Page 19 of This Heart
Her brows rose in question. “Who? Name one guy you have dated who has blond hair.”
I thought for a moment. “Let’s see.”
When I couldn’t come up with anyone, she laughed. “Like I said, you don’t go for guys with blond hair.”
“Huh,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “You’re right. How crazy is that? I never noticed.”
She shrugged. “I have.”
The bell above the bookstore’s door rang again, and I smiled when I saw Nathan walk in.
“Nate!” Lou said, making a beeline straight to him. “What brings you in?”
He kissed Lou on the cheek. “Just stopped by to say hello to my two favorite sisters.”
Lou huffed. “We’re your only sisters.”
He winked and looked at me. “I was actually hoping to speak with you, Aurora, in private, if you don’t mind.”
Curious, I nodded. “Sure. Let’s head to my office.”
Nathan followed me through the store to the back area. My office was tucked in the far right corner. He shut the door and motioned for me to sit at my desk while he sat in the chair opposite.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I didn’t mean to worry you. I was at Liam’s last night, and Winnie asked for you at bedtime.”
My heart dropped. “She did?”
“Yeah, Opal and Jake had bathed her, and I put her to bed. She wanted you to put her to bed, I guess.”
I smiled. “Did you read her a book?”
He chuckled. “No, I tucked her in and left the room.”
I sighed. “Things are just weird between me and Liam.”
“He told me what happened.”
Surprised by this revelation, I asked, “How he accused me of trying to move in and take Hope’s place? I still can’t even believe he would say that to me. I racked my brain to see if I had given Liam the wrong idea at any point in our friendship, and I never did. I swear to you, Nathan. He was a friend of mine. Just like Hope was.”
Nathan rubbed at the back of his neck. “I know you didn’t. Hope planted that in his head a few months before she passed, and well…Liam’s reason for saying it is not my story to tell.”
I raised a brow. What did he mean by that? “I was her friend, Nathan. Why in the world would she even think that of me? All I wanted to do was help them because I cared about them.”
“Cared? Past tense?”
“Of course not. I thought Liam and I were friends, Nathan. Real friends. I enjoyed hanging out with him, and while I’m not blind to his good looks, I never once had any thoughts like that.”
“You are friends, Aurora. He lost his wife and was in a bad place.”
I jerked my head back. “I know that. She was my friend. I lost her too. And I saw him at the hotel the other morning and offered to help, and he hesitated. That tells me he still thinks I’m offering to help because I have a motive.”
“He doesn’t think that way. I promise you; he doesn’t think that way. I’m here because, Aurora, he needs help.”
Pressing my lips together tightly, I wanted to say he would have to find it from someone else, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I exhaled. “With what?”
“Jake and Opal are going to travel in their retirement, like they had planned before Hope got sick. They’ve put it off to help Liam, but they will be leaving soon. I can only help at The Muddled Moose for so much longer, and Liam needs to get past the issue he has with a promise he made to Hope. Harsh as that may sound. He needs to find a nanny for Winnie. He promised Hope no daycare. Actually, she told him she didn’t want anyone other than family to watch Winnie.”
