Loving the Nurse by Piper Sullivan

Antonio

“Oh look! There’s another princess! Daddy can I take another picture, please?” Rosie bounced up and down with more excitement than one child should be allowed to possess, and tugged on my windbreaker until she had my full attention. “Pretty please, Daddy?”

I looked down at her with a laugh. “I haven’t said no yet, why would I start now?” I’d already spent forty bucks just on photos of Rosie and other Renaissance Fair royalty. Queens and Princesses and even a Duchess, all in their best royal finery to match hers.

“Thank you, Daddy!” Rosie took a step back and smiled up at me before she darted off towards the kiosk with Queen Magenta.”

“Looks like you made a good pick.” Augusta leaned in close, her green eyes focused on Rosie as she spoke animatedly with the queen in pink. “Rosie is just bursting with happiness. Have you ever seen a child so happy?”

“Not this happy,” I assured her. “Are you having a good time?”

“I am, actually. It’s nice to see a little girl having the time of her life surrounded by people who are just like her, obsessed with royalty. And I can’t deny the delight I’ll experience later when I get a gargantuan turkey leg.”

Her words made me laugh, which made me relax a bit. Augusta was subdued all day, present but not fully. She smiled and laughed in all the right places, but the smile, the laughter, never reached her eyes.

“Gotta love a woman who isn’t afraid to eat.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Definitely not a problem I have.”

I reached for her hand and twined our fingers together until we were palm to palm. “I’m grateful for it. It would be bad form for a chef to be seen with a woman afraid to eat.”

Augusta leaned back and arched a reddish-gold brow in my direction. “But we aren’t being seen together, so your reputation is perfect intact.” The words were right, a little sassy and a little flirty, but they felt…off.

I shrugged. “You never know who’s watching.”

“Oh, look, Scotch eggs!” She extricated her hand from mine with such ease that I almost didn’t feel the distance between us, but it was there. It was definitely there, I just couldn’t figure out why.

By the time I caught up with Augusta, she’d already bought the egg and bit into it with a moan. “Good?”

Her green eyes lit with excitement and pleasure, which only reminded me that it was the first time I’d seen her like that all day. “So good. A little greasy, but in a good way. Want a bite?” When she held the Scotch egg out for me to taste, I grabbed her wrist and kept my eyes on her as I took a bite, slow and sensual.

Her little hitch of breath told me she still wanted me.

I shouldn’t have felt so relieved.

But I did.

“Good. Mine are better though. If you play your cards right, I’ll make them for you.”

She flashed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and said nothing.

It was damned frustrating not to know what she was thinking. A sane man would just ask, but I didn’t ask and I couldn’t say why. I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know what.

“Oh my gosh, Daddy, Queen Magenta is magical!” Rosie was back with a photo and a wand with a glittery star on the tip. “She can turn fish into fairies and leaves into berries.”

“So her village is filled with fairies who smell like fish?”

“Daddy,” she giggled sweetly and I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re silly, Daddy.” She spoke around a yawn which meant five hours at the Renaissance Faire was Rosie’s limit.

“Daddy is silly, but Rosie is sleepy.”

“I’m not,” she insisted just as another yawn split her face. “I’m not.”

Fighting would only bring on a rare tantrum, so I scooped her in my arms with a grunt. “You know, Rosie, you’re almost too big to carry.”

“I am a big girl,” she shot back, her words slow and sleepy.

“A big girl knows when she’s tired and says so ahead of time so she doesn’t have to be carried.” I hoped she was never too big to let me carry her, but that was my own secret wish.

“I like when you carry me, Daddy.” She wrapped her arms around me and smacked a kiss to my cheek. “I just need a nap.”

“That’s why we’re going home, so you can have a nap before dinner.”

She gasped in surprise and shot up to look at me. “Tacos?”

“Tacos,” I confirmed with a smile.

“Can Nurse Gus come to dinner?”

Hell yes. “If she wants to, she’s always welcome to taco night.” I looked at Augusta to let her know I meant what I said. “What do you say to tacos for dinner?”

“That depends. Will there be homemade salsa?”

