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Alice shrugged. “It’s just a couple of classes, and it won’t interfere with my duties with Maggie. The catalog said we could check in virtually if we can’t physically attend every class.”
“That’s a nice option. But you’re free in the evenings, aren’t you?” Gray’s question was directed at me.
“Let me know which days so I can make sure I’m home on time,” I said to Alice.
The girls called Gray into the living room, and he walked in pretending to be a monster coming to eat them. There was loud screeching and giggling.
“He’s sweet with them,” Elle said.
“I’ll make sure they’re okay,” Alice said, leaving the room before I could protest. Now I was alone with Elle.
She stood to clear the dishes, and I helped. When the dishes were stacked by the sink, Elle ran the water to rinse them. “I have a feeling Gray already talked to you, but I just want to make sure you’re good to my sister. She deserves the best.”
“I’m careful with her. I just want to see her come out of her shell.”
Elle smiled softly. “We all do. Whatever happened in California did a number on her.”
“She never told you?” I asked, suspecting that but still surprised.
Elle paused what she was doing and looked at me. “She told you.”
“She did.”
“She must trust you.”
“I don’t take that trust lightly.”
Elle smiled before returning her attention to the dishes. “Okay then. Maybe you’re exactly what she needs.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant I was the perfect guy to pull her out of her funk or if she meant something more permanent. I hoped for the latter, but I sensed she meant the former. I had to consider that I might be a rebound for Alice. Someone she was testing the waters with.
That hurt. Especially since I was a single dad. This was bigger for me. “I wouldn’t waste my time with someone who didn’t have the potential to be in my future.”
Elle’s face softened even more. “Because you’re a dad.”
“And Alice lives with me. A lot is at stake.”
Elle touched my forearm and smiled. She didn’t say anything further, but she didn’t need to. I’d earned her trust, but that didn’t allay my fears that Alice wasn’t all-in with me. She seemed like it when we were in bed last night and the shower this morning, but that was just physical.
I hated that thought. I finished helping Elle clean up, and then Gray announced it was time for Amelia to take her bath. It took another thirty minutes for the girls to say good-bye, and the only thing that worked was a promise of an afternoon playdate later in the week.
“That was tough,” I said when we were outside.
“Extracting Maggie?” Alice asked, with humor in her tone.
“That’s a good way to put it,” I said, opening the door for Maggie and making sure she was buckled in.
Getting in the front seat, Alice said, “She adores Amelia.”
Glancing in the backseat, Maggie was already nodding off. “Thanks for introducing them to me.”
Alice smiled. “I love both of them, so it only makes sense.”
She loved Maggie. She wasn’t looking at this as a casual thing—a way to pass the time, was she? I wanted to ask, but it wasn’t the time or the place.
CHAPTER18
ALICE
