The Workaholic Down the Hall

by Katharine Sadler

  “I'm here often enough that—”

  “Look,” she said. “This isn't easy.” She gestured between the two of us. “If we're going to make this co-parenting as friends work, we need to have boundaries, firm boundaries.”

  “If you only think of me as a friend, it shouldn't be a problem to give me a key. You gave May a key.” I knew the words were the wrong ones as soon as her expression hardened and shut down.

  “I never had sex with May. There was once a physical attraction between us and the lines, the friendship lines got muddied. I want to make sure they don't get muddied again.”

  “I'm still attracted to you.” I needed her to know how I felt, even as I suspected I was sinking my own ship. “I still think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I still want to touch you and hold you every time I see you. I still think of you, even when you aren't around. I—”

  “No.” She held up a hand to shut me up. “I can't do this if you talk like that. We need to remember the boundaries. I don't want Sophie to grow up with a judge dictating her visitation with her father.”

  A judge? Visitation? I sucked in a breath, feeling like she'd just reached into my chest and ripped off a piece of my heart. How did we go from me telling her I still wanted her to talking about judges and scheduled visits with my daughter? “Aubrey, I—”

  She faced me, the pain on her face causing my own chest to ache. “Please,” she said. “I can't handle this right now. I can't handle any more complications or anyone else wanting something from me. Just be my friend. Knock when you want to come in and leave at the end of the day.”

  I couldn't deny her anything when she looked at me that way. “Okay.” I would do what she asked. For now.

  “Thank you.” She sighed. “I was just doing a little Christmas shopping for Sophie. I was thinking about getting her a doll, but I don't want to place societal gender expectations on her before she's even crawling.”

  I accepted her subject change as the olive branch it was. I sat on a stool next to her. “So, just get her a teddy bear. At this age, she's not going to notice what it is as long as it's soft and cuddly.”

  She nodded and typed in a new search. We picked out a cute, neutral-colored teddy bear and Aubrey added it to her shopping cart. A shopping cart with twenty-six items. “What else are you buying her?”

  She smiled and clicked over to her cart. “I might have gotten a bit carried away. I ordered some more board books for her. I've tried reading to her, but she doesn't like the books I have, so I thought I'd try some with more colorful pictures.” She showed me five cute picture books.

  “Looks good to me,” I said. “If she doesn't like them now, she'll love them when she gets a bit older.”

  “That's what I thought.” Sophie fussed and Aubrey reached over and rocked her chair a bit. “Then, I started looking at baby clothes, just for fun, and I got really carried away.”

  She scrolled through a long line of fluffy, pink infant and toddler dresses. “It's ridiculous, because your mom has gotten her more clothes than she can wear in one lifetime, but they're just so cute.”

  I looked at all the pink and the flouncy and the bows. “Talk about forcing a gender identity on her,” I said without thinking.

  Aubrey slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my god, you're right. I can't believe I didn't think of that. I just saw the pink and you know I love pink, even though I can't wear it because…” She touched her auburn hair. “And the lace and I…” Her shoulders drooped. “I'm a terrible mother.”

  “You're an amazing mother.” I pulled her into my arms and gave her a squeeze. “Sophie's too young to know what she's wearing.”

  Aubrey pulled out of my arms, still looking worried. “But what if she's not? I've been reading this book about the baby brain and it's amazing how quickly babies learn and how much they take in without us even realizing it. I could be shaping her fashion sense and her expectations without even realizing it.”

  I bit my lip not to laugh, I didn't think it would be appreciated. “I think she'll be fine, but if you're really worried about it, let's pick out some gender-neutral clothes.”

  She shook her head, her shoulders slumped. “She already has a ton of clothes.”

  “But you didn't pick those clothes. You should pick out a few things for her yourself.”

  She gave me a small smile. “Yeah, I'd like that.”

  By the time Mom came down and joined us in the kitchen, we'd picked out two more toys for Sophie and five adorable and gender-neutral outfits.

  “Why don't I smell coffee?” Mom asked.

  I stood and kissed her cheek. She was an absolute beast before she had her coffee in the morning. “I'll make it. You sit with Aubrey and discuss Christmas gifts for Sophie.”

