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“I say you’re no Brad Pitt. You’re going to need to do more than grin and bat your pretty blue eyes.”
Hunter brushed the comment away with a flick of his hand. “I’m going to do way more, and the slick part is you and Savannah actually do all the work.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to do a damn thing.”
“You two are going to set the mood.” He rested an elbow on the counter and grinned at his own genius. Look, women love weddings. That’s pretty much a scientific fact. They ooh and ahh over the dress and flowers. They get misty-eyed during the vows. On the estrogen scale of magic moments, weddings score an eleven. Madison’s going to soak in all the romance—the I-do’s, the first dance, my amusing-yet-endearing best man toast. Hell, maybe she’ll even catch the bouquet. By the time we walk out of the reception, she’ll be drunk on love, marriage, and happily-ever-after. I’ll be like, ‘That was a great wedding,’ and she’ll be all, ‘Best wedding ever.’ And then I’ll bring out the ring and say ‘Hold up, baby. I think we could do even better.’”
His grin expanded to a smile as he imagined the parade of emotions crossing her beautiful face—first confusion, then wide-eyed surprise, and finally, dazzling happiness. “That shit is tight, right?”
Beau frowned. “I guess.”
“What kind of a half-assed response is, ‘I guess’?”
“It’s slick, I’ll give you that, but the ring doesn’t actually speak your heart. Where’s the I-love-you?”
Now Hunter frowned. “It’s in there. Somewhere.”
“Don’t bury your lead, but also don’t figure you can hang everything on three words and a rock. Women care about the reasons. Madison needs to know you’re proposing for the right ones.”
Hunter straightened and leaned a hip against the counter. “And just what are the right reasons?”
“You have to come up with those on your own.”
The sales lady walked through the doors separating the back room from the showroom. She carried a small velvet box in her hand. “I’ve got the right size.”
Reasons. Hell, he was fixing to offer her close to four thousand reasons. He tossed his credit card on the counter. “Let’s do this.”
…
“Thank you so much for the baby clothes,” Madison said and drew a fingertip through the condensation clinging to the plastic cup holding her break-time tea.
Rachel sat across the small table from Madison, sipped her mocha, and waved a hand. “No problem. I hope Joy gets a lot of wear out of them. Also, it was a good time to clear out some closet space, as it happens, because I may need to pack up and move back in with my mom.”
“Why? I thought you had an apartment near here.”
Rachel sighed. “I do. But my roommate went to visit her actor-wannabe boyfriend in L.A. earlier this month, and she called yesterday to tell me she’s staying. She’s going to support him while he pursues his dream. Meanwhile, I’m screwed if I can’t find someone to move in and cover her part of the rent by the end of March.”
“I’m looking for an affordable place.” She blurted the statement out in one quick breath, tried not to lose her nerve when her heart turned heavy in her chest, and clutched hard at the prospect of not drifting off to sleep next to Hunter’s warm, solid body every night. Not waking with his strong arms wrapped around her and his heart beating slow and steady under her cheek. Not watching him snuggle Joy against his chest.
He needs his space. You need yours. This was always the plan.
“Oh, my God.” Rachel leaned across the table and squeezed her hand. “Would you really be interested? It’s nothing fancy…a three bedroom apartment about ten minutes away from here. Very safe. Bliss and I have lived there since she was a baby. I sub-lease the third bedroom for one-third of the rent. It’s a good-sized space, and I’ve got the basic furnishing in there—full-sized bed, dresser, and night table. There’s room for a crib, plus you get a full bath all to yourselves.”
She sucked down a big gulp of tea to dislodge the lump in her throat, and nodded. “I would be interested. But are you sure you want to rent to someone with a baby? Joy doesn’t sleep through the night yet.”
Stop trying to talk her out of it.
“Madison, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but Bliss is three and she doesn’t sleep through the night. I’m used to it. Basically, at this point, unless it’s my kid screaming in my ear, I can sleep through anything. Bliss, on the other hand, will out-mommy us both.” She laughed. “You should see her at nursery school. She always wants to help with the babies. If you move in, you can enroll Joy in the same school. Bliss has gone there since she was about Joy’s age, and she loves it. They have a great caregiver-to-kid ratio, and the company offsets some of the cost as one of their family benefits, so it’s affordable.”
This could work. She hadn’t quite saved up first and last month’s rent, plus a security deposit for her own place, but maybe if she moved in with Rachel, she’d be able to swing the cost. “How much?”
The figure Rachel gave fit her budget, and then she added, “You could move in before March first. My roommate paid through the end of the month because she didn’t want to completely hose me, but she’s not coming back, so”—she shrugged—“I’m sure she’d be grateful for even a partial month refund.”
This was a good possibility, probably an ideal solution. So what if she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry? That was nothing to go by.
You knew this was going to hurt, but that doesn’t make it any less right. It’s time
. The words echoed through her mind in her grandmother’s voice.
