Chapter Twelve
Just because the rodeo showcase was over didn’t mean things in the office slowed down, Rachel discovered.
If anything, they continued at light speed as two more government entities reached out to see if Oakley’s company would be interested in a partnership.
One was a county in the southwestern part of the state.
Officials there wanted to add a smaller-size, amateur competition to their local county fair.
Another was a town closer to New Mexico that wanted to bring in tourists.
A former professional bull rider had opened a ranch nearby and suggested reaching out.
Oakley had also secured the contract for the Lubbock showcase.
As she finalized the contracts and emailed them to the Fortune Rodeo Corporation employees who would be traveling to Lubbock for the official signing, she leaned back after hitting Send.
She was thrilled for Oakley. He’d worked so hard since Dallas to make things happen. He’d also thanked her multiple times.
Their lovemaking seemed a distant memory now that over a week had passed since Dallas. Oakley had been the perfect, professional boss, maintaining both physical and emotional distance. It was as if he’d put her in a compartment and shut the door.
She hated it. Daily she admired him more and more.
She saw how hard he worked to take care of his family.
They were no closer to getting answers about Johnny Doe and no closer to finding Mewington.
Oakley was under enormous pressure and had the fine lines around his eyes to prove it.
The last thing she wanted to do was add to his stress, so she hid her growing feelings.
Instead, she worked to make his job go as smoothly as possible.
She still felt the loss of how they’d acted toward each other in Dallas.
She’d thought things had been bad when Mitch had left—or when Clemons had sued her—but this was different and, in a way, worse.
She’d met the man of her dreams, and too much stood in the way, including her own pride.
Dating Oakley would confirm to his father that she was a gold digger, or that she was as bad as the woman who’d sat in this chair before her.
Speaking of, she hadn’t stood all morning, which she tried to do once an hour to get the blood flowing.
She went into the kitchen, grabbed a tall glass from the cabinet and, already overcaffeinated from her morning coffee, filled it with water.
She was mid-sip when her phone trilled with the sound assigned to Taylor.
She’d spoken with her neighbor about an hour ago.
Frowning, she answered. “Hello? Taylor? Is something wrong?”
“Is this Rachel?”
A chill swept over her. She didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes. Who’s this? Why do you have Taylor’s phone?”
“It’s Lisa from the yoga studio. Taylor missed the last step and fell on her way out of the building. The paramedics are here but she’s refusing to leave because of Allie. You need to come home.”
“I’m on my way!” Rachel was in the process of throwing her things into her purse when Oakley appeared in the doorway.
“What’s going on?” Since she’d perched precariously on the end of her desk, he moved the cup of water before she accidentally knocked it over.
“Taylor had an accident. The paramedics are there. I’ve got to go—Taylor’s refusing to leave because she was watching Allie. I don’t even know if my little girl’s okay.”
Oakley’s voice was like calming music. “She’s fine or the paramedics would have called you. I’ll come with you. Don’t even think of arguing. Since you don’t live far, it’ll be faster if we go on foot rather than trying to get the car out of the garage.”
They walked quickly and arrived to find Taylor reclining on the gurney in obvious pain. “I misjudged the steps,” she said. “I think I might have broken it.”
Rachel winced. “You need to let them take you to the hospital. Where’s Allie?”
“Here.” Lisa stepped out of the studio. Allie’s round face was bright red from the tears.
“We’ve all been taking turns holding her. She’s adorable. She just wasn’t used to all the new people.”
“I’m so sorry she disturbed your class. Come here, sweetheart. It’s okay.”
Seeing her mother, Allie dove from Lisa’s arms and into Rachel’s. She buried her face in Rachel’s shoulder.
“I called my daughter,” Taylor said as the paramedics secured the safety straps. “She’ll meet me at the hospital. I’ll keep you posted as to babysitting tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about Allie. You need to take care of yourself,” Rachel said.
“I’ll try,” Taylor said with a wince.
The paramedics unlocked the wheels. “She’s going to need surgery. Most likely she won’t be climbing any stairs for a while,” one of them said.
