ISABELLE CAMPBELL
I felt a wave of relief wash over me when I found out Hanna had been at the park this whole time. At least my daughter wasn’t running around the house, and that was one less problem for me to deal with.
“Everything all right around here?” I asked Helen, who looked unusually cheerful.
“Yes,” she said simply.
“Hmm. Did something happen?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“Your face. You look... happy.”
“Maybe you’re right about that.”
“Helen…” I smiled, curiosity already getting the better of me. “What’s going on?”
“Let’s just say I ran a little test,” she replied, her grin widening, “and it worked out perfectly.”
“And am I allowed to know what kind of test we’re talking about?”
She hesitated for a moment, eyeing me like she was debating whether to tell me. Then she finally said something that made my stomach drop.
“Hanna called Colin to stay with her at the park—and he went.”
I froze, the color draining from my face.
“Wait... why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”
“Like I said, it was a test. And thank God, it worked. It’s rare, but he actually left his room less than five minutes after she called him.”
“You’re going to be the death of me, you know that?” I sighed. “I’d better go see them.”
“All right, sweetheart.”
Helen kept smiling, and I honestly didn’t know how to process that piece of news.
Well… seeing Colin pushing Hanna on the swing was definitely not what I expected. The little one had actually managed to drag him out of his hiding place.
I stayed “hidden” for a few minutes, just watching. My daughter was laughing, chatting away with Colin, who looked… awkward, to say the least.
“I didn’t know what to do, Isabelle.” Jeanne appeared beside me, a little nervous. “I’m the one who called Colin when Hanna asked for him. I couldn’t find you in the house, so I went to ask Helen what to do, and she told me it was fine to call him.”
“Helen already told me what happened. Don’t worry about it.”
Jeanne exhaled in relief, a small smile forming on her lips. The tension on her face eased instantly.
“I’ll get back to work, then. I just hope I don’t get fired.” She smiled faintly and started walking away.
“It’s more likely he’d fire me…” I muttered, though she was already gone. The words were mostly for myself anyway.
“No one’s getting fired as long as they keep doing their job.”
Colin’s deep voice came from behind me, and I turned around.
“Hanna’s clearly bothering you,” I said, crossing my arms.
Hanna was now by herself at the playground, sliding down the slide, giggling.
“Let’s do this,” he said. “Don’t worry about her as long as she’s inside the estate. Let the girl do whatever she wants—even… bother me, if that’s what she wants to do.”
“Excuse me? Are you serious right now?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“Yes, for a few minutes back there at the playground.”
I couldn’t help but throw that one in, smiling lightly—and, honestly, the world must’ve been ending, because I actually saw him smile back at me. Colin. Smiling. At me.
“Nice one,” he said.
“See? Smiling isn’t that hard.”
“Don’t push your luck,” he warned, though there was something softer in his tone. “Just remember what I said. She can stay here as much as she wants.”
“Well then,” I said, tilting my head, studying him with a teasing grin, “I should warn you—my daughter’s needy.”
“Needy?” He frowned slightly, as if unsure whether to be worried or intrigued.
“Yeah. Hanna won’t leave you alone—and that’s your choice, not mine.”
“I see.”
“If you’re having second thoughts, now’s the time to say it.”
He paused, his gaze drifting toward Hanna as she laughed and climbed back up the slide. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. Then he said quietly, “It’s fine. I don’t mind. I like your daughter.”
Oh my God…
Colin with feelings. A living miracle. I wasn’t even being sarcastic—just genuinely stunned by what was happening between those two.
“And she likes you too, Uncle Colin,” I teased, unable to resist.
Colin shot me a look, the kind that could curdle milk. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“I do. See you later.”
I walked away, but this time, I didn’t feel frustrated like before. He seemed a little less tense around me—and honestly, that felt like progress.
By the time my shift was over, Hanna was already chattering nonstop about random things—and, of course, she quickly landed on the topic of “Uncle Colin.”
“Mommy, did you know Uncle Colin is an ar...chi...to...to?” she said slowly, and I had no idea what she was trying to say.
“What?”
“Archi-toto, Mommy!” she repeated, a little exasperated, as if I were the one making up words.
“She means architect,” came Colin’s voice out of nowhere, appearing behind us like some kind of ghost.
“See? Uncle Colin understood me,” Hanna said proudly.
I burst out laughing. Would it make me a bad mother if, later, I asked my daughter to say that word again just to hear it one more time?
“That was my reaction too,” Colin said.
“I’m glad you two are becoming friends.”
“Uncle Colin is nice,” Hanna added.
“I think you’re the only person who believes that,” Colin replied dryly.
“Oh, really?”
“Really.”
“All right, young lady, time to go.” I took her hand.
“Tomorrow Uncle Colin and I are gonna play again.”
“Hanna, don’t push his patience, okay?”
“But… he asked me, Mommy.”
Both of us turned to look at Colin, who instantly looked flustered.
“Well... I saw that Joshua didn’t want to play with her, so I offered... you know, if she wanted to.”
Only Hanna could break through that man’s walls. It was unbelievable. Seeing him so uncomfortable wasn’t something I was used to—and I had to admit, he looked even more handsome when he was flustered.
“You can play too, Mommy,” Hanna said innocently.
“We’re late. Let’s go,” I blurted, suddenly feeling like it was my turn to be embarrassed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Colin trying to hide a smirk—and apparently, I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed watching people squirm.