“Mom—he’s already made arrangements to find someone to take my place.”
“Not because he wants to. Your plan to get a job has forced him to act. Think about it before you rush into a decision you might regret.”
I’ll regret it if I don’t. I love them both too much to be a nanny any longer.
“Thanks for the talk. I’ve got to go.”
“Not like this. Wait for your father to come home. He had a staff meeting after work, but he should be here soon. Maybe a talk with him will help you.”
“I’ll call him later.”
She reached for her purse. Her mother followed her to the door and hugged her before Claire hurried out to the car. Talking to her mom had only made her heartache worse. Vic needed time alone with his son, so she took a long drive, not planning to return to his house until she knew Jeremy would be in bed asleep.
* * *
THE EVENING ALONE with Jeremy had turned into a nightmare. After cleaning up the kitchen together, Vic’s son had sobbed so long and hard, he looked pale lying in bed with his head against the pillow.
“Where’s Claire?”
“I’m pretty sure she’s still at her parents’ house.”
“When is she coming back?”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t seen them for a while.”
Jeremy had turned on his side, looking into space with puffy eyes. “I thought she liked living with us.”
Vic didn’t know how much more of this he could take. “She’s loved it here. I’ve heard her tell you that so many times. But she’s been in college for a long time to become a chemist. It’s what she’s been planning on doing since high school.”
“You mean she’d rather do that than stay here with us?”
“It’s been her dream, Jeremy. She has an exceptional brain. I’ve told you how she helped me find you because she’s so smart.”
“She thinks I’m smart, too, and every day she tells me she loves me. But she couldn’t love me if she wants to go work for some dumb company.”
Jeremy wasn’t listening to Vic. He couldn’t get through to his son and prayed the therapist would be able to help. The room fell quiet. Just when Vic thought Jeremy had finally fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion, he turned over on his back.
“I don’t want to live here anymore, Dad. Can’t we move back to Blanco?”
Vic groaned inwardly. Not that again.
“If we live right by Aunt Carol, she’ll let me come to her house every day and play until you get home from work.”
“Jeremy? Your aunt Carol and uncle Dennis have their own family. You and I are our own family. We moved here to be close to my work and you’ve made friends. This is our home now, son.”
“Can’t you make Claire stay with us?”
Oh, boy. What was he supposed to say to that? “You can’t force someone to do what they don’t want to do.”
He suddenly sat up in the bed. “You could if you scared her.”
“What do you mean?” Vic was dumbfounded.
“You could tell her that if she doesn’t stay with us, I’ll run away and she’ll never see me again.”
The threat sounded bloodcurdlingly real. It had come out of his child who was still traumatized by the kidnapping and devastated that Claire would be leaving.
“Son...” Vic wrapped his arms around him and rocked him until Jeremy broke down once more and sobbed. “I love you. We’re going to get through this.”