When Cassie reminded me that the treasure hunt for love was this weekend—right after I’d spent yet another night watching a movie inches away from Colin on the couch and lamenting the fact that he barely looked at me the entire time, let alone seemed to feel the sexual tension humming between us the way I did—it felt like a sign.
It was time to come home.
It doesn’t matter that Colin’s the only man I can think about or that Beatrice feels like my daughter in many ways. They’re not my family. I’m an employee, nothing more, and Colin could decide to let me go any day now. Beatrice is nearly eleven, after all, and so busy with after-school activities that she doesn’t really need a full-time nanny anymore.
As much as it hurt to admit it, my life in London was becoming another dead end, just like after my divorce. But this time, instead of being filled with righteous anger at my cheating husband and his deplorable behavior with that sheep, I’m just sad.
There’s nothing wrong with Colin. Yes, he’s stuffy and grumpy and almost ridiculously British, but those things don’t bother me as much as they did in the beginning. He may be stuffy, but he has a secret soft side, loves his daughter to the moon and back, and has never treated me with anything but kindness and respect, even in the early days when I could tell he thought my tendency to roll around in the grass with Beatrice at the park was undignified.
God, I wish I was in the park with her right now. I miss her so much it’s like someone removed a vital organ while I was napping on the plane.
“I flew in yesterday but stayed at a hotel near the airport since I got in late,” I tell Ryan, forcing my thoughts back to the here and now. My life in Britain is over. It’s time to hurl myself into my new life, no matter how shell-shocked I still feel. “I’ve been missing you all so much. And I had a long call with Olivia earlier this week, and I just… I realized it was time to come home.”
His brows shoot up his forehead. “Oh, wow. So you’re home for good?”
I try to smile but fail. Ugh, I’m so tired of failing. “Yeah. Well, for a while, at least. We’ll see if the wind decides to blow me somewhere else eventually.” I clear my throat and wave a hand at my face, blinking as tears make the back of my nose sting. “Goodness, I forgot how bad my allergies are here in the spring.” I sniff hard, willing myself to pull it together as I clap my hands. “Now, back to the drama at hand—where’s my next clue? I don’t want to miss another moment of the Happy Cat fun.”
And I want to land the true love prize at the end of this treasure hunt rainbow. According to town legend, the winner of the treasure hunt always meets his or her perfect match within a year of landing first prize.
I want to believe magic like that is possible and that a year from now I might be over Colin and happy with a good man of my own.
I wince, my lizard brain not liking the thought of ending up with any man but Colin, but my lizard brain is stupid. It’s a primal ball of dumb that can’t be allowed to call the shots. It’s a gecko that’s had one too many brushes with death to be trusted to lead the gecko pack anymore, and I need to move on without it and learn to trust my inner elephant instead. Beatrice wrote a paper on elephants last year, and they’re such smart animals. I have to trust that my inner elephant will convince me that Colin is the past and the mysterious Mr. X is my future—assuming I win first place.
And if I want to win, I need to get that next clue. The laughter outside suggests the other singles in town aren’t far behind me.
I wave an urgent hand at Ryan. “Come on, brother, give me the goods.”
“I can’t, not even for my favorite sister-in-law,” he says with a laugh, “but I am allowed to advise all hunters that the next clue isn’t located on the fire truck or inside the station. It’s hidden somewhere a little more…trashy.”
He casts a pointed glance toward the back door, and I’m off with a soft “thank you!” tossed over my shoulder.
I dash away just as a group of older ladies wearing matching “Mama Wants Some Lovin’” tee shirts step through the open garage door. Luckily, they’re distracted by the hunky cuteness of Ryan and the baby cuteness of my adorable nephew, and I’m through the door before any of them notice me.