  Mom hopped onto the stool and placed her crutches against the counter. She moved with impressive grace for a woman in a cast. “I've already picked up a few things for Sophie, but I could use some more ideas. What does she need?”

  Sophie chose that moment to let out a howl. Aubrey scooped her up and tucked her against her chest. “Feel free to search on my laptop,” she said. “I'm going to feed her.”

  She hurried into the living room and I wondered if she was really okay with Mom being there, taking up space and demanding coffee. She hadn't complained, but Aubrey wouldn't. I waited while the coffee percolated and handed a mug to my mother. She was scrolling through a page on Aubrey's computer, entranced.

  I left her to it and went to the living room to ask Aubrey what she wanted for breakfast, but she was fast asleep. Sophie was in her arms, also asleep and I took a moment to just watch the two of them, peaceful and so beautiful. I could already see that Sophie took after her mother, with her narrow, little nose and her huge green eyes. A wave of love washed over me, so powerful my knees buckled and I had to sit in the closest chair. I loved them so much. I just had to figure out a way to convince Aubrey of that. I needed to slide in, under her defenses. I'd make her see we belonged together, and then I'd never let her go.

  I needed to figure out how to prove to her that I wanted her, only her. I took Sophie from her arms, carried the warm, cuddly bundle of sweetness upstairs, and laid her in her bassinet. Then, I returned for Aubrey. I lifted her small body in my arms, breathing in her scent of cinnamon and vanilla. A scent that was so much her that when I smelled it in a bakery or a kitchen, I always thought of Aubrey. I was probably the only guy on earth who got hard at the smell of baked goods.

  I laid Aubrey gently in the bed and pulled the covers over her. I wanted to climb into bed and wrap myself around her, but I knew she wouldn't appreciate the gesture. I had to play this right. I couldn't risk losing her.

  I placed a soft kiss on her forehead and went back downstairs. Mom had finished half her mug of coffee and was looking much more chipper. “What would you like for breakfast, Mom?”

  She waved a hand. “Oh, I'm fine. Your sister has got me drinking smoothies, but I don't—”

  A knock interrupted her. I hurried to the door, hoping the sound wouldn't wake Aubrey, and found Oscar on the porch. My first instinct was to slam the door in his face, but I'm a mature adult and I can behave with good manners and reserve when faced with a rival for the woman I love. “What do you want?” I asked.

  Oscar flinched. I may have spoken a bit snappishly. He held up a thermos. “May thought your mother might like to have a smoothie, and I came by to see Aubrey and the baby.”

  I pulled the thermos from his hand and blocked his entrance. “They're sleeping. Come back later.”

  Oscar sighed. “Look, man. I thought we were past this. We had breakfast together, didn't that mean anything to you?”

  “No. We aren't buddies. Come back later.” I'd run into Oscar when I was out with Cody and he'd offered to help me find a job in town. I'd had breakfast with the guy, could even admit he wasn't half bad, but that didn't make me feel any better about him showing up on Aubrey's doorstep.

  “Aren't we?” he aske
d. “That's too bad. If we were friends, I could tell you I put in a good word for you at Outdoor Designs and they asked for you to get in touch with them.”

  Damn it. I stepped to the side and gestured him in.

  As he passed me, he patted my shoulder. “I should also probably tell you I'm seeing someone. I didn't have any romantic interest in Aubrey before, but now I'm officially off-limits.”

  His words didn't do as much to comfort me as they should have. I knew how irresistible Aubrey was. I knew how she could get in your head and make you forget other women existed. “Mom's in the kitchen,” I said.

  I handed the thermos back to Oscar and pointed him in the direction of the kitchen. I'd heard movement on the stairs and I wanted to intercept Aubrey.

  Aubrey's hair was a tangled mess, like she'd been in bed for hours and not just five minutes, her cheeks were red, and her eyes were sleepy. “You are so beautiful,” I said. “It hurts my heart to look at you.”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes, but her cheeks got even redder. “Right. Was someone at the door?”

  “Oscar's here. He wanted to see you and Sophie. I told him you were sleeping, so you can go back to bed.”

