Chase Our Forever (Sutten Mountain #3)

8. Dean

8

DEAN

My fingers tap against the table as my eyes scan the coffee shop for what feels like the millionth time. Technically, there are still ten minutes until our scheduled meeting, so it’s not like Liv’s late. But still, I’m anxiously waiting to see if she’ll show up or not.

If I’m being honest, I don’t have high hopes. Many people have stood me up before as I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect nanny. Why would she be any different?

Although, she did send over her resume and two different references, so I might just be overthinking it for no reason.

Except I do have a reason—my daughter. Clara hasn’t stopped talking about Liv since the moment we left Wake and Bake yesterday. She even told her whole dance class that she was going to have cute hair for every class now because she has a new nanny.

I take a deep breath, hoping this thing with Liv works out. Clara’s obsessed with her, and because I’ve never seen my daughter this excited about someone, I have to do everything I can to get Liv on board. Even if I don’t know or trust her yet.

Two more minutes tick by before the door opens, and Liv comes breezing in, the mountain wind blowing her hair around as she steps inside. She’s not wearing a hat today, giving me a view of her entire face. Even from a distance, I can tell her cheeks are pink from the cold. At least today, she’s dressed for the weather. I couldn’t help thinking yesterday how cold she must have been.

It was a weird feeling for me to think that about her. To worry. I don’t typically do that about anyone outside of my family. Even as I drove Clara home from dance and the temperature dropped drastically as it turned to night, I found myself wondering where Liv would be staying and if she had anything to keep her warm.

Standing up, I smooth out my suit jacket and step around the table to pull out her chair. “Morning,” I greet her, watching her close the distance to the table.

“Morning,” she responds, her voice a little breathless. Her hair sticks to the lip gloss coating her lips. She tries to fix it, but then the sticky hair sticks to her cheek instead. “I’m not late, am I?” she asks, her eyes moving to the chair I’ve pulled out for her.

I don’t have to look at my watch to know she isn’t late. “No, you aren’t. Here, take a seat.”

Liv nods, setting her large brown bag on the floor next to us and sitting down. “It’s been quite the morning,” she mutters under her breath. I don’t know if I’m supposed to respond to her remark or not, but luckily, she decides for me by continuing on. “First, I realized I didn’t pack any clothes for an interview. I had to go shopping at the inn, so don’t mind me sporting the Sutten merch.” She giggles uncomfortably as I take the seat across from her.

I look over her outfit, noticing the pocket of her shirt with “Sutten Mountain” stitched across it. Before I can tell her that I never would’ve noticed unless she told me about it, she continues to tell me about her morning. “And then I went to my car, and it wouldn’t start. I kept trying and trying until, finally, I got it to turn on. Maybe it doesn’t like the cold.”

I make a mental note to check out the car if she does become Clara’s nanny. “That is quite the morning.”

Liv nods, taking a deep breath as she adjusts in her chair. “Yes. And the clock on my dash doesn’t work, so then I panicked that I was somehow late and you’d be gone and my hope for a job here would be lost.”

I don’t answer her, instead just watching her carefully as I take her in. She seemed a lot quieter yesterday than today. Maybe it’s just that Pippa and Lexi were doing most of the talking, but now, her personality is shining through a little more.

As if she can read my mind, she winces a little as a smile spreads over her face. “Am I already talking too much? Sometimes I ramble and?—”

I lift my hand to stop her from continuing. “It’s fine.” I leave out the part where I tell her I’d much rather listen to someone rambling than be left alone with my own thoughts.

Liv nods, but the smile doesn’t leave her face. Is she always this smiley? Her personality is almost as bright as the sunshine color of her hair. “Okay,” she finally gets out, her voice a little shaky with nerves.

It’s quiet for a moment as we both stare at one another. But it’s not an uncomfortable silence, even though it easily could be.

“Would you like a coffee?” I finally get out, trying to be polite.

She nods, still wearing a smile that softens something inside me. “I’d actually love one.”

As if she can hear our conversation, Pippa walks up to the table with a relieved look on her face as she looks at Liv. “You’re here.”

Liv aims her smile in Pippa’s direction. “I’m here. And desperately need caffeine.”

“You’ve come to the right place. What would you like today?”

Liv thinks about the question for a moment. “Surprise me?”

This makes Pippa bounce on her feet in excitement. “I’d love to surprise you. Are you wanting the coffee hot or iced? And do you like sweet or unsweet?”

As if on cue, a shiver runs through Liv’s body. It’s pretty cold this morning for October, and even though her flannel shirt is long-sleeved, it doesn’t look very thick. I can’t help but wonder if she’s cold.

Fuck. Why am I even thinking about this?

