Page 15 of Head Over Heels

He takes the elastic from me, and his hand brushes mine. I’m suddenly hyperaware—of that touch, but also of howmalehe is. It’s one of those moments of attraction that happen from time to time between people, when you can feel the chemistry prickle through the air, one body speaking to another. Only, Chase’s body doesn’t usually—doesn’tever—do that to mine.

I shrug it off. It happens, right? You don’t have to imbue every pheromone that successfully jumps the gap with meaning.

He successfully ties off the braid, then turns to me with a grateful smile. “This is exactly what I needed,” he says.

“Well, happy to provide the service.”

He sets the brush down, dries Katie’s tears with the bottom of his T-shirt, and gives her a big hug. “You look beautiful,” he says.

I grin to myself. It’s a little lumpy, but whose first braid is perfect?

“I guess I should get going.”

“Yup! We’ll be fine. Playground in the morning, and then we have a fun plan for the afternoon.”

“Wish I could hang out with you guys instead of going to work.”

“Well, you can’t,” I tell him, merciless.

I shoo him out and help Katie into her sturdy play sandals. We head to the playground, where we keep ourselves busy most of the morning. Then I take Katie back to the house and give her a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and apple slices for lunch. When she’s done, I explain my shopping project.

“Your dad is agreatguy,” I tell her. And then I outline his shortcomings in this one, teeny-tiny arena and how we’re going to remedy them.

She totally gets it and she’s completely on board. She’s practically bouncing in her seat from excitement.

We spend most of the afternoon putting our plan into effect. We go to Target and Pier 1—Katie is fascinated by both stores and keeps hopping from item to item. She can’t believe there are storesthis bigwiththis much stuff.(I’m not sure where her mom shopped with her, but maybe she did most of her shopping when Katie was at school or activities—Chase has always told me Katie’s life with Thea was veryprogrammed.) Anyway, Katie takes her job very seriously, carefully considering every choice I give her, finally pronouncing her decisions with great ceremony.

She clearly carries the making-things-beautiful gene, even if her dad doesn’t. I make a mental note to tell Chase he has to make sure to leave some room in her life for the pretty and the fussy, even if he scorns both himself. The first two foster homes where I lived were plain-Jane cozy and homey, but my third foster “mom” took Martha Stewart to the nth power—and that was where I learned to pay attention to the details. I hadn’t realized anything was missing from my life before, but I really blossomed under her tutelage—learning how to cut and arrange flowers; stitch curtains, pillows, placemats, napkins, and coasters; use a hot-glue gun to embellish anything and everything, and make the small space allotted to me—just a corner of one bedroom—my own.

Next, Katie and I go to the grocery store. While we’re picking produce, my phone buzzes. It’s Eve.

Had an idea for someone to take over w K when u leave. Gillian Hollis.Mom she wks for lost her job & laid G off.

Gillian is another college friend of ours who nannies. She’s a warm, delightful, and responsible human being. I’ve seen her with kids before, and she’s terrific with them.

And she’s exceptionally pretty.

That last bit isn’t relevant, of course. It just popped into my head.

“Liv!” Katie tugs on my hand. “Stop texting!”

“I am finding you a really wonderful person to be your nanny after I move to Denver.”

“What’s her name?”

“Her name is Gillian.”

“That is the prettiest name I ever heard!” Katie says, beaming.

I should probably be sad that I’m so easily replaced, but the truth is, whatever makes this easiest for Katie—and Chase—is what I want. I text Eve back.

She would be perfect.

She’s in Chicago at her parents’. Back last wk Aug.There’s a contact attached to the text.

“Give me one more minute,” I tell Katie. “I want to text Gillian and arrange for her to come meet you before it slips my mind.”

This causes Katie to bounce up and down on her toes in the middle of the berry section.

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