Chapter Seven
“Nothing astonishes me more than Derek’s ability to friend zone himself.” - Garrett
DEREK
I stare at the door to my father’s hardware store and basically will someone to walk inside.
To say business has been slow lately is an understatement. It was a tough business to be in these days, when everyone was buying their stuff online and I was sitting here, hoping that the people who were walking down the sidewalk would suddenly need something for their home improvement.
This shop was my dad’s baby, and then after I was old enough, I started to work here too. I took a break when I joined the military and got shipped overseas for a few years, and then when Graham was injured and shipped home, I took the next chance I could to get out and get back here.
When I finally got home, I found out that my dad had been sick.
He never said anything—didn’t let me know that he was sick at all—until I saw it for myself. Gone was the strong, confident man who I left when I was eighteen, and in his place, at least in my eyes, was an old man life had beaten down.
I had one year with him before he passed, leaving me his legacy.
And a mountain of bills.
It had just been the two of us since I was young, and we shared everything with each other, or so I thought.
My mother, though I hate even calling her that title, claimed to want more out of life than to run a hardware store, and whatever love she thought she had for my dad was apparently not enough.
Dad took it hard, as anyone would, but he picked himself up again and raised me the best he could.
He was the best dad in the world.
And now, here I am, trying and failing to make this hardware store stay afloat. It’s scary. It is all I have in the world that’s all mine, the only connection I have left to my father, the only blood relative I knew, and I feel like I’m about to lose it all.
My phone chimes in my pocket, and I pull it out, looking at the screen and expecting it to be the group chat from the boys.
But my heart skips a beat at the display message.
“Hi, this is Elizabeth. I was wondering—” It cut off there, and I opened the message so fast, it’s a miracle my phone didn’t slip out of my hands and break.
I finally get the message open and read it.
Hi, this is Elizabeth. I was wondering if your offer to babysit was still on the table?
My heart sinks all the way down to my stomach, and I hang my head. Fuck. I never should have offered to babysit! I was happy to do that, though, because her daughter is adorable, and I have no problem chilling with her for a couple hours.
But I want to take Elizabeth on a date, not be the babysitter. And now what do I do? Do I take it all back when she was asking for my help?
That is not the type of person I am, or wanted to be, so begrudgingly, I type back.
DEREK: Of course. When?
Maybe she just has to work and needs some help for a day, and it’s not going to even be a time or day that a normal date would take place. Yeah. There’s still hope for me yet.
ELIZABETH: Are you available Friday night? Around six? It could be a kind of late night.
Fuck me.
Well, there goes that hope that I had tucked away in my pocket. Gone. Poof. It’s disappeared.
DEREK: No problem.
Friday night came fast, and as I’m getting ready to head out, Garrett pops his head into my room. “I’m ordering in, you want some?”
“Can’t, I have plans tonight.” I hesitate to grab my cologne. Do I need cologne? What if Elizabeth hugs me as she leaves while friend-zoning me, and I want her to notice that I smell incredible, cancel her date, and hang out with me and Aurora instead?
I spray a little on my neck.
“Hot date?” Garrett leans against the doorjamb and inspects me.
“Yeah, sure. Gonna grab a pizza and hang out at her place for a little while.”
“Nice. Elizabeth?” he asks, seeming genuinely nice for once. Garrett is the notorious grump of our group, but lately I’ve noticed a change in him.
“It is at Elizabeth’s place, yes.”
My words must give me away because he looks me over and shakes his head. “No way. You’re actually babysitting for her? On a Friday night?”
“What’s wrong with that?” I ask, grabbing my wallet and keys.
Garrett doesn’t reply at first, and I glance over to see if he left, but he’s still leaning against the door, watching me, his eyes slightly narrowed. “I thought you were into her.”
“I’m very into her,” I reply, stifling a sigh. “But I messed that up and offered to babysit.”
“So why not back out? Say you’re busy.”
I pretend to give it some thought. It’s not as if I haven’t imagined myself doing that, saying that I have something going on tonight and bail. But what kind of person does that make me? I can’t be the guy who says I’ll do something and then take it back.
“I can’t.”
Garrett sighs like this is the answer he was expecting. “I know, bud. Well.” He taps the door. “Have fun.”
The drive to Elizabeth’s is shorter than I expect, and I’m there at five forty, enough time for her to give me the rundown and for Aurora to be reintroduced to me. I wonder how she handles being babysat. If this is a normal occurrence for her, maybe it’ll be easy.
I knock on the apartment door. She lives on the first floor, right on the corner by the parking lot. Not the safest unit for a single mom and her kiddo, but I decide to keep that opinion to myself.
A ruffled-looking Elizabeth answers the door, and the moment my eyes catch sight of her, my breath gets sucked from my chest. Holy shit. She’s still the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met.
“Hi.” Her smile widens brilliantly, and I find myself in a bit of a trance. I blink and smile back. She lets me in before shutting the door behind me. “Thank you so much for doing this.”
“Of course. I brought pizza and beer.”
She pauses and looks back at me, at my hands, where I’m holding a hot cheese pizza and a six-pack of root beer. Her smile hits me again. “That’s amazing. She’s going to love you.”
“I aim to please,” I reply, following her further into the house. “Nice place.”
Elizabeth rushes to the counter and grabs a silver earring off of it, moving her perfectly curled hair out of her way so she can put the earring in. So, it is a date.
I bite back my annoyance and open the oven, placing the pizza inside. I set it on a low temp to keep it warm.
“Thanks, my sister and I live here together.” She grabs the other earring.
“I can’t thank you enough for doing this.
