Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
On any other morning, Charlotte would have walked to Noah, arms up, silently requesting her morning hug. Not today. The little traitor had barely glanced at him before going to Miss Wright, looking up with wide, expectant eyes.
His niece and her nanny were already bonding.
It’d taken him weeks to break through Charlotte’s defenses when Jasper had first brought her here.
Noah hadn’t hired a nanny right away, knowing Charlotte needed to understand that she could trust him to be available for her in a way no adult had been before.
He’d spent time with her, played with her, hugged her tiny little body, and cursed her selfish parents for all the neglect she’d already endured.
He’d stayed up late after her bedtime every night to get his work done, choosing to spend the bulk of his waking hours with her.
He’d talked to her and joked with her and gone for walks with her.
It’d still been warm enough to swim in the ocean when she first came, and he’d given her swimming lessons at the beach.
Noah had no idea how to be a father, but he was learning. He was trying.
He figured good fathers didn’t get jealous when their kids bonded with other people. Charlotte hadn’t been like this with Mrs. Dechambeau. The former nanny hadn’t been nearly as sweet as Miss Wright.
He shook himself out of his stupor and started breakfast. Bread in the toaster, eggs out of the fridge.
He took his time breaking them, whisking them, pouring them into the warm skillet while the nanny bent over a book with Charlotte at the kitchen table.
He eavesdropped on their conversation.
“Is that the one you like best?” Delaney asked.
“Uh-uh.” She was sitting at the table, swinging her legs.
“Which one is your favorite?”
Charlotte indicated a picture in the book.
Catty-corner from her, Miss Wright studied whatever she’d pointed at, giving her the kind of attention Noah reserved for financial reports.
She didn’t seem to be performing for him, or if she was, she had perfected the art. She pointed at something in the book. “What about that one?”
Charlotte shook her head and pointed at something else.
“I love his curled tail,” Miss Wright said. “That’s called an Akita.”
Oh. They were looking at the dog book.
Charlotte must’ve said something because Delaney said, “You’ll have to ask your uncle.”
For an Akita?
Right. Because nothing said “family pet” like a Japanese attack dog.
Noah regretted having checked out the library book that described all the different breeds. He’d found it interesting. His niece treated it like a catalog of possibilities.
“That one.” Pointing again, Charlotte’s eyes went dreamy.
“I think that’s a wolf. Wolves are…tricky.” Miss Wright tapped her nose theatrically. “Do you think your uncle would let a wolf into the house?”
Charlotte’s little shoulders drooped. For the first time since she’d walked in, Charlotte looked at him. “Uncle Noah doesn’t like dogs.” A full sentence, spoken in front of the new nanny, loudly enough for him to hear.
That was progress.
“I never said I didn’t like dogs.” He turned down the fire under the eggs. “I don’t have time to train a dog.”
“We could, right?” The question was directed at Miss Wright.
The nanny’s gaze flicked to him, her wide eyes pleading for him to answer that question.
She was the new favorite. Let her crush Charlotte’s hopes and dreams.
Miss Wright must’ve guessed his answer because her expression shifted to a sickly-sweet smile. “That’s up to your uncle. I’ll do whatever he says.”
The toast popped up, and Noah focused on buttering it so she couldn’t see his smile. She was a shrewd one. But also, despite her obvious youth, she knew a lot about kids.
He’d spent the last decade in boardrooms and attending business functions, cultivating a poker face and a reputation as someone who did not get ruffled, even under pressure.
But standing in his own kitchen, listening to his niece and her new nanny plot canine insurrection, Noah felt his world spinning out of control.
He’d never been a dog person. Or a kid person, for that matter. He loved Charlotte, obviously, but kids should come with an instruction manual. And a self-cleaning mode.
He fixed three plates and set them on the table before grabbing his coffee and a glass of orange juice for Charlotte.
His niece took a bite of eggs, scrunching her little nose.
She wasn’t a fan, but she needed healthy protein. Sometimes he added cheese and chunks of ham, which she seemed to like better. This morning, he’d been distracted, too focused on not watching the new nanny.
“Thank you,” Miss Wright said. “It’s tasty.” Her voice was soft. “I can cook breakfast in the future, if you’d like.”
“I don’t mind making breakfast, but if you could help with dinners…”
“Sure. Do you have certain kinds of foods you prefer over others? Or anything I should avoid?”
“I’ll eat whatever you make. I’m not picky.” If Miss Wright cooked, he’d take whatever she made. It was no easy task coming up with a well-balanced meal every night.
He worked on his eggs, ravenous after his workout. “Do you want juice?” He’d filled Charlotte’s glass but hadn’t thought to ask Miss Wright if she wanted some.
“I’m good with coffee, but thank you.” She ate a few bites of her eggs, checking on Charlotte often.
His niece was, as usual, quiet, but not solemn—a nice change.
His phone rang, and he glanced at the screen, then pushed away from the table, ignoring the twinge of regret that his breakfast would get cold. “Excuse me. I need to take this.”
“Of course,” Miss Wright said.
