell, the door whipped open and there she was with a houseplant tucked into the crook of one arm.
“Hi.”
She blinked those beautiful blue eyes. Twice. “H-hi.”
“You didn’t show up today.”
Her shoulders fell and she held out the plant. “I’m sorry. This is my apology aloe. I was leaving to bring it over and say goodbye.”
“Apology aloe.” I took the pot from her hands. “Never heard of it.”
“It doubles as a Christmas present and a housewarming gift. They’re very useful if you have kids who are accident prone. Or kids who might attempt to melt their Barbies into zombies with a blowtorch.”
She’d bought me a gift. An aloe plant. For my daughter who might very well melt her Barbies into zombies with a blowtorch.
I threw my head back and laughed, the sound carrying down the block. God, it felt good to laugh. It felt good to know that she’d been on her way over. Yes, she’d come over to say goodbye, but we’d deal with that word later.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I answered by stepping forward, forcing her inside. With the aloe plant set on the floor, I closed the door behind me and moved into her space. Before she could retreat out of my grasp, I framed her face with my palms. “I met Cathy.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”
“You’re not my nanny anymore.”
“No, not anymore.” Her mouth turned down. “Sorry.”
“I’m not.”
Then I kissed the sad look off her face.