Page 78 of Rumor Has It

Aria looks at me with a smile, repeating theMmm.

Isaiah gobbles close to her cheek and then gives her three quick pecks. The last lingers on her forehead.

“Be good,” he tells her.

He inhales, making a memory of her baby scent, and my insides get squishy.

Gone is the awkward man who couldn’t find a comfortable position on the couch with an infant strapped to his chest. Isaiah’s so enamored with Aria you’d never know how mixed up they started out. There’s an itty-bitty part of me dying to see the way he reacts if she ever calls him Daddy: a word we actively avoid using.

Rhiannon, Aria, and I wave as the car pulls away. When we go inside, Aria tucks her head under my chin, hummingMmmand patting my chest. I bring her up to the sitting room in Isaiah’s suite, which doubles as her nursery, and put Aria down for a nap.

In the hall, Rhiannon is coming out of my room with a stack of books.

“Borrowing these.” She flashes the top title.

“I haven’t read them, anyway.”

I haven’t gotten to any of the selections since November. In January, I’d been at odds with Isaiah and went to my aunt’s book club to clear my head. I’d had a good time, until the discussion began, and then I felt left out. I haven’t been back. Rhiannon is the opposite and is more into the social aspect than the books. Oh, and the spicier the book, the better.

“Did you finally realize there’s more out there than living vicariously through imaginary characters?” my cousin quips.

“What?” I ask, perplexed. I’ve been too distracted by Isaiah and Aria to read. We have our nightly walks, her bedtime routine, and I like spending time with him before I go to bed.

“Cass, where do you see this going with Isaiah?”

“The same as before. It’s a fling. It’s not going anywhere.”

“What if he asked you to go on tour with him?” Rhiannon plops her bottom down on the foyer staircase.

I do the same, discounting her question with a sneer. “To pretend to be Aria’s mother?”

I told Rhiannon about how Vespa’s quick thinking saved the day when Will and Ben were here. However, the baby’s true parentage is nobody’s business but Isaiah and Aria’s. My family still believes Isaiah’s a single dad, trying to keep his daughter out of the public eye. Which is sort of the truth?

As her legal guardian, he’s spoken to me about keeping Aria from being exploited. He wants her to grow up surrounded by people who love her and want the best for her. That’s why staying at Kingsbrier was so important to him, and I’m glad we could support them.

Although, even if it benefits a little girl who deserves a family of her own, I hate that I’ve fed mine a whopper of a lie. Telling another untruth by pretending I’m her mom makes it harder to untangle myself.

Plus, some days I’m guilty of exchanging fact for fiction. We feel like we’re our own little microcosm. That he is her dad and I’m her mom and we can all live happily ever after.

The sooner Isaiah leaves, the better. I need to stop fibbing to myself that we have a connection. Hence, my newfound celibacy and not allowing the man into my bedroom.

“What are you so afraid of?” Rhiannon continues interrogating me.

“Wedding season is upon us. The inn is booked. I can’t take time off of work to go on tour.”

“Gracyn can find another cook, dummy.”

I’m aghast at the suggestion.

“I mean, Gracyn probably won’t hold your job forever.” Rhiannon speaks soothingly. “Just until she’s sure Isaiah Roomer has swept you off your feet.”

“Ha! Isaiah Roomer can’t fall in love with me.”

“I hate to break the bad news, but sex-pot country boy wouldn’t be here nursing a massive case of blue balls if he weren’t already half in the bag for you, babe. Isaiah set his sights on you the moment he got here. None of this is pretend to him, Cassidy. A change of scenery might be what you need to get that through your thick skull.”

“This is my home! What exactly do you propose I do if he never wants to come back?” My voice rises to a hysterical level.

“Okay, don’t go.” Rhiannon gets up, dusting her hands on her black leggings. “But how will you feel if you let this man leave without you,again,and this time he never comes back?” Her lips twist and her eyes get red and misty.

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