Page 31 of The Bossy One

Mum threw me an exasperated look. “Well, you fired her nanny.”

“What?” I shook my head. “That’s rubbish. We had adisagreement.”

Mum pursed her lips. “Well, she thinks you fired her. She was practically crying when she hugged Catie here goodbye.”

I felt carved out, unsettled. “She’s…gone?” I couldn’t believe she’d just leave like that. Without saying goodbye to me. Without giving me a piece of her mind.

Where the hell would she go? She didn’t know anyone in Ireland.

“She can’t go,” I said. “I need her.”

“Well, you best get to groveling then,” Mum said. “She’s taking the bus to Dublin. If you leave now, you might be able to catch her.”

I started to leave, then turned around, crossed to Catie, and kissed her on the top of her head. “I’ll fix this, sweetheart. Promise.”

Then I raced out to go catch my runaway nanny.

* * *

When I screeched to a halt in front of the bus stop, I breathed a sigh of relief. Olivia was still there. She sat cross-legged on the bus-stop bench, eyes closed, head tilted back to lean against the back of the bus shelter. She didn’t open her eyes when I got out and slammed the car door behind me. She’d retreated to her own little world.

I was used to thinking of her as gregarious, perpetually energized, and open. I’d lived with her less than a week, but I already knew her emotions had a way of spilling over until they infected the whole house. Seeing her all contained like this…it felt wrong. I wanted to hurt the bastard who did this to her.

Except the bastard was me.

This isn’t about you, I reminded myself.This is about Catie.

“Olivia.”

Her eyes flew open, and she yanked her headphones out of her ears. She scrambled to her feet. “Declan. What are you doing here?”

“You’re the best nanny for Catie, and she deserves the best,” I said. “So you have the job until Sinead finishes rehab. No more trial period. It’s yours.”

Olivia didn’t say anything. No happy exclamation. No sassy comment about how she knew I’d come around. She just watched me.

I gestured to the car. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”

“Declan…” she said, making no move to gather up her things.

Shit, I thought.How badly had I messed this up?

“I’ll give you a raise,” I said. “Name your price.”

“It’s not about the money,” Olivia said, which was such an Olivia thing to say.

“Then what is it?” I asked, impatient.

Olivia twisted her right hand back and forth around her left wrist. Like she was nervous about whatever she needed to say. “I can handle it if we disagree sometimes. But I can’t handle working for someone who doesn’t listen to me, or for someone who makes decisions based on what’s easy for them, instead of what’s best for the kid.”

I took a step closer to her. “I havenevermade a decision about Catie based on what’s easiest for me. I might have made mistakes. But that was never the reason.”

“Then why?” Olivia protested. “Why were you so intent on avoiding a difficult conversation? She’s tough enough to handle it.”

“Just because she’s tough enough to handle it doesn’t mean she should have to!” I took a breath, forcing myself to calm down. “Look, I…you know my da died when I was a teen.”

She nodded, her eyes warm with understanding.

I rolled my shoulders restlessly, not wanting her sympathy, but knowing I needed to say this. I needed her to trust me enough to come back. “My mum was…she loved him so much, she couldn’t…so I ended up doing a lot of things that needed to be done. And all the adults around, they just said, ‘Be strong for your mum,’ and ‘You’re the man of the family, now.’” I stuffed my hands in my pockets and looked away. “I overheard my aunt once, asking if they were all putting too much on my shoulders. And my uncle just said, ‘he’s tough enough to handle it.’”

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