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Nick wasn’t in the mood to talk about his roller-coaster month away from home. He was focused on Desmond Perry’s calling in the final installment of the multimillion-dollar loan three months early. It had—much against his will—forced Nick to consider selling one of the more successful of the garden centers. He’d held off, and now he was relieved that he had.
In the long run, liquidating a center would cost them all. Him. Alison and Richard—and the other stockholders. Each center had been carefully selected for its position; in time every center was going to be a crown jewel. But future profits didn’t help his sister; she needed help now.
“I’m okay. I’ve told you before, you fuss too much,” he stalled.
“That’s right. Shut me out, Nicky—as you always do. I suppose I should be grateful you at least speak to Richard…although that’s only about business, I suppose. Not about your marriage, about what it’s been like waiting for the sword of Damocles to drop.”
Nick sighed. “Alison—”
“Don’t worry, I know! Your marriage is none of my business. I should know by now that you never give an inch…never talk about what matters. One day you’ll need to learn to let someone inside that hard shell you’ve grown.”
He rubbed his hand over his eyes—God, he was tired—and resisted the urge to tell his sister that she was overreacting, that the hard shell she harped on was all in her imagination. Whatever he said, she’d only argue.
Instead, he crossed over to the white leather sofa and sank into its cushioned depths. Propping his feet onto one of the four mirrored cubes that together acted as a coffee table, he said, “Well, I want to talk now. Why didn’t you let me know the nanny had walked out? That you’d seen fit to hire someone else?”
“Candace isn’t really a nanny—she’s a nurse.”
At once fear flooded him. His hand clenched around the phone. “A nurse? Is there something you haven’t told me?” Was Jennie a lot sicker than his sister had led him to believe? “Alison—”
“Jennie is fine! And Candace is a godsend—she’s very capable. I met her at the hospital. We hit it off instantly and when she heard that Margaret had left—”
“Why did Margaret leave?”
“Her blood pressure had risen and when Jennie got ill she said it was too much for her.”
Nick closed his eyes and suppressed the urge to swear.
He hadn’t known the woman had high blood pressure or he might have had second thoughts when Jilly had hired her. Which was probably why she hadn’t mentioned it on her resume. Margaret had seemed so perfect. An older, maternal-looking woman from a reputable agency with impeccable references. He’d been pleased with Jilly’s choice. Now it appeared that she hadn’t been quite so perfect.
“What do you know about this other woman?”
“She’s a pediatric surgery nurse by training. She’s been away from the hospital for a little while—traveling or something. But she has fabulous references and the hospital snapped her up to do overflow shifts in the emergency room as soon as she came back.” His sister paused to draw a breath, but rushed on before Nick could get a word in edgewise. “Surely even you can see the benefit of Jennie having a nanny who can take care of her if she gets ill, as babies so often do? It certainly sets my mind at ease. I’m sure it’s what Jilly would’ve wanted.”
“Let’s leave aside what Jilly would’ve wanted.”
Nick wasn’t about to let his sister change the focus of the conversation to his mixed-up emotions about his late wife…and Jennie.
“Once you meet Candace, you’ll see that she’s absolutely perfect.” His sister changed direction, one of those frog-leaps Nick was finding more difficult than usual to follow. “I don’t know what we’ll do when she decides to go back to full-time nursing.”
“Hire a real nanny?” suggested Nick, closing his eyes. “So that when I come home from being away for weeks on end Jennie is at least here to greet me?”
A scarlet Ferrari occupied the space that had been empty since Candace had arrived to take care of Jennie.
Candace’s mouth set into a firm line as she eased the station wagon that had come with the job in between the sleek sports car and a silver Daimler. So Nick Valentine was home. About time. The electronically activated garage door lowered with a hum behind her. But her ire toward her neglectful employer didn’t extend to his daughter. Opening the rear door, Candace crooned to the baby as she lifted her out of the car seat and she was rewarded with a happy smile.
