Читать книгу The Nanny Solution - Teresa Hill, Teresa Hill - Страница 9

Andie was still shaking when she pulled into the driveway at her family house, which she now shared with her father. Jake had tried to calm her down all the way home, but it didn’t work. He’d wanted to come home with her and talk some more, but she wouldn’t let him. Not that he could really do anything anyway.

She was too furious for that.

Plus, it was better to handle things like this on her own. It wasn’t as if she could really count on anybody to help, anyway.

Her life.

Her problems.

It was safer that way.

Still, after everything her mother had done last fall, everything the entire neighborhood was still talking about and probably would be for years, her mother dared show her face here?

And planned to live nearby?

Andie couldn’t believe it!

She got out of the car and slammed the door, then swiped away angry tears. Her father’s car wasn’t in the driveway, which meant he wasn’t home, as usual, but judging by the other car in the garage, his embarrassingly young, snotty, blond girlfriend was.

Great!

If only her parents had held things together for two more years, she’d have been gone to college, and it wouldn’t have really mattered. As it was, Andie couldn’t wait to escape from both of them. How she’d make it through another year and a half living with her father and Barbie—that’s what Andie called her because she was like a Barbie doll come to life—and her mother now living nearby…

Well, that just sounded like seven different kinds of torture.

Andie went inside through the garage door, not quite slamming it but shutting it none too gently, and stalked through the house.

She was nearly to her room before she came face-to-face with the new love of her father’s life. They nearly collided in the hallway, Barbie wearing a robe, slippers and some kind of green gunk on her face.

She gave a huff of displeasure, stopping short just before Andie plowed on by. “I thought you were Richard,” she said.

“At this hour? You’re kidding, right? When was the last time he made it home before dark? I mean, it’s not easy, making enough money for all the things you need. Your new car, and your home-spa days, Barbie.”

Barbie gave her one of those sickeningly sweet smiles that seemed to say, You won’t get rid of me that easily. Or maybe, I’ll outlast you. Just wait and see.

Andie told herself she didn’t care. She went on to her room, fell back onto her bed and pulled out her phone to call her father.

“Please, be there. Please,” she whispered. “Just this once.”

She got his secretary, of course, who was actually willing to grant Andie an audience with her own father. This time.

“Dad!” Andie groaned as he came on the line. “The most awful thing happened just now. I ran into mom at the ice cream place. She said she’s going to be living in Highland Park!”

He laughed. “Andie, there’s no way your mother could afford to live there. Unless…”

Unless she’d found another man to support her.

He didn’t have to say it.

Andie knew it better than he did.

Highland Park was as fancy a neighborhood as any in town.

“She claims she got a job,” Andie told him.

“Doing what? She’s not trained to do anything.”

“I know,” Andie said.

Which meant…what? That her mother had lied to her? That was nothing new. She’d told any number of lies last fall.

“I can’t have her back here,” Andie said. “Everything was finally starting to quiet down, and I just can’t go through all that again. Will you just call her and tell her to go away, please? Tell her if she really loves me to stay away.”

“I…Hang on, Andie. I’ve got a call on the other line I’ve been waiting for. I have to take this—”

“Dad, please!”

“I’m sorry—”

“No. Just call her. Promise me, you will. Please—”

And then he was gone.

Andie clicked off her phone, barely managing to resist the urge to throw it across the room.

Of course, he had an important call.

This was only her life, her mother about to ruin it once again, and he had a call. No big surprise there. She was lucky if she could get five minutes of his time in a day, maybe even a week. He’d come back to live in the house these past few months, but he wasn’t really here. Not any more than he had been before her parents separated, she realized.

He breezed in, breezed out, did his own thing, and now he had Barbie to entertain in what little time he did spend here.

She really was all alone.

Audrey didn’t have many things of her own to pack.

She’d left her own home three months ago with nothing but the contents of one suitcase and an overnight bag and arrived at Marion’s two months ago with the same things. In her time here, she’d accumulated no more than what would fit in two boxes, and they were already in her car. She zipped up the suitcase and looked longingly around the tiny guest cottage of Marion’s feeling something akin to sheer panic.

