Chapter 15

Fifteen

Harper

M y first date with Leo was the best one I’d ever had, and it probably had something to do with the epic sex. Our connection was heightened from the time we took to get to know each other.

I appreciated that he came home with me afterward to help get Evie to bed, and we watched TV before falling asleep. He was gone before Evie woke up, but it felt like he’d stayed most of the night. I loved that he said I was his girl. I got a fluttery feeling inside whenever I remembered that little detail.

Today, I was meeting with Gia’s recommendation for a realtor, Juliana, to consider my options. I’d worked the numbers, spoke to a mortgage broker, and had a budget in mind.

When Juliana looked up from her paperwork, she said, “It will be tough to find something in your range. If you’re willing to look outside Evie’s school district, it will be easier.”

My throat tightened. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice her education. “I’d rather not.”

“In her current school, single-family houses are out of your range. I could probably find you an apartment above a store in town. That would be your best option.”

The apartments just outside of town weren’t considered to be in a good area. They wouldn’t be safe for a single mother and a child. “That’s where I’m currently living.”

Juliana’s expression was apologetic. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find something that works for you. But if you’re willing to expand the area, I can get you some things to look at.”

It didn’t hurt to look. “Sure.”

She printed off several smaller homes that were older and needed a lot of work. Since Evie was at school, and I’d taken a few hours off work to look at properties, it made sense to see some of the options.

I told myself to be optimistic. Maybe the schools were still good. Maybe one of these houses would be exactly what we needed to start over.

Unfortunately, the photographs posted online were nicer than the reality. These places needed more work than I could afford on my salary, and I had no renovation skills.

“My husband owns a construction company, Morrison Brothers Construction, but I can recommend a few others, as well.”

I grimaced. “I was hoping for more of a turnkey property.”

“I’m sorry. There won’t be anything like that in your price range. But if you’re willing to increase the budget—”

I shook my head. I wasn’t one of those people who was stingy. I literally only had this much to allocate. I didn’t have a wealthy husband or family to fall back on. If I got in over my head, it was on me. I wouldn’t overextend myself.

After the last showing, we stopped in front of her van. “You didn’t like anything.”

“I’m sorry to waste your time. I just don’t have the skills or money to deal with a fixer-upper.”

“No worries. These visits are as much for you as they are for me. Now that I know what you’re looking for, I can send it to you when it comes on the market.”

I didn’t say anything, but I was fairly sure there wouldn’t be a magical unicorn of a perfect house in my price range. “Thank you for your time.”

The disappointment had turned into crushing despair. I’d give it a few minutes, and then I’d need to pick myself up and resign myself to staying where I was.

If I couldn’t afford a home in this area, even with the generous raise Gia gave me, then home ownership simply wasn’t an option.

On the drive home, I let myself consider the possibility of a fixer-upper. Could I live in one of those places without doing the repairs for a few years and live in a different school district? I didn’t want to. I knew my limitations and what I wanted, and I didn’t want to lower my expectations. Unfortunately, that meant staying where I was.

Maybe if I got a second job or waitressed more at Giovanni’s… I hated to give up my time with Evie, but she wanted a house, and I was so sure I could give that to her.

At work, I buried myself in the presentations we were planning for the out-of-state couples, and when I picked up Evie, I felt marginally better. All that mattered was that we were healthy and happy.

When we arrived home, I took a look at the bare pantry, remembering I never made it to the grocery store over the weekend. My phone buzzed with a text.

Leo: Want to grab dinner? I want to take my girls out.

“Who is it?” Evie asked, trying to look at my screen.

“It’s Leo. He wants to go out to dinner.”

“Can we go?” Evie asked excitedly.

“I don’t see why not.” I typed a response, and he said he’d be here soon, so I sent Evie to wash her hands.

When he knocked on the door a few minutes later, I’d pushed the house issue out of my head, or at least I hoped I had.

I opened the door, and Leo’s expression faltered. “Did you not like any of the houses you saw?”

“No.” I wished I hadn’t mentioned it to him at all. I wasn’t ready to dissect all the ways I fell short as a mother. Not being able to provide Evie with a home was starting to grate on me.

“Ah,” he said as he pulled me close for a hug. “You’ll find what you’re looking for. Sometimes it takes time.”

