Page 39 of Nanny for the Cowboy

I walk over. Whatever is going on, I should help. Rosie is Darby’s teacher and a lovely woman. If she’s upset, she has reason to be.

“Darby, I just scarfed down a buttload of ice cream, and my stomach is already churning. This is not a good time for me to sing.”

Sing? Oh, shit. Rosie lost Ben? He’s usually so good about showing up.

“Come on, Clover! You’ll be great! And we can give you like water or something.”

Darby is pleading, his hands up like they were before, and then Clover looks up, her stare finding mine. I can see the nerves there, but there’s a tiny flicker of something else—excitement.

“You should do it.” I offer, shrugging to play it off like it’s not a big deal. “It’s just a market. People are coming and going. No pressure.”

Scoffing, Clover glares at me, dropping her head to one side. “No pressure? Seriously? There’s like a couple hundred people in the area who’ll hear me.”

“Please, Clover.” Rosie steps up to her, mimicking my son’s hand gesture. “I would be so damn grateful. If the stage sits empty, I’ll have to refund all these people their money.”

Gesturing out at the small crowd gathered before the stage, Rosie indicates the people who actually bought a ticket for the tables and chairs set up. There aren’t many, but these events don’t make money for the city unless people pay for stuff like this.

Rosie will feel like a failure, too.

“Oh, sure. Guilt trip me into singing.” Clover sighs, hanging her head and pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I heard you sing to Darby.” She snaps her attention to me. “You sounded beautiful. Why not just give it a shot?”

Clover stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. I’m not sure what’s behind those eyes this time, and my pulse thunders in my ears, probably as loud as Clover’s does to her.

“You,” she hesitates, “you really think I sound okay?”

Nodding, I offer the most genuine smile I can. “I do.”

There’s a beat, and then, with another sigh, Clover throws her hands up. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Immediately, Rosie snatches Clover’s hand and drags her toward the stairs that lead up to the stage. Trailing behind with eyes wide, Clover glances over her shoulder at me, and I just shrug, offering a thumbs up and a slight smile.

It seems so silly to be giving my nanny a thumbs up while she’s thrust into a sudden performance, but it’s all I can think to do, and then Darby is mirroring the gesture, cheering for Clover as well.

“Come on! I want to watch from the front!”

Darby pulls me around the side of the stage and darts for the open area right at the front. One of the organizers eyes me with a little grin, and I pay for two tickets to be in the “seated area.”

Walking over toward my son, my own nerves are on edge, knowing that Clover is going to be singing in just a few minutes. I know she wasn’t prepared for it, and I can imagine her stomach tying itself in knots.

“Brooks!” I look over to my left and see Leo coming through the crowd of people on the other side of the street. “Save me a spot!”

When Leo reaches us, I smile, giving him a quick hug with my one good arm. He smiles back and then shakes his head, swatting me on the shoulder.

“Didn’t expect to see you guys here. Hi, Darby.” Darby looks up and waves at Leo. “Come to see the performance? I love watching Ben.”

“Well, actually?—”

“Clover’s singing!” Darby jumps in. “Ben got like sick or something, so we all convinced Clover to do it. She’ll be so pumped you’re here.”

Leo’s eyes go wide, and he turns to me. “Clover is singing? Here?”

With a sigh, I nod. Darby really does have a way of just laying it all out there.Ah, kids.

“She is. I know she was feeling a bit…nervous.”

“I should say.” Leo turns back to the stage, his expression a mixture of hope and fear. “She stopped a while back, but she’d do it occasionally for fun or something. But since her mom…”

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