Page 15 of Falling for You (Balsam Cliffs #2)

I crack my eye open and notice that it’s still pitch black in my room. I listen for another second and hear the wail of a baby.

I sit up, taking a minute to orient myself.

Right. I’m at Rome’s, and Olivia is next door. Oh, am I on night duty? Did he wake up too? I guess that’s something we should have decided before going to bed.

I throw the covers back and run to her room. I don’t want her in there alone, and the thought that I didn’t hear her makes me nervous. How long has she been in there crying alone? It’s been a day and I’m already going to give her a complex to talk about on the couch with her therapist.

The sight that greets me when I turn into her room slams me in the chest and makes my heart skip a beat.

Rome is holding Olivia to his chest and bouncing her as she cries. “I’m so lost here, baby girl. Please help me,” he whispers into the top of her head.

“Need some help?” I ask quietly into the stillness of the room.

His head snaps to where I stand in the doorway. “I’m sorry. I was trying to get her to quiet before we woke you up. But I’ve tried everything.”

I walk over to the rocking chair and sit down, holding my arms out for him to place Olivia in my arms. Relief washes over me that she wasn’t in here alone, and upset.

“I tried to rock her.” He slides her gently into my arms.

“It’s okay, sweet girl. You’re in a new place and it’s scary, huh?” I coo at her. “Can you play pink noise?”

“What? Pink noise? What the hell is that?” Roman pulls out his phone.

“It’s like white noise but it’s supposed to be more calming for babies to sleep.” I smile down at Olivia, setting our pace in the rocking chair from Mom’s front porch.

“How do you know all of this stuff?” he mutters to himself as he types on his phone and then the sound of the pink noise fills the room. Olivia immediately quiets. “What the hell? Seriously.”

Rome runs his hands through his hair. He’s clearly been at this for awhile.

“I just googled some stuff this afternoon. I wanted to be prepared.” I stroke Olivia’s hair with my fingertips. Rubbing her silky, short locks in one fluid motion like the article said.

“Google? Really? You mean to tell me I’ve been feeling like a failure all day thinking you had some magic gene I was missing and it’s all because you Googled?” He looks at me in shock.

“It’s been twenty four hours, you shouldn’t feel like a failure.”

“I didn’t even think to Google, Sunshine. How inept is that?” He sits next to me on the floor.

“You’ve got a lot going through your head right now. You’re doing great with her. Don’t get down on yourself.” I reach out my hand for him to hold and he takes the opportunity.

“She needs a real bed,” he says quietly to himself.

“I’ll ask Liam to build one. I think he’d like to do that for her.”

“I don’t know. I’ve already dragged you all into this mess far enough. I can buy her a crib.”

“Stop. We are here for you. You are our family. Every single Keaton will do whatever they can to help.” I admonish him. He may not have had a warm and fuzzy family, but we are and he should know that by now.

“Do you believe them?”

“Who?”

“Diane and Wayne. I feel like they’re genuine people. It’s just as hard on them as it is me.” I guess we’re doing the late night confessional.

“I do. But you’ll know tomorrow.”

He moves to lay his head on my lap. “I told my parents today.”

“And how did that go?” I lean my head back on the rocker, stroking Rome’s hair now instead of Olivia’s. His hand rests on my thigh, holding her with me as her eyes flutter closed.

“About like you’d expect.” I feel him shrug. “Not great.”

“Their loss. She’s perfect.” Smiling to myself I realize how quickly I’ve fallen for this little girl. And I’d already fallen for her father. This is going to be tough. What happens when he figures this all out? Will I still be needed? The fear of losing her is creeping in day by day.

“This should have been us,” he admits, drawing lazy circles on my leg.

A lump forms in my throat, afraid of where he’s going, “What should have?”

“This. Having a baby. Sitting in the quiet of the night after I got to watch you grow our baby for nine months. Looking back on all the memories of it all while we hold our little miracle.”

I don’t answer him. I can’t. The pain is too much.

Too real.

“Yeah. I used to think that too.” The past tense comes out subconsciously.

But it’s true. I haven’t allowed myself to think like that since I hid myself away.

His shoulders sag against my leg and I can feel his tears soaking through one small spot on my pants. I continue to stroke his hair until his hand falls from Olivia and his breathing evens out. Waking him up, I send him to bed to get some sleep for work.

Olivia and I are watching the sunrise from the rocking chair in her room.

The first order of business today, while Olivia has her bottle, is to learn about baby sleep habits. Neither Rome nor I can continue if she doesn’t start sleeping better.

