Page 16 of Single Dad Billionaire Boss

“Mendocino is a girl,”Ella answered, and we proceeded to banter back and forth about it for the rest of the week.

“Tell me they don’t call her Mindy,”I replied.

“Nope, they call her Mendocino.”

“Do her parents at least love redwoods or hiking?”

“IDK. Maybe Mendocino is where they met?”

“I should’ve named Zoe after the bar where I met Amanda. Rock & Reilly’s was its name.”

“I like Rock better than Reilly. That’s a great girl’s name.”

“Very solid, yes.”

Only after I wrote this last note did I realize how much I had let my guard down with Ella Clark. I had mentioned Zoe’s mother, Amanda, whom I only ever spoke about to my daughter—rarely, and more out of guilt than anything. Maybe Ella somehow picked up on this, because her next missive was three notes stuck together. And it was not a joke.

“I always swore my first baby’s name would be Lucy, after my grandmother. And who knows, it might have happened if my ex had proposed instead of hitting on Kristen. She secretly recorded him. I don’t trust my judgment after that. It’s been a year. At least Mendocino’s parents didn’t break up before they even got married. He made me a coward.”

Wow. Ella had shared something personal with me. The least I could do was answer in kind.“I hired my two best friends when I started my company. One of them, Tim, stole money. I had to fire him and work nights to pay back our loan. He invited me to his wedding. I didn’t go. Not because I hate him, but because I haven’t forgiven myself for trusting him.”

Ella wrote back,“Wow. Worst thing I ever did to anyone was, after I found out Max tried to cheat on me, I sent the recording Kristen made to his mom. It was childish, I know. But I wanted so badly to tattle on him.”

“Worst thing I ever did to anyone—”

I stopped myself. It was almost too easy for me to tell her this way. I wouldn’t have to see her face. Never mind that I wanted so badly to match her energy of full disclosure. It made me feel adventurous, the kind of thrill I used to get from bouldering, from base jumping, from every dangerous thing I had ever done before becoming a single father.

“Worst thing I ever did to anyone was talking to a lawyer about divorcing Zoe’s mom.”

I read over the note and then quickly tore it up. I threw the pieces in the garbage and wrote a new message.“He deserved worse than being told on. Should’ve put it on YouTube, tagged his boss and all his friends. Maybe sent it to the local news station.”

“That’s evil!”Ella wrote back.“Wish I had you in my corner back then. I would’ve gone scorched-earth on him.”

If Ella Clark had had me in her corner back then, I thought, Max would’ve never cheated on her. She would not have been with him to begin with. She would have been with me.

I scrubbed my hands over my face and shook my head. I had no business thinking things like that. What’s the big deal, I told myself. I was just feeling protective toward a friend. But in the end, that excuse seemed lame even to me. Nevertheless, I put Ella’s note with all the others and left her something lighter—another binder joke. I told myself our correspondence had given me a false sense of closeness, perhaps because I was lonely. I refused to entertain the idea that my feelings for Zoe’s nanny bordered on the romantic.

One evening, after Ella spent dinner with us, she plopped Zoe in front of an episode ofBlueyin the family room and asked to speak with me alone in the kitchen. I could tell by the expression on her face what it was about. She had an interview. Or worse, another job offer.

“It’s in a private practice,” she said. “Full time, and I’d be counseling patients referred by the psychologists. Some kids, maybe, but mainly adults.”

“I thought you wanted to workonlywith kids,” I said, aware of the anxiousness in my voice. “Between ten and sixteen, you said, right?”

“Yeah, but beggars can’t be choosers. And I’d have to give up the group counseling too.”

“But you like the ODD groups.”

Ella smiled. “I love them,” she said, but I could tell by her tone of voice that she was torn. “Problem is, there aren’t a lot of openings for social workers who haven’t finished their LCSW. I plan on doing that when I have the money and the time to prep for the test. It’s like a four-hundred-dollar exam and a ton of people don’t pass the first time. For now, this is the best I can hope for, unless Celia gets a new grant by some miracle.”

I hated the idea of Ella taking that job. It wasn’t even the work she wanted to do—never mind that Zoe needed her. “Maybe we can come to some kind of an agreement,” I said. “You know, so you can stay on as Zoe’s nanny indefinitely.”

Ella looked taken aback. “I agreed to stay until I got another job,” she said. “I’m not sure what you’re saying—what, you expect me to stop looking for work in my field?”

“Well, it does sound somewhat unreasonable when you put it that way,” I said. “But what I’m really asking is that you don’t accept any job offer until the school year is out. I’ll increase your salary to compensate you for holding off.”

“You don’t understand,” Ella said. Her cheeks were red and I could hear in her voice that she was getting frustrated. “It’s not about the money. I love taking care of Zoe. But I’ve been open with you about my career from the beginning. You knew what you were getting into, and now that I have an interview, you don’t like it.”

“You’re right,” I said flatly. “I don’t like it at all. But what I do like is knowing that Zoe is with you when I’m not around. She’s safe and happy, and you must know by now that I would do anything in my power to keep it that way.”

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