Page 62 of Situationship
He placed his hand over hers. “How hot are we talking?”
They both looked through the window to see her kids waving back. He chuckled. “I think we’ve just been downgraded from Cinemax to Disney.”
“That’s probably good, since I need to tell you something before you distract me.”
“I’m distracting you?” he asked, amused. “You’re the one feeling me up. If I did that to you, people would call me a perv.”
She wanted to join in his lighthearted banter, but she couldn’t relax until she told him how much his being there for her kids meant to her. “I’m sorry about today. Actually, first I need to thank you for today. I never should have put my phone on silent. I wasn’t thinking and I don’t know—”
“Bianchi,” he said, taking her hand and tugging her deeper into the shadows. “Lily’s fine. Nothing more than a few bandages. And you had the added benefit of your nanny’s dad having a medical degree, even if his patients are of the four-legged variety. By the way, I use the term ‘nanny’ liberally.”
“She likes to call herself Harley’s PA who sometimes watches kids.”
“Of course she does.” He sighed. “Although I prefer the thought of her babysitting to whatever else Harley might dream up.”
“From what I understand, it’s just folding pamphlets and some paperwork.”
“For what? I thought Harley taught yoga.”
“She does. I guess she’s trying to expand her classes, find new clients. Hey, if she can help out more with the bills, I’m game, but between our different meetings, I feel like the kids are getting lost in the mix.”
“Same here. My whole goal was to spend as much time with Maddie as I could before college, but the clinic is short-staffed so I’m pulling long days and sometimes long nights when I’m on call.”
She stepped closer. “Have I mentioned how sorry I am for not telling you about her babysitting?”
His expression was one of confusion. “I didn’t come out here to yell at you.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Had the tables been turned, she wasn’t sure how she would have reacted. “You didn’t?”
“Of course not,” he said gently. “I came out to ask if Lily has said anything to you.”
Her heart caught. “Is she talking to you?”
“I’m not sure. I asked Poppy if she could hand me an oven mitt and I heard a little, ‘Uh-huh.’ When I turned around, Poppy was smiling but I could have sworn it was Lily.”
“She did the same thing to me. One of the girls said, ‘Screw you. ’ ”
Colin laughed. “‘Screw you,’ huh?”
“Not my best mom moment, but it sounded like Lily. Only when I turned around, Poppy took the blame.” Bad word or not, a warm ball of relief swelled in her chest. “She stopped talking about a month after Frank moved out. Her pediatrician assured me that it’s not all that uncommon for young kids to have behavioral shifts during a high-stress change. Frank and my divorce . . .” She trailed off. “We tried so hard to keep it from affecting the girls. Frank was the stay-at-home parent, so when he moved out, there was a lot of change for me. I can only imagine what it was like for them.”
“Kids are more resilient than we give them credit for.” He cupped her cheek, a gesture that was as thrilling as it was comforting. “She’ll find her footing and so will you.”
“After today I’m not so sure.” She was exhausted and stretched thin. She couldn’t afford to lose her sitter. “I’m sorry about how it went down today, especially with Maddison.”
“You mean that I was the last to know she’s your sitter or that today wasn’t the first time?”
“It’s been four times actually.” Man, she’d screwed up royally. “She admitted that first time that you didn’t know. I should have reached out to you about it the way you did today when you tried to get hold of me.”
“You should have. I was in the dark. I thought she was at home doing homework. When I checked her location, her cell pinged at the house.”
“Because she was right next door.” At Teagan’s house hiding out and probably using Rose’s landline to call friends or worse. “I can check the call log on the phone line if you want. See who she was talking to.” She grimaced. “That sounded bad in my head, but hearing it aloud is horrifying.”
“Horrifying might be a strong word. Let’s go with problematic,” he teased. “And I already know who she was talking to. A boy. Shocker. But she wouldn’t have had to go behind my back if I hadn’t been such a hard-ass.”
“I put you in a difficult situation that should have never happened. I should have given you the same consideration that you gave me today,” she said. “Harley hired Maddison without consulting me, so I know how it feels.”
“Since when did you start letting your sister make adult decisions?”
