Caroline Kapowski: I wanted to let you know that we really are sorry to hear about your sister and wish you all the luck in the world with your niece. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know we never got the opportunity to meet, but my in-laws adore you, and I know we would too.
My shoulders sag.
As if this day hadn’t been horrible enough, I had to call Caroline and tell her what happened to Nettie. She was so kind about it that I couldn’t speak. I was grateful Boone had taken Rosie outside for some fresh air so I could deal with telling Caroline.
Me: Thank you. I appreciate that more than I could tell you. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for us.
I set the phone down and stare at my words. Am I sorry things didn’t work out for me and the Kapowskis?
“No pineapple drinks,” I say, leaning back against the cushions. “No beaches and no hikes through the rain forest.”
I close my eyes and try to center myself.
Images of Hawaii and the things I’d hoped to do there—the sense of the fresh start I was hoping to make, come fluttering back to me. The squeal of Rosie outside the windows breaks through them.
Just looking in her little eyes today struck a chord in me. I could see my childhood in the hazel-colored irises. I was reminded of Jeanette and my mother. It brought back the way our house smelled like roast beef and how the blankets on my bed were itchy. All of the things I’d mostly forgotten.
I might not have known that Rosie existed before today but having her in my life changed it—is changing it. She’s a connection to my past that I didn’t know I could have.
That I didn’t know I needed.
I stand just as they come in through the kitchen door from the backyard. Rosie’s cheeks are flushed, and a big smile splits them.
Boone laughs. “This one is a handful.”
“I am not! I only want a puppy!” She juts her bottom lip way out. “A black and white one with big, floppy ears.”
Boone makes a face at her. “Puppies poop in the yard. That’s gross.”
“Not if you clean it up.”
“You clearly don’t know me,” Boone says, chuckling. “Anyway, puppies are Jaxi’s territory. She gets to make all of those hard decisions.”
I snort. “Gee, thanks.”
“You’re very welcome,” he says.
Rosie looks around the room. “I have to potty.”
“The bathroom is down the hallway,” I tell her. “Come on and I’ll show you.”
She reaches for my hand as I approach, and I give it to her. Her round little cheeks ball up with a grin.
“You know what?” she says as we walk down the hallway.
“What?”
“I’m hungry too.”
“Okay. We can get something. Is there anything you like best? Or don’t like?” I flip on the bathroom light. “Anything you want specifically?”
She walks into the bathroom and turns around. “I pacifically want cake with Boone. Chocolate, ’kay?”
I grin at her. “Okay. Do you need help?”
“Nope.” She starts unbuttoning her pants. “Mommy said I’m a big girl now and can do it myself.”
I look around the room and spy a wooden crate for holding magazines. I pick it up. It’s empty.
Turning it upside down next to the toilet, I give it a shake. It’s sturdy.
“Can you use this as a step stool?” I ask. “Or do you want me to put you up there?”
“I can do it.” She gives me a look like a warning.
It’s very Nettie.
I grin. “Okay, Little Miss. I’ll be right out here if you need me.”
I close the door. Boone is still standing in the foyer. I shake my finger at him.
“Did you tell her we’d have cake for dinner?” I ask.
“I’m just trying to make friends here.”
“Well, I think you did.”
I stop in front of him. He looks down at me, pinning me in place with his bright, mischievous eyes.
There is so much I want to say to him, but I don’t know where to start. I’m afraid if I open my mouth to say anything at all, my voice will crack.
He’s so handsome with his unshaven face and heart of gold. It would be amazing to be standing here with him if I wasn’t such a mess.
“Stop it,” he hisses playfully. “You’re overthinking everything. Again.”
“How do you know?”
He grins. “Because you’re awake, for one.”
I laugh.
“And, for two, the lines between your eyes form when you’re thinking,” he says. “Like that.” He points at my forehead. “See?”
I can feel it. It’s true.
“I just don’t fly by the seat of my pants very well,” I admit. “And I know you’re doing me a tremendous favor here, but I just need to know how long you’re thinking. I don’t want to overstay our welcome, but I need some time to figure out where to go—”
“You are going to faint one day when you do this, and I’m going to humiliate you when it happens. I’ll call the ambulance and say, ‘Come get this chick. She wouldn’t stop talking and just gassed herself out.’”
I hit him in the chest. Instinctively, he grabs my wrists. We stand there, his hand clasped over mine, and look at each other.
“You want a time limit?” he asks softly. “Six months. If we haven’t revisited all of this in six months, let’s do it then.”
I raise my brows. “Six months?”
He releases my wrist. “I don’t know what’s happening either. It’s not like I woke up this morning and thought, ‘Man, I’d like to have Jaxi and a child I don’t know come live with me.’”
“I—”
He presses a finger to my lips, quieting me.
“But,” he says, looking me straight in the eyes, “I think it could be fun. The kid loves me. Loves me. And you? Well, you’re not bad to look at either. If I have to wake up every morning to you hanging out around the house, I could suffer through that.”
My cheeks heat.
“So does six months work for you?” he asks. “Because I’d really like to put this all to bed.”
My gaze skims over his chest and up his muscled shoulders, across his jawline, and to his eyes.
Me too.
“Jaxi?” he prompts.
“Yes,” I say, nodding. “Six months works. But you have to accept rent.”
His shoulders fall, and he turns around and walks into the kitchen. I, of course, follow.
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” I tell him.
“Are you hungry?”
“Boone.”
He stops at the island and plants his palms on the marble. “I don’t want your money.”
“I want you to have it.”
He rolls his tongue around his cheek. Finally, he sighs.
“I’m going to say this, and it’s going to sound like a dickhead thing to say, but I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t need your money. I have a lot of it. More than I’ll ever use.” He forces a swallow. “And I’m not saying that because I’m special or proud of it even. It was given to me by my family. I didn’t even work for it, okay? But I have it, and I can use it to help you, and that’s what I want to do.”