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“You scared me to death! Why are you in my bathroom?” I gasped out.
“Um…yeah. I guess I shouldn’t take it upon myself to simply walk in.”
“No, you should not! What if I’d been naked in here, Aiden?” I didn’t mean to sound like I was scolding him, but it was true. The man couldn’t simply walk into my living space.
Aiden’s gaze moved down my body even as his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, almost as if he was picturing the naked scenario. My eyes widened as Aiden seemed lost in his own thoughts before he finally blinked.
“I’m sorry, Emma. Alice told me you’d just walked into the apartment, and I did knock when I came in. To be honest, you wouldn’t have had time to strip down and get…um…well, anyway. How do you like the place?”
Now it was my turn to blush. I looked away as I replied, “It’s beautiful. Your whole house is stunning. I can’t believe you built all this.”
He nodded, and I could see how proud he was of his work. “My wife, Lisa, didn’t care for the house. She wanted to live in town.”
I was stunned. “Why didn’t she like it? It’s gorgeous here! I feel like this is a secret part of heaven no one else knows about. Well…except for the people in the few houses I passed while driving here.”
Aiden smiled, and it was nice to see light in his blue eyes. “I’m glad you like it. So, um…Hadley and I are going to have game night tonight. I thought it might be nice if you could join us.”
For a moment, I almost declined, but I knew we needed to start to get to know one another. “I’d love to. If you need to run anywhere beforehand, I’m more than happy to stay with her.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Aiden looked at the floor, then back to me. “I know we said we’d be easing you into our lives, but…as a matter of fact, I haven’t had a day to myself in months. Icouldactually use a few hours away.”
My heart broke a little more for him. Suddenly, I wanted to ease this man’s burden. His smile hardly ever reached his eyes, and the sadness was obvious in his voice. He must have loved his wife very much. Of course, I knew the only thing that could really help was time.
He also looked stressed as well. He certainly needed some time away.
“Of course. Why don’t you head on out, and Hadley can help me get settled in, and then we can make dinner before game night.”
He blew out a breath. “That sounds great. You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Aiden, you hired me to be your nanny. To help you with Hadley. I’m here anytime you need me.”
He stared at me again for a few brief moments, then looked away. Something heavy was on his mind, and once again, I hated that he was carrying it all on his shoulders. I wondered if he had someone he talked to. “Thank you, Emma. I’ll send Hadley up in a few minutes.”
“Great,” I said, trying to keep the nervous shake out of my voice at the idea of being alone with Hadley for the first time. “Don’t worry, we’ll have a blast today.”
His throat bobbed and he looked as if he was going to say something else. Instead, he turned without a word and headed out of my bathroom.
I made my way to the kitchen to see if there was anything I could eat quickly before Hadley arrived. Nothing was in the pantry or refrigerator. Looked like I’d need to make a trip to the store.
A few minutes later, Hadley was knocking at my front door. I opened it to see both daughter and father standing there. One with a look of pure excitement, the other a look I couldn’t describe. Slight worry, maybe? Relief? Guilt? Whatever it was, it vanished when I smiled and greeted Hadley and reached for her hand. She quickly skipped eagerly into my new apartment.
“We’re going to be fine, go enjoy your day,” I said, shooing Aiden away with my hand.
He nodded and set Hadley’s booster seat inside the door. “In case you need it to go anywhere.”
“Oh. Perfect. We’ll for sure need to make a trip into town for food.”
He looked as if he was conflicted about that idea. I rushed to reassure him we were going to be okay.
“I promise, we’ll be just fine.” I winked at him before turning to Hadley. “Okay, so I think I’m going to need help deciding where to put my clothes.”
“Ohhhh, I can help with that!” Hadley shouted as she pulled me down the small hall. We left Aiden standing in the open doorway.
“Be good, Hadley. I’ll be back in a few hours,” he called out.
Lifting her other hand, Hadley yelled, “See ya later, Daddy!”
I glanced over my shoulder to see him still watching us. He lifted a hand and said, “Call me if you need anything.”
