Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 41839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
He was never going to forget the relief he felt but then the shock. Tilly slept around a lot. They didn’t have a good marriage. For the most part, it had been toxic. Even with her as his wife, he’d wanted nothing to do with her. Their arguing would rage for hours. There were even times when Tilly would lash out at him. She’d try to beat him with frying pans or bats. It was during those nights he’d grab Meghan and take her to his brother’s.
He took the card out of his back pocket. The past year since Tilly had left had been crazy but peaceful. He didn’t have to drop his kid off at his brother’s or worry about his wife beating him to death.
Not once had he hit Tilly. He probably could have, but he hadn’t.
Instead, he’d taken whatever she had to dish out, kept a roof over her head, worked his ass off, and come home. He’d made his own dinner, took care of Meghan, and lived a life as separate from her as he could.
Work had taken a back seat, at least while he came to terms with being a single dad. The paperwork had already been sent to Tilly for their divorce but the bitch refused to sign it. She lived in the city and was trying to make it as an actress or something. He didn’t really know, nor did he care. All he wanted her to do was sign the paperwork and be done with this farce of a life.
Running fingers through his hair, he tried to think of anything else, but it was no good. His brother was right. The house was a mess. Meghan needed someone and if he didn’t return to work soon, he was going to be fucked. His savings were nearly all gone and he didn’t want to continuously put his job on the line because he was so damn stubborn.
He had to get a grip one way or another.
Picking up the phone, he decided to make the call. If it didn’t work out, he’d fire the nanny and figure something out, but for now, he was going to be hopeful.
****
Returning home after twelve years away, Callie Steward, a qualified nanny, didn’t expect to get a call so soon with a new job. She wasn’t given the man’s name, just the address of where she needed to meet him.
Constance, the woman on the phone at the company who helped to find work for nannies across the country, had told her he was a really sweet guy and had even fallen asleep while on the phone with her.
She pulled up outside the house and smiled. It was a beautiful home with a white picket fence. The lawn wasn’t mowed, though, and there were a lot of weeds growing in the garden area.
Pulling down her visor, she checked the small mirror to make sure her makeup, which she put on modestly, wasn’t smeared or looked like too much. Once she grabbed her bag, she checked the address again.
This was a new start for her. She’d been a nanny for ten years after quitting college. One of her professors had made it abundantly clear that if she didn’t give him what he wanted, he was going to destroy her. She knew students and professors screwed all the time, had no doubt it went on, but she’d had no interest in sleeping with her teachers. What she didn’t expect was for one of those teachers to want to use her, and when she didn’t comply, he’d blackmailed her.
Seeing no other alternative, she’d quit college, taken a job as a nanny, and studied online to become qualified to take care of children of all ages. She loved her job and helping people, especially when they were trying to get their life back on track.
In most situations, she was called a lifesaver, or the worst, a home-wrecker. She’d never damaged anyone’s relationship. Never chased after a husband. Her only role was to help the children and their lives, nothing more, nothing less.
With that in mind, she walked up the steps, knowing whomever she was going to see needed her. It was clear as she approached the door that this guy needed her. She didn’t have the whole story, but there would come a time and place when she would. For now, she just needed to get this job.
She lifted her hand and knocked on the door. Feeling a smile brush across her lips, she waited. This was going to be a good day.
The door opened. She turned toward the person on the threshold and froze.
This couldn’t be happening.
Coming back to town, she knew there was a risk of running into him, but working for him? No, it couldn’t be.
Drew Gold, the guy who’d bullied her relentlessly. In his arms was a young girl. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed yet. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but one was draped over his shoulder as if he’d been wearing one and was changing as she knocked on the door.