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“She’d do whatever makes you comfortable. I’ll give her a heads-up that you’re going to call, and I’ll send you her contact information.” Sam pulled out his phone to do just that.
“I should get back to work,” Mac said abruptly before he walked away.
“What’s gotten into him?” Sam asked, but his gaze was on me.
“I’m sure it’s all the delays. I think he’s ready to be done with this project.”
Sam burst into a guffaw; his head flew back and everything.
I frowned, looking from Sam’s amused expression to Alice’s content one. “What? Did I miss something?”
“I think we have to disagree on that.” Then he held his hand out to Alice. “Want to go to lunch?”
She placed her hand in his. “I’d love to.”
I watched them walk out—his arm around her shoulder and her tucked into his side—and felt more alone than ever. I couldn’t remember a time that Carter had held me like that. Not even at the beginning of our relationship. I just got out of a divorce. I shouldn’t be interested in anyone, but I hadn’t been touched in so long that I couldn’t even remember what it felt like.
The demise of our marriage happened slowly over time. I was busy with Delaney, and Carter was obsessed with work. We drifted apart. We had sex less often; intimate interactions were few and far between until we were reduced to roommates sleeping in the same room.
I realized too late that we never talked about anything important. I thought we’d have time to work on it, but Carter had other ideas. He’d said it was my fault for being too involved with Delaney. But he was absent between working and traveling. The thing was, when it was over, I felt betrayed, but I didn’t particularly miss him. I just hated that he’d left Delaney.
I didn’t think he even realized the level of abandonment she’d have to deal with for the rest of her life because her father was impulsive and put his own needs ahead of hers.
I made my way up the stairs, checking empty rooms until I found Mac in one of the bathrooms. No one else was there, so I asked, “Do you mind if I ask your mother to babysit?”
Mac looked at me briefly before turning back to his work. “Why would I care?”
“I don’t know, but you seem to.” I was hesitant to get involved if Mac truly had an issue with it.
He picked up tiles and placed them on the floor of the shower, using the spacers in between each one. “It’s none of my business who my mother babysits.”
“I don’t want to intrude if it makes you uncomfortable.” The last thing I wanted to do was create problems with my contractor. I was friends with Alice, and by extension, Sam, but if Mac wanted me to stay away from their mother, I would.
Mac turned slightly toward me and raised a brow. “Does it makeyouuncomfortable?”
I thought about it for a few seconds but couldn’t come up with any reason why it would be an issue for me if Mac’s mother babysat Delaney at the house. “No.”
Mac nodded and returned his attention to his work. “Then you have your answer.”
“It would be nice to go out. I haven’t done anything since I moved here.” I literally stayed in the house all day, had groceries delivered, and ordered takeout.
“Why not?” He shifted slightly so he could see me.
“I’m busy between the renovation and Delaney. I grew up here, but other than Kylie, I haven’t reconnected with anyone yet.”
“You don’t have family here?”
Shaking my head, I said, “My parents moved shortly after I graduated from high school.” I never told them how much it hurt that they sold the family home so nonchalantly, throwing out any of my childhood mementos because there wasn’t room where they were going. They hadn’t even discussed it with me. The part that hurt the most was that I didn’t have a home to return to after the divorce.
“You’re friends with Kylie Wilde?”
I laughed at his question. “If you can believe it. We’ve been friends since kindergarten. She was the wild one, and I was the reserved one.”
“You don’t say.” He considered me a moment before continuing, “I don’t remember you hanging around the lodge.”
He was referring to the Wilde Ski Resort, which Kylie’s family owned. “We were younger than you, but you’re right. I wasn’t as adventurous as Kylie. I didn’t ski or snowboard.”
“Hmm. You grew up in Telluride and don’t know how to ski?”
