Page 24 of This Heart
“I’d love to help in any way I can. Do you have anyone in mind?”
He shook his head. “No. I know there is an agency in Lake Placid. I was going to call them tomorrow to discuss setting up some interviews. I can schedule a meeting with you on days that you are available. The sooner I hire someone, the better.”
“Will they be a live-in nanny?” The thought made my stomach roil.
He paused what he was doing and looked at me. “No. I don’t want that. Just someone to be here when I’m at work. I’d be with Winnie most of the day unless I need to be up at The Muddled Moose earlier.”
I nodded. “Why don’t we sit down and discuss what you’ll want from the nanny. Hours, days, things like that. It would be nice to have someone local, so if you needed them on short notice, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I wasn’t thinking about that. Good point. Are you free tomorrow at all?”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see that it was a text from Gary.
Gary Harris: I hate to do this at the last minute, but an emergency at work has arisen, and I have to cancel dinner tonight.
I glanced up and looked at Liam. “Well, if the offer for dinner still stands, we can talk about it tonight.”
He frowned. “No dinner date?”
I shook my head. “Emergency at work. He has to cancel.”
Liam smiled with something more in his demeanor than normal—or maybe that was just how I was feeling knowing I’d been stood up, not the least bit upset.
“Grab a plate.”
After sending off my reply to Gary, telling him no worries, I made myself a plate and sat down at the table with Liam and Winnie. It didn’t take long for us to fall back into friendly chatter, and I had to admit, it felt good to have my friend back.
It also felt good in other ways—but I wasn’t going there.
Liam
When I returned to the kitchen after putting Winnie to bed, Aurora was loading the dishwasher. After dinner, we took Winnie for a walk and stopped at the park for the second time that day. Winnie would be exhausted from her day, which was good for me. Hopefully, she would sleep through the night.
Aurora looked over her shoulder. “All tucked in?”
Smiling, I replied, “She is. I can’t tell you how happy she was to have you here, Aurora.”
Turning, she leaned against the counter and grinned. “It was good to spend some time with her.”
I let out a breath. God, it felt good to have her back. The feeling of peace I felt when she was near was something I could never understand. Aurora simply had a way of calming me, unlike anyone else. “You didn’t have to clean up, but thanks.”
“No problem.”
“How about I pour us a glass of wine, and we enjoy the nice evening on the back porch while we talk all things nanny?”
She chuckled. “Sounds good. Do you have a notebook I can make some notes in?”
“Yeah. I’ll get the wine and glasses; you can grab one from my office. The cabinet behind my desk, the last drawer on the right will have some notebooks in there.”
“Got it.”
I watched as she walked out of the kitchen. It was so damn nice to be talking to her again. To be talking to an adult, if I was being honest. Of course, I spoke with Mary while she was here, but she was like a younger sister to me, and half the time she was in her room. Winnie adored Aurora, and I truly enjoyed having her as a friend. I pushed away the guilt creeping back up and walked over to the small wine refrigerator. I pulled out a bottle of shiraz and grabbed two glasses.
The cool breeze hit my face as I walked out onto the back porch. I set the wine and glasses on the table and looked at the orange-tinted sky. The sun had set but had left a beautiful night sky in its wake. Moose Lake was in the distance, its waters reflecting the last of twilight.
“Looks like it was a beautiful sunset.”
I nodded. “Yes, it was. I can’t believe Winnie was up so late. I hope she sleeps in tomorrow.”
