Page 148 of The Nanny

“Oh, Sophie.” My heart breaks a little more. “You didn’t run me off.”

“But I always run off the nanny. I...” Her eyes well with tears. “I couldn’t help Wanda. Is that why you left? Dad wouldn’t tell me, but that has to be why you left, right?”

“Oh, honey.” I pull her against me, crushing her in my arms asthe familiar scent of her watermelon shampoo hits my nostrils. I breathe it in, my emotions lodging in my throat. I thought I’d never smell it again. “That’s not why I left. You did nothing wrong.Nothing.”

She turns her face to press deeper against my chest, her arms winding around my waist. “Then why did you leave?”

“It’s... complicated.”

“Were you mad at my dad?”

“No.No.I wasn’t. I wasn’t mad at anyone.”

“Dad misses you,” she mumbles into my shirt. “He never talks about you, but he seems so sad all the time.”

I have to shut my eyes so that I can keep from crying again. “I miss him too,” I admit quietly. “I miss you both.”

“Then come back! Maybe if you come back, Dad won’t give me away!”

“Soph...” I urge her backward, looking her in the eyes. “Your dad isn’t going to give you away. There’s no way he would ever do that. He loves you.”

“Then why was he talking to Aunt Iris about me going to her house?”

My conversation with Iris drifts through my thoughts, and I can’t be sure that whatever is going on between Iris and Aiden means progress, but I have to hope that’s the case. I know that Aiden would never give Sophie up. Not under any circumstances.

“I’m sure it’s not what you think,” I tell her. “Maybe they’re trying to stop fighting so much. I’m sure they both want to make you happy.”

“I don’t want to leave Dad’s house,” she says pitifully. “I want to stay with him.”

“Of course you do,” I soothe. “And I know that he wants you to stay there too. He loves you so much, Sophie, which is why I’m sure he is out of his mind with worry right now.”

“Maybe,” she mumbles.

“I’m sure of it,” I insist, “which is why we have to take you back.”

“But even if I stay with my dad,” Sophie goes on, “you won’t come back.”

Everything in my chest feels like it’s being squeezed too tightly, my eyes stinging as her piercing gaze holds mine. Her green eyes are so similar to the green of Aiden’s right eye, and her expression now feels like looking at a smaller version of him. It makes me miss him all the more.

“I don’t think your dad would want me to come back, Sophie. I said... a lot of terrible things when I left.”

“Why?”

“Because... I thought that I had to. I thought that I needed to leave to protect you guys.”

Sophie’s nose wrinkles. “That’s silly. You can’t protect us. You’re too small. My dad’swaybigger than you. You should let him protect us.”

I can’t help but laugh; her ten-year-old logic is so simple and yet completely spot-on in a roundabout way. I reach to run my fingers through her hair, brushing it from her face before cupping her cheek.

“I don’t know if it’s that simple,” I tell her. “I’m sure I’m the last person your dad wants to see.”

“But don’t you love him?”

This takes me completely off guard. “What?”

“You went on dates,” she insists. “And you were”—she makes a face—“kissing and stuff. That means you love him, right?”

“I... wow. You really know how to put someone on the spot.”

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