Page 36 of One Night With The Nanny

She looked at Reid expectantly. “Same time next Wednesday good for you?”

“Sure,” he said, throwing his hands up. Like he’d miss that.

“Yay!” Mia said as she opened the door, offering her sister a cheerful wave. “Hey, Sophia! I’m almost ready. I just need to grab a few things.”

“Oh. Okay…” Sophia stepped over the threshold, flashing them a pained smile as she waved. “I wasn’t really planning to come inside,” she whispered, then nodded at Reid. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“It’s lovely to see you, Sophia,” Reid said sincerely. He gave Max a gentle nudge because he looked like he hadn’t taken a breath since she had walked in.

“It’s wonderful to see you,” he said and Reid caught a slight waver in Max’s voice.

She smiled and nodded at him. “You look good, Dad.”

“So do you, darling. How are the girls? Mia says they’re starting to talk.”

The evenness of Max’s tone and his self-control was stunning because there wasn’t a doubt in Reid’s mind that he was ready to plead for mercy. Reid certainly wanted to. His heart burned as he watched Max smile and cling to his composure.

“We were just making plans for next week,” Reid said to her. “It would be great if you could join us. Mia tells me you’re opening a floral shop and I have so many questions. Particularly about discounts for friends and family,” he said, making Sophia grin.

“Would you be considered a friend or family?” she challenged and Reid went ahead and smacked himself on the back of the head.

“Walked right into that one. Depends on how well dinner goes. What do you say?” He raised his brows, daring her to be brave and give Max a chance.

Her teeth dug into her bottom lip and Reid was sure she’d shake her head and decline.

“Fine. I’ll come to dinner,” she said, her eyes flicking to Max’s. “But only because I told Mia I’d give you another chance. This is me giving you another chance.”

“Yes!” Mia cheered as she returned, brandishing her charging cable. “Didn’t want to have a repeat of last time so I made sure I had everything.”

Max was still staring at Sophia. “Thank you,” he said, then smiled at Mia. “And thank you, as well.”

A wide grin spread across her face as she looked from Max to Sophia and then to Reid. “I’d like it if we were fixed, too, before I left for school,” she said, hitting Reid right in the gut.

“You got it, kiddo,” he said with a tap of his brow.

Sophia huffed dubiously. “I said I’d come to dinner. Don’t get ahead of yourselves.” She gave Mia a loaded look. “Can we leave now? We were watching Bake Off and I told Kyle I’d be right back.”

“We can go now,” Mia said, blowing Max and Reid a kiss on the way out.

“Goodnight!” Max waved as he watched them go and he was crying when he closed the door and turned to Reid. “Sophia’s coming to dinner!” He scooped Reid into his arms, sobbing into the corner of his neck. “Thank you so much!”

Reid shushed softly, winding his arms tight around Max. “You were amazing and I’m really proud of you.”

Max’s head popped up. “Me? It was all you and Mia,” he said, but Reid snorted.

“Sophia’s coming because she wants to give you another chance. She sees how hard you’ve been trying and how you’ve opened up to Mia and she wants to see what the new you is like too.”

“I never imagined it would make this much of a difference, me dating. I thought I was protecting them and I was afraid they would think I was being selfish and irresponsible like Ella. But I only made them think I was a cold robot,” he said and Reid winced.

“We’re working on that. It’s not your fault, you were practically raised by wolves and the British.”

“True. It never occurred to me that parents should have feelings. My parents never did and I was encouraged to avoid them as a child,” Max explained with a small, playful smile.

But Reid sensed a lot of pain and vulnerability behind that admission and his smile. “I’m sorry and I’m really proud of how much you’ve already done to change and how you’ve changed that pattern for your daughters.”

Another smile pulled at Max’s lips as he stared at Reid. “Do you know, I’ve always suspected that my therapists were too intimidated to tell me that I was the problem and that I needed to change. They always blamed it on Ella and said that I was doing everything right. They would pat me on the back, saying that showing up for therapy proved how much I cared.”

Reid grimaced and scrubbed the back of his hair. “There can be a lower standard for wealthy and powerful men, when it comes to what we expect from them as fathers. It sounds like a low bar, but just putting your ass in a seat for half an hour is gonna look like a major sacrifice to the average therapist. Especially if it isn’t mandated or part of a negotiation,” he said, mouthing an apology. “I can see why they’d take that approach if you were paying them by the hour.”

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