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I reach down to scratch his head, breathing a sigh of relief that we found him and that Ivy will be able to relax tonight, knowing he’s safe at home. After what Ivy has been through with losing her mother, I want to protect her from any and all future disappointments in life. I make a mental note to check the gate latch and see if it needs to be reinforced.
“Waffle!” Ivy squeals as the dog jumps up next to her.
He lays his wet head in her lap, and I sigh, looking at all the grime on my car seats.
“It’s okay,” Alice says beside me, making me glance over at her. “Look at how happy she is.”
I do, and the smile on Ivy’s face overshadows any mess that could be in my vehicle.
“Come on. Get in the car, and let’s go home,” I say before thinking about it.
My home isn’t Alice’s home anymore, but she doesn’t correct me.
Ivy talks animatedly to Waffle on the drive while Alice and I stay silent. It’s not a weird silence, but more of a contemplative one. I wonder if she’s tracing the path that brought us here. The show, me asking her to nanny, her demanding to bring the dog home from Seattle.
Now, my little girl has her best friend back.
And I have Alice sitting beside me.
I pull into the driveway and help Ivy and Waffle out. They race for the front door, where Ivy’s new nanny is waiting to let them in, Alice and I following along behind. The exhaustion of the day hits me right then as I step over the threshold, and I take a few more steps before I realize Alice isn’t behind me.
I turn, knowing that I can’t lose this chance to talk to her. I might not get another.
Alice
“Wait, Alice.” Simon jogs down the walkway to the driveway as I halt beside my car.
I turn to watch him. He looks amazing while I’m sure I look like a drowned rat. I can feel my hair sticking all over my body. I should have put it in a ponytail or a bun, but I wasn’t thinking as I ran out the door, panicked after Ivy called me.
The rain sluices down his face as his eyes bore into mine. He comes to a stop, and he’s so close that I can see his nostrils flaring slightly as he breathes. My heart is pounding so hard that I feel like my entire body is rattling, and I fight the urge to press one palm to my chest, just to make sure it’s not escaping.
“I need to talk to you,” he says after the longest moment ever. “I have to talk to you. Please,” he adds on that last part, a quiet plea that I can’t ignore.
“I’m listening,” I say, glancing around, fully aware of how silly we look, standing in the rain, getting drenched. Beyond drenched actually. I know I would stand and listen to what he had to say even if a tornado, hurricane, and earthquake were all headed this way. That’s how much control I have over my mind. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
“I made a terrible mistake, asking you to stay.” He must read the dismay written on my face at his sentence because he starts to backpedal. “No, I don’t mean stay. I mean, asking you just to be a nanny. To hide a relationship. To pretend for the cameras. And then when we were alone, I was standoffish. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for saying all of that,” I say with a gesture between us. I fold my arms across my chest, shielding myself.
“I was wrong when I thought that I could quit you. I thought we could have a fling, and then you would go your way, and I would go mine. But in a short amount of time, you wedged yourself into my home, my family, my mind. I can’t get you out of it. I don’t want to get you out of it.”
I open my mouth, but that’s all that happens. I don’t have a coherent thought to say, so I shut it again.
“Ivy loves you. Hell, she called you tonight before she even called me. She’s been miserable without you. I can’t tell you how many times a day I have to listen to Alice this or Alice that, and it’s been like a knife in my gut that she’s slowly twisting. Do you know how hard it is to forget someone who is constantly talked about?” His chest rises and falls rapidly. “I don’t think I can continue like this. I need you, Alice. I’m in love with you, and I’m sorry that it took me so long to see it and to tell you. I don’t deserve you. I earned your hate by keeping you at arm’s length, and I regret it. But I want a second chance. Please.”
“Say it again,” I say when I find my voice.
“Please,” he says, grabbing my hands.
I shake my head. “No.”
“No?” His hands squeeze mine harder.
The rain pelts us as I blink up into his gaze.
“Say the other part. The I’m in love with you part.”
“I love you so much, Alice. I don’t want to go another day without you.”
