Page 39 of Falling for the Nanny

I nearly choked on my first sip. “What love life?” I managed.

I wouldn’t have put it past her to say, the secret one you’re having with my son, and then I’d have to die or quit. Probably the former. To my relief though, she said, “I’m an old woman, Catherine. Let me live vicariously through you.”

“You’re sixty-five.” Francesca didn’t look it, but she hated compliments so I didn’t try to convince her.

She delicately wrinkled her nose. “Exactly.”

“That’s hardly old.” I took another sip of my coffee. I desperately wanted to change the subject, but I didn’t know if that looked suspicious, too. Francesca was too sharp to fool with anything the most careful of misdirection.

She shot me a flinty look with those gray green eyes that were so much like her son’s and granddaughter’s. “It’s not twenty….”

“Six,” I supplied.

“Twenty-six.” Francesca murmured. “I had David when I was twenty-five. Can you imagine?”

I couldn’t, but only because I couldn’t imagine David as a baby. Had he been born knowing how to perfectly knot a tie?

“Do you want kids?” Francesca pressed when I didn’t say anything.

I shifted uncomfortably. Was Francesca psychic? Did she somehow know that I suddenly could imagine myself with kids in the near future? Previously, I had always assumed I’d have them, one day, but that day felt hazy and distant. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t because of David. I wasn’t such a fool to think that he and I were ever going to get to that point. It was more about Lily–I adored her so much I could imagine being her mother. That was why when I pictured this imaginary baby, it had stormy gray green eyes.

“Yes,” I said slowly because Francesca was still waiting for an answer. “One day. If I meet the right person.”

She made an irritated noise in the back of her throat. “One day. That’s all I hear from my son when I ask him when he’s going to give me more grandbabies.”

I tried not to show my surprise. I had no idea that David imagined himself having more kids one day. He seemed perfectly content with just Lily. “He’s only forty,” I said neutrally. “He has plenty of time.”

“Who cares about him?” Francesca shot back. “My knees don’t have plenty of time.”

Her knees had never seemed to bother her as she shot up and down the ladder to Lily’s tree house or chased her up the stairs. I didn’t say anything though. There was never any point in arguing with Francesca. She’d win or she’d change the subject.

“Maybe he’ll meet the right person soon.” I tried to keep the emotion out of my voice, but Francesca’s eyes seemed to drill right through me, like she knew it was down there somewhere, covered up by this thin sheetrock of forced casualness. Could she tell that the thought of David meeting ‘the right person’ made my guts feel like they were being pulled out?

Luckily, before I could find out whether she could or not, we heard the sound of the patio door unlatching and sliding back above us. A moment later, Lily’s face appeared over the railing. “Swimming?” she called down.

“After breakfast,” I called up.

She grinned and gestured for me to come upstairs. I did, even though Lily liked to make her own breakfast. She made buttered toast for both of us, then poured sprinkles and cinnamon sugar on hers. I scrambled up eggs for protein, and we were just sitting down to eat when David walked in. He was dressed for work, but his hair was still damp. I wished, not for the first time, we could find more time alone so I could join him in his huge walk-in shower with the dual shower heads. He caught my eye and smirked, like he knew what I was thinking.

“Another breakfast of champions, I see,” he said, glancing at Lily’s plate.

“Hey, I made eggs.” I held up the skillet as proof. “Want some?”

“No, I’m running late already.” David ruffled Lily’s hair and gave me another lingering look over her head that made me tingle from head to toe. “Enjoy your last week of summer, kid.”

Lily had her mouth full of toast, but she didn’t look surprised by his comment. I, on the other hand, was shocked.

“What do you mean?” I demanded, shaking out half the portion onto Lily’s plate and the other half onto mine. “She doesn’t go back until late August.”

“She doesn’t go back to school until late August,” David corrected. “Her summer schedule starts up next week, though. She has two advanced placement prep classes, and then she’ll start dance and swim team.”

I looked at Lily to see if she knew all this. She shrugged her small shoulders back at me like it was no big deal, but I saw a shadow of disappointment in her eyes. The kid wanted to sleep in, eat sprinkle toast, and paddle around in the pool all summer, not do prep classes and teams. David headed out of the kitchen, oblivious to this.

“I’ll be right back,” I told Lily hastily and followed him to the entryway.

David raised his eyebrows when I followed him out to the porch and closed the imposingly tall door behind us. He glanced at the sidelights on either side and said quietly, “This isn’t exactly discreet, Cat.” The low timbre of his voice vibrated through me, nearly distracting me from my mission.

“I’m not trying to be discreet,” I said quietly. “I wanted to ask about Lily’s summer schedule.”

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