I pointed to the couch. “I think they were under there.”
Nora plopped down on her belly and put her hand under the couch. After pulling out a half-eaten apple, a few Legos and a rattle, she resurfaced with the missing dowels. “Aha. Got the little suckers.”
“Did you work yesterday?” I asked while trying to hammer in a nail.
“Yeah. Nicolette was sick, so I had to go in.”
I looked up from denting the drawers. “Shit, why didn’t you call me? Who watched the kids?”
Nora studied the instructions and didn’t answer. But I knew she heard me.
I wasn’t easily deterred and pulled the instructions away. “Who did you ask?”
“Hey, I was reading that. It’s going to be your fault if I screw this up.”
“Stop avoiding the question. And we would have screwed it up anyway. That’s why you got glue,” I said and pointed the pamphlet at the big bottle of wood glue that was patiently waiting for its turn on the table.
“Mason,” she said and picked at her nails.
“What about him?”
“He came over to watch the kids.”
I dropped the pamphlet, my body feeling weightless. “Did you just say Mason came over to stay with the kids?”
“Yes?” she mumbled her answer like it was a question.
“Why?” I couldn’t think of a good reason why he would help my friend out. There was nothing in it for him. It did explain his disappearance last night. Which gave me time to change his alarm clock. And now I felt awful for thinking that he was going out to hook up with someone—aka the blonde—when he just disappeared.
“He offered.”
“But why would he do that?”
“He said he had nothing better to do.”
He was so confusing. My head was spinning from the contradictions that were Mason. “He had nothing better to do?” I repeated.
“He was great with the kids. They absolutely loved him. Luca even asked me if I can go to work tonight so his new friend could come over again.”
“But I’m their favorite,” I said in a small voice.
“You are. But now they have another friend. You know how hard it is for Luca to trust new people. But it took him not even an hour before he showed Mason his dinosaurs.”
“But he never shows them to anyone but me,” I whined.
Nora nudged me with her foot. “It’s a good thing. Stop complaining. Nobody can replace you. They just got another person in their corner. You should be happy.”
And if it was anyone but Mason, I would be happy for them, because Nora’s kids deserved the world. Her parents didn’t talk to her and wanted nothing to do with the kids. And the kids’ dad had left a few days after Lena was born, and she hadn’t heard from him since. Any extra support was a godsend. But she had let Mason look after the kids when I was supposed to be helping her. I felt betrayed, as irrational as that was.
“And you just let a stranger look after your kids?”
Nora’s eyes were blazing and her face went red. I immediately felt guilty for accusing her of not taking proper care of her kids. “Don’t you dare insinuate that I left them with a stranger. I know Willa. I know Jameson. And I’ve met Mason a few times before. I trust them when they say he can look after them.”
I threw up my arms, unable to stop the shit from spewing out of my mouth. “That doesn’t mean he’s responsible and knows how to look after kids.”
Nora jumped up. “That’s enough. If you take a second to think about this, you’ll realize what a tit face you’re being. I’m going to bed.”
I was left sitting amongst the pieces of the cabinet, none of which we had put together. I managed to not only screw up at work today but also hurt the one person that was always in my corner. God I was such an asshole.
To redeem myself I started putting the cabinet together. It took me four hours, a hammer to my finger and painkillers for my arm. A few loose screws and two square wooden pieces still sat on the floor after I finished. But the glue had done its job, and the cabinet would be firmly held together by a few screws and a lot of glue.
I collapsed on the couch and my last thought was how I had to start apologizing tomorrow and stop alienating my friends.
“Whaaaas goin’ on?” I mumbled and sat up on the couch. The room was dark and my brain was foggy from sleep.
“Get up and let’s go,” an unfortunately familiar voice commanded.
I laid back down and buried my head under the cushion. “No. I’m sleeping.”
My blanket was ripped away and Mason lifted me off the couch, then dropped me to my feet right after. I stumbled but caught myself by holding on to his arm. As soon as I touched his smooth skin, my whole body locked up and I stopped breathing.
So that was what his muscles felt like. I guess all my fantasies didn’t do him justice. Stop it, Stella, the guy just manhandled you. That’s not cause to fondle him. Regaining my senses, I snapped my hand back and put a few steps between us, just in case I lost my mind again.
“How did you get in here?” I whispered, only able to see his silhouette in the dark room.
He held up his hand and shook it, revealing a key. “Nora gave it to me in case of emergency.”
“Well, this is not an emergency. And you can give the key back. I’ll watch Luca and Lena again from now on. You are not needed anymore.”
“No. Now get your shit and let’s go. I’m tired.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and backed up more. “You’re not the boss of me, and I think it’s better for everyone if I stayed