“Now, now,” Marion said, coming up to her and putting an arm around her waist. “None of that. It’s time, and you’re going to be fine.”

“I’m glad someone thinks so.” Audrey leaned her head down on top of Marion’s.

The woman was maybe five feet tall but a dynamo nonetheless.

“How can I ever thank you,” Audrey began, choking up.

“No. I mean it. Don’t. This is a happy house. I told you that when you moved in, and it’s certainly not going to change now that you’re moving out. I have adored having you. I will be rooting for you all the way. You’re certainly welcome to call and come visit. In fact, I’ll be hurt if you don’t. But it’s time to push you out of the nest, my dear. On with your life. I’m very wise about these things, you know? And I’m always right. You’re ready.”

Audrey stood up, nodded and worked hard not to cry.

“I didn’t think anyone in the world would have given me another chance, except you—”

“No. I mean it. Don’t. If you want to pay me back, you find someone else to help get back on their feet. That’s the thanks I’m interested in.”

“All right. I will,” she promised, looking around longingly at the pretty iron bed with the pink flowery quilt, the lace curtains, tiny sitting area and a kitchenette the size of a broom closet. Her sanctuary in her time of need. “I’m going to miss this place, too. So much.”

Marion beamed at her. “You’re ready to go, my dear. And you never told me. What did you think of Simon?”

“Well, he’s not sixty and balding.”

Marion whole body shook because she laughed so hard. “How in the world did you get the impression Simon Collier was sixty and balding?”

“I don’t know. I mean, you talked about how successful he is and that the man is rich. I just assumed he wasn’t…’.

Ridiculously attractive ?

Audrey hoped she wasn’t blushing just thinking about it.

Honestly.

“How old is he?” she asked, because it was the first question that occurred to her, and she didn’t want to even talk about how good the man looked.

“I don’t know. I’ve known him forever. Since he was practically a boy.”

“And has he always been so…demanding?”

“Yes.” Marion nodded. “And always known what he wants and how to get it. In business, I mean.”

Audrey felt a little flutter of panic. “Marion, you’re not trying to fix me up with Simon Collier, are you?”

“No. Of course not—”

“Because a man is the last thing I want or need in my life.”

“I know,” Marion said with an odd look in her eyes that made Audrey nervous. “Now, is this all you brought?”

Audrey nodded, picking up the overnight bag and the handle of her rolling suitcase.

When they got outside, Marion shut the door and said, “Don’t look back. Only forward. It’s the only way to get to where you want to go.”

And Audrey was ready to cry again. “I saw Andie today.”

“Really?” She knew how much this meant to Audrey.

Audrey started down the little path that led around the side of the house and to her car out front, with Marion following. “A few blocks from Simon’s. She was furious when I told her I’d be living and working nearby.”

“Well, you knew she’d likely be upset about that. It’s not a surprise, and it’s not a setback. It just proves you were right in thinking if you could be close, you’d run into your daughter. Give it time. You’ll wear her down.”

“Oh, I hope so. I don’t know what else to do.”

Marion rolled her eyes, then grinned. “She’s a teenage girl. They change their minds every thirty seconds, and they find drama in the smallest of things.”

“It was no small thing that I did.”

“I know, but you’re still her mother. A girl her age needs her mother, and it’s never too soon to learn how important forgiveness is,” Marion insisted. “I’m right about this. And I’m right about you, too. Try to believe me, if you can’t believe in yourself just yet.”

“I will,” Audrey promised.

She got to the car, hefted the suitcase into the backseat, then the shoulder bag. Her cell phone rang.

“It’s Richard.” Audrey made a face when she saw the number.

“Don’t let him bully you. The man is certainly not blameless in all this.”

Audrey took a breath and answered, “Hello, Richard.”

“What kind of nonsense is this I hear about you moving to Highland Park, Audrey?” He was bellowing, so Marion heard every word, too.

“It’s true. I’ll be living there. I have a job.”

He laughed. “And I can just imagine what you could do to earn your keep in a place like Highland Park.”

