But in my gut, I knew this wasn't the issue. Cami treated Willow like her own little sister. And if I were a betting person – which I wasn't – I'd bet just about anything that Cami would sacrifice herself long before she'd ever put Willow in danger.
The incident with Veronica had done nothing to change this belief.
I replied, "I'm asking, because I wanna know."
"But that's no kind of answer," she said. "And which brother do you mean, anyway?"
This should've been obvious. I had two brothers. My youngest brother, Brody, was engaged to her best friend.
So why the question?
Was she stalling?
I gave her a look. "If you're having coffee on the side with Brody, you've got bigger problems than Veronica."
She drew back. "Just what are you accusing me of, anyway?"
"Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"If you heard an accusation, you heard wrong."
"Oh, really?" she said. "Because italmostsounded like you were accusing me of sneaking around with my best friend's fiancé."
She was wrong.
And she wasstillavoiding the question.
I said, "Hey, you asked which brother. Not me."
She was glaring now. "Just what kind of person do you think I am?"
The question hit harder than it should've. I thought she was a good person, a better person than I'd ever be.So why was I hassling her?
I didn't want to.
But she had this way of getting under my skin, making me feel things I hadn't felt in a long while. And whatever those feelings were, they were chafing like a broken blister, making me ornery as hell, even now when she'd technically done nothing wrong.
Deliberately, I softened my tone. "I was talking about Chase."
"Oh." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Really?"
"He said you met for coffee."
"Me? No." But then, she paused. "Oh, wait…"
I waited. And as I did, I silently considered how I might feel if she and Chase met formorethan coffee.
I wouldn’t like it.
She'd get hurt, and I'd get pissed. One thing would lead to another, and I'd be looking for a new nanny.Again.
See, it was an employment issue. Nothing else.
That had to be it.
Into her silence, I said, "And in case you haven't heard, he has a habit of banging the nannies."
