“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”
She laughs. “I do if we want to eat anything besides Hot Pockets and plain noodles.”
Shaking my head, I pull my wallet back out and hand her my credit card. “Fine. Take my card. I’ll eat pretty much anything.”
“Are you sure? No allergies I should know about?”
“Nope. Strong as an ox.”
Her eyes dip down my torso before glancing away, heat flaming her cheeks.
Fuck, she’s adorable when she blushes.
“So, I take it those are your parents?” she asks, brushing past her embarrassment.
“Uh, well…” Now’s not the time to get into my relationship with Carol and Nick, so instead, I clear my throat and then gesture toward the restaurant. “Have you eaten?”
Her eyes slide to where Carol and Nick are seated, but thankfully, she doesn’t push for more information. “I—I haven’t. I’m not a big breakfast person.”
“Well, at least have Jessica pour you a cup of coffee to go. I’m going to take Remy over to see Carol and Nick really quick, and then I’ll meet you back over here.”
She nods curtly. “Okay.” Reaching out to smooth Remy’s hair back, she says, “I’ll be right back, baby bear.”
Remy and I both watch her walk away before I snap myself out of staring and brace myself for Carol’s reaction when she meets my daughter. “This is Remington,” I announce when I arrive back at the booth I left my foster parents in. “I’ve been calling her Remy for short.”
Carol practically launches out of her seat. “Oh my gosh, she is just too precious,” she says, reaching to take Remy from me, arranging her in her arms while she gazes down at her. “And that nanny of yours is pretty cute too.” Her eyes lift with that knowing glint in them, making Nick laugh.
“Not sure Henley hooking up with his nanny would improve his situation, hun.”
“Oh, hush. We don’t know the whole story yet,” she fires back.
So, as Carol coos and gushes over Remy, I fill them in on the past few months—the phone calls from Meghan, her dropping the baby off, and how I ended up with Elodie as my nanny.
“She’s awfully beautiful, Henley. I mean, if it were me…”
Nick clears his throat. “Are you alluding to you becoming a lesbian, hun?”
She bats at him. “You know what I mean.” Turning back to me, she continues, “Having a baby changes things, Henley. Nick and I can’t speak from experience, but the first time we fostered, we knew our lives would never be the same, and now yours won’t be either. Parenting is a full-time job, even when you sleep you’ll be worrying. Having someone else to lean on makes it a bit easier though. Maybe it’s time to consider settling down and finding someone to be with.”
“Look, I appreciate your concern, but the last thing I need right now is a relationship. Besides, she’s technically my employee, she’s only here until Christmas, and she’s seven years younger than me. So what you’re suggesting is just batshit crazy.”
“First of all, never tell a woman that she’s crazy,” Carol snaps, pointing a finger in my face as soon as I’m finished recalling the reasons why I need to continue to think with my head, and not the one in my pants. “And second, what are you gonna do when she leaves?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”
“Well, you know you can count on us if you need extra help, but Elodie—that’s her name, right?”
“Yeah…”
A throat clearing behind me makes me pause.
“Oh, hello dear,” Carol says brightly.
“Hi. I was just, uh…” Elodie stammers. “I got my coffee, so if you’re ready for me to take Remy again…”
Heat crawls up the back of my neck.God, how much of that did she hear?
Luckily, Carol speaks before I can embarrass myself further. “I hope you weren’t offended by my little interrogation.” She kisses Remy on the cheek before handing her back to Elodie. “I can’t help but want what’s best for my kids, even if they’re too stubborn to see a good thing when it’s right in front of their face.”
