“Ok. Good night,” he says, and his eyes get softer. “Hope it’s okay in there.” He points into the guesthouse. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Nick. I will.” I smile, and he watches me as he walks backwards. And then I swear he blushes again before turning around and walking back up to the house. I don’t realize how fast my heart is beating until I close the door and face Vi. I take a deep breath and try to act casual. Maybe it’s totally common for employers to say good night to their employees every day. Who knows? It might be 100 percent normal.
“Oh,” Violet says quietly. “My god.”
“Shut up,” I say, falling into the couch and throwing my arm over my face.
“I take back everything I said earlier. You must hit that.”
“Violet!” I swat her with my free arm. “Enough.”
“I’m serious, Ev! If you don’t, I will!”
“Stop!” I yell, louder this time. “You are not helping, just so you know.”
“When you told me about him, I envisioned an older, George Clooney type. You know, handsome yet unattainable. I thought maybe you were experiencing some schoolgirl crush or something. But Nick is young, and Nick is totally into you.”
“What?” I say, sitting up to face her. “Really?”
Now I really feel like I’m back in high school.
“Yes. Oh God, yes. It’s so obvious. He came to say good night? Bullshit.”
“No. You’re wrong. He was just being nice. It’s my first night sleeping in here.”
“I thought last night was your first night?” She cocks her head playfully.
“Oh. I didn’t tell you?” She shakes her head, and I tell her about how Cecelia had me stay the night, and how Bria had had a nightmare and had begged me to sleep with her in Nick’s bed. She cackles when I tell her about Nick catching me in his bed this morning.
“You scoundrel!” she teases, sipping her wine. “He’s probably wishing you were back in his bed right now,” she says quietly, and I throw a pillow at her.
“Hey! Be careful,” she laughs. “I’m holding wine, and I don’t want to stain your fancy new couch.”
“He’s mourning his wife, Vi. Stop putting those thoughts in my head.”
“I’m just saying... if I knew he looked like that, and if I knew he was into you too, I would’ve said that it’s about damn time he moves on. You might be the perfect woman for him. Bria loves you, and it has been almost a year—”
“Stop,” I say seriously. “I mean it.” I stand up and cross my arms. “You’re making me uncomfortable. I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Violet just sits there, looking shocked and hurt. I’m normally up for gossip, but this is just too much. “I can’t believe you would even suggest that Nick is ready to move on. I saw him today. He is not a person who is ready to move on, Vi. He is a person still very much grieving.”
She looks down, chastised. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “You’re right.”
“Thank you for apologizing,” I say flatly, and I sit back down.
“He’s probably horny as hell, though,” she whispers, and I glare at her.
“Seriously?”
She shrugs her shoulders innocently. “What? Humans have needs, that’s all.”
“Out,” I say, pointing to the door. “If you’re going to keep talking about this, get out.”
“Fine,” she whines. “Let’s talk about something else, then.”
“How is Marcus?” I ask, hoping that if I change the subject to her boyfriend, it might mask the small smile forming on my lips when I think of Nick in bed.
“Oh, stop with the small talk,” she says, eyeing me mischievously. “How are you doing?”
“Fine...” I say cautiously. She has that sympathetic look in her eyes. “Why are you asking me like that?”
Her face falls, and the instant she looks away, I know it has something to do with Dan and Mia.
“You didn’t see the...” She trails off. “Oh. Shit. Don’t look,” she begs, and before she can say anything else, I’m grabbing my computer and pulling up his Facebook profile.
September 9, 2014
Daniel Walling got engaged to Mia Gentry