18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Juliet
T he next day, we’re finally free.
The snowstorm fully passed us during the night, leaving behind inches of snow on the ground but no damage to the estate. Piper and I can leave and go home today, and I’m itching to get into my car and floor it.
I’ve spent way too much time with Leo over these past few days, and, as expected, I got swept up in nostalgia and his handsome looks and made a mistake.
What was I thinking when I decided to sleep with the man who broke my heart? Do I want to go through years of torment and heartache all over again while taking care of my daughter ?
Our daughter. The product of our past love. A constant reminder of what I lost.
But I love her more than anything else in the world regardless.
“I really need to take her home soon,” I tell Leo as we stand on the front porch, looking out at a field packed with snow. I can’t even see the driveway, and my car had a ton of snow on it until Leo swept it off.
Leo rubs his jaw as his eyes dart around. “I think I have an idea.”
“Are we going to shovel a path to the road?” I ask him, hoping that’s not his bright idea. That’ll take us hours.
Leo shakes his head and pulls the hood of his coat on. “No, what I have in mind is even better. You should go inside. It’s cold.”
Before I can say anything, he hops off the porch and heads around the side of the house out of view. I exhale slowly into the cold air, a cloud drifting from my lips.
Acting normal around him is hard. I can’t stop thinking about that night and how good it felt.
Too good .
If I could flip a switch and turn off my attraction to him, I would because all it does is complicate things. I can’t trust myself because I’m so reactive to the mere sight of him. Being in his proximity is even worse.
The sound of an engine starting in the distance cuts through my thoughts, my face scrunching in confusion. I hurry over to the side of the porch as the sound gets closer.
It can’t be…
“Holy shit,” I mutter as Leo drives a backhoe toward the front of the house, the large rear tires leaving deep tracks in the snow.
How does he still remember how to drive one of these? It’s been years!
Leo grabs the control that moves the front loader and shifts it forward, making the loader lower to the ground.
A shocked laugh leaves me as he gathers snow in the loader and dumps it off in the field away from the driveway. Okay, I’m impressed. I had no idea that the New York City billionaire still knew how to operate heavy machinery .
Leo drives it back and forth, moving farther down the driveway to keep shoveling snow off it. He looks as casual as he probably does driving his fancy cars.
The other night shouldn’t have happened, but I can see why I melted so quickly. Just watching him do this makes heat rush to my cheeks, and it isn’t because of the cold wind.
He has always looked hot doing manual labor.
“Okay,” I murmur, forcing myself inside so that I stop staring at him.
I head upstairs and pause in Frank’s doorway. “Leo is clearing the driveway so I can take Piper home.”
Frank raises an eyebrow at me. “Did I hear an engine?”
A small smile tugs at my lips. “He’s using the backhoe.”
Frank blinks. “The backhoe?”
“I guess he still knows how to use it pretty well.”
Frank slowly nods as he looks away from me, his expression softening a hint .
I don’t know what’s running through his mind, but I’m sure he didn’t expect to hear that the city boy still knows his way around construction machines.
I reach the guest bedroom and grab Piper’s backpack off the floor. “We’re about to head home. Try not to touch anything, okay? Mr. Frank gets sick really easily, and we don’t want to pass what you have to him.”
“Okay,” Piper says, sounding tired. She slowly pulls the blanket off her and slides off the bed, looking deflated.
I hate seeing her this way. It’s so unlike her usual bubbly spirit.
I pack up her backpack and throw away tissues and an empty plastic cup I had her drinking water from. The cleaner will have to come earlier this week as soon as the roads are clear.
“Come here,” I tell her, holding my hand out.
Piper takes my hand, shuffling behind me as I lead her out of the room. “I’m tired.”
“You can take a nap when we get home. You’ll have all your stuffed animals to cuddle with,” I say, giving her a warm smile that she doesn’t mirror .
I gently press the back of my other hand against her forehead, feeling the warmth of her skin. I don’t think she’s running a high fever, but she definitely at least has a low grade one. Luckily, I have more medicine at home that has a better chance of breaking it.
“You can say goodbye to Mr. Frank from out in the hallway,” I tell her before stopping her in front of the open doorway. “We’re leaving.”
Frank sits up more so that Piper can see him better. “I hope you feel better soon, Piper.”
Piper gives him a small smile that seems to take up all her energy. “I’ll be back soon. I want to build a snowman.”
Frank passes me a sympathetic look. He knows how rough this is for her. She’s the type of kid who’s bouncing off the walls half the time.
It’s hard seeing her this exhausted and quiet.
“Update me,” Frank tells me.
I nod before leading Piper downstairs to the front porch as Leo drives the backhoe down the driveway toward us. He has already cleared a path for us to reach the road.
“I want to ride,” Piper says as she tugs on my hand .
“Another time,” I promise her before unlocking my car and opening the back door. “How about some hot soup when we get home?”
