Chapter 9

9

Day two of the vacation Tahlia woke up early. The memory of her midnight conversation had plagued her sleep; how close Nelson got, his soft smiles, the way he teased her…how human he acted, as if a mask fell off during the witching hours of the night and she could see the real him. Even when the sun came up and shone through the pale curtains at her window, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. No one else was up; the kids would have knocked on her door and there was no smell of coffee brewing to indicate their father was awake.

In desperate need of a distraction, Tahlia sat up and tugged her laptop over.

“Might as well check email,” she muttered to herself and squinted against the harsh light of her computer as it came to life. When she navigated to her email, she clicked through a lot of junk, advertisements, the usual con attempts, and a letter from her thesis advisor about a potential job.

Wait.

Tahlia opened the message and quickly scanned its contents before carefully reading each line again. Professor Lenora had a contact with Bowen Engineering and they were hiring. It was a position very similar to the one Tahlia had been promised before. Of course, getting the position wasn’t guaranteed, but if Professor Lenora thought it was good for Tahlia, that was enough.

A few minutes later, the application and her resume had been sent to Bowen Engineering’s HR department. It wasn’t until Tahlia leaned back against her headboard, grinning ear to ear, that she thought about her current situation. Her smile fell.

What about Kaiden and Maddy?

Her snap decision to apply to the job could have potentially disastrous results. What if she was hired and had to suddenly explain to her current boss and his children that she was leaving without first alerting them to her plans?

“My children need stability…you’re clearly confused on what you want to do with your life.”

Tahlia groaned and flopped over, burying her face in her pillows. He was right. She’d just proved him right. There was only one thing to do: tell the truth. He would probably get angry, understandably so, but she could assure him the position wasn’t a guarantee and she would stay for as long he needed to find a replacement for the kids.

Telling the kids would come with the big ‘if’ of her being hired. Tahlia heaved a giant sigh and forced herself to get up. They were going to get a tree today for the cabin. She would tell Mr. Nelson then; it was the right thing to do.

The knot in her stomach said otherwise.

When Tahlia left her room, there was still silence in the rest of the house. Confused, she went first to the living room to check on the kids. The blanket tent was still up, and she expected they were both still inside; she didn’t hear any quiet giggling so they were definitely asleep. What she didn’t expect was their father laying between them, apparently having crawled inside after Tahlia went to bed.

If Tahlia’s heart was like the Grinch’s, it would have instantly grown three sizes. Seeing Matt Nelson sprawled out on a pile of blankets, his twins laying haphazard around him - Kaiden’s bare foot was in his father’s face and Maddy was drooling on his shoulder - was, perhaps, the sweetest thing she’d ever seen.

She slowly crept away from the makeshift tent and tiptoed to the kitchen. Brewing coffee would be the gentlest way and least intrusive way of waking them, she decided. As the smell of dark roast filled the air, Tahlia stared into the snowy wonderland outside and thought of her application now hanging somewhere in cyberspace.

What were the odds she was going to be called for an interview? Not high; there were too many good candidates out there and it was a highly competitive area. Even if she was interviewed, there was very little chance she would be offered the position. It wouldn’t do any good to bring it up to Nelson, she reasoned.

Best pretend she’d never done it.