  She grinned and pulled her hands through her tangled hair, working out the knots. “I've missed Oscar.” She skipped down the stairs.

  I stopped her at the bottom with a hand on her shoulder. “He says he's seeing someone. It sounds serious.”

  “Oh, good.” Her smile grew. I didn't see any sign of jealousy and my own green-eyed beast cooled. “I'm so happy for him.”

  “What do you feel like eating?” I asked. “I'll cook a big brunch for everyone.”

  She looked at me like she was really seeing me for the first time that day. “You don't have to do that. I'll just grab a bowl of cereal or something.”

  “I want to do it,” I said. “How about pancakes and bacon? I've never done it before, but Mom can direct me.”

  Her stomach grumbled and she slapped a hand over it. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Noah.”

  I couldn't resist, I pressed a kiss to her hand like some cheesy knight in some cheesy story. She pulled her hand away and shook her head, but her smile didn't slip.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Aubrey

  I pulled the Christmas paper tight over the box and pressed down a piece of tape to hold it in place. I reached for the other side, but a knock at the door made me freeze in place. I was in the living room wrapping presents for Sophie, May, Nora, Noah, and everyone else while Nora was out with Cody and his family to see the local Christmas parade. I had skipped it, because Sophie and I'd had a rough night and because I didn't think she would have liked the crowds or the noise or the cold winter air. I was seated amid piles of stuff, only a quarter of it wrapped, and everyone I knew should have been at the Christmas parade. It should have been safe for me to spread everything out and wrap, but someone was knocking at my door.

  I looked around at the mess and sighed. It had to be Noah at the door. He'd been over every day for the past three weeks and he was starting to chip away at my defenses and my good common sense. He was just always around when I needed him and he kept complimenting me. It was driving me crazy. And sleep deprivation was making me crazy enough as it was. I tiptoed to the door, careful not to wake Sophie who was sleeping in her bouncy chair next to the tree, and opened it a crack, just enough to peek out. It wasn't Noah on the porch. It was my aunt Mimi, May next to her with a huge grin on her face.

  “Look who I found,” May said, her words a bouncy sing-song exclamation.

  I flung the door open and pulled them inside, giving them both big hugs. “Oh, my goodness,” I said to Mimi. “How are you here?”

  May shut the door and Mimi wrapped an arm around my shoulders and walked with me into the living room. “What happened in here?” she asked in a loud voice.

  I shushed her, pointing to the sleeping baby. “Don't look at anything,” I hissed at May, even though I was almost certain I'd wrapped all her gifts.

  May shrugged and sank onto the couch while Mimi bent over Sophie's sleeping form and made kissy faces at her.

  I grabbed Mimi's arm and dragged her past the mess in the living room and into the kitchen. I turned on the coffee maker, Mimi was a coffee junky so I didn't even need to ask if she wanted some. We sat at the center island, me with tea, May and Mimi with coffee and I asked again how it was possible Mimi was there.

  “I had the weekend free,” Mimi said. “Hank and I are going to his Mom's for Christmas, so it made sense to visit you now. He wanted to come, too, but he'd already volunteered to help at a school Christmas thing this weekend. I've got a car full of stuff for Sophie.”

  I put a hand to my hair. “If I'd known you were coming, I might have washed the baby spit-up out of my hair, but it's so good to see you.” Mimi wasn't close to her family, so she visited her husband's family for the holidays. She and I used to take a trip somewhere tropical every Christmas, until she got married. The past few years, I'd taken myself somewhere I'd never been. There were so many places to see, many of them in the United States. The previous year, I'd spent Christmas in Ireland, touring the sites and trying out the food. It had been a bit lonely, but also thrilling, to travel alone.

  “You look beautiful,” Mimi said. “I never would have guessed you popped out a kid four weeks ago. How's everything going?”

  “It's good. I have a lot of help. The lack of sleep is the hardest to deal with, but with Nora, May, and Noah all here to help I'm able to nap whenever Sophie sleeps, so I can function.”

  “Except when you're wrapping presents,” Mimi said.

  “Everyone's at the town parade, so I took the chance to wrap presents.”

