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“I’ll just bet she can,” Iris answers.
Sophie takes the sack Iris is holding and grins at me, and I do my best to return it. I have no idea how to handle this strange situation I’ve gotten mixed up in, but I try to look unbothered for Sophie’s sake as I move toward her.
“Hey, Soph, do you mind taking the pizza inside? I’ll be right behind you.” I hesitate before handing her the box. “But be careful,” I warn. “It’s still hot.”
“Okay,” Sophie says brightly, taking the box from me and balancing her books on top before looking back at her aunt. “Bye, Aunt Iris.”
“Bye, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.”
Neither of us says a word as Sophie moves through the gate, Iris waiting until she’s safely inside the house before she speaks again, her earlier sweet tone nowhere to be found.
“I notice her dad isn’t around again.”
“He’s working.”
Iris laughs, but it’s off. “He’s always working.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing that he’s providing for his kid.”
Iris’s eyebrows shoot up. “Why do you care? You’re just the nanny.” I watch as her expression turns curious. “Unless you’re more... invested somehow. What exactly is your role here?”
“I’m here to take care of Sophie,” I tell her. “Look, it feels like we got off on the wrong foot. I would never think of getting in the way of your relationship with Sophie. She needs all the love she can get, I imagine. I don’t want her to be confused.”
“I’m sure she’s already confused, given that her dad can’t be bothered to spend any real time with her.”
I cross my arms. “That’s not fair.”
“There are a lot of things about this situation that aren’t fair,” Iris answers bitterly.
“Listen, I think I get where you’re coming from, but you can’t—”
“You have no idea where I’m coming from,” she says, cutting me off. “You don’t know me. You barely know Sophie. I don’t know what Aiden has told you, but he isn’t—”
“Hey.”
She blinks in surprise, looking as shocked by my outburst as I am.
“Sorry,” I say more quietly. “But I can’t sit here and listen to you bad-mouth her dad to me. You’re right. Idon’tknow Sophie and Aiden that well yet, but I can tell he’s trying. I mean, he’s her dad. Don’t you think being with him is what’s best for her?”
Iris looks at me for a long moment, almost like she’s trying to figure me out. “I don’t need a lecture from you,” she says finally. “You don’t know anything. About any of this. Frankly, it’s none of your business.”
“Whether you like it or not,Sophieis my business,” I counter. “It’s my job to look after her, and you randomly dropping by makes it my business.”
“It’s funny,” Iris notes after a short time. “You’re much younger than any of the other nannies Sophie has had. Prettier too. I wonder why that is?”
What she’s saying makes my ears feel hot, but I decide I don’t have to validate her insinuations with a retort.
“I think you should leave,” I say as politely as I can manage. “Clearly, you’re upset.”
“Upset,” Iris chuckles dryly, still looking at me in a way that makes me feel icky. “Sure. Tell Aiden I’ll be in touch.”
I watch her stalk off toward what seems to be her car down the street, waiting until she’s tucked into the driver’s seat andpulling away before I head inside, cursing under my breath the entire way. I can’t fathom what I could have done in thetwoinstances of meeting Iris to make her loathe me, but it’s clear that polite talk and pasted-on smiles aren’t going to put a dent in the chip she’s carrying on her shoulder. God, even when I make it inside, I’m still rattled, recognizing that Iris was on the money about one thing at least. Iammore invested in this than I should be.
And I thought it was going to be weird talking to Aiden aboutSophie’sfeelings.
—
I made sure that I was fully dressed this time, bra and all. I had this whole speech planned out, when I decided to wait up for Aiden on the second floor after Sophie went to bed, thinking that I would have a quick chat about everything Sophie and I talked about and then tack on a careful mention at the end of my most recent encounter with Iris. Easy peasy.
