AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If only she knew who he was.
I tuck my thoughts about Kirill Zaitsev right back in the box at the back of my mind where they belong and wave to the Linleys. “I’ll see you both tomorrow. Have a nice night!”
As I leave, I see Steven pull Martha in for another kiss. It’s sweet, but their tenderness sends a pang of loneliness through me. Before I can dwell on the dark cloud hanging over my head, I pull out my phone and dial Harmony’s number.
She answers on the first ring. “You’re running late today,” she scolds. “Or you’ve already started driving and you delayed calling me.”
“The first one. I got out of the Linleys a little late. You know I wouldn’t waste a second of our driving chats. I look forward to it all day.”
Harmony makes a smug little humming sound. “Good. Glad to know I’m properly appreciated. So why are you running late?”
I wedge the phone between my chin and shoulder to unlock my car door and drop into the driver’s seat. It takes two tries, but my engine finally turns over. “No big reason. Just the usual stuff. There’s always something to clean.”
“You always have a daughter waiting for you at home. Those rich assholes will survive if you leave a dust bunny under the fridge.”
“So we’re doing guilt trips today?” I tease. “Also, the Linleys aren’t assholes. They’re great.”
“Yeah, I know. They sound awesome. I just don’t want you to be overworked. You leave their house and jump straight into single parenting. It’s a lot. I wish I was there to help.”
Me too,I want to say. Guilt trips are Harmony’s thing, though. Not mine.
“As soon as they figure out teleportation machines, I’m saving up and buying you one. Then Italy will feel like it’s right next door.No problemo,” I say in a terrible Italian accent.
“Wow. Firstly, that’s Spanish, not Italian. Secondly, never do that accent again. And thirdly, if that were ever the case, don’t tell my parents. They would teleport here every night. Tomas would probably divorce me if he had to see his in-laws that often.”
“Yeah, right. Tomas is way too disgustingly in love to divorce you.”
I can hear Harmony’s cheesy smile in her voice. “I know.”
Her joy has a weird effect on me, like something that’s so sweet it’s not even appealing anymore. It makes me think of Lana. Some part of me is glad my sister got divorced. Sure, Lana leaving Mitchell and selling their ginormous house was inconvenient for my living situation. On the other hand, it was nice to see someone else besides me unhappily in love. It softened the blow of my existence. A disastrous affair that ended in an unexpected pregnancy and took me from a broke single woman to a broke single mother.
Not everyone gets a happily ever after like Harmony and Tomas or Steven and Martha.
“No teleportation device, then,” I say. “I guess Natalia will have to do as a substitute best friend.”
“You two are together so much you might be common law married.”
“Does that come with tax breaks?” I ask. “If so, I’ll look into it.”
Natalia would probably meet me at the courthouse tonight if I told her I wanted to get married. Neither of us swing for the other team, but being single women in L.A. is hard. Plus, she and I met working as maids in Kirill’s house. She has officially seen me at my highest highs and my lowest lows. That kind of bond can’t be swiped left or right. It has to be earned.
Admittedly, there are some nights I install a dating app on my phone and poke around. Having someone to share the load with would be nice. Giving Yuliana a second parent would be even nicer.
Kirill rises to the surface of my mind again. He has a way of doing that, even though it’s been five years since I last saw him. The memory of him, broad shoulders and tan, his green eyes shining with amusement just like the daughter’s he doesn’t know about, barrels into me when I’m least expecting it.
I haven’t reached out. I haven’t tried to find him. I don’t think I could bear the pain of that effort.
But even still, there is some hopelessly romantic part of me that wishes he could be in our lives.
When Lana asked me to move out of the city with her, Kirill was the first person I thought of.How will he find us if I move?
In the end, I got the job at the Linleys, and that was a good enough reason to stay. Kirill is just my secret reason number two.
“Speaking of marriage, do you have any prospects for that position?” Harmony asks.
“You mean, like, a boyfriend or something?”
“Whoa, whoa.” Harmony sounds like she’s trying to calm a runaway horse. “Let’s not be so ambitious. I’d be thrilled if you told me you’ve been on a date. That would be a great start.”