When he released me, Evie ran into the room to greet him. He immediately threw her into the air and caught her in his arms as she giggled. She wrapped her little arms around his neck while he whispered something to her that made her laugh.

They were so sweet together. This was what mattered.

“Are you hungry?” Leo asked her.

And she said, “I’m always hungry.”

“Want to go to one of the restaurants by the harbor?” Leo asked, and my stomach tightened. I probably should save my money and cook something.

“It’s my treat,” Leo said, as if he sensed my discomfort. I didn’t want to say anything in front of Evie, but I needed to pay my own way. I wanted to be an equal partner in this relationship.

When Leo walked down the steps and into the parking lot with Evie in his arms, he said, “My parents aren’t working today.”

I nodded, not wanting to acknowledge that his parents and Gia were a barrier to our relationship and continued happiness.

“When can I play with Matteo and Carlo again?” Evie asked as we walked toward the harbor. The good thing about our apartment was that we could walk to Evie’s school, shops, and restaurants.

“Whenever your mom says it’s okay.”

“Can I see them again soon, Mommy?”

I ruffled her hair. “We’ll figure something out.” I didn’t want to take advantage of Leo’s brothers or assume anything when it came to our relationship. At some point, Leo might decide I wasn’t worth the trouble.

“Did you have fun the other night with them?” Leo asked.

Evie nodded. “They’re silly.”

“She said they cheated when they played charades, dressing up and using props to act out the words on the card,” I said to Leo with a smile. I would have loved to see his big, muscular brothers, who always seemed so cool, dressing up and playing a part in front of Evie.

“My brothers are ridiculous,” Leo muttered as we turned onto Dock Street, which was along the harbor.

“Evie had fun, and I can’t thank them enough for watching her for me.”

“I had a great time too.” He winked at me, and I almost forgot about the house and money situation.

We went into Max’s, a casual bar and grill across from the recently renovated marketplace.

The hostess handed Evie a kid’s menu and crayons. With her attention on coloring, we looked at our menus.

Max, the owner, approached our table. “Leo. Good to see you.”

They clasped hands, and Max asked, “How are things at Gio’s?”

“Good.”

“Your parents thinking any more about retirement?”

“They talk about it, but I’ll believe when I see it,” Leo said, and they both laughed.

“Have you talked to them about your expansion ideas?”

“Papà wants to see my numbers.”

“That’s a good sign.”

“We’ll see,” Leo said, and I knew he was worried his father would never take his ideas seriously. It was hard for the older generation to let the younger one step in with different ideas and concepts, even if it could be good for the business.

I wondered if Leo was too wrapped up in our relationship to work on his plan.

Max turned his attention to me. “Harper, it’s good to see you too.” If he thought it was weird that I was with Leo, he didn’t mention it. “And who’s this?”

“Evie,” she said, without looking up from her drawing.

“You’re doing a good job coloring in the lines.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Duh. I’m in kindergarten.”

“Evie, don’t be rude,” I admonished, a little embarrassed. “And we don’t say duh.”

Max clapped his hands together. “I’m glad you stopped by for dinner. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

When he left, I said, “I’m sorry about Evie. I don’t know what got into her.”

“She’s not going to be perfect all the time. I know that. She’s human.”

“I know. It’s just—”

Leo leaned over and lowered his voice. “I know Evie will have moments when she’s upset or cranky. We all do. I’m not expecting everything to be perfect all the time.”

I realized I had been worried that Evie would act out, and Leo would decide we weren’t the right fit for him. My shoulders relaxed at his words.

“What was wrong with the houses you saw today?”

I sighed. “They needed a lot of work.”

“Which ones did you see?”

I pulled the sheets out of my purse and smoothed the creases from being folded.

Leo took them from me, carefully examining each one. “I didn’t know you were looking in this area.”

“I didn’t intend to, but Juliana said these were the only ones that fit my budget.” I hated admitting that.

Leo gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sure something else will come up.”

“She said she’d send me something if it came on the market, but I’m not getting my hopes up.”

“We’re not getting a house?” Evie cried as her gaze lifted to mine.

“I thought we could get one we’d like, but the ones on the market right now need a lot of work.”

“Leo hired a construction worker.”

Leo chuckled at her oversimplification. “I hired a construction company to handle all the work.”