  “I love wrapping presents,” May said with a little bounce. “Can I help?”

  Both women were happy to help and Sophie woke up not long after we got started. Mimi and May kept wrapping while I nursed her, so everything was wrapped up and under the tree by the time Nora and Noah got home.

  They were happy to see Mimi, too.

  “Why don't you take Mimi out for a tour of the town?” Noah asked. “I can stay here with Sophie.”

  He'd made the same offer for the parade, but I'd turned him down, even though I was dying to get out of the house for a bit. I hadn't felt ready to leave Sophie alone. Now that Mimi was there, though, the temptation was greater. “Are you sure you'll be okay?”

  He frowned. “Of course. We'll be fine. Go. Have fun.”

  “Do you think I could take a shower, too?”

  He waved me off. “Go. I've got this.”

  I hurried upstairs before he changed his mind or Sophie started screaming or both. Sophie was sleeping in her bassinet, where I'd moved her when she'd fallen asleep after the present wrapping, so I quietly stripped off my clothes and hurried into the en-suite bathroom. I took a fast shower, not wanting to miss a moment with Mimi. I toweled dry, wrapped my wet hair up on top of my head and hurried into the bedroom to change. Except the bedroom wasn't empty. Noah was standing by the bed and facing the bathroom door, Sophie in his arms. She wasn't screaming because he had her drinking from a bottle. And he wasn't focused on her, because I had just walked into the room and into his line of sight, completely naked.

  Noah had seen me naked, but that had been before the extra baby weight and stretch marks. Not to mention, I'd been feeling way less than sexy wearing comfy clothes, usually with some sort of baby fluid on them, and rarely having time to shower or even brush my hair. I'd been feeling like a mom, a frumpy mom, so when Noah looked at me and his jaw went slack and his eyes heated like he'd never seen anyone so sexy or beautiful, it did things to me. Sexy, warm, yearning things. I just stood there for three beats of my heart before my senses returned and I spun back into the bathroom, grabbed another towel, and wrapped it around myself.

  “I'm sorry,” I said. “I didn't realize you were in here.”

  He swallowed hard. “No…” His voice was scratchy and gruff. He c
leared his throat and tried again. “No reason to apologize. I…Sophie needed a diaper change. I'll just take her downstairs so you can get dressed.”

  It was stupid, but I experienced a pang of regret when he turned and walked away. I wasn't ready for sex and I definitely wasn't ready for sex with him, but it would have been flattering if the sight of my naked body had driven him so mad with lust he'd crossed the room and kissed me. It had been a long time since I'd been kissed and he was such a good kisser. My body tingled at the memory. I kicked myself as he closed the door behind him. I'd told him to stop flirting and to stop talking about us as more than friends. He was doing what I wanted. What I still wanted, dammit.

  I dressed and even put on make-up and combed my hair. I didn't take the time to dry it, but I was happy to discover my pre-pregnancy clothes fit. I hurried downstairs and found my aunt cooing at Sophie while Nora held her.

  Mimi stood as soon as she saw me. May leaped up, too, and grinned. “Mind if I join?”

  “Of course not,” I said.

  We grabbed our coats and we left. In my short time in Catalpa Creek, I'd gotten to know the area pretty well, so I was able to show Mimi some great views, some fun shops, and a good restaurant for an early dinner. May took us to the local shop that was selling her photographs and Mimi liked them so much she bought one. I was amazed by the beauty of May's photographs and by the choices she'd made. My favorite was a close-up of Sophie's tiny ear, wisps of her baby soft hair swirling around it. I fully planned to return and buy it after the holidays. I missed Sophie every moment I was away from her, but it was fun to hang out with adults.

  “Noah is certainly the doting father,” Mimi said. “Are you still pretending the two of you are just friends?” We were having a quick dinner at a local bar that served burgers and salads.

  May snorted and almost sprayed us with her soda. Her eyes widened and she pinched her mouth shut tight like if she was quiet enough I'd forget she was there and talk about her brother.

  “First of all,” I said. “I'm not pretending. We really are just friends. And second of all, we are never going to be more than friends. You need to let go of this fantasy that Nora lured the two of you into.”