Noah’s phone dinged again.
Jenna: I can start today. If that’s not convenient, whenever you like.
Noah’s thumbs practically tripped over themselves. Today’s good. Want the address, or want me to come get you?
Jenna: Address is fine.
Noah frowned. He thought about asking her how much help she needed getting her things, but decided that was something they could discuss when he saw her. He sent her the address with an approximate time he’d be home and jumped into the Jeep a lot happier than he’d been just a few moments ago. He drove the thirty miles to Mystic Cove, relief a palpable thing within him. Having a nanny would give him breathing room.
He could figure out what to do with Alice once he had regular help. Someone she could rely on instead of bouncing her among caregivers. She’d been bounced around since Sally’s death, which was part of what had made her quiet and observant instead of curious and outgoing. He didn’t know a lot about kids, but he knew enough to know that two-year-olds tended to be dynamos.
Alice wasn’t a dynamo. She was hesitant and fearful of abandonment. The way she clung to him some days when he dropped her off with a babysitter nearly broke his heart. Today had been the first time with Mrs. Barlow. She’d seemed to like the woman well enough, but the instant he’d started toward the door, she’d begun to whimper. He’d gotten out of there before she turned on the waterworks, but he knew she’d likely had a meltdown. He felt guilty about that, but there was nothing he could do.
He gripped the wheel hard. Dammit, Sally.
He still couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t gotten in touch after Alice was born. Why hadn’t she at least sent a message? He got that she hadn’t expected to die, but she’d had enough foresight to draft a will and name him Alice’s legal guardian, so it must have crossed her mind at least once.
And she’d done nothing to prepare him just in case. His throat was tight as his eyes blurred for a moment. He shook it away, unwilling to let himself cry. There was no one he could talk to about Sally. His team knew his sister had died, but they didn’t know much of anything about his life before the military.
He’d said they were estranged. He hadn’t said that Sally was his first comrade in the fight for his life. Because that’s how it had felt in the Parker home. Like their lives were at stake and they had to have each other’s backs. Through thick or thin.
He was pissed at himself for not taking leave and going down to North Carolina. For not forcing Sally to talk to him. If he had, he’d have known about Alice. He’d have done what he could to help if Sally had needed it. But three years had passed quickly, and he hadn’t done what he should have done. He hadn’t been there for her.
When Noah turned into his drive, there was a beat-up blue Toyota Corolla on the street in front of his house. He got out of the Jeep, grabbed his duffel with the workout gear that needed washed and the weapons stashed inside, and slung it over his shoulder.
Someone emerged from the Toyota. He wasn’t surprised when the blond head appeared or when Jenna strolled across the lawn toward him. She wasn’t carrying anything, but she had her hands shoved into her jeans pockets. She wore jeans that were torn above each knee and a white T-shirt that molded to her breasts before falling a little more loosely to her waist. Her blond hair was scraped back and piled on her head in a messy bun. Strands of hair fell from it to frame her face.
“Hi,” she said, smiling a little shyly.
“Hey. Thanks for coming.”
She straightened a bit as if determined to say something. “I should tell you that I got fired. Allison let me go, so it was either find another job waiting tables, clean motel rooms, or accept your offer.”
He could only stare at her. He’d never seen her outside in the sunlight before. She was prettier than she’d been in the diner with its overhead lighting that made everyone look kind of sallow.
“Then I guess I’m glad Alice and I were the first choice.”
She tilted her head as she studied him. “Nothing I’ve said makes you want to change your mind?”
“You mean that Allison fired you, or that you were thinking of cleaning motel rooms or waiting tables instead of taking my offer?”
“I sound a bit like a deadbeat, don’t I? I should have a career, not be cleaning motel rooms for a living.”
“You aren’t cleaning rooms. You’re a nanny to a two-year-old.”
She shook her head. “It sounds crazy though, doesn’t it? From the diner to responsible for a child.”
“You sound like you want me to change my mind.”
“No, I really don’t. But I also don’t want you to feel like you hired me under false pretenses. I’ve made mistakes in life.”
“Haven’t we all?”
He wasn’t the guy to question anyone’s choices. He knew what it was like to have things in your life that drove your course down one road or another, often against your will.
“Yes. Definitely.” She dragged in a breath, and he sensed more confessions coming. “I left the day care center because I got a better job, and then I left that job because my boss died. After that, I wandered. I wanted to see the country, and I wanted a change. It didn’t quite work out the way I thought it would.”
“I can understand that.”
“If you want to check those things out, I wouldn’t blame you.”
He could have Sky “Hacker” Kelley check into her background without her ever knowing about it. Maybe he would. But he had the kind of gut instincts that told him when someone was dangerous, and he didn’t get that from her. She was reluctant to share, probably because she was ashamed of where life had taken her, but she wasn’t a menace.
“I might.”
She nodded. “Okay, then. I suppose I should also tell you that my roommate smokes a lot of pot, but I don’t. Other than her secondhand smoke, I’ve never tried it.”
He almost laughed, but he didn’t because she seemed so serious. “You don’t leave anything out, do you?”
She dropped her gaze. He thought her cheeks might be red, and he cursed himself for teasing her. But then she looked up again. “It’s relevant. You live in Mystic Cove, and you frequent the diner. You’re bound to find out that Tami’s a pothead—and she’s bound to get arrested for possession one of these days. I just thought you should know that I wasn’t a part of that. I should have left sooner, but the rent was cheap and I didn’t have a better place to go.”
“Noted. Did you eat yet?”
She blinked. “Not since lunch.”
“How’s pizza?”
“Uh, pizza’s great.”
“Okay. Let me get this inside and order, then I have to go next door and get Alice. She’s with the neighbor.”
She moved toward him, stopping when she stood on the sidewalk beside him. Her head tilted back, and he thought about how the curve of her neck would taste. And the noises she’d make as he did so.
“I’d like to come with you. I think it’s probably a good idea if I’m there when you get Alice instead of being inside when you get back. It’s not much, but she might be a little more comfortable with my presence if we’re together from the beginning.”