Orlando: Boyle Heights #4

by Elizabeth Reyes

  “It got me thinking about . . . Dani. You hired her for the shop from a temp agency. I’m assuming she was recommended to you guys based on her receptionist skills, right?”

  “I asked her all the questions I needed about her childcare experience,” Orlando said a little too defensively but then added in a softer tone. “I’ve seen enough to know she’s qualified.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Felicia, you saw her, and you said it yourself. She’s incredible with him, and she’s now proven to me in many different scenarios, how good she is at handling herself with him.” Aware that he was sounding defensive again and that Felicia only meant well, he backed up again. “Listen. I appreciate you looking out, but I’m good. Thanks again for all your help with him before I found someone to watch him. I was really in a bind, and I haven’t and won’t be forgetting that I owe you one. I know I’ve been out of touch lately, and it’ll probably get worse before it gets better. The shop is getting crazy busy, but I’m serious, Felicia, if you ever need anything, you have any issues with your car, by all means bring it in anytime, and I’ll make sure it gets taken care of, no matter how busy I am.”

  Felicia was quiet for a moment again, and Orlando knew why. He knew what that last part sounded like. He was making it clear he’d be too busy now for anything more than returning a favor—in a professional way. Despite Dani’s situation, and the sacrifice he vowed to make for his son’s sake, his stubborn heart was holding out hope that maybe not anytime soon, but eventually things might change. Relationships, even ones as serious as hers seemed, had a way of falling through. Anything could happen, right?

  For now, he’d take his time around her having everything to do with the baby and nothing else for what it was worth. But he wanted to rid Dani of any assumptions she might still have about him and Felicia.

  “Will I be seeing you anytime soon?”

  Orlando closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. Normally, this was an easy question to answer. He could just give a generic sure I’ll give you a call when I get some free time type of response. But for some reason—and his gut knew that exact reason—he knew he needed to do the right thing. So, nothing short of honesty would cut it now. Felicia deserved at least that much. No more dicking around the way it’d felt when he’d ignored her calls in the past weeks. “My life’s gotten pretty complicated, Felicia. With my mom watching the baby twice a week, it doesn’t feel right to be asking her to watch him so I can be social. I need to focus on my son right now.”

  She started to say something but then seemed to take it back. Orlando had a feeling why that was. This wouldn’t be the first time she countered his excuse for not getting together by assuring him he didn’t need to get a sitter just to hang out with her. She was cool hanging out with him and his son. But he could tell she’d picked up on just how much things had changed lately. She was likely rethinking the possibility of sounding too pushy, maybe even a little desperate. Their unspoken understanding before Dani showed up likely still stood with Felicia. Comments like the one she made to Dani about being willing to step up and take on the mother role to Oreo made one thing clear. Felicia was feeling more for Orlando now than he’d ever anticipated. Keeping things going even in the casual way they’d been doing was out of the question now. Not without feelings being hurt, and he just wasn’t willing to chance that. They might not have been exclusive or even gone out in weeks, but in not so many words, they’d sort of agreed to give each other a heads-up if they’d moved on. Not that Orlando had, but he wanted her to know she was free too if she wanted to. So, before she changed her mind and swallowed her pride, he spoke up first.

  “Listen. I’d say maybe we could hang out some time or something, but I prefer to be honest and upfront with you about this. I don’t anticipate having time for a social life anytime soon. Things are different for me now that I’m trying to get a routine going raising the baby and keeping up with the shop.”

  He explained how on top of it all they’d gotten the go-ahead on the expansion and things would be getting even more hectic for him in the coming months. Any downtime he had would be trying to recoup and catch some Z’s. But he wasn’t counting on too much of the latter. He told her they could keep in touch but hoped she got the hint—she wouldn’t be hearing back from him after today. Without further discussion, she said good-bye, and they were off the phone. As awkward as the call had been, Orlando was glad he’d gotten it over with. It was the right thing to do. Though for a fleeting moment after he hung up, he felt a little bad. But one look out the kitchen window at Dani’s car pulling into his driveway had Orlando smiling big. He turned to Oreo, letting his shoulders slump when he saw what a mess he was. “Cookie Monster again.” Rushing over to him, he grabbed a wipe from the many wipe boxes he now kept all around the house. For a few minutes, he tried to wipe him down as Oreo objected, moving his face away and whining.