Evie pointed her crayon at Leo. “So. Do that.”

“It’s not that simple, Evie. I won’t be able to hire a contractor. We’d need to do the work ourselves.”

“I can help you,” Leo began.

“You don’t have time to work on your own house,” I gently reminded him.

“This is different,” he said stubbornly.

“It’s not just the state of the houses. I don’t like the school district.” That was something a little easier for Evie to understand. “I’d like to keep you in the same school.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to leave,” Evie said with a nod and then returned to her coloring.

Leo reached over to squeeze my hand. “The right thing will come along.”

“I hope so. For the time being, we’ll have to stay where we are.” Every time I admitted that to myself, my stomach knotted tighter.

“There’s no rush to leave. Take your time to find what you want.”

There were so many variables: my housing situation, whether we’d get enough clients to keep Gia’s business afloat, and how Leo’s family would react when they found out about us. I had enough on my plate. Living in a single-family home was a dream that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

“I don’t want to change schools.”

But the reality was, I couldn’t afford a home in her school district.

“You know, you could use the apartment address to stay in the school district.”

My spirits lifted slightly. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“My parents won’t care.”

“Thank you for offering that,” I said, touching his hand with mine.

Our waitress took our order and talk turned to the restaurant.

“We’re having trouble retaining quality servers. They’re always calling out or not showing up. I think if we paid them more, they’d stay. The tips aren’t as good as other restaurants in town. I relied on your waitressing to cover them, but—”

“I can still cover when you need me to.”

“I don’t want to take advantage of you. You want to spend time with Evie, and my parents need to see that this is a problem.”

“Will they, though?” His parents preferred to run on a shoestring budget rather than have enough qualified and reliable waitstaff. They’d always been lucky with the kitchen staff. They were loyal and hardworking.

“They’re leaving for vacation soon. I don’t see them making any decisions before then.”

“That’s so frustrating. If they’re going to be gone, you should be able to make more decisions. Maybe you should tell them that. Stop waiting for permission and take charge.” I knew the Giovanni boys wouldn’t ever go against their parents’ wishes, but Leo was looking at me with newfound respect.

“I think you might be on to something.”

“You think it could work?”

“It’s worth a shot. We need the ability to make decisions, and if they’re not going to be around, then we should just step up.”

“Yeah, tell him who’s in charge,” Evie said, looking up from her page.

We all laughed because she was so earnest and adorable.

“I’ll just tell them Evie told me to do it.”

“They’ll have to forgive you because who can resist her face?” I said to him with a smile.

“Right?” His gaze on Evie was full of affection and tenderness. Was he falling for us, like we had for him?

Evie smiled at him.

Our date solidified everything I’d always suspected about Leo. He was a great guy, and we had chemistry in spades. I couldn’t wait to spend more time with him, both in the bedroom and outside of it.

“Are you going to be my new daddy?”

I sucked in a breath. Evie knew we were dating, but I wasn’t sure she understood the implications. Before I could figure out how to answer, Leo said, “You have a father. I’d never try to replace him.”

Evie’s lip curled. “He’s not like the other kids’ dads. He doesn’t live with us or spend any time with us. Not like you do.”

“That doesn’t mean Leo’s your dad.”

“If it’s all right with you, Evie, I’d like to be another important person in your life. One you can depend on, count on. I already love you.”

“Like Mr. G.?”

Leo cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but I appreciated he was trying to navigate it. Manny would have said whatever came to mind, not worried about how a child might take it. “Not exactly. I want to be a father figure, if you’ll have me.”

“I do,” Evie said, and then she surprised us by getting down from her chair and climbing onto Leo’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Well, that’s settled,” Leo said, even though nothing was, because we hadn’t told anyone about us. In our little circle, things were good, but it was the outside I was worried about.

But I allowed myself to imagine that this was real. That everyone knew about us, and they accepted us. That Leo’s parents listened to him about the expansion, that we found a way to keep Gia’s business profitable, and most of all, that we were a family.

Like everything, it felt too good to be true, and that’s when I panicked in the past. But this time, I was going to let myself feel it, even if it was only for a day or a few weeks. It was unlikely that I’d get everything I wanted, and it certainly wouldn’t last forever. But I’d take the little bit of time I could get.

I’d remember the time we were happy, and everything was okay.