Page 12 of Marrying the Nanny

“I’ve been paying for things myself and keeping the receipts.” Emma didn’t give up Storm even though Harpreet held out her hands.

“I’ll see you’re reimbursed.” Harpreet’s smile was nonthreatening, but Emma couldn’t unlock her arms. “We’ll be here when you get back. I promise.”

Emma’s heart was bouncing all over the place. Everyone was looking at her. She did want to get the other type of formula. It would be so much easier to nip out and back without Storm and her sundries.

She reluctantly gave up the swaddled baby and stood on knees that felt like wet sponges. “She should be fine, but if…”

“I have two of my own. I’ll manage. Take your time.” Harpreet offered a gentle smile. “I want you to give this serious thought before you agree.”

Emma already knew what she wanted. Storm. She would do whatever she had to, but she nodded and picked up her handbag, then wavered as she looked for reassurance in the faces at the table. Her gaze tangled with Reid’s.

There was nothing there to indicate he was happy about taking her and Storm back to Raven’s Cove, but there was a closed-off alertness in his posture that she read as discomfort at her leaving—which was oddly reassuring. Deep down, he knew he needed her. That gave her a faint ray of hope.

“Thank you,” she murmured to Harpreet, swallowing the acidic pall from the back of her throat. “I won’t be long.”

She felt like she’d been spinning in circles for days and was trying to walk a straight line as she staggered from the room. When she got outside, she numbly climbed into a taxi that took her around the corner.

It had only been five minutes since she had walked out of the boardroom, but she already missed Storm. Instead of feeling freed from the weight of the nappy bag, she felt anxious. Her arms were empty, her chest hollowed out.

“Will you put in a request for me to be picked up in twenty minutes?” she asked as she paid and got out of the taxi.

The driver pointed at the deli on the other side of the square. “I’ll take my break and wait for you.”

“Thank you.” Emma slipped into the chemist and searched out the baby care aisle. She didn’t dawdle but did take the time to give the different formulas a thorough read. The cost of the specialty kind was even more dear than the regular. Latent anger panged behind her dry breasts. In an alternate universe, Storm would be hers and feeding her wouldn’t cost a thing.

That wasn’t reality, however. This was.

She bit her lip and noted nappies were on sale. She threw a few packs into the cart with a freezable teething ring, certain that was part of Storm’s recent crying fits. She added some bottles since she only had two and looked at the rice cereal.

Tiffany had wanted to wait until she returned before trying Storm on solids, to see how she reacted to formula first. Who would make these decisions now? Those cretin brothers of hers? She’s mine. Emma chose one that was supposed to be gentle on tummies.

She stocked up on a few other items, paid, and pushed her cart out to the taxi. The driver stood at an outside table talking to another man while they both ate. He waved an acknowledgment, and she did what Harpreet had told her to do. She stole a moment to lean against the car, eyes closed, and caught her breath.

She hadn’t slept much, not only because of Storm. She’d been worried sick. She still was, but in these stolen seconds, her mind went blissfully blank. Distantly, she had an impulse to check her phone, as if she still had clients and friends and a family constantly demanding things of her, but all of that was in the past. She didn’t even have her phone. She had left it in the nappy bag.

Fat raindrops began to fall, and a depressing weariness settled over her. According to the five-year plan she’d sketched out while organizing her wedding, she was supposed to be taking a break from working in her father-in-law’s real estate office to concentrate on her new family. Instead, she was divorced, twenty-five, and barren. She was living in a remote community in a country where they spoke English but wore toques and bought diapers from the drug store.

She was so lonely, she ached, but she couldn’t go home. Wouldn’t. Not until she had to and hopefully with a better story to tell than the one she’d left with.

At least she had Storm, her one spark of brightness. As she had settled into Raven’s Cove, Emma had started to imagine she would properly emigrate and be part of Storm’s life for the rest of her own.

She still wanted that. At least if she went back to Raven’s Cove with these men, she would have another shot at making that happen. She had to try.

A few minutes later, the taxi dropped her behind an SUV at the lawyer’s office. Reid was climbing from the driver’s side. Trystan was on his phone a few feet away. Logan stood out of the rain, texting.

“Where’s Storm?” Emma asked with a lurch of her heart.

“Inside?” Reid shrugged.

She hurried in to see Harpreet had set the car seat on the security guard’s desk. She had unswaddled Storm and was efficiently strapping her lax form into the seat.

“When she sleeps, she means it, doesn’t she?” Harpreet ran a finger under the strap to ensure it was snug. Her smile faded to a frown of concern. “Are you sure about this, Emma? I’m worried you’re too attached.”

She definitely was, but the damage was done. She would ride this pony as long as it had legs. “I’ll be fine,” she lied.

“Without signs of abuse or neglect, I have to give them a chance to prove they’re suitable guardians, but they can’t take you back to Raven’s Cove and leave you to raise her on your own.” She glanced outside, saying with a faint smirk, “A little wariness is to be expected. Most new fathers are terrified, but you’ll tell me if this detachment continues.” She nodded toward the windows, her words a stern command. “If they aren’t bonding with Storm and closely involved with her care, the ministry will have to step in.”

“I’ll make sure they learn how to change and feed her,” Emma vowed.

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