Page 32 of Family Bonds: Alana & Brennan
“Sounds like a prick to me.”
“I didn’t see those things. I wish I had. His new work friend was Susette. He told me she was gay. I had no reason to think otherwise. Others had said Susette had a girlfriend too, then I met them both.”
“Which means nothing.”
“So I learned. Susette was cheating on her girlfriend with Jonathan. He had no problem being the tool she used to figure out her preference. Even tried to tell me it wasn’t anything but sex.”
His fists curled into tight balls.
“Excuses don’t justify cheating. Ever.”
“Nope. I should have pushed more but put my head in the sand. That’s on me for not following my gut. So there I am, more angry than brokenhearted, but the embarrassment tracked me like hounds after ducks during hunting season. People talked, saying that I should have known. I guess I was more naïve than I realized. I wanted to start over and what better place than the island? Part of me never felt comfortable in the city anyway.”
He admired how open she was being with him, making him feel as if he could open up the same.
He couldn’t remember the last he felt that urge.
“I always did, but once I had a child I started to think differently. Especially when I found myself short a nanny.”
“Kelsey knew what happened between Jonathan and me. She’s a riot. I won’t tell you some things she said. But she told meshe had an opening she couldn’t fill if I was looking for a change of pace. Even if it was for a year.”
“So it wasn’t something you were thinking of yourself?”
“No. But once she said it, I gave it a shot. This is horrible, but if I didn’t like it, I knew I could find another job. Not that I’d ask for one with Mitchell. It was hard being my father’s daughter and most figured it out. It’s why I didn’t want to work at the main office. But I’m a CPA. I can get another job.”
“You can,” he said. “Just like me. But I love working for Karen.”
“Kelsey is different,” she said, grinning.
“She’s more laid back and I enjoy it, but I’m good anywhere.”
He didn’t want to talk about work with Alana. He wanted to talk more about her personally. She’d volunteered something and if he wanted her to open up more, he’d have to share too.
“Can I ask why you wanted to come to the island? You said you lost your nanny. That’s it?”
“Pretty much. Being a single father isn’t easy. Not when I’m working a lot of hours. Between the nanny and my mother, I had everything covered. I will admit it’s much cheaper here for childcare, but that wasn’t my reason. It was my mother who suggested it. I thought Becca was young enough to try it.”
“Starting over,” she said. “That is how I look at it. I love my job. I never thought I would. I’ve met so many wonderful people.”
“And have immersed yourself into helping their causes.”
He knew all about her volunteer work. He’d heard bits and pieces of it in the few months he’d been here.
“I have a lot of time on my hands. It keeps me busy.”
“Daddy!”
Just when he was going to ask if she was single, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer to that based on why shemoved and that she was here having dinner with him and his daughter.
If she had a significant other, she wouldn’t do this. He knew right away, she felt the same way he did about cheaters.
“Coming,” he shouted and stood up. “Excuse me. She knows she can’t come down the stairs alone after she wakes up. I’m afraid she’ll stumble.”
He took the stairs two at a time and turned into Becca’s room. He didn’t get the two-hour nap out of his daughter as he’d hoped.
Because she was too wound up, she didn’t go to sleep right after lunch at one. She finally fell asleep at two and didn’t even make it ninety minutes.
“Hey there,” he said. “You didn’t sleep long.”
