Page 55 of Just a Distraction

“I didn’t know any different.” Her posture and tone are casual, but there’s pain in the set of her shoulders, the flex of her hands.

“I would love for you to meet Stella. And my parents. Well, and my brothers and their wives, too. And my niece, Navie. She and Callum could hang out.”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down.” She fights a grin. “How about one or two at a time? Eventually?”

“Right. Of course.” I wipe Callum’s mouth and hands with a small washcloth. I keep looking at him as I address the next topic at hand. “I got your letter today.”

“I was just about to bring that up.” She stands and comes around to my side of the table. She leans on her palms on the tabletop to meet my line of vision. “I’m sorry I fished those papers out of the garbage.”

I shrug. “It’s mostly just embarrassing. I hadn’t meant for anyone to see them. But then as I thought about it, I’m sort of glad it’s out there in the open.”

“Glad?” Her lips twist to one side.

“Yeah. You and I weren’t really talking about things between us. But for the housekeeper to happen to see your name and think to tell you about them? What are the chances of that?” I shift in my chair. Just because it ended up being a good thing, doesn’t mean it’s not embarrassing. “I’m glad you know where I’m at.”

She groans and rests her head on the table.

Her voice is muffled in her arms. “Look, I meant what I said in my letter today. That both Callum and I light up when you walk in the room.”

“I love being around you two.” I clear my throat. “Rose, I’m not attached to Longdale. I mean, I love it here, and I love being near my family, but, if push comes to shove, I—”

“I won’t ask you to uproot your life, Milo.”

“I know. I’m just saying that it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for me to relocate to the Chapel Hill resort, too, if it came to that. I can’t pretend I wouldn’t love to see where things could go between us. And I can’t pretend that getting letters from you and seeing you and spending time with you and Callum aren’t the best moments of my day.”

“That’s a lot of best moments of your day.”

“If you’re around, it’s all considered the best.”

She shakes her head but can’t seem to control the smile from lighting up her face.

“You did call me an attractive man,” I tease. “So there’s that.”

Tears spring to her eyes, and she laughs. “There is that.”

“You are beautiful, Rose.” At her grunt, I sigh. “I can control my feelings. I’ll never push you. But I also want to be honest with you. And I hope, in the end, I can change your mind.”

She presses her lips together, and in a flash, I see her wistful look before it’s shut down by a hardened expression.

All the women I’ve dated, and there were a few in college and a couple in high school, were my friends first, it’s just how it’s happened. But this thing with Rose? We’re friends, too, but I feel a connection with her that I’m not willing to let go of, and certainly not willing to jeopardize.

She grasps both of my arms with her hands, her eyes searching mine. “Any chance you’d be interested in a hug right now?”

“As much as you can handle.”

She goes on her tiptoes, her laugh muffled against my chest. “So, about those letters you wrote but then threw in the garbage?”

I smooth her hair away from my throat. “Yeah. Embarrassing. Juvenile. But like I said, I don’t regret you seeing them.”

“Me, neither. It gives me some hope that I’m not a completely broken human being.”

What? “Broken?” I pull away so I can see her face, but I keep my arms around the small of her back. “No way. You’re so capable and quick-witted and smarter than anyone I’ve ever seen. You’re a brilliant mom. You’re hardworking and a great boss. The things you’ve been through haven’t broken you, Rose. They’ve given you a strength that is in and of itself, beautiful. There’s nothing like it. And you wouldn’t have gotten it without the hard stuff. The things you’ve been through? They’ve made you more beautiful than you know.”

She hesitates, hope brimming in her eyes. She opens her mouth to respond, but my phone rings. It’s Henry, who also sends me a text:Urgent. Answer your phone.

“Hey, if you don’t want your private business to be broadcast to the entire family, start talking,” Henry says through the phone.

I said goodbye to Rose, reluctantly, when I got the text from Henry. I let his call go to voicemail but call him back as I get in my car and set out on the drive back to the resort. “Talking about what? What’s going on?”

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