Chapter 21 #2
“I couldn’t just leave the baby alone, and I also couldn’t chase the older boy and the dog while holding onto him and fighting the rain and wind.
I grabbed my phone and called 911 while I carried the baby to his bedroom and plopped him in his crib.
The operator told me to wait at the house, but there was no way I could do that. I took off after Chase.”
“Chase? That’s the kid’s name?”
“Ironic, right?” Her quick smile faded. “It took me seven minutes to find him. The longest minutes of my life.” A look crossed her face, gone before he could identify it. “Almost.”
He wanted to ask what she meant, but she rushed ahead.
“Anyway, it was pouring. The waves were taller than I’d ever seen, crashing against the shore. The wind was whipping debris all over the beach, blowing so hard I had to fight it. The storm was thunderous, loud enough to swallow my shout. But I kept shouting. And then I heard the dog bark.
“Chase had caught up with it, and they were hunkered down by a clump of bushes, too scared to try to get back. I grabbed Chase’s hand, took the dog by its collar, and dragged them both back to the house.”
Noah found his heart pounding. “I’m impressed.”
She shrugged. “By the time the police showed up, we were back inside and drying off. I’d even consoled the baby, who had not been happy to be dumped in his crib.
Everyone made a big deal out of it. I even got”—she waved toward the bandstand where Noah had stood earlier—“that award for bravery. My mother insisted we fly back so I could be here to accept it.”
“You won the Elijah Aylett Bravery Award?”
Another shrug. “It didn’t feel brave. I’d lost a kid and his dog. Nothing brave about that.”
“You were sixteen, and the cops told you to sit tight. Instead, you ran into a hurricane.”
“They could’ve been swept out to sea with those waves. What else was I supposed to do?”
He knew what Charlotte’s former nanny would’ve done. Nothing.
He marveled at this amazing woman who, even as a child, had risked her life to protect others, not family members but kids she was babysitting. No wonder they’d trusted her to watch their boys.
He’d made the right choice, hiring her.
Even now, as he studied Miss Wright, her gaze was on his niece.
And she’d won his family’s award? Maybe it was a sign. He must’ve been here, must’ve seen…
Except if she’d been sixteen, then he’d have been twenty-seven. An adult, living his own life.
As if he’d needed the reminder about how much older he was than she. As if the fact that she was the nanny wasn’t reason enough he couldn’t be with her.
“No matter what you say,” he said, “I’m impressed.”
“Don’t be impressed with me.” Her voice sounded almost stern with disappointment. “I’m twenty-seven years old, and this is the longest I’ve ever lived away from home successfully in my life. I mean, I had a few live-in positions, but all within a few minutes of my parents’ house.”
He snagged on one word. “What do you mean, ‘successfully’?”
She returned her focus to Charlotte. Her profile glowed in the overhead string lights, her pert nose and straight chin, the hair falling out of her ponytail dancing in the slight breeze.
Even seated on this uncomfortable plastic chair, her back was straight, her posture perfect. She was elegant and beautiful.
“I lived in Boston for a couple of months. Got a job and swore I was going to stay for a year, but…”
Emotion played across her face, but he couldn’t read it.
“I was lonely,” she finally said. “Like a little kid at summer camp, I was homesick. I couldn’t do it. I quit my job and moved back in with my parents.”
“And that made you feel like…a failure?” he guessed.
“Wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know. I’m almost forty, and I still live in my parents’ house.”
“It’s different. You inherited it.”
“It’s not different. I miss them every single day.”
She turned to him then, her gaze filled with sympathy and questions. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… Of course you miss them.”
“There’s nothing wrong with loving home and wanting your family. I think those are normal things. Anybody who made you feel like they aren’t didn’t know what they were talking about.”
She nodded slowly. “My dad. He thought my mom needed to”—she made air quotes—“‘cut the apron strings.’ Mom used to tell him to stay in his lane. I was one of the few things they argued about.”
“That sounds like a them problem. You are who you are, and who you are is…”
Movement had Noah turning, then his words faltered.
