The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)(29)

Garrett had been every bit as important in her life as Mindy, not that she’d ever told him so, and walking away from him had been more painful than her injuries. Far more. To survive, she’d learned to bury her feelings deep.

It wasn’t smart to let those feelings surface now. But knowing that and keeping herself distant were two very different things.

Leaving Garrett’s house, she walked across the yard and entered Mindy’s kitchen.

Brittney was at the table with Maddox in her lap and Mason at her side. Princess Millie was seated across from them, and they were all playing cards while Ketchup the Tortoise ate from his tin. The twentyish-year-old at the table was everything Mindy had said she was: fit, cute, and perky.

“Go fish!” Millie yelled cheerfully. She was wearing dishwashing gloves, for which Brooke needed no explanation—clearly the cards had germs.

“Hey,” Brooke said, and the kids rushed to greet her with hugs and, in Maddox’s case, with two extremely sticky hands. It took everything she had not to go wash up, but Millie was watching her very carefully for just that urge, so Brooke had to mentally shake off the invisible germs.

“I’m so glad you’re back in town,” she said to Brittney after introducing herself. “Mindy told me you go to your college classes in the morning and then you come here. I’ll be so grateful for your help until she gets back.”

Brittney rose to her feet. Her smile was nervous now, and anxious, too, it seemed. “I love the kids. And I need this job, but”—she lowered her voice to a barely there whisper—“I’m giving my notice.”

Brooke’s heart stopped. “What? Why?” She bent to pick up Maddox, who’d been very busy trying to climb her leg like a little monkey.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that,” Brittney said.

Oh, shit. She gave the kids slices of sweet lemon bread and pulled Brittney aside. “Did . . . someone step over the line with you?” she asked the nanny carefully, thinking she’d have to kill Linc dead if that were the case. And that would be very sad, because she loved her brother-in-law, and not just because he made cute babies. He cared about Brooke and had always been there for her when she’d needed him, and even once or twice when she hadn’t wanted him to be there, just like a true brother.

Brittney shifted on her feet and looked away. “Um . . .”

“What did he do?” she asked.

“He?” Brittney looked confused. “No, it’s Mrs. Tennant.”

“Mindy?”

“Yes,” Brittney said, looking pained. “She . . . doesn’t like me. I can tell. And she’s always so stressed-out and tense, and it makes the babies stressed-out and tense, and it’s hard because I always think I’m doing something wrong, and—”

“Mindy,” Brooke repeated. “It’s Mindy, not Linc?”

Brittney nodded. “Mr. Tennant’s very patient and kind.”

Brooke let out a breath of relief and also a laugh. “Something I’m guessing you can’t say about Mindy?”

Brittney gave a small grimace. “I always seem to mess up her plans.”

“I grew up with her as an older sister, so I know what you mean, but I can promise you she doesn’t mean to be . . . um—”

“Bossy? Stern?”

“Well, those are nice ways to put it, I suppose. But really she has no idea she’s those things. She’s got a plan and a schedule, you see, and she’s pretty single-minded when it comes to both.”

Brittney went to one of the drawers and pulled a huge three-ring binder from it. “I’ve got the plan and schedule.” The binder was filled to bursting, including dividers and folders. “I’m supposed to follow this to the letter.”

“Oh, so that’s where she keeps it,” Brooke said.

Brittney gasped in horror. “You haven’t been following the schedule according to the master plan?”

Brooke shrugged. “I never found the binder.” She left out the part where she hadn’t looked very hard.

“Maybe you should quit, too, before she fires you.”

Brooke smiled. “She can’t fire me. We’re blood. So . . . how about we put the binder back where it came from and forget about it? We’ll take care of the kids together, and if I can’t get Mindy to chill once she gets home, then I’ll tell her you’ve given notice if you still want to go.”

Brittney scooped up Maddox, who laid his cute little head on her shoulder with sweet trust. She brushed her hand over his wild hair and, after a moment of hesitation, nodded.

“Thank you,” Brooke said with huge relief.

Maddox suddenly barked loudly and wriggled frantically to be freed.

Brittney set him down and he went running down the hall. He slammed open the bathroom door, and a few seconds later, they heard him peeing in his special little portable potty. Then he came running back into the room.

Brooke pointed in the direction he’d come. “What did you forget?”

Maddox looked down at himself.

“I didn’t hear the lid go down. I know for a fact that your mom has a firm no-lids-up policy. Also, you forgot to wash your hands.”

With a nod, he went running back down the hall.

“With soap!” Brooke called after him.