27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Milo
When I arrive at Rose’s place, I can hear Callum crying through the door. I wait a moment before I knock.
When I finally do, Rose barely meets my eyes. “Come in,” she says, throwing her gaze behind her shoulder. “I have to get back to Callum.”
“Can I help?” I follow her into the kitchen and am greeted by an upset Callum in his highchair. There’s macaroni and cheese all over his face, squished in between his chubby fingers. It’s in his hair, spiking it like hair gel. Thorin is wolfing down bits of food on the floor around him.
“Hey, Callum,” I grab a chair from near the table and push it forward so that I can be next to him.
He gives me something of a smile but then starts crying again. Rose rubs her temple with one hand while she tries to get him to eat another bite.
“Whoa. I’ve never seen him like this.”
Rose gives me a withering look. “Parenthood really sucks sometimes. Especially when you know your kid’s hungry and he just wants to throw his food around.” She shakes her head. “Sorry. I tried really hard to be ready at six, but I failed.”
“Hey,” I insist. “You didn’t fail.” A dull throb starts in the middle of my chest. Is she upset because Callum’s having such a rough time? Or is this directed at me?
She just gives me a look from the side of her eye.
“Look, we don’t have to go out. We can stay in. It’s okay.”
She gestures wildly with her hands. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been looking forward to going out all day, Milo. I had to clean toilets in the lobby bathroom today because I had a no-show. Callum’s really cranky and my ears hurt from his crying. And I want to go do something fun with you.” Her voice crescendos in frustration.
“Good. It’s settled then. But I had two ideas.” I’m trying to speak over Callum’s hollering, but it’s not working, and Rose shushes me.
“Can we just wait to speak until he calms down?” she asks me. “Please.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
She grabs a washcloth from the drawer and gets it wet with warm water from the faucet. When she returns to Callum, he squirms away from the cleaning, grunting, his face reddening.
“What’s wrong, buddy?” I ask him, feeling helpless.
“Nothing’s wrong with him, Milo. He’s just a toddler. Toddlers cry. I’m guessing he’ll be fine once I get him wiped down and out of the highchair.”
She’s never snapped at me like that, and it takes me a minute to recover. Anyone in her position would be stressed. I take a deep breath, feeling helpless.
He does start to calm down after she gets him out of the highchair and changes his diaper. “You want to take him now?” she asks. He’s on his changing pad on the floor of the living room and when she stands, she places a hand on her back and stretches, like she’s got a backache.
“Certainly.” I pick him up and sit back down on the sofa, settling him on my knee and playing peek-a-boo.
“You can tell me the plans you came up with tonight if you want,” Rose says. She’s sunk into the sofa. She brings the back of her hand across her forehead to swipe the hair out of her eyes.
“Well, there are two paths we could follow. A choose your own adventure, if you will.”
“Naturally.” There’s almost a smile on Rose’s face. Almost.
“Adventure one: we go to the kid’s jumping place in Fairhill. Get a big pizza. Let Callum jump to his heart’s content.”
Her eyes light up. “He’s never been to a jump place before. Do you think he’s old enough?”
“I called the place. They have a zero to two area that sounds awesome. It’s worth a try. If he doesn’t like it, we can leave.”
She nods. “And what’s option number two?”
“Well.” I swallow hard. I love Callum. I really do. But I’m secretly hoping she chooses option two. “I asked my brother Oliver and sister-in-law Sophie if they might be able to babysit him. I know you don’t know them, so I understand if you don’t feel comfortable about that. And it could even be for like an hour. Just enough time for us to eat at the Summit. Or, if you’re comfortable with a longer period of time, we could go somewhere else to eat and take a little more time. We’re all flexible. Sophie’s pregnant, so she wants to spend more time with kids. Her words!”
She frowns. “Is this going to become a problem with HR? Milo, we both work at Tate. If we go out officially, am I going to get in trouble?”
“They only put two and two together just today. I . . . well, actually, my brother Henry figured out that we . . . liked each other . . . a couple of days ago.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” She regards me carefully.
“I should have. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“And what about HR? Are they going to be upset?”
“I asked Sebastian that and he said it’s okay because I’m not officially hired on. I’m technically an independent contractor.” I smile big.
She reaches out for Callum, and he goes to her, leaving my arms for hers. “You are such a snuggly boy,” she whispers lovingly.
“I need to explain something,” I offer, swallowing down my discomfort. “You know that the night we met, I knew you were somebody special. The kiss sort of solidified that. As I explained before, when I saw my family the next day, they could tell something was up. I was a starry-eyed mess.”
“Were you a hot mess?” The whisper of a smile gracing her face.
“Yes, I was such a hot mess! I was not myself. At all. I was worried you didn’t like me back and that I’d never see you again, since that’s sort of how we left things.”
She spins around with Callum against her chest, making him laugh. “I remember.”
“So anyway, they commented on how I looked like I’d seen an angel. I wasn’t ready to share any of this with them, you know? Some things are just too personal to share. But they kept badgering me about what was wrong. And they started making up stories about this angel I’d met who completely changed me and started calling you Gloria. You know? Like in Handel’s Messiah, the glory of the Lord? They kept saying it was like I was born again or that I was singing praises to God.” I smirk. “They were being dramatic and went way too far.”
“Oh really? You think so?” She laughs, and her grin is powerfully sweet.
“But it was warranted. I was a complete wreck. I was so into you.”
She perks a smile. “I was into you, too, even though I didn’t think we should see each other again. Did I ever tell you I quit my job the very next shift? You sort of woke me up to the fact that I had to distance myself from Blaine and the rest of his family if I was ever going to have a clear head or be able to truly move on.”
“The very next shift?”
She nods. “So they knew me as some mysterious woman named Gloria, huh?”
“And I let them keep bringing you up in that way. I mean, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know you’d end up working at the resort all those months later. So anyway, Henry figured out you were Gloria and insisted I say something to Sebastian. And I was tired of it being a secret, you know? I want everyone to know you’re my person.”
She nods, staring at me. “Milo. Do you understand what you’re doing?”
“What do you mean? Rose, I’m falling for you.”
“Me, too.” Her voice is barely above a whisper, but her gaze meets mine, and I feel it. I know she feels the connection. Then things shift and she changes the subject. “But about tonight. I’m nervous about letting Callum stay with people I don’t know.”
“I realize it’s not ideal that you don’t know them. But they’re great. And they offered to open up Childcare and take care of him there, where there are cameras and where he’s comfortable and familiar.”
Callum squirms to get down and she lets him. He runs over to a pile of toys in the middle of the living room. “They’d do that for us?” she asks.
“It was their idea,” I say.
“It’s been months since I’ve left Callum to do anything besides work, Milo.”
“Well then it’s high time,” I insist. “You know I love being around Callum.”She laughs, tugging me towards her in a hug. “Yes, I do know that.”
“But I also can’t wait to take you out for real, just you and me. To give you some time for yourself. To recharge and to remember . . . to just remind you of the whole of you, you know?”
“To remember that I’m more than a mother. That I . . .” she swallows hard and bites her lip, her large hazel eyes searching mine. “That my ‘simple glance stops time’?”
“Exactly.” I screw up my face. “Sorry about getting carried away like that.”
“I’m not sorry,” she whispers in my ear. “Your words completely captivate me. You’re a poet, Milo.”
A moment later, when she pulls away from me, the look in her eyes challenges me. “You have yourself a date, Mr. Milo Tate.”
I laugh. “And you say I’m the poet.”