Nanny Makes Three

Kori’s question unleashed the floodgates. Hadley began to sob. She rambled incoherently about Maggie being in the hospital and how she’d turned her back on Liam right when he needed her the most.

“I’m coming over.”

“No. It’s okay.” Hadley blew her nose and dabbed at her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You are so not fine. Why didn’t you tell me about this last night?”

“Because I wasn’t ready to admit that I’d screwed up and fallen in love with the wrong man again. Honestly, why do I keep doing this to myself?”

“You didn’t know he was the wrong guy until too late.”

“It’s because I jump in too fast. I get all caught up in his life and fall in love with the idea of be

ing a family.”

“I thought you said Liam hadn’t told you that he planned to fight for custody of Maggie.”

“Well...no.”

“Then technically, you weren’t planning on being a family with Liam and Maggie, but a couple with Liam.”

“And eventually a family.”

“Since eventually is in the future, I don’t think that counts.” Kori’s voice was gentle but firm. “You love Liam. You told me you had a crush on him when you were a teenager. Isn’t it possible that what you feel for him has nothing to do with seeing yourself as part of a family and everything to do with the fact that you’re in love with him?”

“Sure.” Did that make things better or worse? “But what about the fact that he asked me to marry him because he thought he would have a better chance to get custody if he was engaged?”

“I’m not really sure it’s that straightforward,” Kori said. “Liam Wade is a major catch. He’s probably got dozens of women on speed dial that he’s known a lot longer than you. Don’t you wonder why he didn’t ask one of them to marry him? I think he fell for you and is too afraid to admit it.”

As tempting as it was to believe her friend’s interpretation, Hadley knew it would just lead to more heartache. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life wondering what if.

Kori’s sigh filled Hadley’s ear. “I can tell from your silence that you don’t agree. I’m sorry all this happened. You are such a wonderful person. You deserve the best guy in the world.”

“And he’s out there somewhere,” Hadley said with what she hoped was a convincing amount of enthusiasm.

“What time do you want me to come get you tomorrow?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She figured Liam would stay at the hospital with Maggie until she was ready to go home, and that would give Hadley a chance to collect her things from the house without the risk of running into him.

“I’m meeting a client at eight. We can either go before or after.”

“I guess I’d rather go early.” The sooner she collected all her things, the sooner she could put all her mistakes behind her.

Maggie’s new nanny was set to start the day after tomorrow, and Hadley doubted Dr. Davison would release her before that, so she didn’t have to worry about seeing Liam ever again. The thought sent a stabbing pain through her.

“How about seven?”

“That would be perfect,” Hadley said and then switched to the less emotionally charged topic of their upcoming girls’ night out.

After a few more minutes, Hadley hung up. It took about ten seconds to go back to thinking about Liam. How was Maggie doing? Had her test results come back yet? Liam must be frantic waiting to hear something.

She brought up the messaging app on her phone, but stopped as she realized what she was doing. Contacting Liam would undo what little peace she’d found during the afternoon. It might be agonizing to cut ties with Liam and Maggie, but in the long run it would be better for all of them.

Yet no matter how many times she reminded herself of that fact as the evening dragged on, she wasn’t able to put the baby or Liam out of her mind. Finally, she broke down and sent Liam a text around ten thirty, then shut off her phone and went to bed. But sleep eluded her. Despite having reached out to Liam, she couldn’t put concern aside.

Around six, Hadley awoke. Feeling sluggish, her thoughts a jittery mess, she dragged herself out of bed and climbed into the shower. The closer it got to Kori’s arrival, the more out of sorts Hadley became. Despite how unlikely it was that she’d run into Liam, she couldn’t stop the anxiety that crept up her spine and sent a rush of goose bumps down her arm. By the time Hadley eased into Kori’s passenger seat, she was a ball of nerves.

“You okay?” Kori asked, steering the car away from Hadley’s apartment building.