Page 127 of Nanny for the Athletes

Braden was on his feet instantly. “You’re the social worker? Listen, it’s not what it looks like. Claire used to be afraid of dogs, but visiting Beth’s kennel fixed that.”

“She was quiet and reserved when we first met her,” Christian added. “Helping Beth with her dogs brought her out of her shell. It helped us all learn her real personality.”

“Especially after her mother passed,” Logan chimed in. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to her, but you can’t put her in a foster home. I’ll do anything to prevent that, even if it means quitting hockey and becoming a full-time dad. I’m deadly serious. I’ll doanything.”

Kathy put up a hand to silence us. “Claire’s not being put in a foster home. Social workers aren’t evil people, Mr. Landry. We just want what’s best for the children, which is almost always to stay with their family.”

Logan relaxed, but only a little bit. “I can focus more on her studies. We can get her caught up so she can join the other students after the summer. If I need to hire a tutor…”

“That won’t be necessary,” Kathy interrupted. “Claire aced her test.”

The four other adults in the room did a double-take. “Shewhat?”I asked.

Claire seemed oblivious to all of this—she grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon, sat down at the table, and began eating while humming to herself.

Kathy nodded. “I’m shocked she’s been able to catch up so quickly, but she has. She’s a smart girl, and she’s clearly in good hands with you.” She gazed around the room. “All of you.”

I glanced at Claire. She picked up a piece of bacon and held it under the table. Loki reached out with all the care of a heart surgeon and took it from her, then went trotting off into the other room.

“It’s good for children to have hobbies, and chores,” Kathy explained. “But don’t let her helptoomuch at your kennel. It’s not a good look.”

“Message received,” I replied.

Logan and Kathy went into the other room to chat about Claire for a little while; I tried to eavesdrop from the kitchen but couldn’t hear anything. She left after ten minutes, and then Logan returned to us in the kitchen.

“Huh,” he said. “That went… well.”

“I thought you said the test was hard!” I said to Claire.

She answered without looking up from her eggs. “It was hard. But I’m smart.”

“But you said you guessed on a lot of questions,” Logan said.

Claire shrugged.

Braden was laughing uproariously. “She must have gotten her smarts from her mom, because she definitely didn’t get them from you.”

Logan made sure Claire wasn’t looking, then flipped Braden off.

“Good thing she didn’t hear about your arrest yesterday,” I said. “That might have changed her opinion about how Claire’s in good hands.”

“Punching someone isn’t the model of good fatherly behavior,” Logan agreed.

“That guy deserved it,” Claire said idly, still focusing on her plate of food. “He was being a real cunt!”

I felt my jaw drop. The others reacted the same way.

“Sorry,” I told Logan. “I meant to warn you that she overheard a lot of the back-and-forth in the courtroom.”

“Thank God you waited until after Kathy left to blurt that out!” Logan said.

Claire gave us a confused look. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Logan said, crouching down to hug her from behind. “I just love you. That’s all.”

“I know.”

*

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