Mom will know best. I pull out my phone, looking at the time. It’s a little early for her, but maybe she’s awake.

Me: Good morning, Mom. What are you up to today?

Mom’s response comes through immediately.

Mom: Good morning beautiful. I’m not doing much of anything today. Why do you ask? Do you want to bring that beautiful little baby over?

Me: Yes. Please.

Mom: Meet at Emerald Roasters when you’re ready? Pops is already out helping Liam. And I bet you could use the coffee.

Pops and Liam are working hard on getting the barn ready.

They want to turn the stalls back into a working and functioning facility for horses.

Being able to offer horseback riding to our guests would be a huge boost for the inn.

Especially horseback riding on our trails and down on the beaches.

Liam wants to add a sunrise riding tour.

He’s shown me photos of the stops he wants to use from the four wheeler and it’d be such a special experience for guests.

Me: Ok. Livvy is eating now. Then we’ll get ready. Maybe she’ll sleep on the way over. tired emoji

Once Olivia finishes her bottle, I grab some clothes for her and get to work on changing her and packing the diaper bag for a day out with Mom.

She coos and smiles up at me as I pull the little dress over her head.

“You’re lucky you’re so sweet after keeping everyone up all night, Livvy girl. We’re going to fix that today, aren’t we?” I smile big at her, talking to her in a sweet baby talk voice and tickling her belly with my fingertips.

“She’s so lucky,” a tired, deep voice sounds from over my shoulder.

I turn to face him and I am not prepared for the sleepy Rome with low hung sweatpants, and mussed up hair. He grips the top of her door frame stretching his body forward, every muscle on display just for me. It’s my favorite sight.

He walks toward us placing an arm around my shoulder and leaning over to kiss Olivia’s cheek, then my own.

“Did she go back to sleep?” he asks like he isn’t setting my world on fire right now.

“Uh… no. But we’re going to Mom’s and she’s going to teach me all about sleeping habits for babies.” I give a weak smile.

He finally drops his arm from my shoulder and scoops Olivia into his arms, carrying her over to sit in the rocking chair while I pack her diaper bag.

I watch as he snuggles her nose to nose with him, the two of them cooing back at each other and the sight alone makes my heart seize like it did last night.

“So we’re-—”

“Ems—” we both start at the same time.

I gesture to him, “You go first.”

“Thank you. For everything. I know I’ve been kind of an asshole to you lately, you know, with Hunter and everything. I just want you to know I’m still going to tell him. I promise.” He gives me a half-smile, not the one that reaches his eyes.

“I don’t want you to worry about that right now.

Honestly. I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing my way into your world, and your world…

well… it’s busy and a lot different now than it was.

” I turn to the suitcase tucked into the corner of the room, next to the dresser that we turned into a makeshift changing table.

I can feel him getting closer to me, then he’s right behind me.

“Sunshine, look at me.”

I turn on my knees, only to be met with his cock. Shit. I didn’t think about the fact I was kneeling and he was standing. Stupid.

I pop up fast, not wanting the memories. The last thing I need right now is to fall into Roman Thomas’ bed again.

He wraps his free arm around me, pulling me close to his side. “I’m only ever going to say this once. You are never something I’m forced to have in my life.”

“Yeah, okay.” I shrug, fidgeting under his direct gaze.

“I mean it, Sunshine. I know I’m being a chickenshit with Hunt. But I want you with me. I just need to tell him first. It’s not fair to ask you to be my secret anymore.”

I shrug out of his arms. “I know. We both deserve more. I just… things are complicated now. You need Hunter as a friend. More than you need me in the open. Keep us both in your corner right now. We’ll figure it out.”

He grimaces and I can tell he hasn’t thought of that yet. He hasn’t thought of how telling my family would change their relationship with him in a time he needs them the most. As proven yesterday, his parents won’t be worth a damn.

“We have to get going. We’re going to meet Mom at Emerald Roasters for coffee. A very large coffee.” I toss the diaper bag over my shoulder and walk out the bedroom to go downstairs.

“Emerald Roasters?” he asks, concern lacing his voice.

“Oh. Esther. Margaret. I’m so sorry I didn’t think about them.

I’ll call Mom, we’ll just go to her house.

” Esther owns Emerald Roasters with her husband, Franklin, and Margaret is Violet’s grandma who owns Sweet Violets next door.

They pride themselves on being the eyes and ears of this town.

Me walking in to meet Mom with a baby is sure to get their attention. And everyone else’s.