3. Caroline
CHAPTER 3
Caroline
I have known James through many of his eras. His fourth-grade Student Council President era, where he campaigned on the platform of puppies in the classroom, his middle school Paramore Super fan era, and his high school Gymnastics God era.
But seeing him holding his son makes it clear he’s in his best era yet. “Oh my gosh, look at you!” I say, going in for a hug when James opens his apartment door holding his baby.
He’s smiling ear to ear, and whereas the last time I saw him, he still sported a boyish vibe—now he has defined and sharper features, all vestiges of his youthful baby face gone. His green eyes are bright and his hair is a little long and shaggy, beard stubble across his chin. He’s wearing joggers and a basic gray T-shirt, which shows off his fit chest and muscular upper arms.
All of that with him cradling a chubby little sleeping infant in his left arm?
It’s the total package of hotness.
“Hot dad alert, wow!”
James laughs and gives me a one-armed hug. “Thank you.” He pulls back and holds my left arm out to the side. “And look at you. All grown up and straight-up gorgeous.”
I do a little curtsy. “Thank you. God, it’s so good to see you. It’s been forever.”
“Since college. Come in. I’m so glad you reached out.”
I follow James into his apartment, glancing around curiously. It’s an adult apartment, with curated and expensive looking furniture. There’s art on the walls and a gallery of photos that include wedding portraits and baby pictures. There is baby gear tucked everywhere.
“Can I get you water or a sweet tea?”
“Sweet tea would be great. Let me see this baby. Can I hold him?”
“Absolutely. Meet Noah. He was three months old yesterday.” James gestures to the living room. “We are doing his three-month photo shoot today, so that’s why there are beach balls. Summer theme.”
My amazement grows as I take Noah from James and gently cradle him in my arms. Noah doesn’t wake up. He just gives a soft sigh and his arms briefly lift and shake before he settles back into a deep slumber. He’s light and smells like baby freshness. He is wearing little pastel blue and yellow plaid Bermuda shorts with a yellow onesie designed to look like a polo shirt. There is a tiny blue threaded dolphin insignia.
“He definitely looks ready to hit the golf course before a beach stroll with a sweater draped over his shoulders. It’s adorable. He’s adorable.”
“Thank you.”
That seems a more natural response to me complimenting someone’s baby.
Unlike the neighbor, who managed to look both a complete and total mess and arrogant all at the same time. I’d have to ask James about his surly neighbor a little later.
“How has it been?” I ask James. “Becoming a parent, I mean. You don’t even look tired. Your apartment is pristine. Your baby is an angel. I’m impressed.”
“I love it,” James says, reaching into a cupboard for two tall glasses. “Seriously. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Sure, getting up three times a night is hard, and yes, I am plagued by self-doubt that I’m doing any of this right, but I literally just stare at my baby and the entire world is just…right there. Everything feels complete.”
My heart softens. I always knew James was a good guy, but seeing him like this makes me so happy for him. “That’s fantastic. Congratulations on getting married, too. I heard through the Honeysuckle Harbor gossip chain that it was quite the grand affair.”
James laughs as he opens the refrigerator door. “You know my mother. She was born to throw a grand affair. It actually seemed to rejuvenate her so much she looks five years younger. Or maybe that’s the Botox.”
I snort, strolling with Noah over to the gallery wall to study the photos. “Tell me about Cas. Your husband ,” I add in a sing-song voice. “Very handsome.”
He is. He’s taller than James, with very trendy glasses. The first two shots are them on the beach gazing at each other, but then there is one of them laughing and holding hands, clearly leaving their reception. Cas has removed his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing two fully tattooed forearms.
Arm porn at its finest. I’m a little jealous of James.
“Cas is great. He’s Dutch. He’s very tidy, orderly. He’s thoughtful and protective and he loves to take care of us. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better partner.” He glances over his shoulder and grins. “Plus, he’s really hot, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Oh, I noticed. Trust me. Please tell me he’s good in bed too, so I can officially be jealous of you.”
“Uh, yes. He is. I wouldn’t have married him otherwise.”
