Alice waved a hand in my direction. “I’m trying to get Natalie to go out.”
Sam smiled. “That’s a great idea.”
“But I don’t have a sitter for Delaney.” It was a good excuse. I didn’t even know many people in town anymore besides Kylie.
“I’m sure my mom would love to watch her. She watches Maggie all the time,” Sam offered.
Mac glared at him like Sam was overstepping.
“I couldn’t ask her to watch Delaney. She doesn’t even know me.” Especially when it was clear Mac was not happy about the suggestion.
“Mom loves kids. Trust me.” Sam exchanged a look with Mac. “She’d be all for it.”
“I’m too tired at the end of the night to do anything but take a bath and collapse,” I said.
Mac’s eyes darkened.
Was he remembering the night the faucet spewed water everywhere? Was he thinking of me in that see-through lingerie, or had he heard me in the bathtub?
“You can’t be a mom twenty-four seven. I mean, you can, but you deserve a break every now and then. My mom gave me the same speech when I insisted on being the only one who could watch Maggie,” Sam said, and I could tell he’d thought a lot about it.
I softened at his honesty. He’d felt a kinship with me because we were both single parents. It had nothing to do with Mac. I bet they hadn’t discussed what happened, other than how to fix yet another problem with the renovation. That’s why Sam was here today. “Sure. Why not?”
It wouldn’t hurt to ask his mom if she would be willing to babysit. And I needed someone to help out here and there. Not just for a girls’ night but if something came up.
Alice clapped her hands. “I’m so happy that worked out.”
“No one has asked her yet,” Mac said.
“Oh, she’ll say yes,” Alice said with a smile. “No worries about that.”
“You think she’d come here, or would I take Delaney to her?” I asked, working out the details in my head.
“She’d do whatever makes you comfortable. I’ll give her a heads-up that you’re going to call, and I’ll send you her contact information.” Sam pulled out his phone to do just that.
“I should get back to work,” Mac said abruptly before he walked away.
“What’s gotten into him?” Sam asked, but his gaze was on me.
“I’m sure it’s all the delays. I think he’s ready to be done with this project.”
Sam burst into a guffaw; his head flew back and everything.
I frowned, looking from Sam’s amused expression to Alice’s content one. “What? Did I miss something?”
“I think we have to disagree on that.” Then he held his hand out to Alice. “Want to go to lunch?”
She placed her hand in his. “I’d love to.”
I watched them walk out—his arm around her shoulder and her tucked into his side—and felt more alone than ever. I couldn’t remember a time that Carter had held me like that. Not even at the beginning of our relationship. I just got out of a divorce. I shouldn’t be interested in anyone, but I hadn’t been touched in so long that I couldn’t even remember what it felt like.
The demise of our marriage happened slowly over time. I was busy with Delaney, and Carter was obsessed with work. We drifted apart. We had sex less often; intimate interactions were few and far between until we were reduced to roommates sleeping in the same room.
I realized too late that we never talked about anything important. I thought we’d have time to work on it, but Carter had other ideas. He’d said it was my fault for being too involved with Delaney. But he was absent between working and traveling. The thing was, when it was over, I felt betrayed, but I didn’t particularly miss him. I just hated that he’d left Delaney.
I didn’t think he even realized the level of abandonment she’d have to deal with for the rest of her life because her father was impulsive and put his own needs ahead of hers.
I made my way up the stairs, checking empty rooms until I found Mac in one of the bathrooms. No one else was there, so I asked, “Do you mind if I ask your mother to babysit?”
Mac looked at me briefly before turning back to his work. “Why would I care?”
“I don’t know, but you seem to.” I was hesitant to get involved if Mac truly had an issue with it.
He picked up tiles and placed them on the floor of the shower, using the spacers in between each one. “It’s none of my business who my mother babysits.”
“I don’t want to intrude if it makes you uncomfortable.” The last thing I wanted to do was create problems with my contractor. I was friends with Alice, and by extension, Sam, but if Mac wanted me to stay away from their mother, I would.
Mac turned slightly toward me and raised a brow. “Does it make you uncomfortable?”
I thought about it for a few seconds but couldn’t come up with any reason why it would be an issue for me if Mac’s mother babysat Delaney at the house. “No.”
Mac nodded and returned his attention to his work. “Then you have your answer.”
“It would be nice to go out. I haven’t done anything since I moved here.” I literally stayed in the house all day, had groceries delivered, and ordered takeout.
“Why not?” He shifted slightly so he could see me.
“I’m busy between the renovation and Delaney. I grew up here, but other than Kylie, I haven’t reconnected with anyone yet.”
“You don’t have family here?”
Shaking my head, I said, “My parents moved shortly after I graduated from high school.” I never told them how much it hurt that they sold the family home so nonchalantly, throwing out any of my childhood mementos because there wasn’t room where they were going. They hadn’t even discussed it with me. The part that hurt the most was that I didn’t have a home to return to after the divorce.
“You’re friends with Kylie Wilde?”
I laughed at his question. “If you can believe it. We’ve been friends since kindergarten. She was the wild one, and I was the reserved one.”
“You don’t say.” He considered me a moment before continuing, “I don’t remember you hanging around the lodge.”
He was referring to the Wilde Ski Resort, which Kylie’s family owned. “We were younger than you, but you’re right. I wasn’t as adventurous as Kylie. I didn’t ski or snowboard.”
“Hmm. You grew up in Telluride and don’t know how to ski?”
“I was always too afraid to try it, and my parents never pushed.”
“You should have one of the Wildes take you out.”
Remembering what they were like as kids—no-holds-barred, skiing at night, lucky they never ran into a tree—I shuddered at the idea. “No, thanks.”
I felt Mac soften toward me. If all it took was a little small talk, then it was worth it.
“You should do something for yourself. Call my mom. She’ll be ecstatic. She loves helping people, and she loves kids even more.”
Throughout our discussion, he listened intently when I talked. It hadn’t been like that with Carter. I hadn’t confided in him because I wasn’t sure he cared what I was doing. I should have known that wasn’t a good sign for our relationship.