He stepped through the doorway and paused. “You were right, Lil. This afternoon doesn’t have to change anything. We’re going to see each other at events. It doesn’t have to be awkward.”
She closed the door in his face and leaned her back against it. Looking down at her daughter, she said, “Don’t look at me like that. I know he’s not coming back. I’m just being stupid now so that I’ll be more sympathetic when you’re older and dating.”
Colby smiled.
“I know. I like him, too.” Lil pushed away from the door and carried her daughter back into the living room, their new living room.
Later that night, back in his home, Jake sent Dominic a quick text. “It’s done. She’s in her new place. Meet tomorrow morning?”
Dominic replied, “Can’t. Sent a packet to your office regarding the party though.”
“And the two people you’d like me to meet?”
“They will be there Saturday.”
“Did you send me their names?”
Dominic typed, “Sorry. Bad connection. Talk later.”
Bad connection? More like bad joke. Why wouldn’t Dominic want him to know who he’d found to work on their server? They didn’t have time for surprises.
Pacing his living room, Jake ran through a mental list of all of the potential mistakes Dominic could be making. If he’d reached into the criminal world for assistance, they might end up with an altogether different problem. He hoped that this time Dominic was going to choose a solution that was less dangerous than the problem at hand.
Coming slowly to a halt, Jake took in his surroundings. Nothing had changed since he left that morning. His tablet was still positioned near the chair he reclined in each evening to read the news. Everything was still perfectly in place. His home was immaculate, contemporary, and quiet.
He thought about the chaotic evening he’d spent with the Andrades at Dominic’s request. Children everywhere. Competing conversations so loud they made intelligent conversation difficult. It had been a relief to return home afterward.
He should feel the same way tonight after the rollercoaster of a day with Lil and an evening of watching her child. It bothered him that he didn’t.
Instead, the day had left him feeling…
He dismissed the first word that came to mind since it likely had more to do with fatigue than anything else.
He was not and had never been-
Chapter Eight
The next day, Lil deposited her purse, diaper bag and notebook on the dining room table with relief and stepped out of her uncomfortable pumps. She put Colby’s car seat on the floor beside the table and bent to release her, noting how her child filled it. “You are almost too big for this, Colby. Don’t grow up too fast, baby.”
Colby reached for her mother’s hair and gave a yank, making no such promises.
Lil hugged her little one to her then held her back so she could see her beautiful face. She touched one of the blond curls. Colby smiled and the weight of everything dissolved. All of this was worth it as long as her daughter was happy and healthy. The rest would work itself out.
“Well, hopefully Mommy passed her exam this morning and can get a real job now. When I do, you’re going to have to go to day care, Colby. It’s not going to be easy on either one of us, but I’ll find a good one and you’ll get to meet other children. You might even like it.”
Colby didn’t understand what she was saying, and Lil was happy about that. Thus far, she’d only chosen jobs that had allowed her to work only a couple of hours a day so she could spend more time with Colby; Abby or a friend had watched her when Lil had attended night classes. She’d doubled up on her course load at times so she could get her degree earlier, but now she wished she hadn’t. Things were about to change, and she wasn’t sure she was ready. Most likely, she’d work an eight to ten hour day depending on where she found employment. An administrative assistant had to be flexible and available to work the hours her boss required. It wasn’t going to be easy and it certainly wasn’t her dream job, but if she wanted to build a secure future for herself and her daughter-it would require some sacrifice.
None of her sketches had made it over in the move, and that was probably for the best. It was time to let go of her childhood fantasies and put all of her energy into more practical endeavors. Maybe if she had made better choices, worked harder to get scholarships or minded her own business more-maybe she would have gone to that art school and taken her modest raw talent and done something amazing with it. Looking back and wondering what might have been was a waste of time. Growing up was about realizing that what you want to do and what you have to do are often two very different things.
Like living in an apartment paid for by your sister’s lover.
A knock on the door interrupted her self-lecture.
Lil opened the door and told herself that she wasn’t disappointed to see her friend, Alethea. As usual, Alethea was dressed in what she liked to call “casual chic.” Her clothes were trendy, but low-key, the kind most people wouldn’t remember later-tan cotton pants, a peach silk blouse. The only hint of the wild personality that lay beneath her deliberately bland attire stuck out from beneath her long pants; Alethea had a weakness for outrageously priced high heels.
Looking at her perfectly polished friend now, it was hard to believe they had ever stayed up all night eating pizza and watching horror movies together. Alethea’s long red hair was held back in a stylish pony tail that emphasized her delicate facial features and green eyes that Lil had spent half of her life envying.
She swept into Lil’s penthouse, scanning the place quickly before turning back to Lil and saying, “How is my favorite baby?”
Lil held Colby out for Alethea to take and cringed when her friend tossed her up into the air, sending the baby into a fit of giggles. When Colby’s amusement subsided, Alethea tossed her again and joined the laughter.
“Please don’t drop her,” Lil warned.
Her friend rolled her eyes dramatically and said to Colby, “Your mother is a worry wart now. You did that to her.” She wagged a finger in front of the laughing baby, tickling her with the finger and saying, “Who did it? You did it, little blondie.”
Lil led the way back to the seating area. As expected, Alethea went on a quick self-guided tour, returning to join Lil in the living room. She sat on one of the overstuffed chairs and bounced Colby on her knees. “Whew! It was actually difficult to get in here.”
Lil tucked her feet beneath her on her own chair, feeling the pinch of her pencil skirt and deliberately ignoring the discomfort. “Did you try ringing up from the front desk?”
“What fun would that have been?” Alethea made a face at Colby, laughing along with the child. “Do you know you have your own personal security detail in the back alley?”
“Apparently not very good security, if you got past them.”
“I haven’t met a security system yet that could keep me out.” Although Alethea was answering Lil’s questions, she was doing so in an exaggerated tone that sent Colby back into giggles.
