Page 31 of The Nanny Goal

But I exhale in relief, because it’s an admission of how much she liked me two years ago. A reminder of the path we could have been on if I hadn’t fucked everything up.

It’s a first step in the right direction—of restoring Emery to her rightful place in my life, as a family friend. An off-limits girl I must respect.

“Sounds like a plan,” her father says as Emery stares at me in disbelief. “We’ll drop her off tomorrow as we're heading out of town. Do you have room for her to stay with you?”

CHAPTER10

EMERY

I cannot believe this is happening.

My parents are excited to see Inessa when she isn’t asleep, and I…

We’ve just pulled into Alexei’s driveway, behind a G-Wagon and beside a little red sedan, and I haven’t screamed at the top of my lungs that Icannotdo this, theycannotleave me with him, because as much as I know he’sForrest’s best friendand he does desperately need help over the next few weeks, it cannot be me who does it.

Except now I’m getting out of the car and following my mother up the walk.

Emery Granger, I thought you had more of a backbone than this.

But each time I open my mouth, I feel Inessa’s arms tighten around my neck. She’s so little, and a lot of strangers are about to storm into her life. I know I’m a stranger, too, but at the very least I know what it’s like to have a hockey player for a dad, to have that constant coming and going chaos.

And when Alexei answers the door, he looks terrible.

I’m reminded like a gut punch that on top of the hockey lifestyle chaos, there’s also the family emergency chaos.

Tired and tense, his hair is standing on end and he has dark circles under his normally seductive eyes.

“Come in,” he says, his voice tight. He gestures for my parents to step inside as he locks his intense, bullish gaze on my face. “I’m sorry, I have a nanny here for an interview.”

My eyebrows jolt up. Already? That was fast. Eleven hours ago, he seemed flummoxed at where to even start with that. I would have thought it would take a few days to find a qualified, experienced childcare provider, even if money is no object.

“We won’t stay long,” my mom says. “But how’s your mom?”

He nods. “She’s better. They will do a procedure soon. We went to the hospital this morning. I got to her for a minute while Inessa had a second breakfast with my father in the cafeteria.” He exhales in visible frustration. “He refuses to leave the hospital.”

My mom makes sympathetic noises. “You know what? I bet there is someone who lives really close to the hospital who is a fan of the team. And someone from the team’s foundation would know who to ask. No, don’t say that you couldn’t accept that kind of charity. It would make a fan very happy, so I’m not going to let you deny them that joy. Do you want help asking for that?”

Surprise ripples across Alexei’s face, and I stifle a smile. It’s fun to see him at a loss for words, and it’s very fun when it’s someone other than me being bullied in a loving way by my mom. Finally, he nods. “I didn’t think of that.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. You have a lot on your mind now. I’ll make some calls for you.” She glances past him. “And where’s our sweet little girl?”

Inessa comes running, only to turn shy and hide behind her dad’s leg. Her hair is wild, only barely contained in a single, sideways ponytail, and her t-shirt is big enough it could be a little dress. Totally different than the neat outfit Maria had her in last night.

It makes me think that her grandma is the one who usually dresses her and brushes her hair.

I wave as I set my backpack down just inside the front door.

“Hello, princess,” my father says, crouching down. “Do you remember us?”

Inessa peeks out from behind Alexei’s leg but doesn’t move.

“We’re your Uncle Forrest’s parents,” Mom adds. “We saw you last night, but you were pretty sleepy.”

“Not sleepy,” Inessa says crossly.

Alexei runs a hand through his hair, and the stress lines around his mouth deepen. “It’s been a long morning. I make terrible pancakes. Not like Baba.” he exhales. “Come in.”

He leads us to the living room.

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