AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Heather paused to look through her binoculars, then turned back to me. “Let me tell you a secret about raising kids:nobodyknows what they’re doing. Everyone is flailing around, trying to figure it out as they go. Anyone who claims to be an expert is a liar. Trust me: I nannied for alotof families before moving out here. Everyone is clueless.”
One of the things I loved about Heather was that she wasveryblunt. She didn’t sugarcoat things, and she didn’t shy away from a hard truth. If she claimed that nobody knew what they were doing, then I knew she wasn’t just saying it to make me feel better. It was the truth.
I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks, Heather. I needed to hear that.”
“I know you did. Now snap the fuck out of it. Cora is still one of the most well-behaved girls I’ve ever known. You’reinsanelylucky to have her as a daughter. You’re not allowed to mope around just because she rebelled one time.”
I chuckled as I gazed through my binoculars.I’m not just lucky to have Cora as a daughter. I’m lucky to have Heather as a nanny, too.
39
Heather
Asher was a good father. He genuinely cared about Cora and the boys. It was almost amusing seeing him freaking out just because his daughter hadoneinstance of lying.
The girl would be fine. I would just need to make sure I didn’t take her for granted while focusing on the boys. She needed attention and praise too.
I thought about the kids during the stakeout. Sure, Dustin and Micah were little balls of rebellious energy, but that’s just how little boys were. The three dads were doing the best they could, given the circumstances. It couldn’t have been easy for the last six years.
Not that men couldn’t raise children alone. I knew plenty of single dads who did wonderful jobs with their children. But it was harder, especially in a situation where the three men each had a child of their own from the surrogate, and shared a business, and tried to do everything at once. It would have been easier if they had a mom to help out.
Or a wife.
I had no idea where the hellthatthought came from. But once it appeared, I let myself consider it. I really liked these guys. I meanreallyliked them. Each of them was wonderful and unique in their own way. And after five weeks together, I knew what we had was more than just physical, no matter how much I tried to pretend otherwise.
I cared about Asher, Brady, and Rogan. And I knew they cared deeply about me, too. Not to mention the love I felt for their three children. We had something special growing.
I don’t know if I can leave at the end of six months.
Asher and I passed the time by playing games. “I spy with my little eye…” I said slowly while gazing through the binoculars. “Somethingpink.”
Asher answered immediately. “The woman on the left side of the balcony with the wine glass. She has a pink top.”
“Damnit. You’re good at this game.”
“We’re both looking at the same balcony,” he pointed out. “Our options are limited.”
“What kind of threats is Amirah getting?” I asked.
Asher pursed his lips while gazing across the courtyard. “The most recent one is on the computer. It’s from the same account that threatened her before thefirstattack, at her house.”
I twisted the laptop around on the table so I could read it. There were two Twitter Direct Messages, sent five minutes apart:
Amirah, my beloved. You have ignored all of my messages. Why don’t you reciprocate my love? No one will ever love you the way I do. I can promise you that. Is someone keeping you from me? Do you have a personal assistant reading your messages and deleting them? Who is keeping me from you?
I do not know why you have decided to be such a FUCKING BITCH. Tonight, I’m going to make sure you never love anyone ever again. If I can’t have you, no one can. You will die tonight, WHORE.
I winced. “They went off the rails awfully fast. The first message is pleading, and the second is hostile.”
“The stalker seems quite bipolar,” Asher agreed. “Of course, if Heimdallisbehind this, then it’s orchestrated to look like—”
The radio on the table crackled to life. “Cooper here. Apple Pie is wandering out to the balcony to get a drink.”
Asher touched his earpiece and said, “Copy.” Then, to me: “Keep an eye on the party. I’ll scan the balconies above.”
I spotted Amirah as she walked through the open doors out onto the ballroom balcony. She was wearing a gorgeous moss-green dress with a plunging neckline. There was a split in the hem which showed a flash of bare leg with every stride. Her blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders in ringlets, swaying back and forth as she spoke with people on the balcony.
I’d kill for her stylist, I thought.
