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“Perfect,” he says. “Shall we get the ice cream and then just go back to my place?”
“Sure,” I say, nodding. “Sounds good.”
“Yay. I’m going to be with Ella. I’m going to be with Ella.” Frannie lets go of my hand and start skipping around the room. “I love you, Ella,” she says, beaming at me. “I wish you were my mommy.”
“Aw,” I say, feeling slightly hot. “Well, I’m sure you’ll have a mommy soon,” I mumble and look over at Danny. “I hope it goes well.”
“I hope so as well.” His eyes are on me, and there’s a weird glint as he looks me up and down. I know I need to speak to Isabel. I need to ask her what she thinks. I may be overthinking it. I may be going crazy. There’s no way he’s interested in me. He’s never really said or done anything to make me think that he is. “Great, Ella,” he says. “Is there anything else you want here to go?”
“No, I’m good. Thank you.” I smile at him, and he pulls out his wallet and withdraws a stack of twenty-dollar bills. I’m glad it’s not dollar bills, or he would have made me feel like a stripper.
“Let me give this to you now,” he says, beaming as he hands me stacks of money. I almost wait for him to make a comment about making it rain, and I chastise myself internally.
“Oh, you don’t…”
“No, it’s fine,” he says. “Frannie loves you, and we’ve come to depend upon you. I’m really grateful that you would take the job at the last moment. I’m really grateful for all the moments you’ve come over and looked after us,” he says. “You’re special, Ella.”
“Thank you,” I say, smiling, happy that someone recognizes that I’m a good person. “You’re a really good dad, Danny, and I really hope that you find someone who will be Frannie’s mom so you don’t have to hire me anymore.” I try to emphasize the “hire me anymore” because I don’t want him to think I want the role, but I can’t tell if he’s taken it the right way or not. He’s just looking at me with a dreamy expression, and all of a sudden I’m feeling like everything in my life is getting way too complicated.
13
“Okay. It’s time for bed, Frannie,” I say, escorting the girl to her small room. “It’s time for you to go to sleep.”
“But I don’t want to go to sleep. I want to wait up for Daddy,” she says, pouting, looking at me with big, beguiling eyes that make me want to pull her into my arms and hug her.
“Well, it’s seven o’clock, and it’s past your bedtime,” I say. “I think you’ll just have to wait until tomorrow morning.”
“But I can’t say good night to Daddy in the morning. That will be morning. I’ll say, ‘Good morning, Daddy.’”
“That’s true,” I say, laughing, knowing that the little girl has stumped me. “Frannie”—I look at my watch—“you know that if you want pancakes for breakfast…”
“Are you going to make them, Ella? Yes. You make the most delicious pancakes ever.”
“Well, I most probably won’t be here in the morning because I’ll go home once your daddy gets back.”
“Why don’t you ever stay like Daddy’s other friends?”
I stare at her for a few seconds, not sure how to answer that. “Um, I think your daddy’s other friends are most probably special friends if they’re staying over,” I say quickly, not wanting to hear about Danny’s live-in lovers or friends with benefits.
“Daddy says you’re his favorite special friend,” she says, beaming at me. “He says that you are the sort of woman that every man wants to marry and fall in love with because you’re perfect. And you’re the best babysitter I ever had, and I love you, Ella,” she says, opening up her arms wide.
I give her a huge cuddle and rub the top of her hair. “Want me to read you a story before bedtime?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “I think I’ll just go to sleep. That way, I’ll wake up faster and then I get to see Daddy faster.”
“That is true,” I say, and my phone starts ringing. I look at the screen and see that it’s Isabel.
“You can take that if you want, Ella. I’m just going to brush my teeth and then go to bed.”
“Okay. Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you come out to the living room if you need anything, okay, Frannie?”
“Yes, I will,” she says as I answer the phone and head out of the bedroom.
“Hey, chica, what’s going on?”
