Falling for the Nanny Read Free

slap him with a ticket.
    â€œYou haven’t run into any classmates? Seems like half our staff graduated from Safe Harbor High.”
    â€œNow that you mention it, yes. Several.” When one former schoolmate, a nurse, had invited him to accompany her to an upcoming wedding, Alec had agreed as a friendly gesture.She didn’t seem to consider it a date; mostly, she was eager to talk about her efforts to get pregnant as a surrogate for her sister. It was amazing how much private information women divulged when they discovered he was an embryologist. The fact that he had a PhD rather than an MD didn’t seem to dissuade them.
    â€œI’m sure you’ll fit in,” the administrator said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    As Mark departed, Alec’s phone jingled with a melody that sent him on full alert. It belonged to Fiona’s nanny, who’d moved with them from Boston. She almost never called unless it was urgent. “Tatum. Anything wrong?”
    â€œFiona’s fine,” she reassured him. Judging by the background noise, she was calling from her car. He’d made sure she had a hands-free phone, in accordance with California law. “It’s your mom.”
    That jolted him. At fifty-eight, Darlene was an active community volunteer and a force of nature. He’d never worried about her health. “Is she all right?”
    â€œAt the park, she fell off the monkey bars and hurt her ankle.” Playing with Fiona, obviously. How typical of his mother. “We’re not sure if it’s sprained or broken. I’m taking her to the doctor.”
    Faintly, he heard a voice call, “Tell my son not to worry. I’ll be fine.”
    And another voice: “Is that Daddy? Hi, Daddy!”
    A surge of tenderness flooded Alec. He’d never imagined he could love anyone so intensely or completely as he had from the moment he’d first held his daughter in his arms. “How can I help?” he asked Tatum.
    â€œHer doctor’s in the medical building next to the hospital. I’m sure he’ll want X-rays, and her housekeeper’s out sick again, so I should stay with her.” For a twenty-three-year-old,the nanny was highly responsible. “Fiona’s likely to get bored. Any chance you could take her?”
    While Alec didn’t like to leave the office early on a Thursday afternoon, he could read reports at home tonight. And if his daughter needed him, even to save her from a few hours of restless tedium, he’d be there. “You bet. I’ll meet you in front of the office building.”
    â€œSee you in a couple of minutes.”
    Before he could click off, his mother announced, “We’re out of milk and breakfast cereal, and we could use a dozen eggs. Oh, and a loaf of bread.” She lived downstairs in the same condo building, so they often shared meals.
    â€œI’ll pick them up on the way home,” Alec promised.
    â€œSee you in a few,” Tatum said.
    â€œBye, Daddy!” called the voice that always wrapped a warm blanket around his heart.
    â€œBye, sweetheart.” Although his words probably went into Tatum’s ear rather than Fiona’s, he couldn’t resist answering.
    Alec packed his gear and made his way out. To the temp secretary holding down the fort, he explained that he was leaving for the day but reachable on his cell.
    He took the stairs, since climbing up and down those five flights often constituted his main form of daily exercise. On the first floor, Alec caught a whiff of grilled meat from the cafeteria, and added a roast chicken for dinner to his mental grocery list.
    Exiting through the staff door, he strode along the walkway between the two buildings, past flower beds brimming with pink and purple petunias. The air carried a hint of ocean brine.
    Alec had loved Boston’s intellectual ferment and the sense of being surrounded