A Family For Easter

Fiona sat back down, watching the two seniors depart. “I guess the marriage proposal didn’t go well.”

“They’re contemplating marriage?” Wow. Amazing that two elderly people had that much faith in the future.

“Love is ageless, or so they say.” She turned back to face him. “I don’t suppose you were able to look at my carriage house the other day.”

“I did take a look. It seems like a great place.” He tried to keep his ambivalence from showing in his voice.

“It’s cute. I love the front porch.” She shrugged. “It’s not much. It’s small, but it’s solid and clean.”

“You’d mentioned before that you were using it for your business. Won’t you need it for that again? Are you sure you want a tenant?”

“I might give entrepreneurship another go if...well, if I can get someone to help with the numbers part.” She laughed self-deprecatingly, gesturing toward the tablet that had confused her. “But that won’t happen for months. If ever.”

“Then...I think we’ll give the place a try.”

“Great!” She smiled at him. “You can move in anytime. We’ll deal with the lease then.”

That smile was dazzling. Way too dazzling. “I have references if you’d like to check them.”

She waved a hand. “I don’t need references. I know you.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know whether I pay my bills.”

She blushed. “I’m really not much of a businesswoman, am I?”

“Nothing wrong with being trusting.”

Her expression darkened. “Believe me, there is.”

The stories he’d heard about her husband came immediately to mind. How could a man have two separate families, deceiving both of them? What a jerk. Hard to fathom anyone so lacking in honor and morals.

The waiter brought their check, and Eduardo took it and reached for his wallet.

“I’ll take that,” she said. “It’s on me.” She fumbled in her purse.

“Fiona, I’m paying.”

“No, really, it’s no problem. I have plenty—”

Heat rose up the back of his neck. “I may not be at your level of affluence,” he gritted out, “but I’m not going to let a lady pay the check.” He extracted a bill and handed it to the server.

They both watched him walk away, not looking at each other.

“I’m sorry, Eduardo,” she said after a moment, quietly. “I didn’t mean to insult you.”

And of course, she hadn’t. It was just that he needed to keep in mind their relationship: landlord/tenant. Employer/employee. They lived on different planets, economically speaking.

And even if that barrier hadn’t existed, he needed to remember how vulnerable Fiona was. She’d been hurt badly. She didn’t need any more problems in her life.

Especially not a problem like him. Because despite her wealth—yeah, and her beauty, too—Fiona seemed like a woman who needed protection and support. And if he hadn’t been able to provide that to Elizabeth, he definitely couldn’t provide it to Fiona and her four kids.

Chapter Four (#u5c785a29-f9c6-535c-879b-5d6caaac1d1e)

“Hey, Mom, they’re here already!” Ryan burst into the kitchen, where Fiona was making Saturday-morning pancakes. “And they’re carrying stuff inside. Can we help them move in?”

Maya slid off her chair and headed toward the window. Lauren shoved away her plate. “Can we, Mom?”

Fiona glanced up at the clock. Eight o’clock, a full hour before she’d expected Eduardo and his mover-friends to arrive. Briefly, she regretted her makeup-free face, ancient concert T-shirt and ripped jeans.

She went to stand behind Maya, looking out into the sunny yard. Sure enough, a midsize rental truck sat in front of the carriage house beside Eduardo’s overloaded pickup. A couple of unfamiliar cars were parked along the edge of the alley road, and six or seven people milled around, along with Sofia and Diego.

Two men opened the back of the rental truck while another fumbled with the hinges of the carriage house’s front door. Eduardo climbed into the back of the truck, then emerged a moment later holding a long metal ramp. He set it down, leaped nimbly to the ground and moved it so it made a walkway from the back of the truck. Diego and Sofia pulled boxes from the piled-high back of Eduardo’s pickup.

Standing easily a head taller than the other men, Eduardo called out instructions as he moved to take a too-heavy box from Diego and steady a tall plant Sofia was carrying.

Even from here, Fiona could see his wide smile. Her mouth suddenly felt dry.

“Can we go out, Mom?” Now all three of her older kids clustered around the window.

Poppy banged her sippy cup on the table and pointed at her empty plate. “More pancakes first!”

Fiona clapped her hands. “Back to your seats, everyone.” She hurried to the stove to flip pancakes that had gotten just a shade too brown. “We’ll give the Delgados a chance to get started moving in. Once we’ve finished breakfast...”

The kids all started shoveling pancakes into their mouths.

“...and cleaned up, we’ll stroll over there and see how they’re doing. It looks like they have a lot of helpers, so maybe Sofia and Diego could come play here while the men work.” She brought the last plate of pancakes to the table and sat down. She considered pouring herself a bowl of low-calorie cereal, but the pancakes smelled way too good.

Half an hour later, she followed the kids over to the carriage house. As they greeted Sofia and Diego, Eduardo approached her. Though the morning was still cool, sweat had gathered on his brow.

“We got started early,” he said. “Hope we didn’t wake you guys up. Some of the men have to work this afternoon.”

“No, it’s fine. We were up,” she said. “In fact, the kids were ready to come out and offer their assistance the minute you pulled up. It’s exciting for them.”

“For us, too.”

Diego and Ryan dodged in front of a pair of guys lifting a couch, and both Fiona and Eduardo spoke simultaneously with words of caution.

“Hey, careful there.”

“Stay out of the men’s way.”

The men set the couch down in front of the carriage house’s little porch and conferred, pointing at the door, obviously discussing how to get the couch inside.

“Come over here and meet my buddies,” Eduardo said and started over toward the two men.

Fiona followed, feeling self-conscious in her Saturday-morning finest. She’d considered changing into better clothes, but that would have evoked notice from her kids. And she had to get used to the idea of being herself around Eduardo, who was, after all, renting her carriage house, not taking her out on a fancy date.

The men greeted her and one of them lifted an eyebrow and grinned, then said to Eduardo, “I see why you liked this place.”