“Is there any other kind?”

Her face lit with a smile. “Then, I would love to join you and Rosie for dinner. I’ll just stop home to wash the fair off me and I’ll be there in an hour. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.”

As soon as we got back to my place, Augusta jumped in her car and took off while I carried Rosie inside and put her down for a nap.

Time in the kitchen was just what I needed after such a confusing afternoon. I started the dough for the taco shells because Rosie preferred the crunch of hard tacos. I tried to figure out what I did to put the distance in Augusta’s eyes as I worked. I grabbed a few tomatoes from the basket, an onion and jalapeno pepper and put them on the grill to char them for salsa.

Moving around the kitchen where everything was familiar and I knew just what to do, provided me with immense comfort. It always had. When my grief over losing my mother was too strong, food more than football soothed my pain. Right now, I needed that.

A loud knock sounded at the back door and startled me back to the present. I opened the door with a frown.

“Cal, what the hell? Rosie is sleeping.”

My best friend’s worried gaze put me on edge and when he raked a hand through his hair, I took a step back. “Do you ever answer your damn phone?”

I patted my pockets at his words and groaned. “Shit, I think it’s in the car. What’s wrong?”

“Man, there are photos of you and Trishelle all over the internet, wondering if you had a secret getaway in NYC to talk about getting back together.”

“Bullshit. She ambushed me on the street with her little cameras hidden. We are not getting back together. Ever.”

“I believe you, man. But if the photos reached me, don’t you think they’ll get to Gus? And your dad? And the rest of Jackson’s Ridge?”

Shit. “I knew she was up to something, but after all this time, I figured she would just forget about it.”

Cal let out a loud bark of laughter. “You thought your fame-hungry ex-wife would just forget about a juicy second chance story line? I don’t know if that was wishful thinking on your part or willful naïveté.”

“No, Cal, don’t hold back. Tell me what you really think.”

“Gladly. I think you better call Gus right now and explain to her before she sees those photos.”

Augusta. “Shit.” I patted my pockets for my phone and cursed again. “Give me your phone.”

Cal handed it over with a sympathetic smile. “Good luck.”

She answered on the first ring. “What’s up, Cal?”

“It’s Antonio. Don’t hang up.” The phone call ended before the request was even out of my mouth. “She hung up.”

Cal let out a low whistle and shook his head. “I’m sorry, man. Let her cool down and then explain what happened. Gus is a reasonable woman, just give her time.”

I glanced at the clock on the oven and sighed. “She’s supposed to be coming for dinner in less than an hour.”

“Oh. I’ll stay until then if you want?”

I nodded. “Thanks man.” I shook my head as I washed and breaded the fish for tacos. “She won’t understand.”

“She might.”

I looked up at my best friend. “Seriously?”

Cal shrugged. “Teddy thinks she’ll be pissed you didn’t tell her when you came back from New York.”

“I told Trishelle I wouldn’t sign a release form, and I figured she couldn’t use the footage.”

“Ah. You figured you wouldn’t have to tell anyone about it, specifically Augusta. Why?”

“Because I was trying to avoid this.” I shook my head. Augusta, if she showed up, would be angry, maybe hurt. “This is exactly why I don’t like to get involved.” Getting involved with a woman always came with complications and I told myself I was done with that when I left Trishelle.

“You’re not involved,” Cal shot back with a shrug and a knowing smile. “You said she knew the score, which means you’re not involved.”

Yeah I said that, but now I wasn’t so sure. “Cal,” I groaned.

“What? Those were your words. Right?”

“Yeah, I said it but I’m not sure if that was the truth.” There, I admitted it. “I like Augusta. I like spending time with her, cooking for her and sleeping with her. But…hell, man, I don’t know.”

Cal huffed out a laugh. “We never know, that’s what makes love so scary.”

“It’s not love,” I growled.

Cal ignored me. “How do you think I felt, knowing that I was falling for my best friend’s sister? I couldn’t do a damn thing about how I felt for Teddy, even knowing that it might ruin our friendship.”

