Page 41 of The Unconventional Nanny
"Tonight at dinner? I can make something special."
I raise my brow at her and she quickly amends her statement. "Okay, I can make something in general." She adds an eye roll for extra emphasis.
"Sounds good. I'll see you tonight." I give her one more kiss and grab a quick snuggle from Everly before running off to my truck with the thought of this evening on my mind.
Chapter Twenty
GRACIE
I should've known things were going too well. I stupidly thought leaving Chicago and blocking my ex would be enough, but if the half dozen calls I've been receiving from different numbers over the last day are any indication, I'm wrong.
They never leave a message, which tells me it's not a solicitor trying to extend my car warranty. Those damn people love to leave me voicemails.
Nope, instead I just get endless ringing that I ignore and block. Eventually he has to run out of phone numbers to use.
At least, I would think—and hope—so.
"Gracie," Owen snaps. "Did you hear me?"
I lift my gaze from the island in my brother's kitchen and find him scowling at me. "Uhhh, no," I tell him honestly. "I kinda spaced there for a minute." There's no way I can tell him the real reason I'm not focused. Not unless I want blood on my hands. "What were you saying?"
"Chase called me."
That gets my full attention. "I didn't know you two still spoke."
I don't hide my suspicion. After Chase and Annie broke up, my siblings and I agreed we were staying out of it. To me, that meant not speaking to Chase. Annie never explicitly asked us not to communicate with him, but it felt right.
"Hide the claws. We don't actually talk, but he reached out to me."
Now I'm intrigued. "What did he want?" I'm torn between wanting Owen to say Chase wants Annie back or that he’ll never speak to her again. Chase crushed my sister when they split, but I truly believe he’s her soulmate.
"He's worried because she isn't answering him and no one seems to know where she is."
"Wait." I hold up my hand. "What do you mean he's worried she isn't answering him? They split. Last I knew, they weren't talking to each other."
For two forty-something-year-old people, Chase and my sister have the weirdest relationship. They've been friends their whole lives, and at some point it developed into something more. But it's always been an on-again, off-again kind of thing.
"I have no idea. I've always tried to stay out of their relationship because I never understood it. Half the time I want to smash his face in for hurting her, and the other half I wish they would have settled down together by now."
I understand where he's coming from. I love Chase for my sister. When they first got together, I wanted to scream hallelujah, but now I want to bang their heads together.
"Do you think it's because of his career? I mean, I get bull riding is dangerous, but do you really think that's why he keeps her at arm's length?"
Owen huffs. "I don't have the slightest idea. If that's the case, then I get it. Every time he gets hurt, it crushes Annie. I couldsee why he wouldn't want that permanently for her. But then he needs to let her go completely. Not have one foot in the door at all times."
I nod my head in agreement. Isn't the saying “shit or get off the pot”? That's exactly what Chase needs to do rather than continue to string my sister along.
"Maybe that's why she's ignoring him?" I know that's what I would be doing if I were her.
"Maybe so. But it doesn't explain why she's ignoring the rest of us."
I give my brother a pointed look. "Could it be the fact that we have an overbearing brother who doesn't understand boundaries?"
I know that's the reason I'm not telling him about my current predicament. He's likely to go apeshit when he learns how my ex treated me—he’s overprotective like that—and I don't have the time or inclination to clean up that kind of mess. I have enough of that cleaning up after a three-year-old.
Speaking of.
"Graaaacie," Everly hollers and giggles as she runs into the kitchen with Annalee chasing behind her. "Save me."
