Page 304 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
He held the picture out to me, and I was surprised to see two skiers on there, one of whom was unmistakably blonde with green eyes. “It’s for Bailey,” Ethan told me proudly. “It’s me and her and we’re skiing.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Don’t tell her, but I’m faster,” he stage-whispered, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“I bet she’ll love it,” I told him.
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Duh,” he said, like he didn’t even have to think about it. “Do you think we could go skiing this weekend? You, me, and Bailey?”
“Maybe,” I said. “I’ll have to talk to her about it and see how busy things are at work. But if not this weekend, then soon. I promise.” To be honest, I was looking forward to that ski date almost as much as Ethan was. Not just because I was curious to see how Bailey skied, but also because it would just give us a bit more time together, away from work.
Well, not really away from work. But…you know.
“Okay,” Ethan said. “But don’t forget to give her the picture. It’s important.”
“I’ll remember,” I promised him.
I had known all along that Ethan needed a female in his life. I knew he didn’t remember his mother very well, and it wasn’t like I was looking for someone to replace Beth to him. There was no replacing Beth. But I could tell that spending more time around Bailey could only be a good thing. For both of us, probably.
What’s more, I didn’t get the feeling from Bailey that she would protest spending more time with Ethan and me. There was the whole ski day thing, but even if that had just been Ethan’s idea that she had gone along with, it was clear that the two of them had bonded while I was out fixing the ski lift. And she had been the one to offer her help as far as Ethan was concerned. She had made sure I knew that he was welcome there at the resort.
There was definitely more that she and I needed to talk about, but for a moment, I let myself picture it. What if I did give in to my attraction to Bailey? What if I told her about Beth, cautioned her that I was still damaged goods in some ways but that I wanted to work on things with her, that I wanted to start something with her? Could we actually make things work?
In any case, I was starting to feel, for the first time since Beth’s death, that maybe it was time to get back in the saddle. It was what she had wanted for me, after all. She hadn’t wanted me to spend the rest of my life alone, and she definitely hadn’t wanted for me to have to raise Ethan all by myself.
I didn’t want to casually date, as scared as I was of the idea of committing to anyone. It had been so long since I had dated anyone, let alone dated someone that I didn’t see myself spending the rest of my life with. But I really had the feeling that Bailey and I clicked, albeit in different ways than Beth and I had.
Really, there was a lot of Bailey that was totally opposite to how Beth had been. Bailey was outspoken, business-minded, and she wasn’t afraid to push me or to go toe-to-toe with me. But at the end of the day, she was just as kind and warm and compassionate as I could have hoped.
And cute as all hell. That was a definite plus too.
Maybe Bailey could be the next chapter in my life. Or at least the start of the next chapter. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on things, but maybe things could work out. In spite of the fact that she was my boss. If not, well, we’d cross that bridge when we got to it. Lately, I seemed to be spending a lot of time worrying about things that never ended up happening anyway.
I dropped Ethan off at school, promising him again that I would make sure to give the picture to Bailey as soon as I saw her that morning. I just hoped our paths crossed before Ethan somehow ran into her on the hill later that day, when he went skiing with his friend. If not, there would be hell to pay, I was sure.
But then again, I kind of liked the fact that I had a reason to seek Bailey out now.
She wasn’t hard to find, in fact: when I arrived at the mountain, she was chatting at the front desk with Kayla, both of them sipping at mugs of coffee. Bailey held one out to me, and I raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. “You don’t have to sit with us, but I just figured you’d probably want some coffee to start your day,” she said to me.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her, even though I really wasn’t worried about whatever she might have to throw at me that day. No, that day, it kind of felt like I could handle anything. That was the kind of mood that I was in.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked her, and she laughed.
“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on shadowing you all day again. I know you have a lot to do with it being this busy this week.” She shrugged. “I just really thought you might want some coffee to start your day. That’s it.”
I smiled at her. “I appreciate that,” I said, taking a sip. “Actually, could I talk to you?” I glanced over at Kayla, suddenly realizing that I didn’t want to pull out Ethan’s picture right here. I wanted Bailey’s reaction to the picture to be mine and mine alone. It was also kind of awkward to ask to speak to Bailey in private when she was already in the middle of chatting with Kayla.
I knew that no matter how we were going to approach this possible situation, her and me, it would be better to keep it from all of the other employees, at least for now. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on things or make our work life awkward.
But Bailey came to my rescue, hopping off her stool and shooting Kayla an apologetic look. “Actually, I needed to talk to you about something too. I left something on your desk, with a note about it, but I’m not entirely sure it makes sense. I just found this thing, it’s probably better that I just show you it. Do you have a moment?”
“Sure,” I said faintly, surprised it was that easy. I followed her back towards my office, shutting my door behind us as we walked inside.
She raised an eyebrow at me as she turned to face me, but I didn’t miss the way that her breath hitched just slightly, her eyes darkening a little. It took all of my willpower not to drag her into my arms right then and there. Instead, though, I held out the picture that Ethan had drawn for her.
“It’s from Ethan,” I told her, as though she might not have guessed. “It’s the two of you skiing. He wanted you to have it.”
“I love it,” Bailey said, her eyes shining as she looked down at the two figures. “He’s a great kid,” she added softly.
“Thanks,” I told her. I cleared my throat. “He definitely seemed to like you.” I paused. “And I just wanted to say thank you again. For the other day, and for everything else that you’ve done.” I knew that was vague and that she probably didn’t understand.
But to my surprise, she nodded. “I know it must be hard for you,” she said softly. “Ethan told me…” She trailed off, and I wondered just what Ethan had told her. I could guess, anyway.
