Page 71 of A Nanny for Christmas

Summer had been there that night. The night I had been rushing to the hospital to be with Flora and ended up being so violently struck by a car that I had spent the next three months in hospital and missed the birth of my daughter. She hadbeenthere. How could she be a part of that and face me each day? Lay with me in bed? My thoughts were in such turmoil that I didn’t notice I was being ushered toward the study by Theo until the door closed behind us, sealing out the quiet Christmas music that had droned constantly through the air.

“We need to think about this carefully,” Theo said quietly. “Start at the beginning.”

“Summer had drugs in her room,” Jax remarked bitterly, dropping into the leather chair by the desk.

“No, the beginning,” Theo demanded. He walked to the drinks cabinet and quickly poured three scotches, then he handed them out as Jax quickly explained the call from the lawyer and the next call from Marina. As he spoke, his computer dinged and Jax trailed off, then he downed his drink in one gulp and smacked his lips together as he read what was on the screen.

“It’s always fucking Marina,” he spat at the monitor. I crossed over to him, and Theo followed with the bottle, filling up Jax’s empty glass as we read the new e-mail from Marina.

It was Summer’s criminal record, and Felix’s, while detailing their relationship together. It had spanned some years until Felix went to prison. The e-mail ended with a sneering comment about how this was all she needed to prove that Jax was an unfit parent and incapable of making safe decisions for his daughter. Her malicious comment about Jax needing better taste in fiancées was followed by a not-so-generous offer tomaybegive him visitation if he dropped custody on his own.

Jax drained his refilled glass in seconds. “Fuck,” he said hoarsely. “I’m screwed. I’m so fucking—” His grip tightened on his glass, and for a moment I feared he’d launch is across the room. Defeat got the better of him though, and instead, he set it down with a deep, bone-rattling sigh.

Jax was on the cusp of losing his daughter because of this, and Summer was the woman I had glimpsed from that night. She had to be. I had always thought that vision of someone trying to help me had been an angel. Now I wasn’t so sure.

“No.” Theo straightened up. “No, let’s think about this, okay? Or, as the only one with their heart not crumbling right now, I’ll think about it.”

He moved and began to pace around the room, swirling his drink in his hand. “Marina’s information proves Summer is connected to Felix, the man that ran you over. Her record says she provided evidence that secured his conviction, so that’s a positive.”

“Is it?” I asked bitterly. “Because right now I’m having a hard time accepting that with the fact that she was here, in my home, in mybed,and didn’t say a word.”

“Okay that, I admit, is fucked up, and I can’t answer that part,” Theo admitted. “But if she helped put him away then they definitely parted on bad terms, and she did the right thing.” Theo sent me an apologetic glance. “I’m not going to tell you how to feel; I’m just… thinking out loud.”

“Fine,” I muttered, sinking into the nearby armchair.

“Marina contacted her lawyer and called you, Jax, long before security showed up which means… which means she already knew the drugs were on the premises. How would she know that?”

“She appears to know fucking everything,” Jax grumbled, and he poured himself another drink.

“Fair. Money talks and she has bucketloads. I can presume she looked into Summer after finding out about the engagement—”

“So it’s my fault?” Jax cut in. Theo paused his pacing.

“You’re hurting, I get that. Let me finish.”

Jax waved one hand.

“She looked into Summer, maybe stumbled upon Felix, and would have known the connection to you, Luke.”

“It didn’t come up when I did a background check on her before she started working for us,” I said with a sigh.

“The records were sealed,” Jax piped up, clicking about on the computer. “Even a deep check wouldn’t have flagged these. Marina must have gone deep, looking for anything she could use.”

“So, she was desperate,” Theo reasoned. “Desperate because she knew she was going to lose the custody battle, and she needed something,anythingthat would give her the upper hand.”

“Well, Summer handed it to her on a fucking silver platter,” Jax grumbled. My heart went out to him. Just the thought of losing Ava made my gut twist up into shards; I couldn’t fathom facing that as a reality.

“Hey,” Theo scolded after a drink. “You of all people know what it’s like to have a past, Jax. We can’t hold that against Summer, not if she’s turned her life around. That’s not fair.”

“Whose side are you on?” Jax snapped.

“I’m notagainstyou, Jax. This isn’t about sides; this is about the truth and the woman welovebeing tangled up in something awful.”

“Losing Bonnie will be fucking awful,” Jax continued angrily. “I poured my heart out to Summer about my past and what Marina did to me, and not once did she tell me anything about this. Not even the drugs, something we basically share. If she had, we would have been prepared.”

“Maybe she was ashamed,” I offered, trying to follow Theo’s words as betrayal beat in my own heart. “Maybe of the crash too.” For me though, that was more unforgivable. I had also poured my heart out, and Summer hadn’t said anything.

“Ashamed,” Jax scoffed. “She was among friends.”

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