Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

A my

The morning is a repeat of yesterday, complete with Matteo going in with me to get a smiling Layla who said ‘dada' about twenty times before Matteo left for the day.

Since everything is cleaner from yesterday, it doesn't take as long to clean today. I check the weather and get Layla dressed in an adorable purple jogger set. She hates the coat I try to put on her, so I wrap her up in a blanket and then another one over her car seat when I take her downstairs.

It's almost twenty minutes past the time I thought I would leave. I check the clock in the dashboard to see it's almost fifteen past one as I pull up outside the clinic. Getting Layla, her diaper bag, and lunch through the front door of the clinic takes a minute.

When I walk through the doors, there is a wide desk with two women. One of them, an older woman with long hair in thick braids, is on the phone.

The other is younger with bright blue hair. She's concerned. "Oh, my goodness, you look so much better. Are you sick again?"

Confused, I shake my head. "Um, no. I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"I'm Willow. I was here when you came in." The smile is back.

"I apologize. I don't remember much from that day."

She nods. "No worries. You seemed bad off. I'm glad you're not sick again. How can I help you?"

Now I'm embarrassed. This seemed like a good idea before I got here. I wonder if he'll think I'm crossing a line or something. "I'm here to have lunch with Dr. Castillo."

Her brown eyes go wide. "That's great. He never said anything about it. But he can forget sometimes when he's busy. And goodness, is he busy with paperwork. Let me ask Cleo to come get you and escort you to him."

Picking up a phone, she dials and a moment later tells the woman what I said. "Okay, give her a few minutes. She'll be right here."

She said a few minutes, but it's more like twenty seconds. I barely have time to put down the bags and Layla on an empty seat when a woman appears. An older woman, heavy-set and wearing glasses, comes through the doors. Her concern is clear. "Amy, is everything all right?"

I nod. "Hi, I'm hoping to have lunch with Matteo. So he'll actually eat."

A smile lights up her whole face. "Thank goodness. I've worried about him and the way he overworks himself and forgets to eat. I'm glad you're here. Let me grab a bag for you. Follow me."

Grateful for the offer, I give her Layla's bulky diaper bag. As we pass through the doors, it's busy but not hectic.

Cleo stops outside an office with the door open. "Dr. Castillo, you have a visitor."

I hear a soft curse from inside the room. "Come in. It's my mother, isn't it?"

"No, it's not your mother. I hope it's okay to come have lunch with you." The look of shock on his face has me laughing. Then his smile is bigger than Layla's after getting her way.

"Yes, please. Cleo, can you do me a favor and close my door? Thanks." He takes Layla's car seat from me and leads me to the long, low, tan leather sofa in a corner of the large room.

"This is a wonderful surprise. I hate to admit you know me well. I set my alarm for lunch, then got caught on a long phone call and completely forgot. Let me grab the cooler you packed."

I shake my head. "Don't bother. I only packed you some string cheese because I knew you'd forget."

Opening the bag, I packed our lunches in I grab two glass dishes full of the chicken fettuccine I added broccoli to. I'm glad everything is still warm from me making it before I left. I hand him one, putting mine on the low table in front of me.

He unwraps Layla, who chuckles with happiness at seeing him. I take out another dish, this one filled half with goat cheese and the other half with hummus. I packed as much of the bread he loves as would fit without getting smushed.

Unfastening Layla from the car seat, he puts the car seat on the floor beside him and settles Layla onto the couch. She's interested in what we have until I give her a bottle. Since she can hold up her bottle on her own, she's preoccupied while Matteo and I get sorted.

"This looks good. I'm not a huge fan of broccoli; this is one of the few ways I'll eat it—in something."

"You didn't get me the list of what you like and don't like. I'm not leaving here today until we get it written out." I warn him.

He sighs. "You're right. My apologies."

"It's all good. I wasn't sure beyond a few of the dinners we've had that you seemed to like."

