Page 139 of Worst Nanny Ever
“Yeah,” Hannah says, her tone still like syrup. “That’s what they call a bonus. Why are you here, Lilah?”
She thrusts out the stuffed animal. “I got this for Ollie.”
“Super,” Hannah says. “He hates koalas. His favorite animals are turtles.”
“Are you going to let her talk to me like that, Travis?” Lilah snaps, turning toward me.
“I don’t tell my girlfriend how to talk,” I say. “She’s protectiveof Ollie, and I’m grateful for that. So am I.” I pause, trying to collect myself, then say, “You kept him from me, Lilah, for nearly seven years.” My voice rises, so I take a deep breath. “I didn’t know I had a son. I missed so much. His first steps. His first words. The first day he went to school. I’ll never get any of that back.”
Surprise ripples across her face, like it never occurred to her that she was taking something away from me. She tries to set the koala down on the coffee table, but it tumbles to the floor, the balloons detaching and floating up to the ceiling. Annoyance flickers in her eyes, and I’m not surprised when she tries to turn it around on me. “You lied to me too,” she says. “Your father was famous, and you never said a word.”
“What, you think you missed out on your big chance with him?” I ask. “You know, he probably would have been thrilled to get attention from you, just like Roland, but he was already dying. I didn’t find out until later, when I got to Asheville. My dad and I weren’t talking anymore. I had no reason to think he’d ever want to talk to me again.”
There’s a worried look on her face now, like it’s occurred to her that he might not have left me anything after all. But she snaps out of it, clearing all emotion from her face. “You’ve always liked your secrets, Travis.”
“I did,” I say, feeling the birthmark on my forehead as if it’s a brand. “But not anymore. That’s not who I want to be. I want to be Ollie’s father.”
Hannah squeezes my hand.
“Well, he can’t stay here forever, obviously,” Lilah says.
Bitter rage nearly shatters me, and it’s only Hannah’s hand in mine that keeps me from coming apart. That allows me to say what needs to be said in an even tone. “You left him here for almost two months as if he were some kind of handbag you weren’t sure you wanted to bother claiming fromthe lost and found. He didn’t deserve that. He’s a good kid. So smart and funny and talented. He’s in school here, and he’s doing well, and I love him. I love him, Lilah. I have emergency protective custody, and you’ve almost been away for sixty days, which is the state’s standard for abandonment. If you want to take him away from me, you’re going to have to fight for it in court. And then you’ll have two court cases underway.”
She looks shocked, maybe because I’ve never spoken to her like this before. Not even the day she left me.
“You’re being unreasonable, Travis,” she says, glancing at Hannah. “I think we should have this conversation privately.”
“Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Hannah.”
“Well…” She glances at Hannah again, nervously, which is probably wise, because Hannah’s giving her a death glare. “There’s no reason we can’t settle this out of court. If you start paying me child support, I can send him to Gentleman’s Crest. It’s this boarding school in Nashville. My friend has some connections with the admissions?—”
“Over my dead body,” Hannah snarls.
“He’s not going to boarding school,” I say, holding Hannah close. “I want him here. Living in my house. Sleeping in his room. I don’t have any objection to you seeing him or spending time with him, but I want him to live here.”
She plants a hand on her hip. “Travis, hedidn’twant me to leave him here. I doubt he wants to stay. This is the best solution for everyone.”
“No shit, he didn’t want to stay,” I say, some of that awful, bitter rage slipping out. “He didn’t know who I was until you left him at my door. A stranger’s door. You and I hadn’t talked more than once in seven years. You didn’t know anything about me. But you left him here anyway. Even though he begged younot to. And you called him all of three times. One of those times he wasasleep.”
“I knew you were a good guy,” she says, flushing slightly. “I knew nothing would happen to him.”
“Youhoped,” I say. “That’s not enough for me. I need to know he’s safe and cared for. I need to know you’re not going to leave him with someone else you’re sure is a good person because you hung out with them a few times nearly a decade ago. Now that I know about him, I can’t erase that knowledge, and I don’t want to. He’s my son. I want him here.”
Lilah’s expression softens a little. “I had no idea you felt like this.”
“Because you didn’t give me a chance to process everything before you took off.”
The doorbell rings, and Hannah and I exchange a look, because I can’t imagine who it could be. Rob, maybe, but it would be strange for him to show up this early without calling, especially since he knows I drop Ollie off at school in the morning.
“Just a second,” I say, then stalk through the room to the foyer and open the front door.
I open it, and to my shock, Ollie and Dottie pile in. Ollie’s wearing an outfit that makes him look like a Boy Scout, complete with a small, collared shirt and brown pants with a belt, and it would probably make me laugh under other circumstances.
“I thought we were supposed to pick him up,” I say, panic shooting through me.He’s going to want to leave with her. She’s going to take him. Everything we’ve been building will be lost.
I wrap my arms around him, and he lets me. Thank God, he lets me.
“Oh dear,” Dottie says, laughing. “We must have gotten our wires crossed. I woke up this morning positively certain that Ineeded to come here. I felt it down to my bones, even though our messages said something different, but you know my bonesaregetting older these days. Well, no harm done.” Her gaze settles on my hair, and she grins. “You have a heart on your forehead, my dear. I never saw the shape of it before. How marvelous.”
