“I’ll tell them to wash their hands, too!”
As soon as she was out of the dining room, I walked back towards the kitchen. “Griff was in the hallway when I came out of my room to bring Grace back to you.”
“I know. He told me.”
Spinning back around to glare at him, I planted my hands on my hips. “Why did you act like it was something else, then?”
He smiled, something slow and sweet, the same way he’d smiled at me so many years before. It was his charming smile. I didn’t know if he knew he did it, or if his stupid face really just was that charming. “I was just curious about something.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” He looked around the dining room and smiled again. “Why don’t you eat breakfast with us?”
Feeling extra salty and bitter, I shook my head. “The help eats in the back dining room.”
Grace ran back into the room then and hugged Con’s legs. “Daddy! Jones was mean!”
I was grateful for the distraction from Con. Kneeling, I held my arms out for Grace. “Come here, honey.”
She hurried into my hug and wrapped her arms around my neck. “He’s so mean sometimes. I don’t like it.”
“Of course not. It’s not fun when someone is mean. Jones loves you, though.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Sometimes, people can be a little cranky when they’re not feeling so good. Jones just needs a little extra love and patience these days.”
“I think he needs a spanking.”
I grinned. “I really hope no one starts giving out spankings. What if someone got one for sneaking through little doors in the middle of the night?”
Her little lips puckered out. “Oh, no, that wouldn’t be good.”
“No, it wouldn’t be. So, no spankings.”
She nodded. “No spankings.”
Con chuckled and knelt beside us. “I don’t know. I was really starting to think that spankings would be a good thing. Especially for getting a little girl to listen to me.”
Grace frowned and leaned into me. “No, Daddy. Spankings are bad.”
He reached out and cupped her little face. “Okay, no spankings.”
I had a moment of sharp pain at the scene. In another life, it could’ve been different. The little girl in my arms could’ve been mine, and Con could’ve been looking on at us as his family. Instead, I was the nanny for his child with another woman.
“Autumn? You okay?” Con’s eyes turned worried, and he reached out to put a hand on my shoulder.
I shifted away from his touch and forced a smile as I pushed Grace into his arms. “Yeah. I’m going to go make sure the others are awake.”
Hurrying out of the dining room, I rushed upstairs, eager to have an early morning confrontation with Jones to get over whatever I’d just had with Con. Anything would’ve been better than feeling what I’d just felt for any longer.
Zeke stepped out of one of the rooms downstairs as I was hurrying by and frowned when he saw the look on my face. “Whoa, whoa. You okay?”
I nodded. “Perfect.”
Falling into step with me, he rested his hand on the back of my neck and gently squeezed until I stopped moving. “I don’t want to call you a liar, but liar.”
I smiled, despite myself. “Ugh. I’m fine.”
“Where are you off to?”
“Getting Jones and Caroline up.”