  “Is that my little Oreo I hear?”

  As usual, Oreo’s eyes lit up at the sound of Dani’s voice, and his smile was as big and goofy as Orlando’s felt. He went from whining to squealing almost instantly. Orlando took advantage of his more cooperative mood to get some cleaning in. Since he’d given Dani the code to get in his front door and told her she never had to knock, she could just come in whenever she arrived now. He could hear her putting things down in the front room as he hurried to get the baby clean.

  The moment she was in the kitchen, Oreo went wild as he always did. “Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!” She rushed to him, cradling his little face and kissing it all over. “Good morning to you too, my little cookie monster.”

  “Yeah,” Orlando said with a chuckle, shaking his head. “I was trying to clean him up before you walked in and we were getting ready for breakfast. Believe it or not, he was clean just a few minutes ago. But I got a call and was on it for just a few minutes, turned around and . . .” He motioned to his son’s still messy face.

  “Ma, ma, ma, ma!”

  Orlando jerked his face in the baby’s direction, watching as he held his hand out to Dani, repeating the same syllables over and over. With his mouth falling open, Orlando turned to Dani. She stood there looking just as stunned as he felt. Only there was more to the expression she had going on. The closest the baby had come to saying anything before this was when Orlando tried in vain to get him to say dada. The most he’d succeeded was getting him to repeat the d sound and even that had been exciting as hell. Except at the moment, Dani looked anything but excited. She shook her head, looking almost terrified? As the baby continued to reach out to her and repeat those same syllables, Orlando took in Dani’s reaction, confused by it.

  “I swear I’ve never taught him that.”

  “I believe you,” Orlando assured her as he pulled the tray off the highchair, peering at her then handing Oreo to her since he was still adamantly calling out and reaching for mama. “We watch enough TV and YouTube that I’m sure he’s picked up on the kids on the show referring to the women taking care of them as mama.”

  “But I would never—”

  “It’s okay.” Orlando smiled, shaking off the alarm this brought on. “Dani, you’re the one female presence he’s gotten the most of lately. And based on his overall reaction to you from day one, I’m not surprised he’d call you that.”

  “I can teach him to call me Dani if you’d—”

  “Oh, hell no!” Orlando overdid the head shake. “If he’s gonna add anything to that d sound I finally got him to start repeating, it better be dada.”

  With the baby still babbling in Dani’s arms, she pointed at Orlando. “Dada,” she said, smiling big. “Say it, baby. Dada.” Oreo babbled some more stuff that wasn’t dada, but he did do the d sound for him, and Dani looked as excited for Orlando as he felt. “It’s just a matter of time,” she assured him then offered something else. “My brother calls me Nica. He shortens everyone’s name to the last two syllables of their name. In some cases, like my sister, the very last syllable. She’s La to
him. I can try teaching him Nica if it bothers you—”

  “Why would it bother me?” Orlando peered at her again, swallowing hard because it honestly didn’t bother him. Scared the hell out of him, yeah. What if this didn’t work out? What if eventually she did get married and her husband insisted she stay home and raise their own kids? Baby O had gotten way too attached to her too quickly, and it scared him to think she may not always be around. But otherwise it was an oddly pleasant thing to hear his son call her mama. Danica still looked unnerved, and he wondered if she might be thinking the same thing he was: that Oreo was getting way too attached to her, too soon. Bracing himself, he had to ask. “Unless it makes you uncomfortable.”

  “Not at all.” She shook her head quickly, kissing the baby on the nose, but shrugged. “I feel honored actually but it’s just that well . . . mama.”

