Waiting for You (19 page)

“Aidan got worried when you didn’t answer your phone. I told him I’d come check it out.”

“Oh.” Karise felt bad for making him worry. She felt even worse for dragging Gavin away from his family. “Sorry.”

“No worries. The amusement provided is more than ample payment
for any trouble I’ve been out.”

“That’s
comfortin
g. Any chance of
Aida
n not hearing all the
details?
”

“Not a one.”

KARISE WAS TEMPTED
to soak in a warm bath, but after the San Francisco bathing debacle, she didn’t trust herself to stay awake. She
also had no desire to soak in goat poop. Instead, she opted for a nice hot
shower. Maybe it was in vain, but she held a vague hope the hot water
would sanitize her skin.

Her choices of soap were Zoe’s watermelon splash or Aidan’s
distinctly masculine concoction. Her reasoning for picking Aidan’s was
twofold: It probably had more experience removing goat odor, and she
wasn’t completely opposed to curling up with his pillow and dreaming
about him. Watermelon splash probably wouldn’t do much for the kind
of dreams she was hoping for.

She felt like a new person by the time she reappeared downstairs,
freshly scrubbed and in her pajamas, her hair piled on top of her head.
She didn’t want to think about cleaning their clothes or Zoe’s doll.
She just wanted to curl up with the little girl on the couch to watch the rest of her cartoon with her.

“You look like a new woman,” Gavin proclaimed.

“Thanks.” Karise gave him an appreciative smile.

“I got to talk to Daddy!”

“Really? How is he?” Karise slid next to Zoe on the couch.

“Super good. He wants you to call him later.”

Karise shuddered inwardly, casting a glance at Gavin, who refused
to look her in the eye. “I bet he does.”

“Zoe, my love, I leave you in capable hands.” He patted the girl’s
foot and rose from the couch.

“Night, Gavin.” She held her arms out for a hug. He responded with an embrace that nearly lifted her off the couch.

“Goodnight, Gavin. Thanks again for everything.” Karise meant it; he really had saved the day.

“Anytime. How about you and Zoe swing by tomorrow night for
dinner?”

“Is it that painfully obvious?”

“I might have noticed some takeout containers on my way in.” He held his hands up. “Not judging, just observing.”

“That sounds good, thanks.” Karise didn’t bother disputing. It was
probably best for all involved if she owned her limitations.

Once they were alone, Karise decided cleaning their mess could
wait. She didn’t have many opportunities to snuggle a squeaky clean kiddo on a comfy couch. There was such peace to the moment that it almost made the hell of the day worthwhile. Zoe sighed and wiggled
closer to Karise. Karise couldn’t fathom why any woman would walk
away from such an amazing man and darling child. Both had so much
to offer; Aidan’s ex-wife must have been so very broken inside to not want them.

It would have been easy to fall asleep on the couch with Zoe. If
Karise hadn’t needed to call Aidan still, she might have done just that,
but she reluctantly extracted herself from the sleeping Zoe, lest Aidan
send someone else to check on them. Karise was tempted to leave Zoe
on the couch, but she worried the girl would wake up scared in the
middle of the night, so she carried her to bed and tucked her in.

As
Karise
dialed Aidan’s number, she poured herself a glass of sweet
red wine and tried to ignore the mess around her. Zoe had preschool
in the morning. Karise had every intention of dropping her off, checking
in at work, and then coming straight back here to regain order before anyone was the wiser. Anyone other than Gavin, that is.

“You, my darling, are my new hero,” Aidan greeted her.

Karise could feel a blush creeping across her cheeks. “That wasn’t
the hello I was expecting.”

“Did you think I’d laugh at you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay, maybe I did laugh a little. And I really wish I’d been the
one to find you chasing goats in my shirt and little else…” He cleared
his throat. “But mostly I just admire the hell outta you.”

“Wow. We need to find you better role models. I mostly bungled things up today. If anything, I have a whole new admiration for you. I have no idea how you keep up with your life.”

“Lots of friendly neighbors and a couple of really good employees.”

Karise almost asked where the friendly neighbors and good
employees where when
she
needed them, but since Gavin had come to her rescue, she wasn’t exactly in a position to complain. “Speaking
of, I’d reprimand you for worrying about me and sending Gavin over,
but considering the state he found me in, I guess I’ll say thanks instead.”

“Goats can be jerks.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“They can also be quite charming, I promise.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Karise was skeptical. “Hey, how did your day go? Anything eventful?”

“It was pretty quiet, actually. I’m not sure if I should admit that, though.”

“That’s okay; you’ve earned a quiet day. Are you excited about
tomorrow?”

“A little nervous. Mostly just ready to come home.”

“You just left,” she reminded him.

“But I hate being gone. I’ve been away from Zoe more in the past three months than ever before, and I hate it.”

“She mentioned that, too.”

“Did she?” He sounded interested.

Karise decided now was as good a time as any to recount their
earlier conversation to him. “She’s not crazy about how much you’re gone, and she’s even less thrilled about the changes to the house.”

“I can’t believe that didn’t occur to me.”

“You just got a little excited about the project. I’ve promised her to work on a compromise.”

“Did you? What do you have in mind?”Aidan asked.

“I have no clue – yet. I’ll come up with something.”

“You sound confident.”

Karise
topped off her wine and
started
making the rounds, checking
door locks and flipping off lights. “I have to be. Have you tried to say
no to that kid?”

“It comes easier with practice.”

“We’ll have to disagree on that one, too.”

“What else are we disagreeing on?” He seemed amused.

“That goats can be charming.”

“I thought you were taking my word on it.”