Audrey saw red but held her tongue. The conversation wasn’t anything unexpected. Andie didn’t want her there. She wanted Richard to ask her not to come back.

She listened as long as she could stand to, then simply said, “Tell her I’m sorry, but I’m staying.”

Richard called her selfish, irresponsible and a bad mother. He was still yelling when she hung up on him.

Marion stood in front of her, looking sad and angry and yet calm as could be. Put Marion in the midst of the worst of emotional storms, and she’d look just like this, as if she was saying to you, Okay, let’s think about how you can handle this without doing anything stupid.

“You heard him. Andie begged him to tell me to go away.”

Marion nodded, wise and confident in a way Audrey thought she could never, ever be again, if she ever had been that sure of herself in her life.

“The surprise is that Richard actually took the time to listen to her and then did what she asked,” she told Marion.

“I was thinking the same thing myself,” Marion said, putting a hand over Audrey’s and holding on to her. “And I’ll tell you a little secret, just because it might make you feel a bit better. If you ever wanted him to, Simon could crush your ex-husband with his little pinkie. Businesswise, I mean. If the urge to have Richard destroyed just happened to overtake you and couldn’t be resisted.”

Audrey laughed, liking the idea of anyone being able to crush Richard.

“If our daughter wasn’t headed to college in a year and a half, I’d consider it,” Audrey said, trying to hang on to her resolve to do this. “What do I do now?”

“You trust yourself, Audrey. Trust that you know what you’re doing, what’s important to you. Your daughter. And that you’re working to make things right with her.”

Audrey leaned down and hugged Marion. “How did you get to be so smart?”

“I made a ton of spectacular mistakes of my own. The trick is learning from them, which you’ve done.” Marion let her go, giving her a big grin. “Now, go get your daughter back.”

Audrey found Simon Collier’s house quiet and dark as she pulled into the driveway and parked at the bottom of the steps that led to her quarters. She was unloading the first box when the front door opened. Ms. Bee looked out, and Tink barked like crazy.

“Early, I see,” Ms. Bee said, as if she were both surprised and, possibly, actually pleased by that particular trait—someone arriving early for work.

“You can let the dog out. I’ll take charge of him now,” Audrey told her.

In two seconds flat, Tink shot out the door and across the distance between them, complete joy on his face, as if he were thrilled that she’d returned.

Audrey put the box down and knelt to greet him. He put his front paws on her thighs and practically hurled himself at her chest. She laughed and put her arms around him as he snuggled against her for a moment, then reached up and breathed warm puppy breath on her. Next thing she knew, it felt as if he was trying to wash her entire face with his slightly raspy tongue.

“Okay, okay,” Audrey said. “Thank you, but—”

And then she started to cry.

Tink drew back, likely tasting her tears. Puzzled, he cocked his head to one side and then started making his crying sound, too.

“I’m fine,” Audrey tried to reassure him. “Or, I will be. I just don’t remember the last time anyone was this happy to see me. You’re very sweet. A little rambunctious, but sweet.”

She fluffed his pretty silvery-black fir and just sat there and soaked up all that happiness that seemed to radiate from him toward her.

Dogs loved lavishly, extravagantly, without holding anything back.

She’d forgotten that in the last few years since her family’s last dog died.

When no one else loved you, a dog still would, which Tink proved by licking her cheek some more.

“Okay.” She pushed him back gently. “This is going to be hard for you to understand, but a lot of people don’t appreciate doggy kisses, Tink. Why don’t you come upstairs with me and check out my new place, okay? We’ll find you someplace to sleep, and tomorrow we’ll go for a nice, long run.”

Twenty minutes later, all her things were in. It was quiet, peaceful even, and the little apartment was all hers. She’d never lived any place that was entirely hers, having gone from her mother’s house to a tiny apartment she’d shared with a girlfriend to Richard’s apartment, then Marion’s cottage.

She was scared but excited.

Curled up on one end of the overstuffed sofa, the dog practically in her lap, she soaked up the quiet, the comfort of the warmth and weight of the dog, and fell asleep without ever making it to her new bed.