  Orlando had to smile now as his tensed muscles relaxed a bit. “He feels nurtured by you, Dani.” He paused as the baby did what he did so often when he was in her arms, cuddled up into her like he couldn’t snuggle close enough. “Clearly, he’s already a big mama’s boy. If you’re not uncomfortable with it, I love that he calls you that.”

  Gulping back the familiar anxiety that he might’ve spooked her with that last comment, Orlando stared at her as she glanced up at him and held his gaze. The sudden and big smile surprised him, but he welcomed it. As if she weren’t adorable enough, she crinkled her nose in a giddy way and then giggled. “I love it too.”

  She went on quickly explaining how her initial reaction had been feeling worried that he might be upset about the baby’s first word not being dada. It’s why she’d seemed so alarmed at first.

  “I read somewhere that a baby’s first word is usually mama,” Orlando admitted with a defeated shrug. “Since he doesn’t have one, and my mom’s been working on him calling her Nani, I was kind of hoping his first would be dada. But I’m actually relieved. Finding someone I’d trust with him and would be a good fit was a huge worry for me. That he’s taken to you like he has for his first word to even be mama, I couldn’t be more grateful. Obviously, I hit it out of the park with you.”

  Dani looked up at Orlando with a smile. “I think we both did. I couldn’t have asked for a better job.” There was that twinkle in her eye again that did things to Orlando he was still trying to figure out. “Or a sweeter boss.”

  Orlando wasn’t so sure how he felt about her referring to him as boss even though technically he was. But he’d take the sweet part. They were caught in another one of their moments until she cocked an eyebrow. “You were going to feed him in here?”

  “No.” Orlando shook his head then turned to the counter where he’d been working on the cereal. “I was gonna move him over to the dining room as soon as I had his cereal ready, but then I got the call and . . .” He shook his head, feeling like a failure, but laughed. “I really was gonna move him though.”

  Dani giggled again but then seemed to catch herself. “Nothing’s wrong, right?” She glanced at his phone on the counter. “It wasn’t a bad call again was it? Byron?”

  “No, no.” Orlando shook his head but decided to take advantage of her asking to clarify. “I wouldn’t have even taken the call if it weren’t for the fact that I haven’t answered any of Felicia’s calls in days. I’ve just had too much going on, but I felt bad because, you know, she did help out when I needed her most. So, it feels kind of chicken shit to just ignore her now that I don’t.” Orlando had since taken the highchair tray to clean it up at the sink. He turned back to Dani, her expression unreadable even as she kissed the baby’s forehead.

  “Oh. Was she upset?”

  “No.” Orlando kept his eyes on her as he rinsed off the tray. “Nothing like that. I told you it’s never been serious between us. I just felt like I should at least extend her the courtesy of answering her calls every now and again, but . . .” He turned back to the sink before adding the next part. “I did make it clear again I don’t have time for even staying in touch much. I can’t be taking her calls at the shop, and I won’t even answer when you’re here.” He shrugged, trying to make less of that last part. “She knows my priorities, so I probably won’t be hearing much from her anymore.”

  He wiped the tray dry and placed it on the highchair, picking the whole thing up. Right on it as usual, Dani grabbed the bowl with the prepared cereal, which now included mushed bananas in it, and headed to the dining room. “Well, I’m sorry to hear it?” Orlando turned to her, slightly amused by the question in her comment. Her befuddled expression had him smiling. “I mean,” she went on quickly. “Not sure if this is a bummer for you or—”

  Orlando laughed as he set the highchair down at the head of the dining room table. “Not at all. I didn’t mean to be so blunt with her, but I don’t need to be dealing with the guilt every time I ignore her calls.” He looked at her, needing to make this last part clear. “Because now that I’ve made it clear, I’ll likely ignore every one of them from here on. No sense in dragging it out, especially because, even though I had made it clear from the beginning, I get the feeling she was still hoping for more.”

  Dani glanced at him for a moment before looking away, but he didn’t miss the way she arched a brow. “She did introduce herself to me as your girlfriend. So maybe you hadn’t made it clear enough.”