He wasn’t ready for their conversation to end, and definitely not because his enemy had decided to interrupt.
Noah stood, not willing to let his former friend look down on him when he stopped beside their table. “Lowell.”
“Enjoying the festivities?” He wore a conservative navy blazer paired with crisp khaki chinos, overdressed for a festival, but he and his sister had that in common—the need to, as his mother would say, put on airs.
Lowell’s balding head reflected the soft glow of the string lights, and his eyes held a hint of scrutiny as they took in Miss Wright.
Noah wasn’t going to pretend they were friends by engaging in small talk. “Did you need something?”
The man scanned the playground until it seemed he’d located what he was looking for. His gaze locked onto Charlotte. “If she’s not yours, then I assume she’s the spawn of your good-for-nothing brother.”
“Be very careful how you talk about my family, old friend.”
“After what you did to mine?”
“I did nothing to Marianne.” Noah didn’t even try to keep the anger out of his voice.
“Your sister married me for one reason, and she took that reason with her—in the form of half my net worth—when she divorced me at the first hint of baseless rumors. She might as well have started the rumors herself. Looks like we both have good-for-nothing siblings.”
Lowell’s face turned deep red. “You have no right—”
“She was my wife, so I think I do. And anyway, you should know me. You know I would never have stepped out. You know what kind of man I am.”
Lowell stared at him long enough that Noah started to hope he’d gotten through to his old friend.
But then he seemed to shake himself free of any doubts about his sister. He looked at Miss Wright, whose gaze bounced between them. Lowell focused back on Noah. “Are you going to introduce me to your new girlfriend?”
He curled his hands into fists. Do not rise to the bait. “Miss Wright, I’d like you to meet my former friend and brother-in-law, Lowell Jeffries. Lowell, meet Charlotte’s nanny, Delaney Wright.”
Her smile was tenuous when she extended her hand. “Mr. Jeffries.”
Smirking, he shook her hand but eyed Noah. “‘Nanny.’ Is that what you’re calling it these days?”
Miss Wright snatched her hand away.
Noah rounded the table so fast that Lowell took a step back.
“Move along, Jeffries.” He shifted forward into Lowell’s space, so close he could smell beer on the man’s breath. “You’re not welcome here.”
“Back off the merger, Aylett, before your whole life falls apart.”
“Is that a threat? Because your buddy Hayes already tried that tonight. You can tell him his intimidation tactics failed. I’m not going to back off the merger, not today, not ever.”
“Tidewater’s going to figure out pretty quick that your business can’t be trusted any more than your name can.”
“Your sabotage failed,” Noah said. “My business is as strong as ever, and the merger is on track.”
“It’s going to fall apart,” he said confidently, “and when it does, I’ll be popping a cork to celebrate.”
Worry and anger churned in Noah’s gut. What did Lowell know? Or was he just blowing smoke, trying to throw Noah off his game?
His friend-turned-enemy reached past him, snatched a french fry from their platter, and popped it in his mouth. He focused on Miss Wright. “Sorry to interrupt your date. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
She said, “He’s not my—”
“Don’t bother,” Noah said. “He’s not worth your breath.”
Noah watched him leave, only the Holy Spirit’s self-control keeping him from tackling his old buddy and pummeling him.
When Lowell disappeared into the crowd, Noah took a deep breath, forcing his muscles to relax before he turned back to Miss Wright. She flicked her gaze from Charlotte to him, head tilted to one side, eyes more curious than alarmed.
The encounter had left a sour taste in his mouth.
“Sorry about that.” He slid back into his seat.
“It’s fine.” She glanced toward the playground, where Charlotte was talking to a woman. After a moment, the woman turned and waved.
When the light hit her face, he realized it was Heather, Miss Wright’s friend. Something about her didn’t sit right with him, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
Miss Wright waved back, and he had to stifle a groan. The last thing he wanted was for that stranger to join them.
But Heather said something to Charlotte, then headed toward the dance floor.
