Page 94 of Suddenly Entwined

“I guess I should talk to them about us.”

“What will you say?”

“That we’re dating, like Chris and Anna. That we care about each other and want to spend a lot of time together.” I feel his lips press against the crown of my head. “I know what the optics surrounding dating my nanny are. I’m not dumb. I simply don’t care. If my life has taught me anything, it’s to reach out and snag happiness when you see it.”

The couple I saw whispering earlier make their way to the dance floor hand in hand. The mom leans towards me. “I’m so glad you two started dancing. I hate being the first ones to start.”

I smile at her, feeling silly for assuming they were gossiping about us. When it comes down to it, I bet most people don’t care. Berg makes me feel happy too, and being with his daughters fills a part of my heart I didn’t know was hollow.

Chapter thirty-two

Carolina

Isip the last of my iced tea, wondering why I waited so long to have Anna do my hair.

“It’s perfect. Utterly perfect,” I say, admiring how she made my curls look so bouncy and fresh.

My phone rings, and I glance down at where it’s resting on top of the black cape in my lap. West Isle Elementary scrolls across the screen.

“Oh, it’s the girls' school. I have to get this,” I tell Anna, who smiles and takes a step back from her chair to give me privacy.

I think about the last time their school called, how it was on Berg’s phone. Now it’s programmed into mine.

“Hi, Joan!” I say, brightly. “Someone sick?”

There’s a beat of a pause.

“This is actually Principal Simmons,” a deep male voice says.

The velcro rips as I tug off the cape around my throat. “Is everything alright?”

“Natalie’s been in a fight.”

***

I fly through the front doors of the school, ignoring Joan when she greets me. Natalie and Louisa sit side by side on a bench near a door with a gold engraved placard reading Principal Matthew Simmons.

“Both of you? What happened?” I ask, crouching in front of my girls.

Natalie crosses her arms over her chest defensively as her eyes slide sideways. I track her line of sight, landing on Milly in a chair on the opposite side of the principal’s door. Milly clutches an ice pack to her nose, looking anywhere but at me.

“Oh, Natalie,” I mutter, feeling way over my head.

“She started it.”

Before I can launch into the logistics of explaining why that doesn’t always hold up, someone else enters the office. When I turn, I’m surprised at Tamara’s appearance. She’s not wearing a smart skirt suit or even a matching workout set. She looks…normal. A graphic tee falls over a pair of black bike shorts, her hair damp and tucked behind her ears. Fresh from Anna’s salon in my favourite jeans, I actually feel more put together than her for once.

“Ladies?”

Principal Simmons stands in the doorway to his office.

“Come on in, please.”

He steps aside and Tamara and I both glance at the children before following him into the office.

***

“It’s a zero tolerance policy for violence, Mrs. MacMillan.”

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