“Bullshit.” I stand, rocking Noah back and forth. His little mouth is mimicking sucking in his sleep. “James, you are the kind of guy who would fall in love and make it work even if the man was, shall we say, lacking . You are probably the nicest human I know.”
“I think you’re giving me too much credit. Sex is important.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I say, breezily. “It’s been so long I’m not sure I remember how to do it.”
“It’s like riding a bike.”
I would ride anything right now.
“If you say so.”
James laughs. “How long are you back in town?” he asks, setting the glasses of sweet tea with lemon wedges on the coffee table. “Come sit down.”
“Just a few months. Then I’m off to Colombia for my next teaching job.” I walk slowly over to the sofa where James is sitting. I gingerly lower myself so I don’t jostle Noah and wake him up.
“You always said you wanted to see the world. Good on you for doing it, Caro.” James puts his feet up on the edge of the coffee table. “How was Germany?”
My last two year assignment had been in Munich and while I had loved the freedom and the ability to bounce around Europe on the weekends, the upscale international school hadn’t been my favorite of my teaching gigs so far.
“Germany was great, but a little…stiff for me. You know I’m a free spirit. That’s why I’m trying South America next.”
“And where were you before Germany?”
I reach forward to grab my glass. “South Korea. The kids were adorable. I loved them. The food, too. It was an incredible experience. I’m glad to be home for a bit, though. I missed my family and friends. I just spent a week in Florida with my mom and my sister.”
“Where are you staying while you’re here?”
“With Fiona and Frannie. They have a house now.” They are identical twins in a group of triplets, with their sister, Finley, being fraternal. We’ve been friends since grade school.
James nods. “I run into them sometimes. We love to go to Raw. They’re both pastry chefs there now, but obviously, you know that.”
“They have three bedrooms and they’re being very cool to let me crash while I’m here. But you know me—I travel light.”
It’s been years since I had more possessions than what can fit into a couple of large suitcases. The last time I owned furniture was in college. There are some random boxes stored at my mom’s house, but other than some jewelry I travel with, I’m not huge on having stuff.
“So you’ll be a beach bum for the next few months?”
That makes me laugh. Noah reacts by jerking in his sleep. “Oops,” I whisper. “Can’t wake the baby.”
“He’s actually a dream baby. He’ll fall right back asleep, trust me.”
“No wonder you look so chill and well rested. Unlike your next-door neighbor.”
“You saw him?”
“Yes, looking surly and forlorn in his doorway, walking an older woman out. What’s his story?”
“That’s Grayson Ross. Remember him?”
“ Grayson Ross ? No way. Of course I remember him. Every girl in middle school had a massive crush on the high school star quarterback, me included.” I sip my sweet tea and muse on how we all primped and dressed to impress at thirteen for the older guy who was never going to give us the time of day. We sat in those stands every Friday night and cheered him on with heart eyes.
“Middle school girls and me.” James sips his tea. “He’s been living in New York since college and just moved back.”
“With a wife and a baby?”
“Just a baby.” James reaches out. “Here, I’ll take Noah so you can relax.”
“No, I’m fine,” I protest. “You get him all the time—don’t be greedy.” I’m enjoying the weight of him on my arm. “So where is the baby’s mom?”
I was curious before, but now I’m really curious.
Grayson might have looked exhausted and cranky as hell, but he’s still hot. Maybe even more so.
“From what I hear from my mother, who apparently heard from Grayson’s mother at the hair salon, he had a one-night stand who had the baby dropped off at his office and then disappeared.”
My jaw drops. “What? Holy shit, that’s awful .”
James shakes his head. “I know. I can’t even imagine. I guess for whatever reason, she just couldn’t handle being a single mom. Grayson hasn’t said much to me or Cas about it, but he’s clearly in over his head. He moved down here so his family could help out. His old nanny has been watching little Evelyn.”
“That’s why I recognized that woman. She was the triplets’ nanny, too. She made the best chocolate chip cookies on earth. I loved going to their house after school.”
