The Single Dad (The Dalton Family #3)(74)

“I’m going to bring out another wave of appetizers in about five,” Craig said to me.

“Sounds good, buddy.”

Sydney and I left the kitchen, and as we were coming into the living room, Hannah approached.

“There you are,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“We were hiding.” I laughed.

“I noticed,” she replied. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Now?”

Hannah nodded.

I looked at Sydney and said, “I’ll be right back,” and I followed Hannah outside onto the patio.

We stayed close to the sliding door, giving me a view of everything that was happening inside. But I wasn’t looking through the glass. I was focused on my cousin, the concern building on her face as she paced from the pool to the table, where I was standing.

“I know Everly’s birthday isn’t the right place to discuss this,” she said, stopping a few feet away. “But I can’t wait any longer. I need to know.”

This wasn’t typical Hannah behavior.

Something was up, and I needed to get to the bottom of it.

“Need to know what?” I inquired.

She’d been avoiding my eyes, but she finally gazed at me. “Are you upset with me?”

“Upset with you?” I repeated. “Why would I be?”

She filled her lungs. “Because of Sydney. What I told her to do.” She took in more air. “You know … about the job.”

“The job?” I shook my head, bewildered. “Hannah, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Wait …” She continued to stare at me, like she was analyzing my response. “I can’t tell if you’re lawyering me right now or really clueless about what I’m talking about.”

“What job?”

“The nanny position.”

I repeated her words in my head, trying to figure out what the hell this all meant.

“You really are clueless, Ford … aren’t you?” Her eyes widened. “Sydney didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Oh dear God.” She pulled back one of the chairs and sat at the table, pointing at the one next to her so I would join her. Once I was seated, she started, “Please don’t kill me. It’s Eve’s birthday after all, and the whole fam is here. They’d kinda notice if I suddenly ended up floating lifelessly on top of the pool.”

“Hannah, what the fuck are you talking about?”

Her stare moved to the tabletop, her hands clenching, her knuckles cracking. “When I gave Sydney a ride home after the night you guys met, she told me she was going to school to become a teacher and that she had been an au pair in her previous job.” She swallowed, her hands no longer fidgeting. “Once I heard all of that, I told her to apply to be Everly’s nanny.”

I was trying to work this out in my head, piece it all together. “Go on.”

“She sent me her résumé, and I forwarded it to your assistant, and then I asked Sydney not to tell you what I—or we—had done.”

“Hold on a second.” The points were sliding into place, but I needed to make sure I had this straight. “You’re telling me that when Sydney walked into my office to be interviewed, she knew that the job she had applied for was to be Everly’s nanny?”

She nodded. “And it’s my fault she didn’t confess that to you.” Her hand clamped down on my arm. “All my fault, not hers, which is why I thought you were mad at me and just waiting for the right time to talk to me.” Her head dropped. “Since you guys started dating, I just assumed she’d told you. I can’t believe she didn’t—I mean, I’m happy that she didn’t, I think. I’m just shocked.”

Sydney had told me she’d found the job posting online.

To this day, she’d never mentioned anything about having a conversation with Hannah.

She’d … lied?

What the fuck?

“Hannah, I—”

“If you’re going to be mad at anyone, please be mad at me. This is all my fault. I’m the one who told her not to tell you.”

I glanced toward the Hills, processing, attempting to rationalize this news in my head. “I don’t know how I feel.”

Her fingers squeezed me, drawing my attention back to her. “I remember the day I started working at the law firm and the very first thing you told me was that I needed to listen to my gut. Ford, that’s something I’ve been practicing ever since, and when something feels right, when it looks right, when it sounds right, I get this feeling in my stomach.” Her brows lowered, the furrow between them gone. “That’s what happened when I met Sydney and when I saw her interact with Eve. They instantly took to one another. So, when I heard she needed a job and you needed a nanny—it was a home run, in my opinion.”

“Except I wouldn’t date a woman who was caring for my child. Did you ever think about that?”

“I know you better than you know yourself, Ford Dalton. Obviously, I thought about that.” A smile came across her lips.

“You intentionally kept us apart …”

“No.” Her smile grew. “I put you guys together.”