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Before Hadley pulled me into the bedroom, I called out, “I will. Have fun!”
After Hadley and I got my things unpacked and put away, we made a trip into town to pick up some groceries for my place, and some for Hadley and Aiden after I peeked at his pantry.
“What are some of your favorite things to eat?” I asked Hadley as we made our way down the aisles.
“Pancakes. Hamburgers. Bacon. Chocolate. Doritos. Shrimp!”
I stared down at her. “Wow. That’s some list. How about fruit?”
She nodded. “I love fruit.”
“Veggies?”
Her little nose scrunched up. “I don’t like veggies.”
Placing my hand over my heart, I gasped. “What? Oh, Hadley, we are going to have to introduce you to some of my favorites.”
She giggled and reached up for my hand. My heart ached a bit in my chest. Aiden was right. It was clear she’d been longing for a female figure in her little life. I wondered what type of mother Lisa had been. Was she caring and attentive, or more like my mother…caught up in her own world?
I chastised myself for such thoughts. Ofcourse,she was caring and attentive. How could she be otherwise with this little girl?
“Let’s head over to the produce, and I’ll pick out some things that we’ll try this week. Does your daddy take his lunch to work?”
Hadley shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Do you take yours to school?”
“If Grams packs me one, but most of the time she and Daddy are late in the morning, and I buy lunch at school.”
I nodded. That was all about to change. It was going to be home-cooked meals from now on. No more bacon and chocolate. Or was it Pop-Tarts Alice had said?
Hadley helped me pick out some fruits and vegetables that looked good to her and some that she already knew she liked. I wasn’t sure what the last few years had looked like for their family. I imagined if her mother had been fighting cancer, there were probably not a lot of home-cooked meals before her passing. I didn’t know when she’d died, precisely, but I could only hope that Lisa didn’t suffer for very long. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for a husband and daughter to watch their loved one go through something like that.
“This is so much fun!” Hadley declared, taking my hand once again.
“Itisfun, isn’t it?” I replied, giving her a tap on the nose.
“You do know you willneverreplace her.”
The familiar voice from behind caused me to pause and glance over my shoulder.
Putting on the fake smile I had perfected years ago, I turned to fully face the woman. “Nancy, right? From dance class,” I said.
She gave me a once-over as Hadley greeted another little girl who looked to be her age.
“Is this your daughter, MaryLou?” I asked, grinning at the little girl next to her.
“Yes. And back to what I was saying, you’ll never replace Lisa in Hadley’s life. She was an amazing mother.”
My brow furrowed in surprise. “I’m not trying to replace anyone. I was hired to be her nanny.”
Nancy narrowed her eyes, then glanced at Hadley. “She sure seems to be taken with you.”
Hadley moved behind my legs, as if scared of the woman. I reached down and she took my hand.
“I would hope so, considering she and I will be spending a lot of time together. But regardless, I don’t think this is the appropriate place to be having this conversation, wouldn’t you agree?”
Nancy took a step closer to me and said in a hushed voice, “She was my best friend, and if you think you’re just going to move in on her husband, you have another think coming.”
