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Collins was slow to take my hand, but she solemnly shook my pointer finger. “Hi.”
“Hello,” I answered with a grin. “Want to hear something great? I’m going to be taking care of you for a little while until your dad finds someone to replace my mom, Carol. How does that sound? We can run around and play and have a great time.”
“Carol doesn’t run,” Collins reported dubiously. “She said she’s too tired.”
“That’s because she is,” I said, nodding and refusing to make eye contact with my mom. She was the one who had gotten us into this while I was the one who was getting us out. “Carol has to retire so she can rest, but that’s why I’m here. I can play more than she can, so we’re going to hang out together. What do you think?”
“I think that sounds pretty fun,” Graham said, hugging Collins to his leg. “What do you think, baby?”
“Okay!” Collins yelled, dashing off into the house. I quickly snagged my mom before she could follow.
“Heather,” my mom complained. “Mr. Hilborne and I have an agreement.”
“Not anymore.” I drew her out of the house, eyeing Graham suspiciously. “My mom is retired. You understand?”
“I understand,” he said, nodding at me. “And you?”
“I start tomorrow,” I said, drawing my mom away. “See you then.”
“Until then,” he called after us as my mom tried to argue futilely with me. I was beyond reason.
“What the hell just happened?” I asked my mom, escorting her to her car.
“That’s Graham Hilborne for you,” she said. “I told you. He gets what he wants, and now he wants you.”
I tried to suppress my shudder at those words, but it was difficult. “I can’t believe I just agreed to nanny that kid.”
“She’s a sweetheart,” my mom said. “And so are you. I think you’re going to be good for each other.”
It wasn’t until I was pulling into my mom’s driveway in my rental that I realized I wasn’t sure who she had meant. That Collins and I would be good for each other.
Or that Graham and I would be.
4
Graham
Plenty of people said—behind my back—I was suspicious. Paranoid, even.
I didn’t care if Heather was Carol’s very own daughter. I wasn’t going to waltz away to work on the first day I had a new nanny in the house with my daughter.
Collins was too precious for me to put my trust in anyone.
So I quietly modified my work schedule and checked in with the office to inform them about my temporary remote status.
Heather was pissed to find me underfoot during those first few days. “If you have the option to work from home, then why did you insist on my mom returning to watch Collins?” she demanded the first day she arrived to find me setting up shop in the study.
“Carol is my daughter’s constant,” I replied coolly. “Or rather, she was. Collins needs consistency, and I’m trying to offer that to her during this transition.”
That had cowed Heather, making my presence at the house acceptable. It was a win-win situation because I needed this. As much as I loved her, I couldn’t have my daughter at the office anymore. It was a distraction that took away from my business life—something I couldn’t afford.
Of course, Heather didn’t need to know my regular study was clear across the house and that this spare room near Collins’ play area had become my surveillance area.
I settled down in front of my email just as their interaction began.
“Hi, Collins. Do you remember me?”
My daughter ignored Heather. Nice. Stonewalling was an excellent business tactic. Did it mean my daughter would one day grow up to be the heir of the Hilborne family business? Maybe it was too early to tell.
