Page 11 of Hot Puck
One by one they say goodbye, leaving Chase and Kent.
“Are you sure this is what you want, Chase?”
“It’s what we need right now. I need someone to do the overseeing so I can concentrate on taking care of the girls.” His gaze moves over to me where I’m now standing with Candace in my arms. “They need me to sort things out at home before I venture into the business.”
“All right but let me know if you have questions or ideas or anything. You know I’m here for you and the girls no matter what it is you need. Your dad took a chance on me, and I wouldn’t be where I am without his support and encouragement. I owe him.”
“I’m sure he’d say you owe him nothing, but I appreciate the offer, and I’ll definitely take you up on it regarding the business.”
“Make sure you do. And give the girls our love. Jade hates that she can’t help you out right now,” Kent adds. “But with her mom living with us and the kids?—”
“Kent. Stop beating yourself up about it. Tell Jade to stop too. We’re okay. And we’ll be better now you’re taking things off my shoulders.” The doorbell buzzes again. “I gotta go. Someone is at the door.”
“Call if you need to.”
“I will. Bye.” Before Kent can say anything else, Chase disconnects the call. With a harshly blown out breath he lowers his head. “I feel like I’m letting them down.”
“Who? The people on the call?” I ask as I walk over to him. Candace is getting heavier by the second and her little head is resting on my shoulder.
“Yeah, them too. But I was talking about my parents. They didn’t struggle taking care of everything and I can barely get everyone dressed in the mornings.”
“Chase. I’m going to be brutally honest with you. Yes, you are failing at some things. But that’s to be expected. You’ve gone from being a college student whose only concern was grades and improving hockey skills, to a business owner and parent of three young girls. And you did it in the blink of an eye.”
“But—”
“No.” I hand him Candace when the doorbell goes again. “There are no buts in this. It’s a huge shift in your lives and no one, least of all your parents, would expect you to handle it all with ease. I’ll get the door.”
I don’t want him to wallow in self-pity, but I don’t have time to talk about this more right now. I’m assuming the nanny he organized has finally shown up.
I’ll be dispatching her immediately. There is nothing I hate more than lateness. And maybe it’s not my place to dismiss her but Chase needs someone who isn’t going to be late helping him right now.
The only thing I’ve ever been late for was my own birth. It will take some juggling, and I’ll need Eli to pick up some slack as well as Trevor. The two of them will have no problem freeing up some time to take some of my load while I dig in here and help Chase find his feet.
By the time I get upstairs I’ve formulated a plan of action, and as soon as I’ve seen to the tardy nanny, I’ll put it in motion.
Opening the door, I find myself lost for words.
The woman on the porch looks more like a puck bunny than a nanny and when she opens her frowning mouth my suspicions of her grow.
“Oh. You’re not Chase.” She tries to see past me into the house. “Wait. Are you his mother? I thought you were dead.”
The frown she gives me is more a sneer and for the life of me I don’t understand her motives. Is she pissed she thinks his mother is still alive?
I hear Chase behind me but don’t open the door wider. I don’t want this woman interacting with him yet. The need to protect him from whatever this is grips me tight and there’s no way I’m letting this woman near Candace.
“Can I help you?” I ask, moving through the door and pulling it snug against my back.
“Where’s Chase?”
“Mr. Hawkins is busy at the moment. Can I help you?”
“Yeah, you can let me in. I’m his nanny.”
“Are you?” I arch an eyebrow. “And what time were you supposed to start?”
“Oh, well, I didn’t know who I was nannying for, so I had to go home and get changed before I came here, and there was an accident on the?—”
I hold up a hand. “I don’t need to know anything else. Mr. Hawkins will contact the agency to let them know your services are no longer needed.”
