Southern Playboy (North Carolina Highlands 4)

“I really appreciate it. Take care, Nuria.”

“You do the same.”

I stare at my phone for a long time after we hang up. I’m so ready to move on from all this already—I want to know where I’m headed next—but I still cry a little, holding the flat of my hand against my eyes as the silence of Rhett’s enormous house presses in around me.

Talk about emotional whiplash. I was on cloud nine this afternoon. Still am at the thought of going on a date with Rhett.

But I’m also seriously bummed. Scared too. What if I’m shooting myself in the foot, career-wise? What if it’s the wrong move, giving in to the feelings I have for Rhett?

It’s just so much, all at once. The good and the bad.

The problems and the possibilities.

But then I hear Liam’s little voice over the monitor—hi, hiiiii, a happy scream—and I remember what Rose told me last night.

Why not follow a different path and see where it leads you?

I just don’t get why it’s so hard to trust myself.

Trust Rhett not to tear my heart out again.

But I trust myself and the universe anyway. What choice do I have? I could sit here and mope, or I could keep going. Keep seeking.

Keep hoping.

I get Liam up and give him a snack. I decide to take my own advice to enjoy life more, and together we head to Blue Mountain’s pool. Thanks to Beau, we have unlimited access to all of the resort’s insanely great amenities.

It’s a glorious Friday afternoon, sunny and hot, so the pool is packed. Well-heeled families claim cushy recliners poolside while waiters in khaki shorts, navy blue polos, and sneakers dart in and out of the main house, trays laden with delicious-looking cocktails and sandwiches.

I slather Liam and me in sunscreen. Then I put on his swimmy, buckling it at the back, and velcro his little sunhat underneath his chin. He giggles, shying away from me. I take his hand and head for the water. Elle told Rhett that Liam has taken swimming lessons, so he’s not totally new to the pool.

He’s hesitant at first, so I jump in and hang by the stairs while I try to coax him in the pool, one step at a time. A couple of older kids do cannonballs nearby, splashing Liam with water. At first, he’s horrified, his expression so twisted up with disgust I have to laugh. But then the kids do it again, and Liam actually splashes back a little, bending down to slam his hands into the water.

“Lili make wa-wa go boom!” he says, clearly proud of himself.

I slam my hands down too, soaking both of us, and Liam screams with delight.

“See? The water doesn’t hurt. Should we try to swim?” I hook my hands underneath his arms and gently pull him with me deeper into the pool.

This time he screams with terror.

“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry, buddy,” I say, taking him back to the steps. “We can stay right here and do boom if you want?”

“Lili go boom.”

Liam splashes, and I sit on the steps and splash with him, sipping a Coke I ordered because I’m not going to make it to my date with Rhett if I don’t caffeinate.

“It’s a full-contact sport, isn’t it? Hanging with a toddler all day?”

I look up and see Beau’s wife, Annabel, smiling down at us, her little girl, Maisie, slung on her hip.

Smiling back, I reply, “Absolutely. I practically face plant into bed every night.”

“It’s no joke, that’s for sure. Y’all mind if we join you? Maisie is all about the pool these days.”

“We’d love that,” I say, and I mean it.

Liam stares at Maisie with his big blue eyes.

Turns out Maisie is completely and utterly fearless, leaping into the pool with abandon and refusing help from her mommy as she paddles her way through the water. Liam watches her intently and finally allows me to take him a step deeper, and then another step, and then he’s floating, still watching Maisie as I hold him.

Maisie kicks her way over to us, lifting her little arm to touch Liam’s. He shies away, clinging to me, and while I want him to warm up to his cousin, I can’t help but feel a surge of joy.

He trusts me. This little guy who lost the only parent he knew is learning to trust someone again, and it’s such a bittersweet moment I almost want to cry.

“It’s all right, Liam,” I say. “Maisie just wants to say hello. Can you say hi, Maisie?”

“Mimi,” he says. “Lili say hi Mimi.”

Annabel grins. “He’s two and a half, right? He’s talking really well. Maisie’s just starting to string words together.”

“She’s a little adventurer.”

Grabbing Maisie, Annabel lifts her out of the water and smiles up at her. “We call her Bam Bam. Kid acts first and thinks later, just like her daddy.”