The swings were empty, and Charlotte and her friends ran that way. His niece was so much more confident than she’d been even a month ago. If only adult relationships could heal as quickly as children did.
“He seemed intent on causing trouble.” Miss Wright’s voice was soft, barely audible over the music and the crowd’s chatter.
“That’s his specialty. Lowell and I were friends once. Best friends. Then I married his sister.”
“And divorced her.” It wasn’t a question.
“She divorced me.” Noah didn’t usually talk about his marriage, but something in Miss Wright’s eyes encouraged him to continue. “Marianne left after rumors started circulating that I was having an affair. Lena Monroe started the rumors, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Marianne fed them.”
“You weren’t, though,” Miss Wright said. “Unfaithful.” Again, her words held certainty.
“Never. But… I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.
We weren’t happy. Before we got married, Marianne seemed sweet and easygoing.
After, she was miserable and demanding. She hated my house and wanted to completely redo it.
If it had been up to her, she’d have removed all the memories of my family and replaced them with high-dollar knickknacks that held no meaning at all, except to show the world how wealthy we were.
Actually, what she really wanted was to tear the house down to the studs and rebuild. ”
Miss Wright gasped. “Your beautiful house? She would’ve done that?”
“In a heartbeat. As much as my brother and I have our differences, Jasper took the hit for me, threatening to sue. After all, the house is half his. I was grateful not to have to fight that battle, anyway.”
“You saw none of that before you married her?”
“None.” He sighed. “I wasn’t perfect. My mother was…
maybe like yours. A peacemaker surrounded by testosterone.
She loved our home, loved being a homemaker.
Marianne…I thought she was like Mom, but once we were married, she scorned the idea of taking care of our home, of being a mother.
I felt like I’d fallen for a bait-and-switch scheme with a no-return policy. She’d make these outlandish demands—”
“Like tear your house down.”
“Exactly. And I…I got tired of explaining myself. And arguing about stuff all the time. I mean, literal stuff. Couches and carpets and cars. So I gave her a credit card with a reasonable limit and told her to get what she wanted. And then I tuned her out.”
What was he doing, telling his niece’s nanny all this stuff? Except she wasn’t just the nanny anymore. She was a friend. “The point is, I should have made an effort to understand why it was so important to her that we look wealthy, what need she was trying to fill.”
“It’s possible she wouldn’t have been able to answer that.”
“Maybe.” Noah had known from about five minutes into the honeymoon that he’d made a mistake.
Marianne had never loved him. She’d loved his money and his status.
She’d loved being an Aylett, having a name in town everybody looked up to.
For his part, he’d fallen in love with a woman who hadn’t really existed.
At least she got what she wanted in the end. She kept his last name and half of his estate. What she hadn’t taken, he was struggling to keep from crumbling to dust.
Miss Wright’s expression softened. “That must have been difficult.” She held his eye contact for too long, then turned back to check on Charlotte.
He sipped his soda, telling himself to change the subject. But he wanted to talk about this with Miss Wright. He wanted her to know. “The divorce was a relief, though it’s wrong to think of it that way. It was nothing compared to losing my friendship with Lowell.”
“I can’t imagine.” She reached across the table and rested her palm on the back of his hand.
All the regret he’d been feeling about Marianne, all the anger toward Lowell, dissipated as warmth spread from the skin she touched, reaching clear to his toes.
She seemed to realize what she’d done and pulled her hand away, sitting back.
He’d started to reassure her that there was nothing to apologize for when he caught sight of Lowell, who watched, wearing a triumphant grin.
Miss Wright had turned her focus back to Charlotte on the playground, hand pressed against her sternum. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wide. She was probably trying to look like her touch had meant nothing, but she wasn’t fooling anybody who might be paying attention.
Just what he needed, more rumors flying.
Frustration had him sitting back. He turned toward the dance floor, watching friends and neighbors attempt a new line dance. A few knew the moves. The rest fumbled along, most laughing as if all were right with the world.
And then, on the far side of the dance floor, he caught sight of someone even more distressing than Lowell.
Lena Monroe was glaring…at Miss Wright.