The miracle groom, p.14
The Miracle Groom, page 14
Noah laughed easily. “If a flood was coming, I’d put my money on Texas to survive. They are too tough here to drown.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Wait, are you in Texas, Sunshine?”
“I’ve been here a couple years. I just graduated with my MBA.”
“That’s awesome. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” She gulped. Where exactly in a conversation should a person cross over from friendly catching up to asking for fifty thousand dollars?
Noah continued. “Harley and I read your email. We’re definitely interested in talking to you sometime about this doggie café.”
Cedar squeezed her eyes shut and worked hard to contain her squeal. “Great. When are you available?”
“Well, we’re headed out of town next week, so we can do Monday or in three weeks.”
Cedar pressed her hand to her stomach. Monday was the day she and Teo were supposed to take Akoni to the zoo. There were just three weeks left before Teo had to report in for preseason workouts, and then his life, and their time together, would revolve around the team’s schedule. She had no idea what that meant, having never dated an NFL player before, but got the distinct impression that the carefree days of off-season were about to disappear.
Nevertheless, she needed this meeting, and she couldn’t wait three weeks. Darrin may be out there schmoosing his way into a contract for his own doggie café as she sat there in her pajamas. In three weeks, Akoni would have a new nanny and she’d be out of a paycheck. She needed to ensure an influx of money before that happened. “I’ll take Monday.” She petted her laptop like it was a cat, grateful she’d spent the last two days buried in her work and could accept the earliest date available. It made her sound confident, prepared.
Teo would be upset. He’d been feeling neglected lately. Not that he’d said as much, but she could see it in his warm brown eyes. He was battling demons of another sort, but she was the one who raised them from where they slept. If she could just get this business up and running, then she would be able to make things right.
“Great. I’ll email you directions to Harley’s office.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting your bride. I can only imagine the woman you roped into marrying you.” She laughed.
“Ha! I can’t believe she agreed to it in the first place. There’s a whole story there. I’ll fill you in when you get here.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Cedar pressed her warm hand to her clammy forehead. She’d known Noah for years, seen him play tag with children, ghosts in the graveyard with teens, and had even pranked him a few times; but asking him for money caused her limbs to quake. She was independent by nature. She started doing her own laundry at ten—not because her parents made her, but because she felt it was time she stepped up. They, of course, were all too happy to have one less responsibility.
She needed to continually remind herself of the fact that loans were part of a business. And just because she was borrowing from a friend, didn’t mean she was any less of a success than if she’d borrowed from a stranger.
The question of why she didn’t take Teo’s money popped up and made her sit down. Teo was different from Noah. She wasn’t dating Noah. Of course, she hadn’t been on a date with Teo in over a week, either. Still, she wanted to keep Teo separate from all this. Not that she was worried that things would end between them; on the contrary, they fit so easily together there was no reason for insecurities between them. The reason she didn’t want Teo’s money was that she wanted to show Darrin up, and she didn’t want Darrin thinking she had to date a man to get him to hand over funds. Heaven forbid she gave the impression she was sleeping with Teo or that they had a quid pro quo thing going on. Keeping Teo out of this was the only way to maintain her reputation.
Another big argument for doing this on her own was that she didn’t want to feel obligated to Teo—like she owed him for anything. She just wanted to be free to be with him without a loan muddying up the mix.
Suddenly wondering why she was sitting in her messy apartment when she could be sitting on Teo’s beach, she sprang into action. She fit what she could in the dishwasher and called Teo.
He answered on the second ring. “Hello, lovely lady.”
“Hey, stud.”
Teo laughed, a deep, throaty, intimate sound that sent a thrill all the way to her toes. “Stud? Can you call me that in front of the team at least once?”
“I’ll call you stud once a day if it will get me a kiss.” She was happy to be all bold and flirty since he couldn’t see the misshapen T-shirt and sweats she wore.
“Deal.”
There was so much happiness in his voice—so much, dare she say, love?—that it gave her pause before she broke the bad news. She had no desire to wipe those adorable dimples off his cheeks. “So, I have some great news and some gray clouds.”
“I don’t like the sound of gray clouds.”
“Let’s start with the great news, then.” She shut the dishwasher and selected the hot-wash cycle. Some of those bowls were crusty. She proceeded to tell him that she’d landed a meeting with a promising potential investor. He heartily congratulated her, which made her feel all the worse for adding, “The not-so-great news is that I have to take a rain check on the zoo—the only day they’re in town for the next three weeks is Monday.”
“That’s one big rain cloud.” Teo spoke low.
“I know. I’m so very sorry. I don’t mean to disappoint you and Akoni. I didn’t really have a choice.”
He sighed into the phone. “I don’t know when else I’ll have time to go. I’m booked with preseason interviews. The pictures of us at the restaurant a couple weeks ago came out, and everyone wants to know about the new woman in my life.”
“Really? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.” She picked up a clean washcloth and dug the disinfectant out from under the sink.
“I won’t give them your name. They’re mostly going to ask things about getting over Amy’s death and moving forward.”
