21. Savvy

21

Savvy

R ory decided that he was going out for a while that evening, so Savvy went to her room. She hoped that he would knock on her door when he came in, but she fell asleep before she heard his footsteps in the hallway.

The next morning, Hollie and Owen arrived for breakfast. “We want to take the kids to the little carnival.”

“I’m not a super huge fan of rides that are set up in a matter of hours and are part of a semi-trailer,” Rory said.

“I’m not proposing that we take the little guys on one of those loopty-loop rides where they hang upside down with only a lap bar to hold them in,” Hollie said drily. “They have rides for young’uns there. They also have a lot of games and such.”

“And cotton candy. I love cotton candy,” Drake said.

“Can we have funnel cake fries?” Cat asked.

“I think you should finish your breakfast before you think about treats,” Savvy said.

They looked at her as though she just suggested something so outrageous that they were completely stunned. Then, they started scarfing their food.

“Slow down. You’re going to make yourself sick,” Savvy said. “I promise that your grandparents will wait for you to finish eating, and the rides will still be there when you are done.”

Obediently, they ate normally. Then, Savvy took them upstairs for their travel stuffies and an extra set of clothes.

“We’ll bring them back around bedtime, all nice and tuckered out,” Hollie promised.

“Who’s going to be tuckered out – you or the kids?” Savvy asked.

“Yes,” Owen replied.

Laughing, Hollie and Owen hugged her, as did the kids, and then they left.

Rory put his arm around her in a kind of sideways hug and said, “Enjoy your day,” and headed out.

“Amy, Rosa, I’m going to Beth’s, unless you need me to help out around here,” Savvy said.

“Go have fun,” Rosa said. “Since I don’t have to worry about lunch and you guys can have leftovers for dinner, I’m taking the day off, too. There’s a new spa I’ve been wanting to try.”

“Same here,” Amy said. “I think I’ll make Colby take me shopping, out to lunch, and then to a movie.”

“Have fun,” Savvy said. She called Beth and let her know that she was on her way over.

“Where are Cat and Drake?” Taryn asked when Savvy and Cassia got out of the truck.

“Well, hello to you, too,” Savvy said.

“Hello. Where are Cat and Drake?”

“They are hanging out with their grandparents,” Savvy said. “You’ll get to hang out with them very soon. I promise.”

Beth waddled over and hugged Savvy. She had to lean forward a little to be able to wrap her arms around Savvy.

“Careful. Don’t lose your balance,” Savvy said.

“I do seem to do that a lot lately,” Beth confessed. “I just walk slowly and hope that I don’t topple over. I can’t see my feet.”

Savvy laughed and they went inside. Taryn went to the fridge and poured them glasses of sweet iced tea.

“How are things going with Rory?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know.” Savvy sighed.

“She’s fallen in love with him,” Cassia said. “I told her not to, but would she listen to me? Nooooo, of course not.”

Beth laughed and then looked at Savvy, who shrugged. “Cassia is probably right. I think that I’ve fallen in love with him. I know that it’s a stupid idea because he’s my boss. I am the nanny. Nothing good can come of this. We’ve had sex a few times and it’s absolutely incredible. The chemistry is thick. Outside of that, though, he hasn’t shown any romantic interest in me. I know that men have sex for the sake of having sex.”

“Girl, I’ve seen the way that man looks at you. He most definitely has feelings for you. He might just be too scared to admit it. You know that he’s been hurt before,” Cassia said.

“Cassia is right. I saw how he looked at you while you guys were at the gala. He looked at you like you were the only woman in the world,” Beth said.

“It might take him a while to realize that not all women are the same. He will have to learn to trust that you aren’t going to run out on him and the kids as soon as a better opportunity comes along,” Cassia said.

“I won’t leave the kids unless I have to,” Savvy said. “And if he loves me, then I wouldn’t leave him, either.”

“I think that tonight when he gets home from work, the two of you should sit down and have a conversation. Tell him that you care about him romantically and you would like to have a relationship with him.”