  Staring at her, Orlando was torn between frowning and smiling. Was she calling him out on this? “Yeah, I was warned by more than one person that the kind of understanding she and I had never worked. It’s why when I realized she was feeling way more than I ever felt for her, I knew I had to end it.” He held her gaze for a moment until she glanced away to put the baby down into the highchair.

  “Well, that stinks for her because I’m sure she was really into you. But at least you were honest with her about it.”

  “I’ve always been all about honesty.”

  She was quiet for a few moments as her moving slowed a bit while she strapped the baby into the highchair and put the tray back on. “Yeah, I remember you saying that.” Taking the seat next to the baby, Dani reached for the bowl of cereal, glancing up at Orlando when he took the seat across from her, but he was done with this subject.

  “TGIF,” he said with a smile. “But I guess for you that doesn’t mean much since you’ll be back here working tomorrow.”

  She shook her head adamantly before stopping quickly. Their eyes met, and for a moment, she appeared startled until she smiled and shook her head again. “This just doesn’t feel like work, is all.”

  “Yeah, but most people who work Monday through Friday do stuff over the weekend.” He cleared his throat, bringing his attention to the baby and grabbing his little hand. “When do you and your boyfriend go out for some fun?”

  He watched as she playfully and very successfully fed Oreo his first spoonful of his breakfast. Smiling couldn’t be helped when he saw how genuinely she smiled at the baby’s acceptance of the spoonful. Still, he braced himself once again for her response to yet another question about her personal life. “I’m not with him anymore.”

  She glanced up at him as their eyes met for a few seconds before turning back to the baby. Orlando’s mind raced for a perfect way to respond to that, but at the moment, he could barely catch his breath. When did this happen? Why? And did it have anything to do with what his delusional ass thought he’d picked up on from her in the past weeks? Was she telling him this now because of what he’d just told her about Felicia? “Really?” He cleared his throat and took the seat across from her at the table. No way was he going anywhere anytime soon. “Sorry to hear it?” She turned to him with a smile, obviously picking up on his matching her questioning tone when discussing his breakup. In the short time Orlando had known Dani, there’d been something about her that was such a draw for him. He didn’t know it until that very moment when she lifted and dropped a shoulder softly and turned back to the baby. For someone who seemed so put together and full of confidence, she had her moments where this qui
et vulnerability escaped her. Orlando appreciated it. It made the playing field a little more even since he’d felt so lost when it came to the baby skills compared to her. Not to mention every time he’d thought he’d picked up on her possibly beginning to feel something for him, he’d wondered if she’d compared him to her older, possibly wiser when it came to fatherhood, boyfriend.

  “I kept putting off shopping around for a ring for good reason. I didn’t want him spending money on a ring when I wasn’t sure I’d actually be going through with it.” She turned to him after feeding Oreo a few more spoonsful of breakfast. “He asked again about my schedule the other day and when I’d be available to go shop around. I told him we should wait.” The baby cooing had her turning back to him, but she went on. “That turned into this long drawn-out discussion about our relationship, and in the end, he gave me an ultimatum. Either we moved forward with the engagement or we break everything off. I chose the latter.”

  She glanced at Orlando, who had to refrain from smiling as big as he felt like doing, but then turned back to the baby quickly.

  “You don’t seem too broken up about it.”

  She smiled. “I’m relieved actually.”

  Without turning to look at him, Dani continued to alternate between feeding the baby and cleaning his face, but she didn’t say more. Orlando knew he’d already pried enough, but at this point it’d be an impossibility to not ask more. “You think he’ll come around and you two will end up getting back together?” He swallowed hard before adding what he really wanted to know. “Would you want to?”

  “No.” Her answer was immediate, but again she didn’t turn to Orlando. He got the feeling she was beginning to get uncomfortable talking about this. But damn it if he couldn’t keep from pushing for more. He hadn’t even realized it, but his heart was racing now. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate on anything else? This would be on his mind all day. The girl he had no choice but to admit he was falling hard for so embarrassingly fast, was now single and available.