Page 68 of The Perfect Nanny

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. That’s terrible. They must have been so young, too.”

“Yeah, I guess good health wasn’t in the stars for them, but they hated doctors so maybe there was a chance for early intervention. Guess we’ll never know.”

“Are you an only child, too?”

He sighs and leans back in his chair. “I wish,” he says, laughing off the question. “Siblings are a pain in the butt.”

I might prefer a pain-in-the-butt-sibling over being an only child to my parents. “I’ve heard they can be annoying,” I say, avoiding the awkward response of telling him he’s lucky.

“So, let’s just cross families off the list for now. Ex-boyfriends…go,” he says, grinning.

A waiter interrupts our conversation and I’d like to thank him for doing so when he introduces himself and holds out an order pad.

“Hi, I’ll have the chicken salad wrap and water with lemon please,” I request.

“I’ll have the same,” Liam says, slipping my menu from my hand to hand the waiter both.

“Sure thing, it’ll just be a few minutes,” he says.

“I didn’t forget the question I left off on,” Liam says with a snicker.

I grumble and toy with my necklace as I try to come up with a way to make my past sound less depressing than it is. “Well, I did have a boyfriend for a while. His name was Kyle, but there was a drunk driving accident. End of that story. Other than that, there was a kid named Billy when I was younger. We never dated or anything but that was the name I drew all over my school notebooks a million times with hearts, x’s, and o’s.”

“Aw, a school-girl crush,” he says, smirking at me. “Did you ever confess your feelings to him?”

“Definitely not.”

The waiter swings by with our waters and a couple of straws and leaves just as quickly. I grab my straw, desperate for something to tear apart during this awkward twenty-questions game.

“Why not?” Liam continues.

“He was the most popular boy in school, and I was probably the least popular girl. I’m just glad I knew well enough that life doesn’t mirror the fantasy of a romance book where opposites of variance still manage to attract each other.”

“Never say never. That was my motto in high school.” He plunges his straw into his cup without the same need to shred the straw wrapper first.

“You had a school-boy crush too?” I tease.

“I guess you could call it that. Unlike your story, I told this girl how I felt, and she went running for the hills. Even then, I said, someday she might change her mind,” he says, laughing.“That’s where my never say never mantra came in. At this age, it might be safe to say that will never happen though.” He takes a sip of his water and shakes his head. “God, being a kid is ruthless, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t go back to those days if someone paid me millions.”

Liam glances toward the back of my chair. “I think you’re buzzing.”

I’m going to throw my phone in the ocean if the calls and messages don’t stop. Every buzz gives me a mere panic attack now. I twist around and pull my phone out, finding Newport Bridge Law Firm calling again. I groan. “I’m so sorry. I need to take this call. I’ll just be a second.”

“No worries,” Liam says, curiosity poking at his left arched brow.

“Hi, this is Haley,” I answer the call.

“Haley, it’s Jared Keffner again. Thanks for all your help this morning. Would it be possible for you to return to court tomorrow for the arraignment? It’s not a typical request but Madden isn’t agreeing to a particular plea, and we might need some reinforcement. She seems to have a good relationship with you. It might be helpful to have you in the courtroom if need be. Would you be available at nine tomorrow morning?”

I stall answering because I’m completely out of my element. I’ve never been a fan of court TV shows or understood the process of how trials work. I don’t have an attorney of my own and I’m supposed to be supporting this little girl who I hardly know. Of course, if I say no, I’d be letting a possibly innocent child down, one whose parents might end up in jail for God knows how long. “Sure, yeah, I can be there.”

“The team and I appreciate your cooperation and assistance. We all want the best for Madden and just want to make sure that’s what comes out of the arraignment tomorrow.”

“Understood,” I say.

“Great. See you then. Bye now.”

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