Page 51 of The Billionaire & the Nanny: Part 4

“I love you enough to let you go, Alana. And one day, you’ll thank me for it.”

* * *

Our vacation isat a cabin by the lake somewhere north of Bear Mountain. It’s a long haul, but I’ve needed this distance from the city. I’ve needed the solitude, the fog on the surface of the lake every morning, and my daily hikes with Liam strapped to my back. Together, we look at trees, at frogs, at cool rocks, and we even share meals by a handmade fire.

We think of Alana a lot. I know Liam misses her, because he gets this big question mark on his face when I hand him his milk bottle. He slaps it a lot and says, “Nananana?”

“Yeah, buddy. Alana’s not here. I know. I’m sorry about that, but she’s just your nanny, kid. Nothing else.”

Nothing else. Just your nanny. Even my own words don’t sit right with me. If anything, she’s his everything. His morning, his naptime, his evenings, his bedtime lullabies, his nights, his everything. And I sent her home packing just like that. How amazing would it have been to bring her along with us? To spend time here together as a pseudo-family, having the times of our lives? But I couldn’t set up those expectations, not for her, not for Liam.

“Buddy, don’t look at me like that. The sooner you get used to women falling out of your life, the better off you’ll be.” I’m firm and happy with that assessment except that Alana never dropped out of my life. I dropped out of hers. Minor detail that we don’t need to talk about now, because we have two more miles to hike back to the cabin.

Extinguishing the fire, I make my way back home, if we can call it that. I haven’t seen my own house in months, since the night Evie died. I’ve pretended that her house is my house ever since, and even Liam looks like he could live out here with me indefinitely. It’s beautiful and so peaceful. We could start a new life out here. Just me and the big boy.

But as we arrive back to our area and I trudge toward the cabin that’s been our home for a week now, I almost see the car parked out front with my eyes closed. I’ve imagined it arriving for days now, I just didn’t expect a cop car to accompany it. It came to me as I was driving here through the melting snow—the boy at the park, the one who took off with Liam’s beanie hat that day.

Someone sent that boy to do that job.

Someone needed the hair and skin cells inside that hat for a paternity test, and deep inside, I knew the results for that test would come to haunt me any day now. Hence these much-needed last days with Liam.

A woman steps out of the car, along with an elderly gentlemen. Badges are flashed, and I know that life as I know it is over. “Mr. Hardwin? I’m Ilsa Hernández from Department of Children and Families. We have a court order to remove Liam Hardwin from the premises. Say your goodbyes and we’ll meet you inside.”

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