Then he’d figure out how to deal with Lena.
All while keeping both Charlotte and her beautiful nanny safe.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Thursday morning sun was deceivingly bright, considering the cool breeze that chilled Delaney’s skin as she walked beside Mr. Aylett toward the park, Charlotte a few steps ahead of them. Her purse was ready with snacks and water, and he carried his laptop. Delaney’s sternum still ached, but it was improving.
This should’ve been a relaxing outing, but the tension in Mr. Aylett’s shoulders belied the peaceful surroundings. Every few steps, his gaze swept the area like he expected danger to emerge from behind the oak trees or the picnic pavilion. He reminded her of her bodyguard-cousin, Grant. No matter the surroundings, he was always on the lookout for threats.
They reached the playground, and Charlotte started to run.
Delaney grabbed her hand. “Wait. We need to go over the rules.” She crouched to her eye level. “You have to stay where I can see you, within the playground.” She pointed to the border between the soft mulch under the equipment and the grassy expanse beyond it. “Don’t leave this area without my permission. Understand?”
Charlotte nodded solemnly, as if she had every intention of obeying. But Delaney knew better.
“Do you remember what happens if you disobey?”
The little girl’s shoulders lifted and fell.
“We have to go home. So stay in the play area where you’re safe, and we can play for a whole hour, okay?”
“Okay!” She ran for the swings, claimed one, and started pumping her legs.
Noah stopped to watch. “I didn’t know she could do that.”
“We’ve been working on it.”
“That’s amazing.” He grinned at her. “It never occurred to me that she was old enough for that.”
“I’ve been around kids more than you. Honestly, it makes my life easier when I don’t have to push.”
“I bet.” He looked around, and she did, too, but Heather wasn’t there yet.
“We’re a little early,” she said.
They walked to the bench closest to the play area and sat, watching Charlotte.
A question had been humming in Delaney’s brain for a while. “What does her father do for work that keeps him away?”
“Jasper?” Noah’s lips pinched closed. “Nothing.”
“He must do something.”
Mr. Aylett’s scoff told her otherwise. “Mom and I did our best to try to straighten him out, but after Dad died, he just…fell apart. And then Mom died, and I tried to rein him in, but I…failed.”
She was confused. “How old was he when your parents died?”
“He was fifteen when Dad died, twenty-two when Mom died.”
“You’re not that much older, right?”
“Three years.”
“So you were…eighteen and twenty-five? Why did you feel like you were responsible for straightening him out?”
Mr. Aylett watched Charlotte swing for a few beats before he shrugged. “I’ve always felt responsible for him, even when we were little. Once, when he was five or six, I guess, we were at the beach. He had on those arm floats, you know what I mean?”
“I’m familiar.”
