Page 43 of The Wrong Boss

“I wonder…”

“You wonder?”

It felt like a cop-out, but I still said, “Maybe I should wait until after the spelling bee to tell her. She’s so excited about it.”

Hailey was quiet for a moment, and I turned to see her watching me thoughtfully. “And after the spelling bee, when she has the school holiday play? Or after the next big event?”

“I know,” I said, “I’m just delaying the inevitable.”

Hailey sipped her tea with one hand, her other making slow sweeps over her bump. “No,” she finally said, “maybe you’re right. It’s only seven weeks away. It would give you time to meet with a lawyer, think about your options.”

“Find a new job,” I added.

“That too.”

Hailey leaned her head against my shoulder. “Rough week.”

“You can say that again.”

“Rough week,” she repeated.

“Har-har,” I intoned, rolling my eyes.

Hailey, a frequent purveyor of dad jokes, cackled. “No but really. How are you holding up?”

“With great difficulty.”

“Any more sightings of Father Boss?”

“Can we come up with a different nickname? That one makes it sound like I had a child with a priest.”

“Mr. Dad. Sir Daddy. Secret Daddy Boss Man.”

My lips twitched. “Hailey. Stop it.”

“Sir Daddy isn’t bad,” she said, tilting her head to the side.

“Sir Daddy sounds like we’re about to dress in head-to-toe latex and go to an underground sex club.”

Her brows lifted. “Well…”

I threw an arm over my face as I slumped down on the sofa, groaning as I laughed. When I peeked under my elbow to meet Hailey’s eye, she was grinning.

“Feel better?”

“No,” I lied. “I feel worse.”

She patted my thigh. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, Carrie.”

Cole had said that to me when we first met. I swallowed past a sudden tightness in my throat and sat up on the sofa. “What am I going to do? Like what am Iactuallygoing to do?”

“You’ll wait for this consultation with Seth’s friend next Wednesday, go to work, and take care of Evie.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“Because it is,” she said as she threw her arm around my shoulders.

I leaned my head against hers and let out a deep breath. “Okay,” I said. “I can do that.”

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