Chapter 28
“Thanks for taking her today, I appreciate it,” Greyson says.
“It’s no trouble at all. We get along like biscuits and gravy, don’t we Harper?” Mr. Andersen says. “Let’s go find the checkers set and play a few games before we set the table.”
Harper bounds off with her pseudo grandfather. Greyson’s dad died a long time ago, and he’s got a tenuous relationship with his and Olivia’s mom, so Harper’s only consistent family is the one here at the ranch.
“How many nannies have you been through this summer, Grey?” James asks.
The family gathered for Sunday dinner. Collectively, we managed to convince Quincy and my folks to come too.
Mom’s got Dad settled in the den with one of his shows.
I sat with him for a bit, but I never know what to say.
Mom talks to him like he’s lucid. Quincy reads to him or tells him stories.
I stay until I can’t bear the silence any longer. What a shit son I am.
Reid took Quincy to see the progress on Sam’s cabin.
Delilah and Izzy are in the kitchen with Mrs. Andersen whipping up what will no doubt be an impressive spread for dinner. That leaves me on the deck for this awkward exchange.
“I don’t even know,” Greyson grumbles.
“Six,” Olivia pipes in.
“Ain’t no way it’s been six,” Greyson snaps.
“Yep, six. First was your regular nanny, Cara, when she skipped town with her boyfriend. Second was Beatrice who’d just retired from the doctor’s office. She lasted what, a week?” Olivia muses.
“Alright, you can stop,” Greyson interjects.
“Third was Sabrina from the boutique. You made her cry on her first day and she never came back. Fourth was Rochelle, Harper’s old teacher.”
“Dude, how did you lose Harper’s old teacher as a summer nanny?” James asks. Greyson locks his jaw, refusing to answer.
“She dared to bring arts and crafts to do with Harper,” Olivia says smugly.
“The house was covered in fucking glitter. That shit is the devil of craft supplies—it never goes away,” Greyson says. James is barely concealing his laughter.
“Fifth was from an agency. Greyson didn’t even let her in the house,” Olivia says.
“She was carrying a case of essential oils. No fucking way I’m letting that nonsense around Harper,” he argues.
“Oh, so is now a bad time to tell you she’s had an essential oil diffuser in her room for months? I gave it to her for her birthday, you moron,” Olivia pokes. Before he gets another word in, Olivia finishes her list.
“And six. Whoever you fired today. When I called the agency for you, I told them to send their best nanny, that cost was no object. What could she possibly have done to upset you?” Olivia asks.
Greyson presses his lips together tightly, not wanting to answer. James elbows him in the gut, eager to know what ridiculous reason Greyson found to fire his sixth nanny.
“She reorganized my kitchen,” he says.
Everyone, including me, bursts out laughing. Insults and jibes are being thrown left and right at the absurdity of it all.
“I can’t find fucking anything now!” Greyson snips.
He turns to his sister with disturbing puppy dog eyes I never want to see again.
“Livy, could you take some time off from work and help me out until the school year starts? It’s only a few weeks. I’m begging you.”
“Stop making that face. You’re creeping me out, you weirdo. I’ll make it work, and if there’s a day I can’t, I’ll plan with the Andersens,” Olivia promises.
“Thank you so mu—” Greyson’s cut off when James of all people interjects.
“I can help.” We all gawk at him like he’s nuts. “I mean, if Liv needs a second set of hands or some back-up…I can move my schedule around any time,” James says sheepishly.
Why is Olivia bright red? What the fuck is that all about?
Before Greyson blows his lid—because even I’ve noticed how James can’t follow Greyson’s one rule to stay away from Olivia—my angel pops her head out the front door to tell us dinner’s ready.
“Dinner was incredible, thank you Mrs. Andersen,” I say as Delilah and I head out for the night. We’re the last to leave—Quincy took our parents home in the middle of dinner when my dad got confused and overwhelmed. The sorrow on my mom’s face broke my heart.
“Don’t thank me, this young lady did most of the cooking,” Mrs. Andersen says, causing Delilah to lightly blush.
“Well either way, Sunday dinner’s always a highlight of my week,” I say truthfully. I love my family, but it’s been years since I’ve relaxed and enjoyed time with them.
I sweep Delilah’s hair off her bare shoulder—my finger snagging on the thin strap of her tank top and grip her by the back of her neck.
She stiffens under my palm. I’ve always touched her like this, so it’s nothing scandalous, but she’s clearly on edge.
Mrs. Andersen doesn’t miss a thing, her eagle vision taking in our every movement. Her eyes twinkle and she purses her lips, holding back a smile and winks at me. “G’night you two.”
As soon as we get home, Delilah curls into my side, exactly where she belongs, and we turn on an episode of one of her trash reality shows.
I’ve never minded giving up control of the remote because it’s always meant time with my girl in my arms, relaxed and content.
“Can I have my phone?” she asks.
I’ve always carried her shit. She hardly ever carries a purse and always wears clothes without decent pockets. I take our phones from my pocket and hand hers over.
We indulge in mindless scrolling while her show rolls into another episode.
“No! No, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening!” Delilah cries, sitting up rapidly, a death grip on her phone.
“What’s going on?”
