Presley beams up at her.
It’s simple.
Innocent.
And it hits me harder than anything else this morning.
There will come a day when Rowan won’t be standing in this entryway.
Jemmy will adapt. He always does.
But Presley feels everything like it’s magnified. Since the accident, it’s like her heart is wired closer to the surface.
She’ll be devastated when Rowan leaves, and I’ll have to watch it happen.
Which is exactly why the best thing I can do — for my kids, for her, for myself — is to put space between us.
Redraw the lines.
Remind myself who she is.
Just the nanny.
Not the woman whose kiss still burns on my mouth.
Not the woman I lie awake thinking about.
Just. The. Nanny.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ROWAN
I studymyself in the mirror after applying a hint of gloss to my lips, butterflies stirring low in my stomach.
As sad as it sounds, this is my first real date since my rebirth.
Since the hospital.
Since I walked out of those sliding doors and decided if my life was going to be shorter than I’d planned, I was going to live it.
Buy a van. Drive. Wander. Say yes.
Over the past several months, dating hasn’t exactly been a priority.
Maybe because of Landon and how he decided he no longer wanted to be with me since I couldn’t give him kids, not without serious complications I’m not willing to risk.
Or maybe because I don’t want anyone getting attached to me when I’m on borrowed time.
But tonight isn’t about forever.
It’s just dinner.
And if I’m being honest, it’s also about distraction.
Because no matter how hard I try, my thoughts keep circling back to Hayden Lawrence.
This week has been trying, to say the least.
