Mr. Smithfield - Louise Bay Page 0,36
was gone eight so Bethany wouldn’t be awake, but I tried to make it home before Autumn went to bed. I managed it most nights.
“Hey,” Autumn called. As I wandered into the kitchen, I found her at the cooker. “I’m making that meatloaf you liked.”
I couldn’t remember exactly when Autumn started cooking dinner for me. But for weeks now there was always something to eat when I got home from work. She’d said she was cooking for her and Bethany and so it was no trouble to cook for me too. But she didn’t have to, and we both knew it. That was Autumn all over—she always gave more than I expected.
“That’s kind of you.” I walked up behind her, snaked my arm around her waist, and buried my head in her neck.
“You’re back early. How was work?” she asked.
“Good,” I said, kissing her neck and then going to the fridge to get a beer.
“Really? That’s not normally the response I get from you. Usually you groan and complain about Mike.”
I chuckled. “Well he tried to be a dick today but it backfired.”
“Really?” she said, putting something in the oven and turning to face me.
“He knows I won’t travel. Since Bethany was born, it’s a hard line in the sand that I’ve always had and made no exception for. Today, Mike told me he’s looking at a huge telecoms company in Europe, and he wants me out there for a week to look at the parts of the data room that they’re refusing to put online.”
“Oh God,” she said. “What did he say when you told him no?”
I grinned and stepped toward her. “I told him yes. We’re going to Rome next week.”
Her eyes widened and she grabbed hold of my forearms. “What do you mean we?”
“You, me, and Bethany. I thought we could fly out on the Saturday morning. I don’t have to be in the data room until Monday. I’m not sure how the week will go, but I thought you and Bethany would like to explore Rome together. I might get some time during the day. But you’re probably going to be on your own most of the time.”
“Are you kidding me?” It was a sheen of shock rather than excitement that she wore.
“You don’t want to go?”
She blinked furiously. “I mean of course. I just need to check about . . . I need to figure out whether I have enough savings and—”
This girl took nothing for granted. “Autumn, you’re not going to pay for anything. It’s a business expense. But even if it wasn’t, I’ve got this.”
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I’m not expecting you to—”
“Autumn, please. You’ll be looking after Bethany—you’ll be working. And for the record, when I do take you away just for fun, you won’t be paying for anything then, either.”
“It’s important to me that I’m independent, Gabriel. Hollie’s looked out for me my entire life. I’m an adult now. I don’t want to be dependent on anyone. I need to know I can do life without a handout.”
I pushed my fingers into her hair, unable to help admiring her independence. But there was something in me that wanted to show her the world. “Let’s not borrow trouble. Rome is a business trip and you’re coming as Bethany’s nanny. It’s as simple as that.”
She looked at me like she wanted to argue the point but eventually her frown turned into a small smile. “We really get to go to Rome?”
“You said you wanted to go,” I said, my grin as wide as it ever had been as she lifted up onto her toes.
“This is beyond,” she said. “We’ll get to see the Colosseum. And St. Peters. The Pantheon. Oh my God. Mike doesn’t mind you bringing us?”
“I don’t care if he minds. Anyway, he won’t know. I’ll make sure we stay at a different hotel to him so we get some privacy. And we can stay the following weekend too if you’d like to.”
She looked up at me, her hands on my chest. “Are you serious? This is going to be so much fun. Rome.”
Before Autumn, I wouldn’t have considered going to Rome. I certainly would never have considered putting fun on the agenda. But now? I would enjoy eating pasta and drinking good red wine in an Italian restaurant. I was thinking about something in my life other than Bethany and work. I was looking forward to something. I wanted to share something with another