Page 27 of Architect's Christmas Nanny

“Jillian?” a sleepy little voice said behind her.

“Josie,” Jillian said, feeling instantly guilty as she turned to see Josie, practically shivering, even though she was in her fleece pajamas. “Were we too loud? I’m so sorry if I woke you.”

“Hey, JoJo,” Fee said, using another of her unique nicknames.

Josie grinned at the video feed and waved, though she still looked very sleepy.

“I’ll see you later, Jilly,” Fee said. “Keep a sharp eye on her, kid.”

“Okay,” Josie murmured, still smiling.

Jillian slipped her phone back in her pocket, going over the conversation in her mind and wondering exactly how much of it Josie had overheard.

“Let’s head downstairs,” she told Josie, wrapping an arm around her slender form.

“Fee wants you to go back to the city and fall in love,” Josie said, her voice suddenly clear and wide awake.

“She does,” Jillian admitted, stopping in her tracks.

“You shouldn’t do that,” Josie said, her voice quiet, but intense. “You should fall in love with my dad instead.”

“Oh, Josie…” Jillian began.

“Then we can be a family,” Josie went on. “You won’t have to go work for some rockstar. You can just stay withus. Maybe we can work on your dream together, like before.”

Jillian smiled at the reference to the little book-writing project they had so enjoyed a year or two ago.

“I wish it worked that way,” Jillian told her. “But it doesn’t.”

She felt the girl slump beside her, and she wanted to slump too, but when it came to Josie, Jillian always pushed through and did the best she knew how.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t love you,” she told her, giving her a squeeze. “I love you with all my heart Josephine Williams, and I always will.”

“I love you too,” Josie said, turning to wrap her arms around Jillian and squeezing her so hard that she could barely breathe.

“It smells bad up here,” Josie said as she let go.

“Yeah,” Jillian said. “I think the squirrel thought this was a bathroom.”

That made Josie giggle, and then the giggle turned into a real laugh that made Jillian feel just a little better.

“What’s going on up there?” a deep voice demanded from below.

“We’re coming,” Jillian called back. “I was making a call and I woke Josie.”

They piled down the stairs to find Brad practically taking up the whole hallway, eyeing them suspiciously.

“You can make calls anywhere in the house you want,” he told Jillian.

“Thanks,” she said, unable to make eye contact.

“Back to bed, young lady,” he told Josie. His tone was serious but light, so she would know he wasn’t angry.

He’s such a wonderful father…

But that line of thought wasn’t going to get her anywhere, so she shut it down.

Josie started down the stairs and Jillian followed after her quickly, not letting herself look at Brad, even when she passed by him close enough to catch the delicious spicy scent of his aftershave. She thought of Fee’s words the whole time, hoping they would give her the strength she needed.

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