Noah stands back and leans on my desk. “You don’t need anyone’s help, huh?”
I frown. “This could have happened even with a nanny watching her full time.”
“Just admit you’re in over your head here.”
I stand, cradling my daughter to me. I don’t care if I get blood on my shirt. “We’re fine. We’ll find someone.”
“You’ve shot down every applicant. There’s no one else.”
Anger rises in my chest. “Well, I’m not hiring some streetwalker named Kiki, that’s for sure.”
Noah huffs and raises his hands in the air. “Fine!”
He storms out of my office, and I take in a deep breath. As much as I hate to admit it, I do need the help. My brothers are here for me as much as they can be, but Skyler needs more attention than they can give her. And I’m swamped with my investments and trying to keep Levi from failing out of college. I’m drowning.
I hold the ice to my daughter’s lip and think about the decision I made ten years ago, when my parents died. I was just eighteen, but I couldn’t let my brothers go into foster care. I was all they had left. So, I fought for them in court—and won. It was a lot to take on. My three younger brothers were a handful for sure, but our parents had left us a sizeable inheritance, and I made it work.
I pull the ice away and study Skyler’s puffy lip. The bleeding has stopped, but it looks like she was in a bar fight. “Is it feeling better?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
“Good. Let’s not climb on the furniture, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I set her down and she runs off. I grab my laptop. I have more work to do, but there’s no one to watch Skyler. Micah’s finishing up his homework, and today is Violet’s day off.
I follow my daughter’s giggles through the old house. The floorboards creak as I walk. This house is over a hundred years old, but I couldn’t bear to sell it after my parents died. This is the home I grew up in. It’s been in the family for three generations. It’s a six-bedroom, five bath monster of a house, and that’s why I have Violet to help keep it clean and cook for us.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out and look at the screen. A message from Josephine pops up.
Can you come over for dinner tonight? Everyone’s invited.
I smile and tap out a response.
Sure. What time?
Josephine and Ellie like to take care of me. They were a godsend when my parents died. Now that Courtney is gone, they do their best to make sure Skyler and I are fed.
Josephine sends me the time, and I sit on the living room couch as Skyler pulls out her ponies and barbie dolls. “Want to eat at Aunt Josephine’s house tonight?”
Skyler grabs a doll by her hair. “Her house smells funny.”
“Hey, that’s not nice to say.”
“It’s true.”
She’s not wrong. I rub my face to hide a smile. “Don’t tell her that, okay?”
“Okay.” Skyler spends the next hour undressing every doll she owns and playing with them naked. I wonder why I buy her outfits for them if she prefers them without clothes.
Micah comes in the room and runs his hand through his hair. It’s grown out quite a bit, but he refuses to get a haircut. I’ve stopped saying anything about it. It’s not the hill I want to die on. He’s seventeen and old enough to make decisions about his own hair. He sits cross-legged on the rug next to Skyler. “What are you doing?”
She smiles at him. “I’m playing dolls.” She hands a Barbie to him. “Want to play with me?”
He grins. “Sure.”
I watch him playing with Skyler on the floor and my heart warms. He’s a good kid. He’s so gentle with Skyler. I just wish he’d talk to me. We’re on two different planes of existence, moving parallel to each other but never meeting.
