Closing his eyes, he tried to shut off his mind and sleep. Tomorrow would be what it would and he’d learned long ago that he could only control so much of his—and Mad’s—life. There was no point having a sleepless night over something he couldn’t stop from happening.
He’d be better equipped to deal with it if he managed more than a few hours of sleep too.
He just had to hope whatever Shelly had said to Lory hadn’t caused permanent damage to their friendship.
Because as much as Jake didn’t want to let anyone close, he knew he already had.
How close remained to be seen.
14
Mallory opened the door to find Mazey, a sleeping Zane strapped to her chest, on her doorstep. “Oh, hey. I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Mind if we come in?”
“No. Please.” She moved back to let them inside. “Is everything okay? Do you need me for something?”
“If you’re not busy, you can come with me to the park with Zane and Mad while Jake fires the nanny.”
Mallory gasped. “What? Why’s he firing her? She only started yesterday.”
“Yes, she did, but I’m pretty sure you know why he’s letting her go.”
“Is Maddox okay?”
“As far as I know, he’s fine. But let’s not beat around the bush. Something happened between you and the nanny yesterday”—she held up a hand to stop Mallory from commenting—“and before you argue, let me say I don’t need to know details, but I’m sure Jake will ask at some point. Add in Mrs. Russell calling Jake about you looking for somewhere else to live and we all came to the conclusion that whatever it was wasn’t nice. Then there’s the whole sleeping in Jake’s bed—”
“What?”
“Yeah.” Mazey sighed. “Jake has one of those monitors with the app so you can check on your phone wherever you are and when he checked in on Mad last night, that woman was sleeping in his bed. Naked!”
“Oh my. That’s…” She had no words. It was creepy and overstepping and, yeah. “Creepy.”
“Yep. It certainly is. Anyway, Ry and Jake are on their way home now and when they get here you and I and Zane are going to grab Mad and take him to the park while they usher the nanny out the door.”
“Couldn’t Rylan go with you? Why does he need to be here?”
“Because if that woman was sleeping in Jake’s bed, Lord knows what she’ll do when he tells her she’s fired.”
Mallory had to admit Mazey had a valid point. “She seemed so normal. Perfect even.”
“Who? The nanny?”
“Yes. I was with Jacob when he interviewed her. All her references were good too.”
Mazey shrugged. “Obviously it was a lie. Or an act. Doesn’t matter. From now on Zane and I will stay here with Mad when Jake works until he finds someone else. Not that I expect that to happen anytime soon. Not after this.”
“No. I expect not.” Mallory couldn’t wrap her head around it. Then again, hadn’t she thought the woman was looking to hook up? She’d obviously had Jacob in her sights. “How long do I have before you want to leave? I’ll need to change.”
Mazey waved her off. “You’re fine as you are.”
Laughing, she said, “I’m in my PJs.”
“Really? They’re super cute. I’d go out in those. Are you sure they’re pajamas?”
“Technically, no, they’re not, but this is what I slept in so I will need to change. I’d like to shower if I have time.”
Mazey looked at her phone. “You’ve got ten minutes, tops. Ry’s going to message as soon as they’re here so I can go get Mad out of the way before anything happens.”