“I’m fine,” Taylor insisted, but her grimace revealed her lie.
“I’ll come by tonight and visit,” Rachel promised. The paramedics rolled her neighbor out to the ambulance, and Rachel carried Allie upstairs.
“At least she wasn’t hurt worse,” Rachel said.
She put Allie in her high chair and gave her some Cheerios.
“Taylor needs to heal, so I’m going to have to make other arrangements for Allie.
The center doesn’t have any childcare openings, and there’s no elevator in this building.
Most likely Taylor’s going to need to stay on one floor for a long time.
And even when she can climb the stairs, she can’t take care of Allie. I can’t ask that of her.”
“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Oakley put his hands gently on her shoulders and she immediately felt far steadier.
He had a magical touch, one that could both soothe or raise her temperature, depending on what the moment required.
“Tell you what, bring her to work with you. We can create a nursery space where the visitor chairs are. It’s not like we ever have anyone waiting.
If needed, we can bring in one of those temporary dividers.
You can also work from home as much as you’d like. ”
Working from home would mean she wouldn’t see him.
Since Dallas they already had a space the size of the Pacific Ocean between them.
If he never saw her anywhere but online might he want to replace her with an in-office admin?
“How about I spend two days in office and three days at home?” she proposed.
He lifted his hands, and she missed his touch.
“Whatever you’d like. Do you trust me to have my concierge buy the things she’ll need?
Please let me do this for you. Besides, they’ll go to good use when we expand the office.
This is proof my company needs its own on-site childcare facilities.
I’ll tell the relocation department to add it to the list.”
“I trust you.” She did, implicitly. “I’d probably be more effective if she’s with me than if you and I are constantly having to video-call. Let me bring her into the office the next two days, and we can reassess from there.”
“That works for me. Consider yourself off for the rest of the day.”
“Actually, I brought my laptop,” Rachel told him. “Allie’s about to go down for her nap. If you’re willing, we could both work here.”
He nodded. “I’ll walk back to the office and grab what I need. Did you eat lunch yet?” He noted the shake of her head. “I’ll pick something up for both of us. See you soon.”
With that, he left the apartment. Once he returned, she left Allie in his care and went to straighten and lock Taylor’s apartment.
When she came back, Oakley had Allie on his lap.
She was patting his lips. “Dada da,” she sang happily.
Rachel’s heart seized. The scene was too precious, the man she adored and her daughter clearly besotted with each other. This is what she wanted.
Rachel handed Oakley a sippy cup filled with formula, and he passed it to Allie. “Sadly, she has no idea what those words mean yet.” She didn’t want to hurt him, but she had to put things into perspective. She was already half in love with him and falling as fast as her daughter.
“Well, gives me all the feels anyway.” Smiling, he gestured to the paper bag. “Eat. I brought sub sandwiches from the deli. I’m going to hold this little wiggler until you’ve gotten some food in you. Then you can put her down for her nap.”
Allie was content to sit on Oakley’s lap.
Her daughter was a great judge of character, and Rachel wished she could bottle this moment.
Still, she knew it was dangerous to think this way, to let herself imagine how she and Oakley could make the perfect family.
If only she didn’t work for him. If only his dad wasn’t Clemons Fortune…
Life was a series of if onlys—of choices not made, paths not followed, of wishes that would never be fulfilled.
Tomorrow might be a new day, but it wouldn’t be the same as yesterday.
Allie would take her first steps any day now, and from there she’d start running, and then driving, and then in the blink of an eye, Rachel would find herself dropping her daughter off at college and saying goodbye.
She made a mental note to call her mother and tell her how much she loved her.
After tossing her sandwich wrapper in the trashcan, she put her baby down for a nap and she and Oakley got to work.
By the time Allie woke, they’d finished their workload.
They’d also found out from Taylor’s daughter that she had a tibia/fibula ankle fracture.
Taylor couldn’t bear any weight for two weeks, and she’d need rehab after that.
She’d either be on crutches or in a boot, which meant she wouldn’t be available to babysit Allie for at least a month, perhaps more.
Until the doctor cleared her to return home, she’d be staying with her daughter.