Page 97 of Adrift

* * *

I’m finishing up my conversation with the contractors working on last-minute touches to the school’s bathrooms and locker areas when my phone buzzes inside my pocket.

Rani: Check this link out. She seems really qualified–a degree in early childhood development and five years working for a family as a live-in nanny. What do you think?

Rani’s been reviewing the applicants who have applied for the permanent nanny position we’d created together online a couple of weeks ago after we had the chat about her moving here. With her being in school for the next couple of years, I want her to focus solely on her school work, so we need full-time help at home with Arman. Even after she graduates, I want her to pursue her career in journalism. I’ve been stalking her blog ever since she told me about it, and I’ve read the newsletters she’s sent on behalf of my school. The woman was born to write!

Fuck, my body is buzzing in anticipation of an upcoming future that seems a hell of a lot more exciting than having to figure out maintaining a long-distance relationship, along with everything else I’ve got going on. I would have done it–I would have done anything to make it work–but it helps tremendously that she’ll be able to move here. My girl is going to be living with me, permanently! From what she told me last night, she submitted her transfer application, too.

Finally, with both our families supporting us, things seem like they’re going in the right direction with both of us on the same path.

I was shocked when Rani FaceTimed with her mom yesterday, and her mom asked me how I was doing. I honestly got tongue-tied for a minute because I couldn’t believe she was showing interest in my well-being. Then she legitimately sat and watched Arman play instead of commenting on whether he was walking faster or talking more. Even Rani’s dad came on to say hello.

At one point, her dad put his arm around her mom’s shoulders, and I heard Rani gasp. I couldn’t understand why, but then I remembered from my conversations with Sonia that her parents didn’t have the most loving relationship. I didn’t ask, but I guess that maybe it was the first time in a long time that Rani saw her parents be affectionate to each other.

Rani told me she had a heart-to-heart with her mom–she put those words in air quotes, so I got the feeling it wasn’t quite so much a heart-to-heart as it was an ultimatum–and that her mom promised to make more of an effort to see Rani’s point of view. A tiger can’t change its stripes, but perhaps a mother who’s been shaken to her core with a dose of reality could try.

I head to my office, glancing up at both Greg and Olivia directing some handymen to put up banners and vendor advertisements on the wall. We’re almost completely ready. I can’t believe the tournament is this weekend. The time has just flown by, but I’m ready to get it done with and start a new chapter of my life with my queen.

She invited her friend Melody and her cousin Bella for the weekend. I was more than happy to have them stay at my house, but Rani insisted that we’ll all be more comfortable if they stayed in a hotel. That way, if the girls want to go out to the bars or casinos nearby and get in late, they don’t have to worry about waking up the baby. Apparently, she invited the lanky pipsqueak Liam, too. She claims he might be a good match for Melody, though she didn’t seem too impressed when I told her he’d be a better match for the end of my fist.

It’s a moment in time I’m working really hard to erase from my memory–with him wrapping his grubby paws around her arms to pull her in for a kiss–but clearly failing. It still has the power to have me seeing red.

All in all, we have almost sixty people signed up for the tournament, a backup safety team who will be patrolling the river, a couple of food trucks, and a few of our vendors, who’ll be displaying apparel and water accessories. Both of my brothers will be there, along with Mala, my brother Dean’s so-called best friend.

I click on the profile of the woman Rani has sent me, reading her credentials and noting down the phone number of the family she referenced in her bio.

Me: She looks like she’d be a good fit. I’ll call her reference.

Her response comes back seconds later.

Rani: I already called them and left a message. I’ve got this under control. Just tell me if you don’t like someone I shortlist, otherwise, I’m thinking we interview the three I’ve sent you so far to get the ball rolling. What do you think?

Me: How long has it been since I told you I loved you?

Rani: We’re going on about fourteen minutes.

Me: I’ll wait another fifteen minutes to say it again, then. I don’t want to come off as excessive and needy.

Rani: LOL! No, you definitely don’t want to do that. You’re already walking a thin line.

Rani: BTW, I hope you don’t mind, but I sent you the names of a couple of therapists to look into in your email. They specialize in post traumatic stress disorder, which is what I think is causing your frequent nightmares.

I read her message again. How long has it been since someone has taken care of me and my needs? Even when I was with Sonia, she never went out of her way to do things for me, especially unsolicited. She cared about me, sure, but she didn’t think about me. There’s a difference in that, and I never realized it until Rani came into my life. A difference I can’t be without again.

Me: My Rani?

Rani: Yes.

Me: I don’t give a shit about being excessive or needy. I love you.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Rani

“Queenie! I’m so glad to see you!” Melody wraps me in one of her tight hugs that’s more like a chokehold before placing a kiss on my temple. “I missed you.”

Melody and Bella drove in late last night before checking into a hotel nearby.

---