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“Do you know how beautiful you are?” He asked as he met my eyes.
“Thank you.” I told him as he glanced at his watch.
“I’m going to go. I have to catch up. Call me if you need anything. I mean that.” He kissed Ella’s hair and walked over to press his lips to mine. I was in awe that this man was interested in me. I was just a girl that was working to go to college and he was running a successful company that made it, so he’d never struggle in life. Even if Nathan struggled with finances, he could bounce back but he was smarter than that.
“I’ll see you later,” I told him, pressing another kiss to his mouth. He headed out to the garage, and I looked at Ella with a smile. “Your daddy is amazing.”
I dropped her plate into the sink to wash later, carrying her to the couch to watch some TV. She didn’t have her energy back all the way yet. We relaxed a lot, and she took a long nap while I washed the few dishes that we used and looked around. My phone rang on the couch and I hurried over to get it, expecting Nathan to call.
“Hi, sis. How are you?” My sister greeted me cheerfully as I pressed my lips together.
“I’m good. Ella has been sick the last couple of days but Nathan stayed home with her yesterday,” I replied, keeping my voice light.
“Did he?” I rolled my eyes. “Is he not the type?”
“He took some calls and worked from his room. I think he is a bit of a workaholic.” I said as I took a seat.
“Have you settled in?” Emery pressed, and I wanted to laugh. More than I cared to admit.
“It’s amazing here. It would be hard not to.” I reminded myself to send her a picture of the sunset when we were done. Emery wanted us to come visit her, and I promised that I would when Ella was back to her normal self. My nieces were older, but they’d all get along and I knew how great they were with younger kids. We chatted for a while and I kept everything inside about Nathan. I wasn’t the type to become involved so quickly with a man and this was a risky situation. Seeing Nathan in that suit this morning rocked my world and gave me some doubts.
When I hung up with Emery, my phone rang again. I picked it up to see that Carli was calling me, frowning with curiosity.
“Hi, Carli. How are you?”
“Just checking in when I had a minute. How are you guys?” She made us sound like a family and I smiled wistfully.
“Ella has been sick the last couple days. Your brother stayed with her yesterday but went to work today. She’s better, just not the energetic girl that she normally is.”
“She was talking to you well when I left. Is that still the case?” Carli asked as I smiled.
“It is. Nathan said that it’s faster than usual with strangers.” I replied proudly, making her laugh.
“Good. She’s fine then. Ella just wants someone around to comfort her.” Carli told me as I agreed. She was still easy when she was sick if someone was near her during her awake times. “How’s Nathan?”
“Fine, I suppose. Have you talked to him?” I asked, surprised that she was asking me.
“I tried to call but he can be impossible when he’s working. I knew that you would answer unless Ella was demanding your attention.” I laughed at that.
“He does well for being on his own.” Carli laughed.
“He didn’t tell you that much about Brenda, did he?”
“I knew that she was his wife and died.”
“They were only together for eight months when she got pregnant. That mean they were together for just a couple of years before she died. Don’t get me wrong. It’s sad that she died because she was my niece’s mom. They were not a match made in heaven by any means. He did the right thing, and he is now.” Carli explained as my eyes widened. Why didn’t he tell me that? “He’s not proud of the way things happened but I can assure you that Ella is his heart and soul. I’d just like to see him get a partner again. He deserves it.”
I had a feeling that she was directing this at me. Did she know that I was attracted to her brother?
“I agree. He’s a good man.”
She changed the subject and told me that she wanted to come and visit with her mom before the holidays. Maybe a month or so. Did I know if anything was going on? That was quite a question given that I had no idea. Would they come to us not being involved or doing well?
&nbs
p; “Not that I can think of. Things here are pretty steady,” I replied as I heard Ella upstairs. “She’s awake so I should get her. Talk to you soon!”
“Bye, Riley.” I killed the call and hurried upstairs to Nathan’s bed where she fell asleep.