I ask him about his day so far, and he explains that he has a backlog of paperwork to get through. Then he shifts the conversation back to me and how my morning has gone.

Once we're finished with lunch, we work on his list. I take down not only what he likes but also what he doesn't like. I can't hold back a chuckle over how much a doctor doesn't like vegetables. He admits they usually need to be covered in some kind of sauce. It takes us a few minutes to find the frozen vegetables in a sauce his previous housekeeper bought that he liked. I add a half dozen to the order I'm working on.

Layla finishes her bottle and crawls all over Matteo.

I notice his lunch hour is almost up. "Now, am I going to need to do this again tomorrow, or will you stop and eat your lunch?"

Chuckling, he shrugs. "I can't make any promises. My mother diagnosed ADD might kick in again. It's not my intention to go without eating."

I sigh. "Fine. I'll make sure to bring more toys for her, so she doesn't use you as one." Layla has her hands buried in his hair and is gnawing at his ear. "Come on, sweetie. It's time to go home. We have to let Matteo get back to work."

When Matteo puts her in her car seat, she begins crying loudly and screeching, "Dada."

"Damn, she needs her nap." Matteo picks her up again and begins walking her around the room to soothe her.

"Matteo, it's okay. She'll cry it out and fall asleep on the way home."

He shakes his head. "I'm not letting her cry. It's better to get her to sleep now. The drive home is so short you'll wake her up again when you try to get her out of the car to take her upstairs, and that will really piss her off."

Layla is in a temper and fighting his soothing while at the same time clinging to him tightly. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm sorry. I know. I hate leaving you, too. I do. I wish I could stay home all day and play with you."

I have everything packed and can only sit and watch Matteo walk her around the room, gently rocking her and speaking low. It takes more than twenty minutes before she calms down. In all that time, Matteo never checks the time or betrays any annoyance for the, at times, screeching and crying baby in his arms.

Once the crying has stopped, she babbles to him. He nods repeatedly as though he understands her and talks right back. At last, she puts her head down on his shoulder and sighs deeply—something she does when she's given up fighting sleep. Maybe five minutes later, her eyes close. Matteo continues to walk her for another fifteen minutes, talking to her softly.

I'm a little embarrassed. It's almost an hour after his lunch was supposed to be over. "I'm sorry. I don't think this is a good idea after all. We took up so much time?—"

"Hey, no. I loved it. Even this part." He runs a large, gentle hand up and down Layla's back. "This is one of the perks of being the boss. No one is telling me to get back on the clock. With me trying to get through my backlog of paperwork, our on-call person agreed to come in today and tomorrow. And I hired someone who will start next Monday."

Lifting one of Layla's hands up to his mouth, he kisses it. I'm grateful as hell his eyes are on her because there's no way I can hide what it does to me. It's like he reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart with his bare hand.

The good thing about Layla is once she's in a deep sleep, she won't wake up in the middle of a thunderstorm or earthquake. Matteo gently puts her into the car seat. He watches her before he buckles her in.

I can't identify the smile on his face as he looks up at me.

"She is mighty in her fury. I'm not as worried about her health as I was. Let me grab my stethoscope to listen to her. When you come in tomorrow, is it all right if I take blood for the workup I mentioned?"

I nod. "I would appreciate it. I'm a little worried since it's been so long since she saw a doctor."

A few steps take him back to his desk. His movements are fluid as he grabs it and wraps it around his neck. He sits down in front of the car seat. Pressing the stethoscope to her chest, he's gentle. I see the doctor in him. Everything screams he's done it a thousand times.

For fourteen years, he treated kids and lost some of them. I have no idea how he lasted as long as he did. I'm glad he isn't doing it now. This is a man who feels deeply. Even the kids he didn't lose made him ache at watching them suffer through his treatment—I have no doubt in my mind.

I'm so lost in thought I miss him saying my name.

"Are you all right?"

"What? Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I'm thinking about whether to go shopping now or later. How does she sound?"

