Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“I can’t begin to understand how you’re feeling, Liam. But I need you to know that I never, not one single time, ever thought of taking anyone’s place. I miss Hope more than you could ever know, and it killed me to watch her get sicker alongside you. If I ever gave you or Hope any indication I wanted something for you—”
He held up his hand. “No! You didn’t, Aurora. I swear you didn’t. That whole thing was between me and Hope. It had…”
Pausing, he looked down, then said, “It was an issue between her and me, and you got caught in the middle.”
“So you believe me when I said I never had any feelings for you other than friendship?”
He nodded and looked away for a moment before focusing back on me. “I’m sorry, I will never treat you like that again. I’ve…I’ve missed your friendship.”
“I’ve missed yours as well. And Winnie.”
A smile broke out on his face. “She asks about you all the time.”
I returned his smile.
“Speaking of, let me make some noise so she wakes up. If I wake her up, she’ll become a little monster.”
Before he had the chance, Winnie called out for him.
He motioned for me to go first. “She’ll love seeing you.”
I headed out of the kitchen, and the moment Winnie spied me from her sitting position on the sofa, she cried and ran toward me. I dropped and caught her right in time as she launched at me.
“Hello there, little angel,” I said, kissing her. “Look at how big you’ve gotten just in a couple of days!”
Winnie grinned and stood up tall. “I’m a big girl!”
“You are!” I said, pulling her in for a hug.
“C’mon, see my new toys!” Winnie said, pulling me up and trying her best to drag me toward the steps. “In my woom!”
Turning to Liam, he smiled and nodded. “I’ll be down here if you need anything. I’m sure she wants to spend some time with you.”
Winnie and I headed up to her room and played for the next forty minutes. We played house, we played cats and dogs, and then she settled down with a book for me to read to her. She must have dragged every toy out of her box to show me, like she hadn’t seen me in years. After we read her story, we cleaned up her room. I glanced up to see Liam standing in the doorway, smiling.
“She’s missed you.”
I turned to Winnie and said, “I’ve missed her as well.”
“Winnie, I’ve got pot pie for dinner!” Liam said.
Jumping, Winnie let out a happy little cry, then grabbed my hand and led me out of her room.
Liam followed us back downstairs. He hadn’t mentioned the nanny yet, and I wasn’t about to either. If he wanted my help, he could ask for it.
Winnie dropped my hand and turned to Liam, who promptly picked her up and put her in her chair at the table.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” he asked.
“Thank you, but I’ve got dinner plans.”
He smiled at me as he put some pot pie on Winnie’s plate. “With the girls?”
I cleared my throat. “No, I’m going on a date.”
His brows shot up in surprise. “A date?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
Liam looked…almost upset. Then he shook his head and smiled. “That’s great. With who?”
“Um, his name is Gary Harris. He’s the new finance director with the city. Cadie introduced me to him.”
Liam nodded as he focused on dishing out Winnie’s dinner. “Where is he taking you?”
“To a new Chinese restaurant outside of town. Near Lake Placid.”
He closed his eyes. “Man, I haven’t had Chinese in forever. Eat some for me.”
I laughed. “I will. I should probably get going so I can get ready. He’ll be picking me up soon.”
Leaning down, I kissed Winnie on the cheek. “I’ll be back, okay?”
“Wuv you, Rora!”
“I love you too, Peanut.”
Turning to Liam, I let out a breath. “It was good seeing you both.”
“It was. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
A strange aching feeling filled my chest. Was I upset he hadn’t asked me about the nanny? Or was I upset I wasn’t having dinner with Liam and Winnie instead of with Gary? Pushing those thoughts away, I replied, “I won’t.”
As I went to turn to leave, Liam called out my name.
“Aurora?”
“Yeah?” I asked, facing him again. He glanced down at the floor and seemed to struggle to say something before looking back up at me.
“I know I don’t have any right to ask you this, with how I treated you and all.”
“You’ve already apologized. Let’s put it in the past and move on.”
He nodded and gave me a weak smile. “I’d like that.”
“What did you want to ask me?”
“I need to find a nanny for Winnie, and I was wondering if you could help with that. I know what to ask, at least I think I do,” he said with a humorless laugh. “I’m not sure how someone would feel working for just a guy, and maybe having you there might help with the interviewing process.”