Page 107 of Nanny for the Cowboy

Neither of them speaks. If the room was quiet before, it’s deadly silent now. They’re both staring at me as the cadre of professionals swarm his old apartment after everything that went down.

My head is spinning, too. It seems wild that I just helped to save Clover from being kidnapped—and likely worse—by Kyle, and then Leo discovered our little secret.

Our enormous secret, that is. Ugh, just say something.

I can hear my blood in my ears, my pulse too high. As far as afternoons go, this one was far too exciting, and I’m ready to lay down for a fucking year now.

You know, if I’m not killed in the next few minutes.

Clover blinks, moving toward me from right next to her father. She’s the first to try and speak, but she doesn’t get far.

“You…”

Leo shakes himself out of the temporary stupor and backs up. “I…I just can’t right now.”

He spins around on his heel, his eyes immediately going down to the floor and refusing to look at either of us. Leo storms out of the apartment through the open front door.

“Brooks, I…” I look at her, and Clover’s stare goes from me to the empty space where her father was just standing. “I’ve lost my mother, Brooks. I can’t lose him, too.”

She rushes out of the door, and I’m left standing in the empty apartment—alone.

THIRTY-NINE

Clover

I yawn as I close the door to my car, get out, and step up to the massive wrap-around porch on my dad’s new house. I didn’t sleep at all last night, too consumed with whirling thoughts of everything that went down.

Of all the ways my father could have found out about Brooks and me, this is definitely the worst. He didn’t answer any of my calls last night, and I’ve been locked up in my room ever since.

I haven’t even spoken to Darby, which hurts me more than I expected.

My heart is so loud as I walk up the steps and knock on his door. “Dad?”

It’s a few moments, but after a bit, my dad comes up to the door and pulls it open. “Clover. I’m not sure?—”

“Please, we need to talk about this.” My hands shake. “There’s nothing that avoiding it will help.”

He grins slightly. “You sound like your mom.”

I offer a grin back, hoping that we can connect over her words like we usually do. “Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right?”

Stepping aside, Dad opens up the door the rest of the way and silently invites me in. As I step inside, he closes the door behind me, and I wait until he guides me to the kitchen table, where I take a seat.

He sits down across from me, and the quiet hangs heavy for a moment. I know he won’t be the first to talk. This is on me.

“Dad, I know this isn’t what you expected, and I hate that I’ve kept this from you. But…” I suck in a deep breath, trying to steady myself as I watch myself fiddle with the rings on my fingers. “…I hope you can see after what Brooks said yesterday that he…cares about me. He isn’t and hasn’t ever taken advantage. I promise you that.”

When I look up at him, my dad is staring down at his hands, too. It’s like staring in a mirror, and my chest squeezes as I think about just how much I owe the man sitting in front of me, how much I love him.

Dad sighs, glancing up and dipping his head toward his shoulder before finally meeting my eyes.

“You know…I did see something in Brooks yesterday that I haven’t seen before. Something I see in you, too.”

I raise my brows, leaning on the table in front of me. “Oh? What’s that?”

“Connection.” Nodding his head in a bit of a bob, Dad hums, his stare flicking down and then back up to me. “I’ve known Brooks for a while now. You your whole life. The both of you let people in less than the White House.”

I can’t help but snort at that. He’s not wrong. That’s part of what had been so great about being with Brooks, what has been one of the most significant changes in my life.

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