“I lied. I think you’re full of it. They’re beasts straight from the pits
of hell,” she informed him.

“Challenge accepted.”

Karise slid under the covers of his bed, taking a deep breath to
delight in the scent that lingered on his pillow. “You’re wasting your energy, and heaven knows you need it.”

“Is that a proposition?”

“I meant to live your crazy life, but now that you mention it,
possibly.”

“I can catch a flight tonight.” The words rushed from his mouth.

“Silly man. I’ll still be here when you get back. Besides, the best things are worth waiting for – remember?”

“I think we need to talk about something else or I will be on a plane
tonight.” Aidan’s voice was husky.

“I fed your daughter way too much restaurant food today,” Karise
confessed. It was the safest topic she could think of.

“That’s okay. She probably enjoyed the break from my cooking.”

“What’s with that, by the way? Why don’t you have any food in the house?”

“I have plenty of food in the house,” he argued.

“No, you have ingredients like flour, and sugar and salt. There is no actual food.”

“I mix the ingredients together to make the food.”

“That’s what Zoe said. How do you have time for that?”

“I make the time. Have you seen the documentaries? Do you have
any idea what they put in that crap?”

“Zoe called it that, too,” she informed him.

“Lovely. I’ve taught my daughter to talk like a sailor.”

“What kind of
sailors
have you been hanging out with? I think that’s
still pretty mild by nautical standards.”

“Wait, how many sailors do you hang out with?”

Karise giggled. “Loads.”

“Now I want to get on a plane again.”

“No, you should definitely wait. I have better odds of having the sailors cleared out by Tuesday.”

“Very funny.”

“I thought so.” Karise sighed. “And just so you know, this is highly unfair.”

“What is?”

“You get to hang up and go to sleep in a sterile hotel room. I’m
completely surrounded by you. Resign yourself now to the fact that I’ll be having dirty dreams about you.” She stretched her legs and pointed
her toes, flexing her calves. His sheets were luxuriously soft; they felt decadent against her skin.

“This hotel room is anything but sterile, and I can guarantee that after that speech, I’ll be reciprocating.”

“You’d better. Let me know how I do.”

“You want me to tell you about my dreams? How many glasses of
wine have you had?”

Karise thought about it. “Two. They were kinda big ones, but I’m
not tipsy. Maybe I am a little. Oh my gosh; I’m the worst babysitter
ever. I am so sorry.”

Aidan chuckled. “I think you guys will be okay. I’m going to get off the phone now to go get an ice bath.”

“Goodnight. Love you.” Karise hung up the phone before it occurred
to her what she’d just said. She stared at the phone in horror, all warm
and fuzzy feelings gone. She tried to reassure herself that maybe he
hadn’t heard her. If he had, she didn’t want to know what he was
thinking at that moment. Maybe he’d pass it off as the wine talking. Karise latched on to the excuse, trying to convince herself that was it.

She turned off the lamp by his bed, pulling his pillow in closer. The image of him danced across her mind’s eye. His smile, his eyes
sparkling with mischief, that way he had of looking at her – the one that
made her feel like she was the only other person on the planet.
She
knew it wasn’t the wine or the surroundings. She wasn’t just crazy about
Aidan. She loved him like she’d never loved another human being.

Karise wasn’t sure what to do with this newfound knowledge. She
didn’t know if it should change anything, and she certainly wasn’t
ready to share it with anyone else. So she tucked it away in her heart, her own special secret to mull over when all was quiet.

Maybe it was her imagination, but the sun seemed to shine a little
bit brighter the next day. Despite staying up way too late to think – and
enjoy the feel of Aidan’s bed – Karise was up before Zoe. She Googled
pancake recipes and had a respectable breakfast on the table by the time
Zoe stumbled into the kitchen, her hair in a charming state of disarray.
Karise might have burned the first three pancakes, but Bonnie and
Clyde were more than happy to destroy the evidence for her.

“Did you know there are blue and green eggs in your egg carton?”
Karise asked by way of greeting.

“My favorites are the speckled ones.”

“I thought they just came in white.”

Zoe shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“Thanks.” Karise’s tone was wry as she set a plate of pancakes in front of Zoe. How was she supposed to know chickens laid different
colors of eggs? “I wonder why stores don’t sell the pretty eggs. I’d
buy those.”

Zoe
just
eyed
her
before
deciding the
pancakes
were more
interesting
.
After breakfast, Karise sent the girl to get dressed, wondering if that was
something she normally did on her own. When Zoe returned in a red
plaid skirt, purple pixie shirt and ladybug rain boots, Karise suspected
that Aidan usually picked her outfits. Personally, she didn’t see the
harm in letting the girl express a little creativity. Besides, they were
already five minutes late, and Zoe had yet to brush her teeth.

They were only mildly late by the time Karise found the preschool.
If the teachers gave Karise disapproving looks, she ignored them.
Nothing was going to deter her from enjoying this day.

Her job did its best, though. She hadn’t even turned the car off
before Gary was at her door with a list of problems that had to be solved
before construction could continue on Kate’s house. Karise listened
to the foreman rattle off roadblocks as she followed him around the site. When he was finished, she volleyed her own set of questions. Back
and
forth they went until they settled on answers they could both live with.

Karise was just about ready to slip away when Kate pulled up with
a cheerful hello. The two greeted with a quick hug before Kate stepped
back to admire her house-in-progress.

“I think I can see what it’s going to be.” Kate’s eyes took in the framed-out lumber.

“It’s starting to look like a house,” Karise agreed.

“I can’t wait. I mean,
Aunt
Joan
and Uncle
Mason
have been amazing,
sharing their house with us since we sold the loft, but I miss having a home of my own.”