The Nanny Bargain by Glynna Kaye

Author:Glynna Kaye
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

There. She’d said it. Maybe now he’d explain why she kept picking up on half-said things from both the Selbys and Sawyer himself. Confirm that her instincts were spot-on.

He shifted slightly, as if uncomfortable with her questions. “You have that all wrong, Tori. I trust you. Okay, maybe at first I was uncertain when you turned the tables on me. But you’ve proven yourself. More than proven yourself. I’m counting on you.”

Did her uneasiness, then, stem solely from her own guilty feelings? From not running to him with everything that occurred in the Selby household that pricked her conscience? But she’d addressed the issues—the stove-top burner left on, the unsecured meds—so what would be the point in alarming him?

“Okay. But why do I sense this...” How to explain it? “This wall between you and the Selbys? They don’t talk about it. You don’t talk about it. But I’d have to be blind not to see it.”

His gaze drifted to the boys, now joined by a few other children at the swings.

“I can’t tell you what you’re picking up on from the Selbys. But I can admit that while I didn’t recognize it until now—” he looked as if he didn’t relish having to say what he intended to tell her “—maybe it’s more about me than them.”

She tilted her head, not understanding.

“You know my dad was a widower, who later married the Selbys’ daughter. But what you probably don’t know is that his first wife—my mother—died thirteen years before he remarried.”

Tori mentally ran the calculations. “When you were a young boy.”

“Just turning eleven.”

“I had no idea that, like your brothers, you lost your mother at such a young age. I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, well, I was older. As in the case with my dad, I have more memories. More to hold on to than those two little fellas do.” He watched them playing, swinging higher and higher, their laughter filling the air. “So I know what it’s like to be motherless. I know how empty I felt for the longest time. Abandoned, even.”

She lightly touched his arm. “So you think you’re transposing your feelings on to your brothers’ situation? Subconsciously attempting to—”

“To hold their grandparents accountable for the less-than-happy days I’d sometimes observed when seeing the boys around town. I can admit now that maybe my own history is coloring my impressions.”

“Maybe the Selbys sense that.” That could account for them distancing themselves from him. Kind of like when you detect that someone expects the worst of you and you find yourself floundering in the very ways they unfairly presumed you would. Had they pulled back, sensing what they perceived as his disapproval? Therese mentioned not long ago, hadn’t she, that she didn’t need him doubting she was capable of caring for her grandsons?

Looking at it from both perspectives, it made sense. Hurting people hurt others without intending to. But maybe she could somehow bridge the gap between the three adults who shared a common bond with the orphaned brothers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.