“What if he doesn’t feel the same, and he tells me I have to leave?” Savvy asked. “What if he doesn’t ask me to leave, but then things get really weird?”

“What if he tells you that he cares about you, too, and that he wants to have a relationship with you?” Beth asked. “You won’t know until you have a conversation with him.”

“And regardless of the outcome, at least you’ll know where you stand,” Cassia said.

Taryn got up, cut herself a piece of banana nut bread, and said, “This sounds very complicated to me. I’m going to leave all this crazy love stuff to you people and go hang out with Pegasus.”

She gobbled her snack, grabbed an apple, and went outside.

They talked about the baby, and Beth said, “Conner is going to spoil this child. He has a beautiful crib, a changing table, and a rocking chair in the nursery. His parents have bought tons of diapers and outfits.”

“He missed out on all of that with Taryn,” Savvy said. “He’s probably going to hover after the baby is born, at least for a while.”

Beth groaned. “He’s going to drive me insane.”

They laughed. Savvy enjoyed her visit and headed back to the house before dinner. She wanted to make sure that she was there in plenty of time to greet the kids.

Rory was in the kitchen, warming up some food that Rosa left in the fridge. He smiled at her. “Did you have a good day?”

“I did,” she said.

“What did you do today?” he asked.

“I hung out with Beth. She’s getting big and about ready to pop,” Savvy said. “If I didn’t know better, I would think that she was having twins. That baby is going to be thirty pounds by the time he’s born.”

Rory laughed. “She’ll probably feel that way by the time the baby is born.”

“How was your day?”

“Interesting. I had a potential client get upset with me,” Rory said.

“Details?”

“The man is accused of killing his roommate for money, stuffing him into a barrel, and then throwing him into the lake. I decided not to take his case.”

“Why not?” Savvy asked.

“Because he is as guilty as homemade sin,” Rory said.

“Aren’t you a criminal defense attorney? Isn’t that what you do?” Savvy asked, confused.

“I tend to only take cases where I believe the defendant is either innocent or there are mitigating circumstances.”

“What about the idea that all people deserve to be represented in court, no matter what?” Savvy asked.

“They do deserve representation and there are plenty of other lawyers out there who will be glad to take the case,” Rory replied.

“Aren’t you the best, though?”

“Yes. But there are a couple of lawyers out there who are almost as good as me,” he said, smiling.

“Oh, Lord, it’s hard to be humble,” she started to sing, quoting Mac Davis’ song.

Rory grinned. “I’m humble. I know that I have a lot of flaws. However, I’m not shy about tooting my own horn when it comes to my many gifts and skills.”

“That’s fair,” Savvy conceded.

His face got serious, and he reached for Savvy’s hand. “I want to talk to you about our relationship.”

Her heart started to beat a million miles an hour, and her breath caught in her throat. She squeezed his hands and smiled at him, looking into his eyes.

“Me, too,” Savvy said.

“I…”

Just then, his phone rang. He looked at it and said, “It’s Sebastian.”

“Hello?”

Rory listened for a few minutes and then said, “I’ll meet you at the clubhouse in twenty.”

“Savvy, I’m sorry. There is an emergency club meeting. I have to go. We’ll talk later,” he said.

He pulled her out of her chair, wrapped his arms around her, and pressed a kiss against her lips, then dashed out the door.

“I think that he was going to tell you that he cares about you and wants to be with you,” Cassia said.

“You might just be right,” Savvy said. “I hope so.”

Hollie and Owen arrived with Drake and Cat just then.

“As promised, two very tired wolf shifter pups.” Hollie grinned. “Do you want us to help you put them to bed?”

“I’m good, but if you want to, I know that they would love to have Grandma and Grandpa tuck them in.”

Grinning, Hollie and Owen whisked the kids upstairs. Savvy and Cassia followed behind them to kiss them good night.

Savvy went to bed smiling. She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to spend the night with his arms wrapped around her.