Page 77 of The Workaholic Down the Hall

“Let me see if I understand this. You've never told her that you love her, there's been no dating or any sort of wooing—”

“I wooed her. I've been at the house almost every day cooking and cleaning and playing with Sophie so Aubrey can get a shower or a nap. Doesn't that count for something?”

Carrie smiled. “It counts, but it's not anything a good friend wouldn't do. May's probably done a lot of the same stuff. So, as I was saying, there's been no dating or romantic wooing or confessions of love and you proposed out of the blue?”

Well, when she put it that way…”In front of Nora, May, and Jenna.”

She grimaced. “Okay, yeah, that's a lot to put on any woman, but a woman with a new baby…” She stared up at the stars, considering for several long moments, before a slight smile formed on her lips. “How much are you willing to put into this?”

“Whatever it takes,” I said. “The only thing I have left to lose at this point is Aubrey.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Aubrey

I'm an adult, so I was capable of admitting I may have overreacted to Noah's proposal of marriage. It really was a sweet gesture but…Nope, I still couldn't think about it. I just wished he was back.

“If you want some time to yourself,” Nora said. “I'd be happy to watch Sophie for a little while.”

Nora had been such a good friend to me, and such a good grandmother to Sophie. She hadn't said anything about Noah's proposal or my reaction to it. She, May, Sophie, Jill, Jenna, and I had opened the rest of the presents, except for the ones to or from Noah and had a nice lunch together. Everyone except me and Sophie had headed over to Cody and Carrie's for a couple of hours, while Sophie and I napped, but May and Nora were both back now and watching Christmas movies with me. Sort of. May had been texting on her phone most of the time. She still hadn't revealed her plan to resolve my situation with Noah and I was beyond suspicious of her texting.

“That's a great idea,” May said. “We should go out.”

I snuggled further under my blanket, quite happy to stay home and feel sorry for myself. “I'm pretty tired. I think I just need to go to bed.”

“It's only seven thirty,” May said. “Come on. You need a night out to get your mind off my idiot brother.”

I glanced at Nora, but she didn't look pissed about May's abuse of her older brother. In fact, she smiled and nodded her approval. “Noah is a good man, loyal and hardworking, but he's always been a bit socially inept. I blame myself for not insisting he go out more often.”

Socially inept was not a phrase I'd use to describe Noah, but I was in no mood to defend him. “I—”

“Please,” Nora said. “Go out and have fun. I'd love some one on one time with my grandbaby.”

“Perfect,” May said. She leapt from the couch, phone still in hand, and grabbed my hand, pulling me up from the couch and dragging me toward the stairs. “I'll help you get ready.”

“I'm pretty sure I can manage putting on a pair of jeans and a sweater.”

May ignored me and continued pulling me up the stairs. Once in my room, she shut the door and headed straight to my dresser. She dug around and pulled out my favorite pair of pre-pregnancy skinny jeans and tossed them at me. They hit me in the face and landed in my lap. May didn't notice, she dug around some more drawers in my dresser, sighed and turned to my closet. She spent all of three minutes in there before she pulled out a slinky red top I considered my lucky, first-date top. I always got asked out for a second date when I wore that shirt.

May tossed it on top of the jeans. “Go take a shower and put that outfit on,” she said. “I'll be waiting here.”

I looked at her baggy jeans and over-sized sweater. May always dressed in a bohemian style, but I figured she'd want a more sophisticated look for a night out. “Aren't you going to change?”

“Nah,” she said. She waved me toward the shower. “Hurry up, we don't have all night.”

I went to the bathroom and closed the door, not because she was bossing me around but because I had baby spit-up in my hair and I smelled like baby wipes. Since Sophie had come into my life, showers had become a treasured luxury.

When I emerged from the bathroom, dressed and clean and feeling more like myself, I found May waiting for me with my make-up spread out all over my bed. She looked up and frowned. “What are you going to do with your hair?”

I shrugged. “I'll just pull it up into a bun after it dries.”

She shook her head, stood, and shoved me back into the bathroom. “Where's your hair dryer?”

“May, if we're going to go out, let's go. If it gets any later, I'll fall asleep on you.”

“This will just take a few minutes.” She leaned close, her face next to mine in the mirror's reflection. “I went camping once for a week. No shower. No make-up. No flush toilet. When I got home it felt so good to shower and get all prettied up. I imagine what you're feeling as a new mom isn't much different.”

I rolled my eyes, but she wasn't completely wrong. I did like the idea of getting pretty, of having some me time. “Fine, but if you take too long, I'm going to bed.”

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