take care of Ranger. I’ve got everything under control. Hand him to me and go take care of your mother. He and I will be fine.”
Maybe it’s too domestic, but I can’t resist kissing her as I settle Ranger into her arms. He stretches a little, lifting a fist above his head, but he doesn’t wake otherwise.
“Thanks again. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Oh”—I dash in and fumble for a sticky note and pen on the bar separating the kitchen from the living room—“here’s my number. Call me if you have any problems.”
“I won’t. Go. Bye.”
I need to get my mother to the hospital, but I’m reluctant to leave Masey. “His room is the last one on the right down the hall. He needs a change, I think, but he shouldn’t wake up again until after I get back. Really…I appreciate this.”
She’s smiling as I shut the door, dart back to my mother’s SUV, and take off for the hospital.
At a little after two in the morning, I slip inside my condo, thanking God that Makuahine’s ankle isn’t broken, and shut the door with an exhausted sigh. Then I freeze.
Masey is nowhere to be seen…but everything in my living room has been picked up and tucked away. The throw Harlow insisted I “need” on the back of the sofa has been neatly folded and its coordinating pillows arranged artfully at either end. Ranger’s toys are back in their box. She’s stacked his books, which he chews on more than reads, and wiped all the dried cereal off his exosaucer. She folded the last load of his laundry, which I never got around to, and set everything back in the basket. His baby blankets are neatly organized in the little rocking chair with his name painted in big red letters.
The place looks as close to perfect as I’ve seen it since I brought Ranger home from the hospital.
“Holy shit,” I mutter as I wander into the kitchen, where I find more of the same there. The dishes, even the ones I didn’t have time to do after breakfast, are squeaky clean. Most are put away. A few odds and ends are still drying on the rack stacked on the basin, but the place is immaculate. There’s even a collection of Ranger’s little plastic oatmeal bowls and bottles all lined in a row in a corner of the counter. The stove is spotless.
I’m utterly speechless. She watched my son and cleaned up?
I definitely owe her. But where is she?
Heading down the hall, I peek into my bedroom, wondering if she fell asleep. Seeing her in my bed…I wouldn’t be mad. Not at all.
But when I open the door, the room looks the same as it did when I left. And she’s still nowhere to be found.
I wince and make a mental note to put away all my clean clothes tomorrow. In the meantime, I toss my dirty garments in the hamper and kick my discarded shoes into my closet. But it’s probably too late to impress her. Even if she didn’t take a curious peek into my bedroom, she has no illusions that I’m an absent housekeeper at best. Whatever. She didn’t agree to spend the night with me because I make a mean bed or mop my kitchen until it gleams.
Since we’re not going to have a long-term relationship, I shouldn’t sweat her opinion too much.
With a shrug, I tiptoe the rest of the way down the hall, into my son’s room. The first thing I see is Ranger all cuddled up with his favorite blue blanket, wearing his monster-truck pajamas. His man-in-the-moon nightlight casts just enough glow on his little form to see that he’s breathing deeply and evenly.
Finally, I turn to the glider Britta insisted I need to properly rock an infant. Masey is slouched in it, head propped against the back, fast asleep. On the little table beside the glider, I see an empty baby bottle. She still has a burp cloth draped over one arm.
At the sight, my heart does some sort of flipping, melting thing I know is about more than gratitude. I’m reluctant to put these feelings into words.
No denying, Masey is the kind of woman I should fall for…but love hasn’t worked out well for me in the past. I need to give her the amazing romp I promised and step away. Even if Masey would never mean to hurt me, Harlow’s bestie hasn’t been out of her last relationship for