After Kate and Aidan had unloaded the car, they discovered they were out of baby carrots and were running low on honey mustard, apparently a must-have for dino nugget dipping.
Aidan decided to make a quick run to the store. “Would you pick up some barbecue sauce, too?” Kate asked. “And would you check in the deli and see if they have some ambrosia salad? It is that sweet salad with the coconut, mandarin oranges and mini marshmallows. It would be in the refrigerated area where they keep the prepared salads—you know potato salad, coleslaw and such. That stuff.”
“Anything for you, my darling,” he said, feathering a kiss on her lips. She noticed he had put on his wedding ring. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay here alone while I’m gone?”
“Of course. Why would I not be?”
“I don’t know. Just making sure. Doris Watson is dropping Chloe off. She’ll probably get here while I’m gone. Is that okay?”
Kate laughed. “Of course. Chloe and I will be fine. It’s not like you will be away overnight.”
“I know you will. And Doris is great. She’s been so nice to help out with Chloe lately. Will you tell her I said thanks?”
“You got it.”
While Aidan was at the store, Kate hung her clothes in the walk-in closet in the master bedroom and arranged her toiletries in the en suite bath. She had just finished when the doorbell rang. When she answered the door, she would have thought the woman standing on the porch was at the wrong house, if not for Chloe and another little girl with dark blond hair. The girls giggled and ran past Kate, presumably headed for Chloe’s bedroom, saying something about getting a doll who wanted to go home with Beatrice.
Kate turned to face the model-perfect woman. She was tall and had the kind of lean, toned body that screamed personal trainer, daily Pilates and regular 5K runs. On top of all that, she was probably captain of her tennis team. It made Kate tired to think about it. Her hair was long and honey brown with perfect, sun-kissed streaks that must’ve cost a fortune because they looked so natural paired with her tanned skin. Vivid blue eyes regarded Kate with a question. “Hi, is Aidan at home? I’m Doris Watson.”
This was Doris Watson? She was not at all what Kate had envisioned. The name Doris had called to mind someone much more...mature. Never had a woman this beautiful entered the mental picture that had popped into Kate’s mind when Aidan mentioned her. At the moment, Kate couldn’t even recall what her original picture had looked like.
“Hi, Doris,” Kate said. “Aidan had to step out for a moment, but he told me you would be dropping off Chloe. Thanks for doing this. I hear she loves playing at your house.”
Doris stood there for a moment, regarding Kate. It felt as if the woman was sizing her up. That was when Kate noticed a piece of paper in Doris’s hand. Kate gestured to it. “May I give Aidan a message for you?”
“Oh, yes, thank you. This is an invitation to our parent-child rock group.” Doris thrust the paper at Kate and Kate accepted it.
“Rock group? As in music?”
“Oh, bless your heart, no. It’s a rock-painting group some of the other mothers and myself are organizing. We think it will be a fun chance for the girls to get together weekly. We will paint rocks and write inspirational sayings on them, then place them around town for people to find and tag us on Instagram. The paper has the details of our first meeting. After that, we’ll plan on short weekly meetings and—I’m sorry, who are you?” Doris asked.
There was a challenging note in her voice, as if rambling about the rock group had allowed her to add up all the pieces and she ended up not liking the sum of the parts. “Are you Chloe’s nanny?” Doris asked.
“Oh, heavens, no,” Kate said. “My name is Kate. I am Aidan’s wife.”
Aidan stopped his car in front of the house in time to see Doris on the porch talking to Kate. It was good for them to meet since Chloe enjoyed spending so much time with Beatrice. Doris had been so good about having Chloe over and driving her here and there. Now they would have a better chance to reciprocate and have Beatrice over so Doris could have some free time.
“I understand congratulations are in order,” Doris said when Aidan approached. “I didn’t know that you had gotten married.”
Doris reached out and took ahold of Aidan’s left hand and made a show of looking at his wedding ring—as if she needed proof. She gave her head a quick shake, as if she was trying to wrap her mind around the idea. “Well, look at that. Matching bands and all. I guess I never noticed your ring, and I’m usually pretty observant when it comes to things like that.”
When neither he nor Kate said anything, Doris broke the awkward silence.
“I’m sorry this is throwing me for such a loop. I didn’t even realize you had someone special in your life.”
Kate crossed her arms and shot him a look with raised brows and pursed mouth.
He hadn’t wanted her to be a secret. Not on purpose. He and Kate had been seeing each other for nearly a year, but Kate had been adamant about keeping things casual. Friends with benefits, they had joked, even though he had wanted it to be so much more.
Still, he had decided he wasn’t going to push her. Because of that, he had done his best to keep Chloe’s world, with her school and teachers and friends and their parents, as separate as possible from his life with Kate. Introducing Kate