She was very agreeable. Worse than that, the flash of attraction he’d felt for her when he’d first seen her on his doorstep hadn’t been an anomaly. Something about her drew him like metal shavings to a magnet.
He needed to be very careful to keep her at arm’s length.
He connected the call, stepping out the back door onto the patio. The cool morning air was tinged with the scent of rain. “Hey, Richard.”
“Have you seen the latest issue of Coastal Virginia?”
“Sure, sure.” Noah leaned against the railing, watching a seagull soar against the bright sky. “I was clipping recipes and tearing out decorating ideas last night. You know how I love the ladies’ magazines.”
Richard chuckled. “I sort of figured you didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?”
“They’ve named you the region’s ‘Most Eligible Bachelor.’ Congratulations,” he deadpanned. “Your picture’s on the cover—that photo from the charity gala last spring.”
Heat crawled up Noah’s neck. He’d gotten a call about their annual feature, but he’d declined the interview.
“I thought they’d respect my wishes and leave me out of it.”
“They’re reporters. Your refusal probably just made them more interested. There’s a whole sidebar about how you’re raising a child alone. I assume that’s part of the allure since nobody knows who Charlotte is. You can imagine all the juicy gossip going around.”
Through the kitchen window, Noah watched as his niece spoke to Miss Wright, who seemed engrossed in the conversation.
Charlotte hardly ever spoke to anyone. How had the nanny done that?
Something about the scene—the domesticity of it, the way they already looked like they belonged together—made his heart do weird things.
“That’s not all,” Richard continued. “I heard there was police activity at your place the other day. What happened?”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“You know how news travels around here. Folks love a scandal.”
That last word plucked Noah’s spinal cord like a guitar string. “There’s no scandal. Someone broke in but was scared off by the alarm.”
Even as he said it, he remembered those footsteps. Whoever it’d been hadn’t been too scared to take at least a few steps into the house. What had they been after? What had they deemed worth the risk of getting caught?
The most precious treasure in the house was sitting at the table eating eggs right now. Surely, nobody was after Charlotte.
“Must’ve been jarring,” Richard said.
“Nothing was taken.”
“You didn’t mention it when we spoke yesterday.”
“I didn’t realize you needed to know.”
“I’m your attorney, and you’re in the middle of a huge deal. I need to know everything. But the intruder makes me wonder…” Richard’s tone was pensive. “Did you know Lena Monroe is back?”
Just the sound of the woman’s name had acid pooling in Noah’s stomach. “She called me this morning.”
“Just up and called you like you were old friends?”
“Like nothing ever happened. Like she hadn’t ruined my life.”
The older man blew out a breath. “She’s three pickles shy of a quart, that one. But I still say she did you a favor.”
Noah wasn’t going to admit that, not even to Richard.
“You don’t s’pose it was her in your house the other night, do you?”
Lena? His home invader? The woman had some bizarre idea that the two of them belonged together, but breaking and entering? “To what end?”
“No telling with someone like her,” he said. “Whoever your invader was, the board got wind of it…all of it. The article, Charlotte, the cops. It’s causing some…disruption.”
Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. The merger of Noah’s company, MidAtlantic Analytics, with a logistics company out of Norfolk was supposed to be straightforward.
Noah’s new AI integration would be customized to work with Tidewater’s existing infrastructure.
The merger would fortify Tidewater’s position in the market and secure MidAtlantic’s place as an innovative leader.
And, more importantly for Noah, provide him enough margin in his life to raise a four-year-old without risking his father’s legacy.
“What kind of concerns?” he asked. “None of this has anything to do with MidAtlantic—”
“The board’s wondering if you’re more interested in being in the spotlight than running a company.”
As if he’d ever craved the spotlight. That had been Marianne’s obsession, not his. “By ‘they,’” Noah guessed, “you mean Lowell, right?”
“His voice is loudest, but he’s not the only one expressing doubt. Nadine suggested you’ve been really distracted lately. Now that they know about Charlotte, at least I can explain that away.”
“I don’t want you using my niece as an excuse.”
“She’s not an ‘excuse,’ Noah. She’s a reason, a very sound reason, for why you haven’t gotten them everything they’ve asked for.”
They’d demanded financials going back years. He was working on compiling all the information they required, but between caring for Charlotte and running his company…
“Lowell convinced the board to look at other AI companies before committing.”
Noah stifled his frustration. “He’s been looking for any excuse to call it off.
” Lowell Jeffries used to be Noah’s best friend.
Just one more person he’d lost when his life had blown up a couple of years before.
“I hired a new nanny, and I think this one’s going to work out.
But is it too late? Do I still have a shot?
” Noah’s tone was steady, even if his nerves felt anything but.
“If they call it off, I have no doubt Lowell will give you the news himself.”
Noah covered the speaker and blew out his fear. Thank God.
Let this merger happen, please.
“Just don’t feed the rumor mill, stay out of the paper, and keep your head down until we get those papers signed.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
“I know most of this has been out of your control.”
The understatement of the year.
“Please, just…do what you can.”
Noah desperately needed the merger to go through, to save his family home and his father’s legacy—so he could focus on being a good parent to a little girl who had nobody else.