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Hannah let out a whimper, and guilt rose in Nora. She really should have had this conversation without the girl. But it was too late now.
“Hey, it’s all right. Everything is going to be okay,” she soothed. “Look at me, Hannah.”
Reluctantly, the girl lifted her head from where she’d buried it in Nora’s shirt. The nurse brushed away the girl’s tears. “See, you’re okay. You just had a little scare. Now, I want you to take a deep breath with me.”
She took deep breaths and let them out. Shakily, Hannah began to copy her until her breathing evened out. Nora smiled at her. “There you go, much better.”
Nora scooped her up to place her back in the wheelchair. Hannah gripped her shirt and gave her a frantic look. “Can you just carry me instead? I don’t want to fall again.”
Her heart clenched in sympathy for the girl, but this was what was best for her. She couldn’t coddle her. Otherwise, the girl would always be afraid.
The nurse gave her a reassuring grin. “It’s okay. You can’t be scared just because of one accident. If you don’t get back up and try again, you’re never going to get anywhere.”
Hannah still didn’t look completely convinced. So Nora tried another tactic.
She smiled mischievously. “Besides, I’m pretty sure we still have chocolate chip pancakes that need eating. And you’d hate to miss out on that.”
Hannah immediately brightened. “That’s right! We need to get there right away.”
Nora grinned at her and set her in the chair. “Let’s go get some pancakes then. And this time, we’ll go a little slower.”
The girl’s look became sheepish, but she nodded. They made their way to the dining room, where the new personal chef was setting out platters of food, Hannah moving more carefully this time.
Hudson followed a bit behind them. Nora glanced back at him. He looked like a scolded dog.
But he was still there, making sure Hannah got her pancakes. And he really had been very loving toward the girl. He just didn’t seem to know how to express it.
Nora sighed. Maybe she’d been a bit too harsh with him. He was new to all this, and like all new parents, he still had a lot of things to figure out. And it was quite obvious that he hadn’tplannedon becoming a parent.
Assuming that he was ignoring the child’s needs out of selfishness was hardly fair. Deep down, she suspected the problem wasn’t that he was too self-involved to care about Hannah.
In fact, maybe part of the issue was that she wished the handsome Hudson paid a little more attention to her. But that was neither here nor there, and she knew better than to let her attraction to the man ruin her working relationship with Hannah …or cause her to judge him too harshly.
Navigating how to properly help Hannah in her condition was no small feat. He didn’t deserve scolding for not mastering it instantly. Even not-so-new-parents struggled with that.
She didn’t think that he’d intentionally endanger the girl. Hudson really seemed to love and care for her, and he seemed almost ashamed now. She remembered how tender he’d been with her the other day. With some guidance, he could be a wonderful father to Hannah.
But that was what he needed. Guidance. Not berating.
And she was staying with them and was a pediatric nurse who worked with kids all the time. If anyone could help him learn how to properly keep Hannah safe, it was her.
Breakfast was fairly quiet. Hannah didn’t talk much except to sometimes tell Nora about something. Hudson didn’t speak a word throughout the whole meal.
Not that he was much of a talker anyway, but now he was downright silent. Like, somehow, his words might make everything worse.
They really needed to have a heart-to-heart about this whole situation.
After breakfast, Hannah went to read. All her terror from earlier seemed completely forgotten. Nora was glad for that, at least. Kids typically bounced back from small scares like that fairly easily.
She noticed Hudson about to slink away to his office and pursed her lips. They needed to have another, more productive talk. And now was a prime opportunity to do so.
Nora cleared her throat, and he looked back at her questioningly.
“Can we talk for a moment in private?” she asked.
He gave her a wary look but nodded. They moved into another room away from Hannah.
She sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for snapping earlier. I was just so frustrated after seeing Hannah almost get hurt, and I just lost it. I should have taken a different approach with that conversation and expressed my fears more reasonably.”