I thought my sister was available, but she got called out to work, and my parents are on their own date tonight, then I remembered you offered, and, well, yeah.
” She seems flustered, like going out isn’t something she does often.
“It’s no problem,” I say, placing the root beer in the fridge. It’s nicely stocked with meats and vegetables and fruits. Some protein shakes and bottled waters were in the fridge as well. “I hope I didn’t overstep by bringing a pizza for Aurora and me to share.”
Elizabeth shakes her head, coming to stand by the refrigerator, bending to open the freezer part. “Not at all, I grabbed this for you both.” She holds up a frozen cheese pizza and laughs. “Great minds, apparently.”
“Apparently,” I agree and have to turn away. “So, where is she anyway?”
“I have her in the bath, and I need to get her out. I figured I’d do most of her night routine, so you don’t have to.”
I nod my head. “Great.”
Elizabeth rushes down the hallway and into a room I assume is the bathroom. I hear giggles, happy chatter, and Elizabeth’s laugh, and I’m pretty sure that should be the soundtrack I hear for the rest of my life.
I wander around the room, looking at everything on the walls and shelves.
There were quite a few books on a bookshelf by the TV, some pictures of her and Aurora, of another woman I assume is her sister, and one of a younger Elizabeth with her arm around a younger version of her sister.
I squint at the picture, something in my mind saying I’ve seen it before, but that wouldn’t be possible.
Not one single picture of another man.
So where did Aurora come from?
I want to ask but know that it’s not even close to my business, and I head over to the kitchen table. There’s room enough to eat, and then the other side is filled with arts and craft material. Seems little Rora was into art.
The giggling continues and I hear footsteps, smiling to myself at the sound and take a seat at the table, waiting for the girls to be ready.
Man, I really messed up.
I could be the one here to pick Elizabeth up for a date, the one who comes to the door, flowers in hand—and some for Aurora too.
We’d go eat, drink, maybe dance if she liked that.
Then we would talk for hours because we’d obviously hit it off perfectly.
She could tell me about college and life and how Aurora came to be.
Then I’d drop her off, but only when our next date was already on the books.
I rub my hand over my face. I can’t keep dwelling on the could-haves or should-haves. It’s done.
I am the babysitter.
“Hi!” A little voice hits me, and I turn, opening my eyes and smiling brightly at the girl standing in front of me. She’s wearing a long nightgown that has a picture of one of those Disney princesses on it. “I remember you!”
“I remember you too,” I reply and nod at her nightie. “I love the pajamas.”
“Thanks! They’re my favorite.” She takes this time to do a little twirl, and I grin at the move. Damn, she was cute.
“Okay.” Elizabeth’s voice hits us, and I turn for a second to give her my attention, and my jaw comes unhinged.
When I showed up, she was in shorts and a button-up shirt. I thought that was her outfit for her date.
But no. Hell no. It was not.
Now, she’s sporting a black dress that hugs her curves in all the right places, rests just above her knees, and accents her ass gorgeously. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but I’m not really able to form coherent sentences, even in my mind.
Her long honey-brown hair hangs over her shoulders, past her breasts in long, big curls, and she’s wearing a sexy pair of black heels.
“Honey, you remember Derek from the wedding, right?” She squats in front of her daughter, giving me a view I don’t deserve, and somehow, I find my manners and look back to the little girl.
“Yup. He’s my friend.”
I smile at the girl, happy for the distraction.
“Well, he’s just going to hang out with you for a while until bedtime. Mommy will be back in a couple of hours, and I’ll be here all night, okay? So you can sleep soundly, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Okay, Mommy,” she says sweetly, looking back at me. “Derek, want to draw?”
I nod my head. “Absolutely.”
I look back at Elizabeth, who waves me over, and I stand, making my way to her.
“So, the other night she had a night terror.” I frown and look back at the girl. “They’re really rare for her, but if it happens when I’m gone, call me right away and don’t wake her. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s the only way to deal with it.”
“Okay, no problem,” I say, looking at the sweet girl. “Why does she have them?”
“I’m not sure. She had them when she was two, and then just this one recently. I’m hoping it was a fluke.” Elizabeth bites her bottom lip and looks at her daughter with concern. “Gosh. Am I a horrible mother? I shouldn’t be leaving her right now.”
I may be a glutton for punishment, but I reach over and rub her arm. “You’re not a terrible mother, trust me. You deserve some time for yourself.”
She looks back at me and nods. “Yeah, okay. Well, you have my number, and I wrote down my sister’s and parents’ numbers if you need them.
I should be back at nine, her bedtime for the weekend is eight, so don’t let her give you any grief.
She needs to brush her teeth for thirty seconds, and I usually count for her.
And she likes a story for bedtime.” She turns to go out the door and turns back quickly.
“Oh, and she can’t sleep without the blue plush elephant on her bed. Make sure she has it.”
Again, she turns, and I try to usher her out the door. “Oh, she also can’t watch scary movies.”
I give her a look and can’t help myself when I say, “So no Freddy vs. Jason?”
For a moment, she looks horrified until she sees my expression. “Sorry. Sorry. I know I’m being ridiculous.”
“No, you’re just being a really good mom.”
Her eyes soften, and she finally opens the door. “Thank you so much, Derek. I owe you.”
“Not a thing. I’m happy to help.” I smile at her, and for a second, she seems indecisive and looks between my eyes. Finally, her shoulders release their tension, and she steps out the door, calling one last “I love you, bye” to Aurora, who returns the sentiment.
I watch her walk to her car and get in, and once she’s safe, I turn back to the little girl sitting at the table drawing and wonder how I got myself here.