“I give him credit for jumping in. That had to be one hell of a curveball. We had the whole process of finding a surrogate, then her pregnancy, to mentally prepare to be parents. Grayson just woke up one day and found himself with a seven-month-old baby girl.”
No wonder he looked so exhausted. I feel bad for him.
I also am more excited that he’s single than I have any right to be. A little sexy no-strings-attached fun would be very welcome right now.
“It says good things about him that he took the baby. That’s intense, though. Poor guy.”
James gives me an ‘I-know-your-dirty-fucking-mind look’. “Why do I get the feeling you want to comfort him with your pussy?”
“James!” I cover Noah’s tiny ears. “Not in front of the baby.”
“I’m right though, aren’t I?” he says dryly.
“You’re not wrong ,” I admit. “Though he looked like he needed a shower.”
“You can offer to scrub his back for him.”
“If that man is naked, I’m not focusing on his back.” I shrug. “It’s been a minute. What can I say? How’s your new gym venture going?”
“Good, actually. Hey, if you’re looking for some extra money, I could really use a part-time teacher.”
James has opened up a storefront downstairs that hosts Daddy and Me classes, Mommy and Me classes, and toddler tumbling. Given his background in gymnastics, it seems like a great fit.
“I’d love to. You know I love kids. I was planning to take on a serving job at the boardwalk, but we’re toward the end of the season, so that is probably a long shot. This would help me out a lot.”
“It would help me, too. Now that Noah is sleeping less, it’s becoming more challenging to manage my schedule. Cas is a lawyer, so he works in Charleston and has long hours.”
“Sleeps less?” I lift Noah a tad. He’s just dead weight. “This baby?” I joke. “I don’t believe you.”
“He used to sleep eighteen hours a day. He’s scaling back, I swear.”
I’m about to respond when there is a hard knock on the apartment door. It’s so demanding we both jump. Noah stirs in his sleep.
“Jesus, who is that?” James stands up and goes to the door right as another pounding knock booms through the room.
When he opens the door, Grayson Ross strides in with his daughter in his arms. He’s still wearing pajama pants and a T-shirt that has unknown stains on it. His hair is sticking up, and he looks frantic. James didn’t even invite him in and he’s already standing in the middle of the living room.
“Can either of you watch Evelyn?” he asks without even so much as a greeting.
I sit up a little straighter, taken aback. He doesn’t even know my name, and he wants me to watch his child ?
“What?” James asks, closing the door behind him. “Why?”
“I have a work call in twenty minutes, and I need to take a shower before it starts. I called my mom and my sister and they can’t get over here in time.”
“Where did your nanny go?” I ask.
“She quit.” Grayson waves his hand in the air. “I’m desperate. Please.”
“Dude, you can’t just leave your baby with random people,” James says, looking visibly appalled.
“You’re not random. You’re my neighbor. You have a baby yourself. Your mother knows my mother. I trust you. I meant in my apartment, anyway. Evelyn doesn’t like change. If I try to leave her here, she’ll scream.”
I have to admit she is a very suspicious-looking baby. She is eyeing us like we are about to kidnap her, her little hands digging tightly into Grayson’s arm and chest. Every time he moves, she turns her head so she can track us.
My heart goes out to the little girl whose mother has left her with a total stranger, biological father or not.
I’m not sure what to say. I want to help Grayson, but he seems a little…ferocious. “I have lunch plans in an hour.”
“It will only take thirty minutes, I promise. I’ll give you a thousand dollars.”
I stand up instantly with Noah in my arms. “Happy to help. James, are you coming with me?”
James looks like he wants to object, but doesn’t have a good reason to say no.
“I guess we can help you for thirty minutes. What are neighbors for?”
“You’re a lifesaver. I owe you, James. Seriously. Whatever you want. I’ll buy you a car.”
“Just pay your rent on time.”
“Let’s meet your friend,” I tell Noah as I walk past Grayson.
I swear he glances at my chest.
“I’m Caroline,” I tell him. “By the way.”
He doesn’t even have the decency to look shamefaced that he hasn’t asked my name.
Nor does he offer his.