Irresistible (Cloverleigh Farms #1)(74)

Sighing, I flopped onto the other end of the couch and lay my head back. Closed my eyes. “I’m sorry, girls. It’s been a tough week.”

They didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I thought they might have even gone upstairs, but when I opened my eyes, they were still there looking at me. Then I had an idea.

“Frannie is sad because she can’t be your babysitter anymore,” I said.

They looked at each other and then back at me, their expressions a mixture of shock and panic. “What?” Felicity cried. “Why?”

“Because she’s got a new job at a coffee shop and it’s going to be longer hours.”

“She doesn’t work with you at Cloverleigh anymore?” Millie asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“But we’ll never see her again,” Felicity said, tears filling her eyes.

“She promised to come to my fashion show,” protested Millie, her voice cracking. “It’s tomorrow. Is she still coming?”

I exhaled, tipping my head back again. I’d forgotten about that damn show. “I don’t know. Probably not.”

Both of them started to cry, which made my temper flare again. I’d lost her too, but you didn’t see me crying—although I felt like it. “Stop it, you two,” I snapped. “There’s nothing to cry about. She’s just too busy to come here anymore.”

That made them sob harder, and Felicity wiped her nose on her sleeve. “It’s not fair,” she wept.

“If you’re going to cry like that, go up to your rooms,” I ordered like the ogre I was. “I don’t want to hear it.”

They jumped off the couch and ran upstairs, and I heard two doors slam a moment later. From above came the sounds of wailing and despair.

“Great,” I muttered. “Fucking Father of the Year.”

I sat there for a moment and listened to my children sob, wishing I could cry it out myself. This week had been nothing but misery and stress. A little release would feel pretty damn good right now.

But I couldn’t. I owed my children an apology, an ice cream cone, and a hug—if they’d let me give them one.

After sitting there for a while, stewing in my own self-imposed agony, I got to my feet and headed slowly up the stairs, my head pounding, my nerves shot, and my heart in a million little pieces.





Frannie





Saturday morning, I slipped into the high school cafeteria where the fashion show was taking place, hoping I wasn’t too late. It was crowded and all the chairs were taken, so I stood along the back wall with some other late-comers.

I’d been working at the bakery that morning and had lost track of time—baking in the huge, beautiful kitchen at Coffee Darling had salved my soul this week, especially after seeing Mack Thursday and Friday. It had been even harder than I’d expected. It broke my heart even further to think that I wouldn’t see the girls much anymore, but I understood why he wanted to get a new nanny. And I’d go out of my way to visit them when I knew he wouldn’t be there. I didn’t want them to think I didn’t care about them anymore just because I wasn’t their nanny now.

The fashion show was in full swing, with mothers and daughters walking the runway arm in arm wearing matching outfits they’d created themselves. The theme of the show was Healing Hunger with Hearts, and all proceeds were going to an organization fighting hunger. An announcer introduced each model, and I watched eight mother-daughter pairs proudly stroll to the end of the runway and back, hearts on their shirts and grins on their faces. I hoped I hadn’t missed Millie and Mack already. Glancing around at the crowd, I spotted Felicity and Winnie sitting together in the front row.

“Our final duo is a little different,” said the announcer, and I immediately focused on the runway again. “It’s a father-daughter pair, Millie MacAllister and her dad, Declan!”

The crowd cheered, and Mack and Millie appeared, hand in hand. My breath stopped for a moment. Millie was beaming, absolutely radiant in the white T-shirt covered with pink and red glitter hearts she’d made. Mack looked pretty miserable at first, but as they made their way to the end of the runway, which bisected the cafeteria, Millie looked up at him and he met her eyes. Seeing how happy and proud she was must have buoyed his spirits, because he grinned back at her and seemed to walk a little taller, puffing his glitter-covered chest out. When they reached the end of the runway, Mack turned Millie under his arm as if they were on the dance floor, bowed to her, and kissed her cheek. The crowd went crazy.

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear the music, and tears dripped from my eyes, but I couldn’t help laughing a little. It was the kind of thing my dad would have done for one of his girls, too—my sweet, gruff, and gentle dad who’d come into the bakery for coffee that morning just to see me, because he missed seeing me at the inn.

I’d filled his cup, introduced him to Natalie and her husband, and showed him around. “I’m proud of you, peanut,” he’d said, pulling me into a hug. The nickname made my throat close up.

“Thanks, Daddy.”

“Are you happy?”

I’d nodded, my eyes filling. Embarrassed, I wiped at the tears. “Yes.”

And it was mostly true—I was happy with my decision to leave the inn, partner up with Natalie, and work at the shop, but I was heartsick about Mack. He’d left a hole in my heart that couldn’t be filled with anything else.