Page 98 of My Wife
I’m reclined in my bed but feel like I’m falling. Like the world as I knew it dropped out from underneath me. I’ve let go and I’m in free-fall.
So long as I land with Jessica, I can’t say that I mind.
But I cannot entertain anything romantic with my assistant. Certainly can’t date the nanny. Plus she was engaged. Probably not ready for a relationship.
However, I fall asleep, wondering what if …
26
JESS
As the winterthaws into spring, it’s hard not to notice that Liam’s blue-gray eyes have been looking more like the sunrise sky in the morning.
But I’m trying not to pay attention because what started as an abiding tolerance of the man, turned into friendliness, morphed into flirting, and is now something I can’t quite define.
The more he grows in his relationship with his son, the more I lose my footing. It’s like I’m floating. When they hold hands, laugh, play. Forget turning into mush. I dissolve.
I make a buttermilk Bundt cake with caramel icing for Gracie’s book club. Everyone devours it, but instead of discussing the small-town romantic comedy with a big-city developer who wants to bulldoze the place before she comes face to face with an attractive contractor who’s trying to revitalize it, they talk about their real lives.
Not having much to contribute, I mostly listen, then Meg, whose husband used to play for the Knights but recently retired, asks me, “Your son looks to be around the same age as Milo. Maybe we can schedule a playdate.”
“My son?” I stutter.
I glimpse Cara’s stricken expression before it disappears, and she asks, “She means the little boy who you nanny.”
“Oh, KJ.”
“How do you manage being Liam’s personal assistant and being a nanny?” Delaney asks.
I sputter. “Um, well, there’s a lot of overlap.”
“I’m shocked The Beast doesn’t terrify him,” Whitney says.
“He’s a really good dad,” I blurt, realizing they didn’t officially know about the KJ-Liam connection.
Recently, he’s more than made up for his shortcomings early on. They draw lines between the dots in stunned silence.
I try to fill in the space. “I’m just the nanny. Liam’s assistant. Basically a work wifey.”
“I don’t think that’s how you use that phrase,” Gracie says gently.
Of course, I think about how I almost became Rexlan’s wife which would’ve been the biggest mistake of my life, and how Rex’s sister is Liam’s ex, which makes Pamberlie KJ’s mom. I had no idea she had a kid. I want to hide behind a bookshelf, but this is a romance bookstore so there’s no escaping the tangled webs we weave—or in this case the ones other people tie together. They sure could use lessons from Grandma Dolly. She’s a talented fiber worker and denier of drama.
Heidi slowly shakes her head and says, “Liam has a kid. He’s a father. Darcy is a dad.”
As the truth takes shape in their minds, they seem to catch up with this reality, gaining momentum, and everyone contributes to the big reveal that hockey’s biggest beast is a dad.
“We voted him least likely to ever request my wedding planning services,” Margo says.
The girls start giggling about #MrDarcysAbs.
My cheeks go up in flames, so of course, Cara notices.
While they’re seeding the bracket for winning abdominals, she asks, “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
“Thanks again for the job. You were right. Liam needed help. I’ve been saving up to move, so I’ll probably give my notice soon.” The words and my not-even par-cooked plan comes out robotically, sloppily.
Cara’s face falls. “Please stay in Cobbiton. I’ll miss you too much. Who’ll be my cake dealer?” She bounces in her seat. “Please open a cakery. A cake bakery. You can call it Jess-i-cakes! Like Pat-a-Cake, the nursery rhyme!”