"She sounds excellent. The labs I run will take a few days. Once I have the results back and everything looks good, I'll be happy."

His smile is turning my brain to mush. Am I staring at him? "Great, okay. Well, I better get going. Don't work too late."

"I won't. Let me carry Layla outside since you have so many things."

I follow him out of the clinic. Willow waves as we pass her. I wave back with a smile.

"Matteo, you should have grabbed your jacket." It's cold today. I have the plain fleece jacket over the long-sleeve pink top I'm wearing. Since I was just coming to the clinic, I went with thicker leggings.

He laughs as he opens the back door to put Layla inside. "After so many years in Baltimore, this is nice weather."

Once he has her inside, he pulls the blanket over Layla down to her chest—so it isn't covering her face. He holds his hands out for the bags. I hand them to him. Settling them down on the floor, he closes the door.

"Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. I'm feeling better. Before you came, I was getting another headache. Now, no headache. Even after Layla got upset." He's glowing with happiness.

Dear god, he's so gorgeous I can't breathe. Does he see my longing? His head tilts in question.

"Good, I'll see you at home tonight." I force out the words from my tight chest, unable to meet his eyes. Getting in the car, I close the door.

Matteo's eyes narrow on me as I put on my seatbelt. I don't miss that he stands in the cold, staring at the car until I'm out of sight.

Amy

I worry it will be weird when he gets home. Except it's as if it were any day. Layla cries out in happiness to see him. He picks her up and cuddles her close. After we eat dinner, he gives her a bottle and puts her to bed.

Once he's back, we sit down and do the jigsaw puzzle together with the television on. We talk about his day, but not for long. He wants to know how I'm doing and more about me. I tease him about setting a time for us to do the things from the Christmas chest. I tell him I want to do the pottery first.

He doesn't flinch from it, "I'm good for any day during the week after five. Now that I have hired another doctor, after this Saturday, I'll have Saturdays free. Don't forget, I have brunch at Rafe's on Sundays. It's at ten, and I'm usually there for around two hours. The offer is still on the table for you to save me from my mother and sister-in-law."

I force a laugh at the last bit. He might think my past and how poor I am is no big deal. But sometimes, when you're too close to something, you miss the bigger picture. "I'm sure you're strong enough to endure."

"I'll do my best."

We go back to the puzzle. But I find it hard to focus. What if his mother did manage to set him up with someone? Would she be okay with me and Layla here? How soon before this came to an end? I make an excuse and flee to my room.

Stop it, Amy. You can't have him. You're just the housekeeper—nothing more. If you don't get it together, you'll ruin this.

Yet as I lay in bed restless and unable to sleep, all I can think of is Matteo with the kind of woman he belongs with. She would be a fancy college graduate with perfect blonde hair and legs up to her neck. He adores her, and he leaves me and Layla behind while she cries for her dada.

Oh god, shut up. Focus on one damn day and get through it until you get to the next.

Amy

Friday and Saturday are like Thursday, except Layla doesn't have a screaming fit. Matteo feeds her the cereal with formula while we eat, and then he walks with her until she falls asleep.

When he leaves on Sunday Layla is taking her nap. And I'm hiding in my room pretending to nap too.

Once he's gone, I can't settle—roaming every inch of the condo, including the very cold rooftop deck. Until t he weather sends me back inside.

I grab my notebook and go into Layla's room to sketch her. The sketch is supposed to be her sleeping in her crib. Instead, it's a sketch of Matteo holding her while she's asleep.

It isn't until I'm shading his insanely hot ass I realize what I've sketched. Red with embarrassment, I flip the page and try again. Except this one is him and Layla at the dining table with him feeding her.

My nerves are shot by the time he comes home. His mother pushed hard on him until he broke. He agreed to help out a woman desperate for a date on Saturday for some work thing.

It's my fear from last night. He's going to go on a date with a beautiful woman who belongs in his world.

Oh god.