“I haven’t checked my e-mail all day. My advisor says my internship sponsor had to pull out at the last minute.” Heartbreak floods her eyes.
“They can’t do that, can they? You signed an agreement.”
“They can. Either side can terminate the internship at any time. They’re giving their time voluntarily without compensation. This hardly ever happens…why me?” Her hands cover her face, blocking me from seeing her tears.
“Shh, shh, shh, doll. Deep breath. We’ll figure something out. Everything happens for a reason. Something better is on the horizon,” I soothe.
I get her into bed, and she falls into a fitful sleep, nestled against me. I’ve been stroking her hair for so long my hand’s numb, but I don’t care. I’d do anything for her.
Checking the time, I know my message won’t be seen until morning, so I shoot it off before I second guess myself.
Me: Need to talk to you about something tomorrow morning away from the twins.
Reid: ? Reid has notifications silenced. Notify anyway?
I plug my phone in and settle against my sleeping doll. I’ll fix this for you, baby.
“How’s she doing?” Delilah asks.
“Not good. I didn’t want to leave, but she kicked me out. Said she wanted to be alone.”
Today would’ve been Quincy and Sam’s fourth wedding anniversary. I can’t fathom the grief she’s suffering on the day meant to celebrate her marriage. I tried to keep her company, but she was stone-faced and insisted she didn’t need to be babysat.
“Poor thing. She’s got to be hurting. I wanted to send her flowers, but I didn’t know how to appropriately recognize a widow’s grief,” Delilah says.
“I don’t think any of us do.” I flop back onto the couch with a heavy sigh. We sit together in the quiet, taking comfort in each other’s company.
“Oh my god!” Delilah shouts, launching off the couch.
“Jesus! Scared the shit out of me. What?” I ask, my heart knocking against my ribs.
“I have so much to tell you. You’ll never guess what I saw today,” she says, bursting with excitement. I love when she’s happy like this.
She’s sunshine personified and I’m one lucky bastard to bask in her light.
“Tell me,” I say, happy to indulge her love of gossip.
“I ran to town with Izzy this morning to get her dirty chai, and while she waited, I walked down the block since the weather was so nice. I got to Clark’s Hardware and popped inside to say hi to Greyson.” She’s vibrating with excitement.
“I asked how things were going, and he said the arrangement with Liv and James is working well and what a relief it’s been not worrying about Harper during the workday. He said he was waiting for them to come get Harper for a day at the stables.”
She’s dancing around like she’s going to piss her pants. Now I’m buzzing wanting to know what she saw.
“When I left to walk back to Bean & Brew, James was walking around the back of the hardware store to Grey’s apartment. I figured he was heading upstairs to get Harper.” She’s like the cat who got the cream, smug satisfaction on her face.
She’s about to burst but I wait her out. I’m not coaxing it out of her. She wants to be the one to tell the secret and it’s fucking adorable.
“Olivia came from behind the building, and they started MAKING OUT!”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes! He had her pressed against the brick wall and they were going to town on each other. I ran away before they caught me spying. I barely kept my shit together when I got back to Izzy. I told her I didn’t feel good and asked her to bring me back here because there’s no way I could keep it a secret all day.
” She’s talking so fast she’s out of breath.
Them fooling around isn’t really our business, so I’m good watching this play out.
“Is that it? Was there something else you were excited to tell me?” I ask, damn well knowing what happened to her first thing at the ranch this morning.
“The whole Best Friend’s Little Sister scandal has drained my brain power today. I forgot to tell you what happened this morning!” she says.
“Before the scandal, or after?” I ask.
“Before! After you dropped me off at the ranch this morning, Izzy said Reid wanted to talk to me and brought me over to the stables. He was grooming Hope, a new horse they just rescued. She’s a black paint, her color contrast is brilliant—as if night was splattered across her pristine white coat.
Connor, she’s beautiful, I’m in love with her. ”
And now I’m jealous of a fucking horse—I’m pathetic.
“Did you know Hope is Izzy’s middle name? How crazy is that? It’s like fate brought her to Lucky Spurs Ranch,” she continues, her joy like a drug to me.
“Anyway, Reid said my advisor contacted him since he’s making a name for Lucky Spurs Ranch and their new equine program, and he agreed to be my internship sponsor this fall! Can you believe it?” she squeaks.
Yes, I can believe it, because I orchestrated it.
When Delilah’s internship fell through, I got with Reid and told him the situation. He wasn’t sure how he could help.
I had to tell the truth and let him in on my secret sponsorship of Delilah’s education. He was stunned to say the least, but impressed I’d gone to such lengths to take care of my girl.
Yea, he knows she’s my girl. Perceptive bastard. Thankfully, he’s kept it to himself.
I worked it out with her advisor for Lucky Spurs Ranch to facilitate her internship, and they’d bring in licensed therapists to work with Delilah. It took some convincing, but after also confessing my secrets to the advisor, they agreed. Everyone loves a good love story.
I’ll pay Reid directly for any out-of-pocket costs—since Delilah thinks she’s on a full-ride scholarship—as well as the equine therapists brought in to mentor her.
“I’m so happy for you, doll. See, I told you everything happens for a reason.”
The reason just happens to be that I’m in love with you.