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Turning to Nico, I clutched at his arm, feeling like if I didn’t hold onto something that I’d spin out of control. “She locked herself in there right after I told her. She’s been in there for over four hours! We have to do something before he shows up and the last thing she thinks of before leaving is being trapped in a bathroom all this time.”
Nico tried to turn the handle but found it locked like I had hours before. “I’ll have to get someone up here to open the door. That’ll give you a little more time to talk to her, but that’s the best I can do.”
He left to call whoever he needed to, so I pressed my mouth against the door and said in a soft voice, “Please, Grace. Just come out and we can spend some time together. I don’t want you to leave without giving me a hug.”
“Don’t make me leave,” she answered in a teary voice. “I don’t want to go, Tia. Make it so I can stay here.”
“I wish I could, honey. I do. I want you to stay here and we can go for walks and I can teach you all about your letters and numbers so you’re ready for school next year. I really do. But your father wants you to live with him, Grace, so you have to go there. But you can send me cards you make at his house. I’ll give you my address and you can send me as many cards as you want. Please come out, honey.”
She said nothing in return. I heard her whisper something, but then she fell silent.
Exhausted from how sad I felt, I stumbled back against the wall and let myself cry like I’d never cried before. With my head in my hands, I sobbed at how much I was going to miss her, how afraid I was for what she’d go through when she left here, and how hard I knew it was for her to understand all these decisions the adults in her life were making.
In the midst of feeling worse than I ever had before in my life, I felt someone touch my arm, and I dropped my hands to see Grace standing in front of me. She looked up at me with kindness in her eyes, as if she was the one who should be comforting me.
Without saying a word, I opened my arms and she stepped into them so I could hug her. She wrapped her little arms around my waist and sighed against me like she had the weight of the world on her five year old shoulders.
I brushed her blond hair off her face and whispered, “I’m sorry you saw me crying. I was just sad that I might not get to see you before you left.”
“Why won’t they let you come with me, Tia?” she asked in a voice that threatened to make me cry again.
“Your dad has his own things he wants to do, and he probably has someone just like me at his house, so he doesn’t need me. But it’s going to be okay because you’re going to send me lots of cards, right?”
Grace sighed again and tilted her head to look up at me. “I’ll send you one every week just like I send one to mommy. Don’t cry. I promise.”
I had no idea where this strength in her came from, but somehow, she’d found a way to handle all that was happening to her better than I could. I’d only known her for a couple weeks, but I knew I’d never forget her.
Chapter Eleven
Nico
As I waitedfor Joshua Groves to arrive, my phone rang. I recognized the number immediately. Louis DeVille from DeVille Staffing. Suddenly, I remembered I was supposed to return his call from earlier.
“Mr. DeVille, how are you today?”
“Mr. Allen, I had hoped you would have returned my phone call. Since you didn’t, this is going to be slightly awkward. I am sorry if this causes you any grief.”
Just what I needed. More grief in my home. I hadn’t gotten a shred of work done all day.
“Why would anything you do cause me grief? Tia has worked out wonderfully as my niece’s nanny. I can’t thank you enough for choosing her for this job.”
“Well, unfortunately, that job is ending, isn’t it? That’s what I called to speak to you about this morning. I’ll be at your house in a few minutes to pick her up for her next assignment. I hate that I have to inform you of this now, but again, I had hoped you’d call back before this afternoon. She starts her new job tonight.”
I sat there in my office in shock. Tia leaving? I knew she wouldn’t stay around for long after Grace left, but I thought we’d have a few days to enjoy one another’s company and make plans for the future.
“She can’t leave yet, Mr. DeVille. My niece is still here, so she needs to stay until she’s gone.”
“As much as I wish that could happen, I’m afraid it simply isn’t possible. Tia has to start her new nanny job tonight. The man she’s going to be working for insists upon it. There really is no other choice, unfortunately.”
“Tonight? Why? What’s the hurry? She can’t start tomorrow? This is ridiculous. Tell him I need her here until the morning, so he’ll have to deal with whatever he needs her for himself.”
Why did everyone in the world suddenly need to do things this very fucking day? What happened to red tape? Didn’t that exist anymore to slow things down?
“I’m sorry. That’s not possible. Mr. Groves requires her services immediately.”
Groves? Did Grace’s father somehow arrange to have Tia go with his daughter tonight? How was that possible?
“Mr. Groves? Is Tia’s new boss named Joshua Groves? That’s my niece’s father. How in the hell did he hire her and I didn’t know?” I asked, incensed that I wasn’t informed.
