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“I can carry her to bed,” I whispered to Natalie.
I lifted her easily and carried her to her bed. When Natalie tucked her in, she followed me to the living room. I turned off the TV and cleaned up the remaining snacks and glasses.
“Thanks for watching her.”
“You could have asked for my help.” My tone was a little testy.
“I didn’t even think of it. I thought she’d enjoy the party, but she wasn’t interested. I think she’s tired of all the hoopla.”
“I bet.” I was tired of it too, and I didn’t live it.
“You want to head home?” Natalie asked, picking up on my irritation. “We don’t have the privacy here that we do at your house.”
“I can just sleep with you here. We don’t have to do anything. We’re both tired.”
“Okay.”
I moved closer to massage her shoulders.
Her head fell back on my chest. “That feels good.”
“Let’s get you to bed. You must be exhausted.”
“I am.”
“Was it successful?”Was it worth it?
She moved so she could see my face. “We had a great turnout. I think Sam and your company got a lot of attention with the backyard space.”
“That was the idea.” I was pleased Sam’s hard work paid off.
I guided her to bed, waiting while she brushed her teeth and got dressed. When she slid into bed next to me, I held her, wondering if it was the last time I’d get to be this close to her. It didn’t escape my notice that she hadn’t invited me to stay the night. I’d insisted. We needed to have a conversation soon. I couldn’t handle much more of this uncertainty. It brought out all my insecurities.
* * *
The next morning,I woke to an empty bed and a buzzing phone. When I answered it, my father said a pipe had burst at the new build, and I needed to get there. I dressed quickly and headed out to the kitchen where Natalie was making pancakes.
I kissed her temple. “I’m sorry. I have to go. There’s an emergency at the house we’re working on.”
“On a Sunday?” Delaney asked, her lower lip protruding, similar to Maggie’s.
“A pipe burst. I’m sorry. I was hoping we could spend the day together.”
“Maybe we can come over later to see Rocky,” Delaney said.
“That’s up to your mom.”
“We’ll see, sweetie,” Natalie said as she slid a plate with two pancakes in front of her.
“I’ll call you later,” I said to her.
“Sure,” Natalie said, sitting across from Delaney. But her smile was brittle.
Did she regret allowing me to stay last night? Was she biding her time until she could cut me loose? I hated thinking like that, but I couldn’t help it.
I kissed Delaney’s head and said good-bye. My mind should have been on the issue at the build, but for once, I was distracted. I resolved to talk with Natalie about it, once and for all. I couldn’t live like this anymore. Either Natalie let me in, or we were done. I didn’t think I was being unreasonable by demanding an answer.
When I got to the house, Dad was already there. The water was turned off, and he’d set up fans to dry out the floors.
