Chapter 14
I noticed my feelings for Nora much later.
Inconvenient.
Predictable.
I hated the cliché.
Widowed boss.
Beautiful nanny.
No.
I refused to turn gratitude into romance.
So I did nothing for months.
Then Nora confronted me.
“Why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not.”
“You moved three meetings to avoid dinner.”
I sighed.
Apparently subtlety was not my talent.
I told her.
Directly.
“I care about you in a way that complicates your job.”
She stared.
Then:
“Good.”
I frowned.
“Good?”
She smiled.
“I was getting tired of pretending I don’t.”
That was the beginning.
Not marriage.
Not family role.
Conversation.
Slow.
Oliver remained separate from it.
Important.
Nora did not become valuable because I loved her.
I noticed her value before that.
She did not become Oliver’s mother because we dated.
May you like
He called her Nora.
That remained enough.
