Page 131 of The Nanny Goal

Then I go upstairs.

Alexei isn’t back from practice yet, but the house is quiet for now.

I know it’s going to be a challenging conversation, where no matter how calm and mature and certain I sound, they’re going to second-guess me.

Rip off the Band-Aid, Emery Granger.

I stab the screen and close my eyes.

My mom answers. “Hey, sweetie.”

“I have some news,” I say. “Can you put Dad on, too?”

She finds him, and once they’re both on speaker, I launch into it.

“There’s been a change of plans. I can’t go to Montrose this summer. It’s a whole saga. But they went to a lot of trouble to find me an alternate placement in New York, and I’ve accepted. It starts next week, so I probably won’t have time to come home before moving there.”

I can hear their surprise through the glaring silence.

Then…

“Oh,” Dad says.

And then Mom sighs.Sighs. “Next week?”

Not,That’s so excitingorWe’re proud of you for rolling with a new planor evenDo you need help?

Instead—

“Well… what’s Alexei going to do?” my mom asks. “If you leave that soon, will he be able to find another nanny in time?”

I blink.

Seriously?

“He’s a grown man,” I say sharply. “And I was never hisnanny.”

I mean, I’m going to help him, but seriously??? Why do they put that on me?

“But Inessa—” my dad starts.

“Inessa has a healthy grandfather, a roster of WAGs willing to help, and a father who is more than capable of hiring professionals,” I snap. “She’s not going to be abandoned.”

There’s a long pause.

“But you have to understand it’s quite sudden, at this time of year.”

Because it always comes down to hockey.

“You know, that’s funny,” I hear myself say distantly. “Because Alexei didn’t bring up the playoffs when I told him. But glad to know that’s where your priorities lie.”

And then I end the call before I say anything I might regret.

I sit there on the edge of the bed, fists clenched, jaw tight.

I don’t know why I’m surprised. I could have told myself this is how it would go.

But I was hoping for a different response.

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