“Do you like my tree, Mari?” Harper asked as she added a few more red leaves with her fingertip.

“I love it,” Mari said. Though she was looking at Harper’s work, her mind was on Hank and what was happening in the house. He’d been gone for nearly half an hour. Should she go in and see what was happening? Or would that only complicate things?

Softly exhaling, she told herself to be patient and to trust Hank. But not knowing was excruciating.

“I’m hungry,” Harper said a few minutes later.

Worried about facing Simone, Mari knew she didn’t have a choice. “Okay. Let’s wash up and then we’ll have a snack.”

Five minutes later, Mari and Harper walked into the family room. To her surprise, Hank was sitting on the couch. Alone.

Glancing around in confusion, Mari asked, “Is Simone here?”

Hank shook his head, his eyes downcast. “Nope.”

Something was wrong, but before she could question him, she needed to take care of Harper. After slicing celery, she put it, along with a large dollop of peanut butter, on a plate, then she poured a glass of milk. She got Harper settled at the table with her snack, purposely putting her in a chair whose back was to the family room so she and Hank could have a bit of privacy while they spoke, then she joined him on the couch.

“What happened?” She kept her voice low.

“I may have made a mistake,” Hank said, and then he told her what had happened.

Forehead furrowing, Mari was quiet as she considered the possible ramifications. But deep inside—okay, maybe not that deep—she was elated that Hank had broken things off with Simone. “There’s nothing we can do now,” she said. “Maybe…maybe she won’t follow through. Maybe she’ll think she can…I don’t know…win you back somehow.”

He huffed out a laugh. “There’s no way she can win me back.”

That thrilled her to no end, but she held back her smile. “But if she thinks she can…”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“All we can do is wait. When London FaceTimes with Harper tonight, I’ll see if I can…you know…gauge if she suspects anything.”

Hank took her hand, stroking her palm with his thumb. “I want you to know something, Mari.”

At the earnest look on his face, Mari’s hopes soared. Was this it? Was he going to tell her he loved her?

“Before meeting you, I never realized there was a hole in my life, that something was missing. But now that I’ve gotten to know you…” He smiled. “Now I know.”

Nearly holding her breath, Mari kept her eyes on his, completely drawn in by his magnetism.

He reached up and ran a finger down her jaw. “I’m falling in love with you, Marigold.”

The power of her own love swept over her, making it hard to breathe. He loved her! Staring into his eyes, she smiled. “I love you. So much.” Just saying the words made her feelings explode within her.

He stroked her face before pulling her to him, his mouth crushing hers.

Happiness streamed through her, filling her up, crowding out all other emotions.

“Mari,” Harper cried out. “I spilled.”

Hank released her and she twisted around to look at Harper, who was watching them. With a glance at Hank, whose eyes reflected the panic she felt, Mari stood and walked into the kitchen to grab the roll of paper towels.

As she sopped up the milk, her mind raced with what to do.

“Why are you kissing my daddy?” Harper asked, her tone puzzled.

“Uh…” Baffled at what to say, Mari finished wiping up the milk, then she put the remaining paper towels on the counter, her gaze going to Hank.

* * *

Scrambling to come up with a reasonable excuse, Hank walked into the room. He said the first thing that jumped into his head. “Mari was telling me a secret.”

“Mari telled you a secret on your mouth,” Harper said with a giggle.

Desperate to turn her mind in another direction, he said, “Are you done with your snack?”

She nodded.

“Okay. Let me help you down.”

“I don’t need help,” she said, then she climbed down from the chair and ran into the family room where some of her favorite books were still sitting on the coffee table.

Hank turned to Mari. Even with this new possible disaster, he couldn’t hold back a smile. Now that he’d told her how he felt—and she’d told him—he couldn’t be happier, wasn’t even all that worried about London finding out.

Mari bit her lip, her forehead creased. “Should we…I don’t know…say something else to Harper about that kiss?”

“If we make a big deal about it, that will only make her think about it more. Maybe if we….” He shook his head. “Maybe if we let it drop, she’ll forget about it.”

* * *

Mari wasn’t sure that was true, but she didn’t have a better solution. And maybe he was right. Still, she was worried.

She frowned.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s just… I love Harper. I love taking care of her. I don’t want to get fired.”

“Stop assuming the worst will happen.”

Mari’s frown deepened. Did he really not get it? Or did he just not care? Could he be that selfish, just as London had warned?

Amazed that she could go from the heights of happiness to the depths of despair in sixty seconds flat, Mari waited for him to say something, to tell her he would fix this, that she could have it both ways, that he would convince London to keep her as Harper’s nanny even though she was in love with him.

When he didn’t say anything, she took another step back. “Can you watch Harper?”

“Of course.”

With a small nod, Mari turned to leave.

“Wait,” he said.

She stopped and faced him.

“Where are you going?”

“I just…” She pointed toward the upstairs. “I need some time.”

“We’ll figure this out. Trust me.”

She thought she did, but her confidence in the situation had deteriorated. First with him breaking things off with Simone without talking to her beforehand, without figuring out a strategy, then with him making light of Harper seeing their kiss. Why was he being so reckless? Was this all a game to him?

“I’ll be in my room,” she said before turning and walking away.

* * *

Frustrated that Mari couldn’t see the good in what was happening, the possibilities, Hank shook his head as he watched her go. She was making all kinds of assumptions about the bad things that could happen without stopping to consider that there might be a silver lining. Yeah, he was concerned about what London would do if Harper told her she’d seen him kissing Mari, but he thought Mari was going a little overboard on her reaction.

Maybe freeing himself from Simone had made him ready to take chances he wouldn’t have taken before. All he knew was he was in love with Mari. Didn’t want to lose her. Was tired of hiding the way he felt about her.

Maybe that was part of it too. Now that he’d told her how he felt, he wanted to show her, wanted the world to know. Maybe this sabotaging of their secret was a subconscious act. Playing football all these years, he’d learned to trust his instincts, and his instincts told him to stop hiding the truth.

He just hoped Mari would come around to his point of view.