Cedar scrubbed at the counter. “I still don’t like it.”
“There’s not much I can do about it.” He sighed again. “So is this your official notice? Do I need to hire a new nanny on my own?”
Cedar cursed under her breath. “I scheduled two interviews for Wednesday. I just forgot to tell you. I-I’m not sure what’s going to happen after the meeting. I can change the times if you need me to.”
“I’ll rearrange some things and make it work.” The finality in his tone was not right. Teo was warmth and sugar and hot kisses. This stoic man was part stranger. And she didn’t like that he had appeared in their lives.
Cedar would have done the interviews, but Teo wanted to be there. Of course he wanted to be there; he was Akoni’s father. And what was she? Right now she felt like a nanny on her way out the door, not like the girlfriend and partnering caregiver he’d treated her as before.
She felt like a huge jerk for dropping this on him. When she’d taken the job as his nanny, they hadn’t planned on her falling for him or Akoni. The whole thing snuck up on her and sucked her in without a conscious thought.
She should really take a minute and think about where she wanted to be in a year. Did she want to be trading off a kid with Teo? Was she ready to make a commitment to the two of them? There was no way to love one and not the other.
A husband and kids were on her list of life goals. They were one of the top priorities. Getting everything she wanted in life, the chance to build her own business and a hot guy and a darling little baby, was overwhelming. She wanted it all—she just wasn’t sure she wanted it all now. A family was a big commitment. They came with responsibilities.
She glanced down at her Friday the 13th wardrobe. She was holding her life together by loose strings, how could she consider taking on more—even if they were the best parts of her life.
“Cedar?”
She could see Teo in her mind. He was probably running his square fingers along the edge of the countertop. She could even tell by the slight echo over the line that he was in the kitchen. She smiled to herself.
The fact that she knew him well enough to smile at the thought of him told her that her heart may not have waited for her head to decide anything.
“S’mores,” she blurted. “Let’s do s’mores after my meeting on Monday—to celebrate.”
There was only a short pause as Teo adjusted to the new conversational direction. “Sounds like a plan. We’ll be here and have a fire going.”
“I’ll bring the goodies.”
“It’s a date.”
She cradled the phone. “I can’t wait.”
Chapter 21
Teo wandered around the back yard, picking up toys and sweeping sand off the patio and into the beach. The house, his refuge, was too quiet. Akoni had finally cut his tooth and was back to his quiet, studious self.
As much as Teo enjoyed the time with his son, he’d missed talking to a grown-up. And not just any grown-up: he missed Cedar. She filled a hole in his life and his heart that he didn’t think would or even could ever be filled. When they’d first kissed, the world seemed just right.
They could spend the whole day at home together and not fight. Not once. He wasn’t dumb enough to believe that a couple would never have a disagreement. Heck, they’d had one the day she cancelled going to the zoo. If you could even call it a disagreement. They hadn’t yelled and there was no name-calling—not that he was prone to either behavior. They just sort of stumbled through the hurt feelings. He wasn’t sure they’d solved anything in their stumbling. At some point, they’d have to have a conversation about what they wanted out of all this. Five weeks of dating wasn’t usually the point in the relationship where a deep conversation needed to take place, but they were facing some major changes, and he needed to be focused for the season. Relationship drama was the number one distraction for a football player. The team was counting on him to be on his game, and he needed to figure this out.
That’s why tonight was the night he was going to tell Cedar he loved her. They had the evening to themselves. They had the firelight. The setting was romantic and intimate. He’d showered and shaved and ironed his button-up plaid shirt for the occasion. It wasn’t every day a man said those big words to the woman he was dating.
With the back yard in shape, he started the fire. It was still warm enough to roast a turkey on the sidewalk, but the shade tarps had kept the sun off the beach. The sand was warm but not too hot on his feet. He must be getting used to living in Texas if he looked forward to a fire on a summer day. Or perhaps he was looking forward to holding Cedar and having her all to himself. He needed a night of the two of them, whispering while they cozied up together in a lounge chair.
When he was satisfied with the yard, he took Akoni inside. His son was red-faced, so Teo gave him some water to help cool him off and wiped his face with a cold cloth.
He checked the clock. Seven-thirty-three. Cedar had the code to get in through the door, so he decided to start Akoni’s bedtime routine. At eight-fifteen, he went out to the fire to wait for her. Really, she should be here by now. Worried, but not wanting to appear needy, he sent a picture of the low-burning fire and a text that said, Ready for something sweet.
She replied with a smiley face emoji without any words.
Hmm. Teo slipped his phone in his pocket and folded his arms to keep his hands from shaking. She could be driving.
At nine-thirty he called, assuming she was on her way and would answer. It went to voicemail. He followed up with a text—Things must be going well—and the same emoji.
He wasn’t sure what time it was when he fell asleep in the lounge chair, but his last thought was that his arms were empty and cold, and he hadn’t been able to say I love you.
