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“Your offer for a nanny. Ivy doesn’t deserve to suffer because of my pride. I’ll nanny for you until you can find a replacement, and that way, once you tell her, Ivy won’t have any illusions that me being at her house is for anything other than that.”
Her acceptance suddenly sounds bitter to my ears, and I have to force a smile.
“Great. I’ll have papers drawn up immediately.”
“Papers?”
“Yes, it’s a business transaction, is it not? I think we should be clear on what’s expected on both sides.”
“Of course.” She chews on her bottom lip again. “Then, I will see you on Sunday for filming.”
“Bring stuff to stay on Saturday. I’ll have the guest room cleaned for you, so you won’t have to travel back and forth for a month and a half.”
“Great.”
“Great,” I murmur back.
We stare at each other for a moment longer before she gives me a curt wave.
“See you Saturday.”
“Bye, Alice.” I roll my window up as she turns to walk to her car, and I put my car in reverse, backing up and leaving before I can sit and stare at her a moment longer.
I busy myself with calling my mom through the car speakers to arrange Ivy’s stay with them, and then I book it to the hospital to lose myself in paperwork and cases until I can forget about the events of the day.
I open the door to my house with a weary sigh. It’s after nine at night, and I’m feeling the exhaustion as I drop my briefcase in the entryway. Vicky walks out of the kitchen, approaching me with a glass filled with an amber liquid, and I accept it gratefully and take a large sip.
“You look like you’ve been through the wringer,” she says, shaking her head and tsking.
I stare at Vicky and feel a pang of regret that I haven’t been here for Ivy this evening. I find myself leaving her with the nanny for longer and longer periods of time.
Is that what Ivy is going to think of me when she’s older? Will she have fond memories of our time together, or will she mostly remember her time with Vicky?
“It’s been a day. Is she asleep?”
“Yes, she went down about an hour ago.”
“Thank you,” I say with a nod.
“I wanted to talk about earlier,” Vicky says, clasping her hands together.
I take another sip of scotch. “No need. You do what you need to do with your family. I’ve found someone who can fill in temporarily, if you want to come back later. If not, I will find someone permanent.” I scratch at the five o’clock shadow that’s formed along my jawline.
“Thank you, Dr. Morrow. I really appreciate the time off, and I will let you know as soon as I can what I plan to do, going forward.”
“Vicky, I should be thanking you for taking such great care of my daughter.”
“I consider her my own. Can I ask, who will be replacing me?”
I almost tell her that it’s my match from the dating show, but I’m afraid she might judge me as a callous, coldhearted person, and maybe she’d be right.
“It’s one of her teachers from last year. She said she would help me out for six weeks or I guess until school starts back.”
“Which teacher?”
“Alice Whitman.”
“Oh, I adored her. She’s a pretty young thing.”
