Delaney wanted to tell her friend that she was being used, that he was never going to leave his wife. That if he was unfaithful to one woman, what made her think he’d be faithful toher?
But Heather obviously wasn’t interested in her opinion, and sharing it would only put a wedge between her and the only friend she had.
So she smiled. “How’d you meet him?”
“Through work,” Heather said. “He’s a client at the firm.”
Charlotte’s delighted squeal drew Delaney’s attention. The little girl was hanging from the first monkey bar, her face scrunched with concentration as she tried to reach the second one.
“You can do it!” Delaney called. “Remember what we practiced!”
Charlotte managed two more bars before dropping to the mulch with a triumphant grin. She immediately ran back to try again.
“She’s adorable,” Heather said. “You like your job?”
“I do. I tried something else after college. Moved to Boston, got a job at an insurance company.”
“Not for you?”
She laughed, though nothing about that time was funny. “Crashed and burned. I hated it. I was determined to stay for a year, and I quit after a few months and went back to Maine.”
“Was it the city, or the job?”
“Yes to all,” Delaney said. “I know being a nanny isn’t like a…high-powered profession, but it’s what I’m good at.”
“It’s also incredibly important,” Heather said.
Delaney was formulating a response when Charlotte jumped down from the monkey bars and wandered to the edge of the play area. And then she took off across the soft grass.
“Sorry. I gotta?—”
“Go ahead.”
Delaney jogged across the play area, keeping Charlotte in sight as the little girl aimed for the woods that bordered one side of the park.
“Charlotte!” she called, but the child didn’t slow down. That wasn’t unusual. She had a habit of climbing into her own imagination, blocking out the real world. It was something Delaney had told her counselor about.
Delaney’s chest hurt with each stride, but she pushed through the pain to keep Charlotte in view.
Charlotte reached the edge of the woods and plunged into the undergrowth. Branches caught at her pink sweater as she disappeared between the trees.
“Charlotte!” Delaney’s voice came out sharp, panic rising in her throat. She’d promised to stay in the play area. They’d talked about this.
It was bad enough she’d disobeyed, but Mr. Aylett was watching, probably horrified she’d let his niece get so far away.
She followed Charlotte into the woods, pushing aside low-hanging branches that seemed determined to slow her down. The earthy smell of decomposing leaves filled her nostrils.
“Come here, sweetheart. We need to go back to the playground.”
Charlotte stopped about twenty feet ahead and crouched beside something on the ground. Delaney picked her way carefully through the uneven terrain.
“Look, Miss Laney!” She held up a cluster of fuzzy green berries, her face bright with discovery. “They’re so pretty.”
“Charlotte Rose Aylett.” She used her sternest nanny voice. “You are not supposed to leave the play area.”
Her little eyes went wide with surprise. “There was a butterfly.”
Delaney reached her and scooped her up into her arms despite the pain.
