Page 111 of The Bossy One

The mom got a crafty look in her eye. “I suppose you could introduce us, if we gave you the job?” She patted her hair. “You know, I’m something of an influencer.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Had the parents always been this bad?

They had, I realized. They’d just gotten bad so slowly I hadn’t realized. The first family I’d worked for had been truly wonderful. But just about everyone between them and Declan had been different and increasingly less tolerable brands of awful.

I don’t want to do this anymore, I realized.

Declan had been right. It was time for me to start building my own life instead of trying to fix other people’s—especially when those other people acted like these two.

“I’m not interested in this job anymore,” I said. “Hire your old nanny back, and let your kid take a nap.”

I hung up, surprised to realize how much lighter I felt. When push came to shove, I hadn’t been brave enough to quit my job for Declan.

But I could quit it forme.

And I didn’t think I would have been able to do that before Declan. His vision, his confidence, his bravery…somehow, it had rubbed off on me.

If you can walk away from nannying, I told myself,you’re brave enough to write that book.Even if it reminds you of Declan.

I didn’t want to be the kind of person who ran from my past. Even if my past was memories of a beautiful man who’d broken my heart.

I emailed Sunny Days to tell them to delete my profile from the website.

Their response was two words:Good riddance.

For once, we agreed with each other.

I called Molly, pacing anxiously as I waited for her to answer. It would be late for her, but she tended to stay up late.

“I’m back in,” I said, as soon as she answered. “I want to work on the book.”

“I found a new writer already.” Molly yawned.

“What!?” I yelped.

“Kidding. You deserved it for running out on me, though,” Molly said. “What changed?”

“I quit nannying,” I explained. “I know it will take a while to turn writing into a profitable career. But I’ve got this blog on Snug that already has a sponsorship offer. To be honest, I don’t much like the offer itself, but if I can get one offer, then I think I can find a better one. And if nothing else comes through, then I’ve got plenty of savings to live on, since most of my jobs since college included room and board.”

“I love it,” Molly said. “Dream big.”

“Speaking of improving things… I think I want to make a bigger change than the editor asked for,” I said. I ran my hand through my hair. “There’s was something Declan said the other day that made me realize there’s a better way to end the story.”

Molly hesitated. “Are you sure this is a good idea and not a weird way of processing grief? I like the one you already wrote.”

It was a fair question. But…

I shook my head. “I know in my gut. This is a better ending. If I send it to you, can you mock up some illustrations to share with our editor?”

Molly sighed. “Fiiiiiiiiine. But I’m trusting you on this.”

“Good,” I said.

For the first time in a long while, I was trusting myself too.

36

DECLAN

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