Well, later had arrived, and he couldn’t keep relying on his friends’ generosity. If he wanted to build a good life for him and Maddox, he had to find his own way.
Things had been easier in Monterey. He hadn’t had to work, still didn’t, except he knew he couldn’t isolate himself or Mad any longer. He’d been doing that since he’d been handed a six-month-old Maddox. More so since last May when the woman who had given him his greatest gift had betrayed them both.
He couldn’t keep doing that though, couldn’t keep them in their own little bubble. He needed to work for his mental health and he needed to be able to trust others with the care of his son.
Plus Mad needed more than his father in his life. More than the pulled together family Jake could give him. He needed friends and activities and yeah, okay, he wasn’t even two but still. His boy needed to be normal.
More than anything, Jake wanted his son to have a normal life.Neededhim to have it to make up for Renee and what she’d done.
Not that any of that was his fault or his to fix. In spite of the blame he laid on his own shoulders, he knew there was no way he could have predicted what had happened.
He’d never been able to predict what kind of drama Renee would pull next and he needed to accept the fact that even if he had been able to, he couldn’t have known she’d treat their son the way she had.
He needed to accept there was nothing he could have done to stop Maddox’s abduction.
Needed to accept it was in the past and move on with their lives.
Needed tolivetheir lives and keeping themselves isolated wouldn’t be doing that.
He might not be ready to bring someone into their lives intimately, might never be, but he could certainly widen their circle and broaden their lives, giving them a future that was bright with possibilities.
10
Taking a long breath in through her nose, Mallory slowly let it out through pursed lips and eyed the glass door thirty feet away.
She hadn’t seen Jacob since yesterday after their picnic. Or, more importantly, since the weird way it ended and she’d rushed out of his house.
She had spent hours last night going over and over his words, both during their picnic and at the end after he had put Maddox to bed. She still wasn’t sure what he had been trying to say in those last few moments together.
All she knew was she had panicked because she had wanted him to say he liked her. And not in a ‘let’s be friends’ kind of way.
The whole time she had been in the backyard with Jacob and Maddox, she had forgotten to keep her distance. No, that was a lie. She hadn’t wanted to distance herself from them. They were too easy to like except with all the secrets she was keeping sheknewshe had to remain detached. And she would. From now on she would keep their interactions to a minimum. And impersonal.
Except she had said she would help Jacob find a nanny for Maddox and she would not go back on her word because that wasn’t who she was; when she said she would do something, she did it. Always.
Plus Jacob had seemed so overwhelmed by the thought of finding someone to take care of his son that she just couldn’t stop herself from offering to help them and would definitely not renege now.
It wouldn’t hurt to help, give him some advice on what to look for and where to look for it.
That was why she found herself in the space between his house and her apartment trying to work up the courage to go to the back door and knock.
In her hand was a list of names and telephone numbers for several nanny agencies as well as three pages of information on what qualifications he should be asking for and roughly what he could expect to pay.
The research she had done while pondering what had happened between them yesterday hadn’t been too extensive but she had discovered an agency out of LA that had nannies on their books willing to work outside of normal hours and days. They were at the top of her list and had plenty of glowing testimonials from celebrities and people in the movie industry justifying their placement there. Mallory had high hopes they would give Jacob the kind of nanny services he wanted as well as needed.
Although he wasn’t going to get anything if she couldn’t walk over there and offer him the information in her hands.
Taking another deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and marched forward like a prisoner on their way to the electric chair. Mentally rolling her eyes at herself, she settled into a more natural stride and headed for the deck stairs.
The closer she got, the clearer the inside became. Her steps faltered. Standing at the counter was a woman. One Mallory had seen in photographs.
Mazey Conners.
The baby tucked in the carrier against Mazey’s chest squirmed and she patted the tiny bottom while bouncing and swaying. Mallory was so fixated on the woman and baby she didn’t see the man walking toward the door until he slid it open and spoke.
“Hello there. You must be Mallory.”
Unsure of what to say when faced with another person she knew only from photos—the man Renee had married—she nodded as she took the first step onto the deck. She stumbled on the second when Maddox came rushing through the door screaming ‘cookie’.
