“Glitter? He loves glitter.”
“Right?”
“Shall I draw his favorite dinner?” she asked, making me laugh.
“That’s a good idea.”
“He really likes peas.”
Where did this kid come up with this stuff?
I opened the door and my heart dropped to my stomach when I came face-to-face with Penelope.
What was she doing back here? And where was Jade? I flicked through the possibilities in my mind. Was she going to force her way in and snatch Bethany? I’d persuaded Gabriel to ditch the security guard. Maybe that had been a mistake. I took a breath. Perhaps she’d just forgotten something?
“Sorry to disturb you,” she said, looking at Bethany. “Hi, Bethany.”
“Hi,” she replied and cocked her head. “Have you come to play again?”
Before Bethany could invite Penelope in, I interrupted. “Bethany, can you go and get your paper out for the pictures? I’ll be there in a second.” I put on my calmest voice and a fake smile. She’d know, but hopefully she wouldn’t cause a fuss. She shrugged and headed back down the hallway.
I turned back to Penelope. What could she possibly want?
“I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you making our play dates so relaxed,” she said.
“Okay,” I replied, bracing myself for the real reason she was here. She could have said that in front of Jade.
“Bethany is obviously well looked after by you. And it’s nice that she’s got someone to care for her until . . .” Something behind her eyes stopped her from finishing her sentence. “I’ve missed so much of her growing up,” she said. She clasped her hands together, her fingers jittering like she was either nervous or in rehab. “I’ve only realized how much I’ve missed since I started seeing her. I have so many questions. There’s so much I want to know about her.”
It was hard not to feel sorry for her. Bethany was a lovely child and three years was a lot to miss of anyone’s life, let alone someone as young as her daughter. “I understand,” I said.
“I’d like to make up for it,” she said. “I just want a fair shot at a second chance.”
I pulled in a breath. From what I could see, Gabriel wasn’t giving out second chances to anyone.
“You must understand this. As another woman.” She looked up at me, desperate for me to do something that would help.
I nodded. “I don’t make any of the decisions around Bethany. That’s all up to Gabriel. I’m just the nanny.”
“The thing is, I’d be happy to look after her while Gabriel’s at work.”
I wasn’t sure how she wanted me to respond. She couldn’t think I was going to hand Bethany over and go to the spa for the day, did she?
“If you think about it, Bethany doesn’t really need a nanny now I’m back.”
Oh God, was she trying to push me out of the job? She didn’t know I was leaving anyway in a couple of weeks but even so, there was no way Gabriel would just let Penelope take over. “I don’t know what to say. You need to talk to Gabriel.”
She thrust her hands into her coat pockets. “You’re fucking my husband.” She said it so matter-of-factly. Like it was as obvious as the sun rising in the morning.
“I think you need to leave.” I went to close the door and her arm snapped out to stop me.
“I don’t want to cause trouble,” she said. “But from what I can see, it’s you standing in the way of me and my daughter. Me and my family. Do you see that?” she asked. “We’re still married, and that means something. He never asked for a divorce. Not in all these years. I know he would take me back if . . .”
She didn’t need to finish the sentence. I could fill in the gaps. She meant that if I wasn’t around, she would be able to fit back into her old life with Gabriel.
Gabriel would deny it. But maybe it was true.
Had he really not asked for a divorce for all these years? He’d been adamant about not giving Penelope a second chance, but if that was really true, why hadn’t he cut legal ties sooner? Why was the man I was sleeping with still married to a woman who left him three years ago?
It didn’t make sense.
I stayed silent, the unanswered questions chipping away at my defenses.
“Gabriel’s a good man,” she continued. “I’m not sure if it’s serious between you or just convenient.”
Convenient? I might live under his roof, but I was his best friend’s future sister-in-law. And his employee. There was nothing convenient about me as far as Gabriel was concerned.
“But he’s my husband.” She emphasized the word as if I couldn’t possibly understand what she was trying to say. “I’m Bethany’s mother. And you seem like a nice girl. Do you want to live the rest of your life knowing you broke up a family?”