“I’ll definitely take a hot coffee. And on the sweeter side, please,” Liv answers.

Pippa nods and then looks over at me with a lifted brow. “Are you ready to order now that she’s here?”

I clear my throat, wishing Pippa hadn’t ratted me out for wanting to wait. I thought it’d be rude for me to order a coffee and not get her something, too, since I didn’t know what she liked, I decided to wait. “Yes. I’ll take my usual.”

“Any food?” Pippa asks, her eyes finding Liv’s once again. “We’ve got fresh pumpkin cinnamon rolls this morning just for you.”

“As delicious as that sounds right now, Carmen actually surprised me by making me a huge breakfast this morning. I’m still full but will absolutely be getting the cinnamon roll at some point today.”

Pippa’s hand finds her chest. “That was so sweet of her. Did you love the inn? It’s cute, isn’t it?”

“Carmen was the sweetest. She got me quickly checked into a room last night and then made me breakfast this morning. Then, when I told her I didn’t have an outfit for this interview, she even helped me pick something out.”

I listen in on the conversation between Pippa and Liv for a moment before Pippa glances over at me, and her eyes go wide. “I totally forgot this is supposed to be an interview. I’ll leave the two of you to talk for a moment, and I’ll go get the coffees started.”

She spins on the heel of her pink cowboy boots and dashes back to the counter. I stare at the boots as she walks away. For some reason, my mind flashes to the pair of bright red cowboy boots Selena got for her eighteenth birthday. She wore them until there were holes in them. They still sit in a box in our basement with the rest of her belongings I couldn’t get rid of.

I sigh, trying to focus on the interview at hand. The best thing I can do in Selena’s memory is hire the best person possible for Clara. Maybe Liv will be that. I sure hope so because of how much Clara seems to already love her. But I prepare myself to be okay with accepting she might not be a good fit either.

Now that Pippa’s gone and I’ve attempted to clear my mind as much as possible, I look back to Liv. She’s already watching me carefully, her teeth biting into her bottom lip.

She shifts in her chair and speaks up, clearly feeling like she needs to be the one to break the silence. “Thank you again for giving me the chance to talk more about the open nanny position. Although this is an unexpected turn of events, I’m excited to talk more with you to see if it would be a good fit.”

I give her a curt nod. “No problem. Clara adores you. I’m really glad you didn’t bail.”

“Only thought about it for a moment,” she teases, but I’m not sure if she’s joking or not. I don’t know her well enough yet to be able to tell.

“So, tell me about yourself. I’ve read over your resume, and it seems like you have quite the work history.” I remember seeing her age when looking through her resume. I knew she looked young, but she’s barely twenty-three, making her twelve years younger than me. What shocked me even more was the age she started working. She’s been working almost half her life already, making me wonder about her past and why that is the case.

Liv shifts in her seat for a moment as she thinks through her answer. She sighs. “Money was a little tight growing up, so the moment I was old enough for someone to hire me, I started working.”

My thumb dances over my jawline as I listen to her answer. I fight the urge to ask questions about why money was tight and wonder how she was able to work and graduate at the top of her class from high school, both details I found out while reviewing her resume. I decide to hold my tongue, knowing those are questions I don’t need answers to for her to be hired on as a nanny.

“I haven’t had a chance to call your references yet, but from your long work history, it seems like you’re great at committing to a job.”

She tucks a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. “When you do call them, do you mind leaving out specific details about where I am?”

My head tilts to the side because her question came out a little uneasy. There might even be a little bit of fear in her tone with it. I want to ask her why, but it’s not my place to do so.

She must take my silence as a refusal because she adds, “If it’s too much to ask, I understand. I’m sorry to have even?—”

“I won’t tell anyone about your location,” I say, interrupting her and not wanting her to feel like she has to explain herself any further.

“Thank you,” she whispers, her shoulders sagging a little with relief.

I stare at her for a moment, wanting to know more about the woman sitting in front of me. I’d come up with a list of questions I wanted to ask her for this interview, but all of them seem to have vanished from my mind. The only questions I can think of are ones I don’t need to know to hire her.

Pippa saves me by walking over with our coffees. She sets them down in front of us. “Here’s your usual, Dean, and a pumpkin latte with a dash of nutmeg for you, Liv.”

“Thank you,” both Liv and I say in unison.

Pippa nods before clapping her hands together. “Okay, I’ll leave the two of you to it.”

She disappears as quickly as she showed up, leaving me and Liv alone in the corner of the cafe.

I clear my throat, now having had enough time to remember the biggest question I wanted to ask her this morning. “Maybe we could start this interview with you telling me why you want to be Clara’s nanny and why you think you’d be the right person for the job.”