“Not hungry,” Piper mumbles as she climbs into her seat.
I place her backpack on the seat next to her, trying not to frown in concern where she can see. She doesn’t need to catch onto my anxiety when she already feels bad. I just need to get myself together and remember that this is probably just a cold.
With some rest in her own bed and the proper medicine, she’ll be as good as new in a few days.
“I want to say bye to Leo too,” she tells me before I can shut the back door.
Of course, she does. She’s getting more and more attached to him, putting me in the most complicated, emotionally excruciating situation of my life.
“You can say bye through the window,” I reply before shutting the door and getting into the driver’s seat.
Leo stops the backhoe next to the car and steps out of the cab, wandering closer to the passenger’s door .
I roll down both windows on the right side of the car. “Thank you for clearing a path. And for getting the snow off my car.”
Leo shakes his head. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad the storm passed so you can get her home.”
I nod as we hold each other’s gazes. So much to say. None of it smart to do so, especially in front of Piper.
“I’ll be back to check on Frank tomorrow. He should be fine until then,” I tell him. “If something else happens, just call me. I’ll come out.”
Leo nods. “Be careful driving back home.”
We keep delaying our goodbye. What’s the point? He’s just going to end up leaving regardless of what happens between us.
“Bye, Leo!” Piper calls from the back.
“She wants to say bye to you before we leave,” I say.
Leo moves closer to the back window so that Piper can see him. “Hope you feel better soon, Piper.”
“I’m coming back soon. We can build the snowman,” Piper tells him. “Will you still be here? ”
A sharp ache seizes my heart.
“Of course,” Leo replies. “We’ll build that snowman. I promise.”
I draw in a quick breath through my nose. He doesn’t need to be making anyone any promises, especially my daughter. He promised me so much in the past, and he threw it all away over a fight with his father.
I can’t trust him. Neither should she.
“Say bye, Piper. We need to go,” I tell her.
Piper whines a little before waving goodbye to Leo. “Bye.”
“Bye,” he says before his eyes shift to mine in the rearview mirror.
Why does he look like a kicked puppy? Why does he care so much?
I put my car in drive and pull away from him, putting the estate in my rearview mirror. I thought I did that at last when he left town, but I still ended up back here. I’ve probably spent more time at the estate than any other place if I combined the hours .
Piper is becoming just like me when I was a kid. Bouncing back and forth between two houses. Going where I go because we only have each other.
She doesn’t seem to mind now, but there’s no cute boy living at the estate for her to fall in love with. Maybe I would’ve gotten sick of being stuck in someone else’s house if I didn’t fall in love there.
When I find a place to park on the street where our small apartment complex is, I shut off the car and help her out onto the sidewalk. “Careful. It’s slippery.”
Piper holds my hand tightly as I take her to the staircase that leads to the front door of the two-story building. The hallways inside are thin and quiet, dust and cobwebs occupying the corners of the floor and ceiling.
It’s not a terrible place. There are problems with the heater every once in a blue moon, and the building could use a little TLC, but it’s within my price range and in a decent area. It’s close to her school too, so the only long drive I have is to the estate.
“Change into your pajamas and get in bed,” I tell her once we walk into our two- bedroom unit.
With her backpack dragging on the floor behind her, Piper heads to her room.
I make a beeline to the bathroom and fling open the cabinets under the sink, quickly finding the basket full of different medicines. I pull out the basket and rummage through the different bottles to find the best one to give her to tackle her symptoms and break her fever.
If I can’t get that congestion out of her chest, we’ll have a problem.
Before going to her bedroom, I make a pitstop in the kitchen, pouring her a glass of water and grabbing a small packet of cheese crackers in case she feels up to having a snack.
Hopefully, she’s her snacky, happy self by tomorrow.
Once I get her settled with everything she needs, I drop down onto the sofa in the living room, silence surrounding me.
My eyes shift around, taking in the smallness of the space.
How the furniture is nearly pushed together to fit.
How decorations are crammed on top of surfaces or on the walls because there’s barely any space for them .
It’s nice that the building is so quiet when it comes to sleeping at night, but it’s almost eerie during the day. Like there’s no life in this building.
Even with the estate being quieter and less hectic lately, it still feels alive .
The walls are full of pictures and artwork.
Decorations adorn every surface, and they’re all spaced out and meticulously placed.
So much of the furniture is handmade and crafted with care, and each piece looks like it belongs exactly where it is. .
This place should feel like home, but it just doesn’t.
Not like the estate does, and its fate rests in the hands of someone who doesn’t want anything to do with it.
I’ll lose the place that became home. I’ll lose the old man who used to scare me but now makes me laugh and feel like my career means something. And I’ll lose my first love, the person who I could easily let myself fall in love with all over again.
I’m tired of losing so much.
How much more can I possibly take?