“Hey now, no need to get bent out of shape,” he said, adopting a sterner tone. “It was just a simple question.”
“It was more than a question,” Sunny shot back. “It was an insinuation.”
Now it was Liam’s turn to get defensive.
“Look, it’s not an attack on your schooling or anything,” he said. “But my girls need more than a glorified tutor as a nanny, you get me? They need structured care, discipline, and childhood development know-how appropriate for their formative years.”
Sunny gaped at him, her eyes wide and mouth agape. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Glorified tutor?!” she hissed. “I can’t believe you just dismissed my entire career, my training, who I am as a person like that.”
Liam’s eyes flashed defensively. “Just cool down for a second. I’m saying there’s a difference between book smarts and actual experience.”
Sunny slammed her palm on the counter, making the plates and silverware rattle.
“How dare you reduce everything I’ve accomplished to just having ‘book smarts’? You arrogant, presumptuous ass!”
Liam recoiled from her heated outburst, his jaw clenched.
“Well, excuse me for vetting the person I’ve entrusted with the most important part of my life,” he countered. “You think I’m just going to hand my daughters off to some babysitter without making sure…”
“I am not SOME BABYSITTER!” Sunny shouted, leaping off the stool as her fury finally boiled over. “I am a childcare professional.Those degrees and certifications you sneer at? They were hard-earned through years of work. But I guess the great Liam Anderson wouldn’t understand that kind of dedication, since you’re so busy beating goons on the ice.”
That struck a nerve. Liam’s nostrils flared as he shot to his feet.
“Don’t you dare lecture me about priorities,” he spat. “Being a dad is the only thing that matters in my life anymore! Which is why I need someone with legitimate skills. If you think…”
“Daddy?”
The tiny, timid voice made them both freeze.
Maddie and Hailey stood in the kitchen doorway, wide-eyed and brimming with unshed tears. Hailey’s lip trembled as she clutched her stuffed bunny closer.
“Is…is Sunny going away?”
The fear and vulnerability in those words pierced Sunny’s heart.
Without thinking, she rushed over to kneel before the frightened girls, cupping their now tear-stained cheeks.
“Oh, sweeties,” she soothed. “Everything’s okay.”
But Maddie shook her head adamantly, her face crumbling.
“No! We heard Daddy yelling…and now you have to leave!”
Sunny glanced back at Liam. The ball was out of her court.
He stood there stoically, arms crossed over his broad chest in an intimidating, walled-off manner. Animosity still radiated off him in waves.
This simply wasn’t fair. Not to Sunny, and certainly not to these innocent little girls.
Hailey flung her small arms around Sunny’s neck, sniffling into her hair.
“Please don’t go, Sunny.”
A lump constricted Sunny’s throat as she hugged the distraught child protectively. These two little angels were desperate for stabilityand unconditional love after an unfathomable loss. How could she turn her back on them in their time of need? How could she become yet another heartbreaking absence in these girls’ lives? But that was no longer in her control.
Maddie’s hiccuping sobs twisted the knife deeper.
