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“Oh.” Summer’s gaze fell away, and she shrugged her narrow shoulders. “I don’t have anyone. My mother passed when I was young, and I haven’t seen my father in ten or so years.”
“Oh.” My heart clenched suddenly, and I immediately regretted asking, especially during a job interview. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be,” she smiled strongly, but a shadow lingered in her eyes. “Trust me, if I’m successful here, you’re saving me from a frozen dinner and trash TV—”
“Luke!” scolded a sudden familiar voice, and I leaned away from Summer. “Put on a damn shirt boy!”
My mother stood in the doorway with her wrinkled face twisted into a scowl and her gray curls falling loose from her pins as she shook her head.
“Hi, Mom,” I grinned, glancing at Summer. “Summer, this is Tabitha, my mother. She’ll be coming on holiday with us. She’s Ava’s grandmother.”
“Granny to all three of those darlings,” she corrected sharply and strode into the kitchen at a speed unbecoming of her age.
“Hello, Tabitha,” Summer smiled nervously and wiped her hands down her jeans before she held one out. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Humph,” my mother grumbled and ignored Summer’s hand, making a beeline for the trays instead. “The children will be starving; we can’t dally with their meals like this.”
“Oh, of course!” Summer snapped into action and scooped up two of the trays, balancing them carefully in her hands. “I’m sorry!”
With that, Summer was gone, darting out of the kitchen with the food in hand.
“Mom,” I sighed softly, “remember that talk we had about being nice to the people we bring in to help us?”
“I remember,” my mother remarked tartly. “I don’t remember the part about interviewing her topless though, hmm?” She scowled sharply at me, then it melted into a warm, familiar smile. My mother could be prickly, but she was just protective. With everything me and the guys had been through, she had taken all the children under her wing and given up a good part of her life to help me raise Ava after my accident.
I owed her more than I could ever repay.
“There was a juice incident,” I explained, laughing, “but I understand. I’m sorry.”
“That poor girl,” my mother tutted, picking up the third tray. “She has no idea what she’s in for, does she? Well, I expect you to act like a perfect gentleman, do you hear me?”
“Yes, Mother,” I grinned and leaned over, pressing a kiss to her powdered cheek. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“I mean it,” she scolded, “I know what you boys are like. You’re bleeding hearts and wandering dicks always get us into trouble.”
“Mom!”
She flashed me a cheeky smile and vanished from the kitchen with the third tray, leaving me to my thoughts.
She was right, in a way. All three of us had been in painful situations because our hearts overruled our minds, but that had nothing to do with Summer. She was beautiful and warm, but that didn’t mean anything, right?
And yet, as I tried to reassure myself of that, one thing was already crystal clear in my mind.
I liked her. And as long as the children liked her, she was coming with us.
Christmas suddenly got a whole lot more interesting.
6
SUMMER
With my suitcase pressed firmly against my calf, I leaned forward onto the counter and lightly drummed my fingers on the desk. In the course of a week, Jax had offered me the nanny position, and after a whole host of short meetings about security, a refresher on health and safety, and a check-up at a doctor to ensure I was up to date on my vaccinations and boosters for travel; it was time.
I’d never flown this far before, and the excitement of the trip was the only thing keeping everything else at bay. Felix had somehow gotten ahold of my number, likely from my old work with how much Sophie hated me, and he’d been blowing up my message box with all sorts of threats and promises of destroying every aspect of my life.
Little did he know, I didn’t have much of a life to speak of. Glancing around the check-in desk as the clerk checked my plane ticket, I was struck by just how many people there were. Families and couples all preparing to set off on their holidays, friend groups excited for their first trips away, and children already over-stimulated by the noise and bustle. It was exactly like the hotel, only a lot colder.
“I’m so sorry,” the clerk said, drawing my attention back to her. “But I can’t find your flight.”