“I said it’s not love.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. The point is, you’re worried about how Gus will react to those photos which means you give a damn.”

“Of course, I give a damn. She’s great and I don’t want to hurt her.” Gus didn’t deserve to get caught up with the drama my ex-wife created.

Cal sighed and stood just as the doorbell rang. “That’s a good place to start. I’ll call you later. Good luck.” He slipped out the back door while I went to open the front door for Augusta.

I smiled at the sight she made in a denim skirt and a green V-neck t-shirt. It was a modest outfit, cute rather than sexy. “Augusta. You look beautiful. Come in.” I leaned forward to greet her with a kiss and she ducked away from me.

“I’m here because Rosie invited me and I don’t want to let her down. That’s the only reason I’m here.”

My shoulders fell in disappointment. This wouldn’t be easy. “I’m sorry, Augusta.”

She stepped inside, careful not to touch me, and shook her head. “I don’t need an apology, Antonio. I know the score.” Her green eyes pierced a hole into me until realization dawned.

She heard me at The Outpost. “That was out of context,” I tried to explain. “The guys were giving me a hard time and I was trying to make them stop.”

“At my expense? Got it.”

Okay, that didn’t help. “No, not at your expense. I just didn’t want to talk about it, hell I had no idea what to say about it.”

Augusta held up a hand and shook her head. “It’s fine, Antonio. I knew you weren’t serious about me, and you were quite clear that wasn’t part of your plan and I still slept with you. No hard feelings.”

“No hard feelings? You sound angry and you hung up on me earlier.”

“Fine,” she spat out. “There are some hard feelings, but not because I expected you to fall in love with me or for this to turn into something more than a fling. I’m upset because, it doesn’t matter. I am upset now, but I won’t be for much longer.” She wrapped her arms around herself as if she needed to protect herself from me, and watching that was like a drop-kick to the gut. “I just wish you would have told me.”

Now I was angry. “So you just believe everything you read, Augusta? You don’t even want to hear my side of the story?”

She shook her head, red tendrils falling from the messy bun she wore on top of her head. “I didn’t need to read any story, Antonio, I have eyes. I saw how close you were standing, the heat as you gazed down at her. I’m not blind and I’m not stupid. You loved her enough to marry her and have a kid with her, it’s a connection that won’t ever be severed.”

“She severed it when she almost let my daughter die so she could feed her addiction!” I shook my head and took a step forward. “Trishelle is the last woman on earth I would ever sleep with, never mind while I’m already sleeping with someone else.”

She nodded and the tension in her shoulders faded, a little. “I believe you, but it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter, dammit. Trishelle ambushed me on the street, set this little meeting up for her stupid, fucking show and you’re going to let it come between us? You’re gonna let her come between us? Un-fucking-believable.”

Augusta smiled, it was sweet but sad, and tore at my heart. “It isn’t your ex-wife coming between us, Antonio. It’s us. You were never going to be serious about me and it’s probably best that this all happened now, because I’m not sure I could sleep with you for much longer without falling for you.” She sighed as if just saying those words were like a weight off her shoulders. “So you see, you don’t need to feel guilty about being with your ex. I won’t hold it against you.”

“Daddy! Daddy! Did you make the tacos?” Rosie barreled down the stairs full of energy after her nap, unaware of the tension between the adults. “Nurse Gus, you’re here!”

Augusta smiled down at Rosie’s wide grin. “I am, and I was expecting to eat dinner with the Taco Princess.”

Rosie turned wide eyes up to me. “Is that a thing?”

I shrugged. “You’re a princess, you can make it a thing can’t you?”

My daughter gasped and her excited eyes bounced between me and Augusta. “Be right back!”

“Taco Princess,” I repeated with a smile. “I’m curious to see what she comes up with.”

“Me too,” Augusta agreed, her words quiet and sad.

She sat through dinner, indulging Rosie’s questions about her life as a nurse while we ate our fill of fish tacos, fresh chips, salsa, and cheese dip. Sadness filled her eyes and she barely looked at me through the meal.

When she finally walked away and left me with a sad smile, I realized just how much Augusta meant to me.

Damn.