Chapter 22
Cedar put the car in park and cut the engine. Teo’s house was dark, the windows black and the solar lights ran low on energy. The sound of her door opening echoed down the row of adobe houses. Her heels clicked on the stamped concrete walkway and the keypad light lit up the front porch. All of it drew attention to the fact that she was late—so very, very late. She’d texted Teo when she left Harley’s office, but hadn’t gotten a response.
Noah had met her in the lobby of the office building in downtown Dallas. The place was huge, with glass walls and chrome accents. Harley was detained, but Noah had given her the grand tour, ending in a small kitchen with a kind woman who offered them homemade cookies and fresh lemonade. They talked for a while—reminiscing over pranks between their cabins and asking where other counselors were now. The longer she waited, the more she understood that Noah had set this up as a favor. She wondered if she should just offer to come back, but three weeks was so long, and she was ready now.
Harley breezed in at three-twelve, looking as composed as if she’d just had a day at the spa. That wasn’t the case. Cedar could hear her on the intercom to the secretary and receptionist throughout her time in the kitchen.
Noah had introduced them, and Harley wanted to know as many stories about Noah as possible. She was good friends with Paige, Noah’s sister, who was also Cedar’s good friend. Paige had a baby not much older than Akoni. Their conversation merged into business, and before she knew it, they were ordering in dinner. There wasn’t a break in the evening where she could politely step away and call Teo. The heaviness of letting someone down—someone who was important to her—settled on her mind as she discussed first-quarter gains.
Cedar looked around, hoping for some sign of life. If Teo was in bed, she couldn’t walk into his house—his bedroom—and wake him up. She’d never set foot in his room, and she wasn’t going to go in now while he was sound asleep, like some weird stalker.
She slowly made her way back to her car. Despite having secured the funding for the Doggie Café, she had the feeling that things were slipping away. Between missing dates and phone calls and texts, she was becoming the world’s worst girlfriend. The longer she was away from Teo the more she missed him. That was a sign, right? A sign that they were meant to be together, that he was her match. Deja said there was no doubt—when the timing and the person were right, then she’d know.
Cedar looked around for a shooting star or a spotlight to land on the house.
Nothing happened.
The timing could be off because she had decided to go after the doggie café with a vengeance. Which meant this void in their relationship was her fault. The realization hung around her neck like a boulder.
“I am in control,” she said to the windshield in an effort to convince herself she had everything under control.
The answering silence was not reassuring.
Chapter 23
“Are your hours flexible?” Teo looked up from his phone where Mrs. Park’s résumé stared up at him. She had all the right qualifications, and Akoni hadn’t run to hide behind the couch when she came in.
“You bet.” Mrs. Park smiled, creating several parentheses around her lips. She wore a long, light-pink T-shirt with the Texas Titans logo on the front and a pair of darker pink slacks. Her running shoes were white. “My husband passed a couple years ago, and my son lives out of state. I can schedule my visits during the off-season.” She tucked both sides of her short blond hair behind her ears.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Teo nudged Cedar, who was staring at her phone.
She jerked in her seat. “Huh?”
Teo tipped his head towards Mrs. Park.
“Oh—I’m sorry.” Cedar clicked her screen off. “How do you feel about a variable schedule?”
Teo waved off Mrs. Park, who looked like she was about to launch herself into the same speech he’d already heard. He’d had enough and got to his feet. “Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch.” He escorted her to the front door and made sure she was headed down the street before going back inside. He found Cedar balancing Akoni on her hip while she scrolled through emails on her phone. She’d come dressed the part of an executive nanny today with her long, flowing skirt and button-up blouse. The large belt around her middle accentuated her curves, and her hair was in a messy bun that looked just right.
He reached for his son, hoping to steal a quick kiss. Cedar handed Akoni over without making eye contact.
Teo checked his hold as his hands began to shake. The familiar feeling of being dismissed crept over him. Cedar wasn’t freezing him out to spite him, but the chill was just as strong.
He set Akoni in the ball pit. A few steps and shots of courage later, he slipped his arms around Cedar from behind. “Hello in there,” he murmured in her ear before kissing her neck.
Cedar leaned into him. Her phone went to her side and her head tipped back to allow him better access—a fact he would make good use of. “Hmmm, mmm,” she hummed.
He kissed her earlobe and she gasped. Teo smiled against her sweet, pineapple-smelling skin. He splayed his fingers across her belly, loving the way she fit against him.
Cedar’s phone signaled a text, and she jolted and hurried to read the message. The warmth between them cooled as quickly as fresh muffins on a granite countertop.
Teo released her and ran his hands through his hair. “You’re like a big storm cloud brewing.”
Cedar looked over her shoulder, her thumbs over the keyboard. He made sure they made eye contact. That didn’t happen all that often these days. Her eyes were still ocean blue with green waves in them. Still beautiful.
“What’s wrong?” Her phone went back to her side.
Teo scratched the back of his neck. There were so many things he wanted to say, like, Can you put your phone away long enough to look at me? But he wasn’t looking to start a fight. He’d had enough fights to last a lifetime. “I miss you.”
