“Mr. Spencer? It’s the nanny. Your children—they won’t stop crying for you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
I looked over at Brooke and saw her heading for the shoreline. Of course, she would go running for my kids, that was what I was paying her to do.
Why the fuck did it have to be tonight?
“Daddy! Please come home,” Daniel said, sniffling.
“Come cuddle with us,” Sydney said.
“Can we come with you and Miss Brooke? Please?”
Their words echoed off the corners of my mind, spiraling
me into a frenzy as I climbed up the shoreline and headed for the road.
“We’re coming home now, kids. Okay? Just sit tight,” I said.
I disconnected the call before I said something I regretted.
Brooke was already in a cab she flagged down, furiously trying to put on her shoes. I slid in beside her and put my shoes back on, then gave my address to the driver. We rode across the island in silence, and Brooke’s leg was jiggling a thousand miles a second.
I slid my hand over her knee, massaging her until she stopped.
“I’m sure they’re fine. They’re just being spoiled,” I said.
“What happened?” Brooke asked. “Why were they crying?”
“Because they want us home. They’re upset that we went out without them.”
“We could’ve brought them. They would’ve enjoyed the dancing.”
“I promised you an adult night out. My children don’t get to throw tantrums just to get their way. But I can’t force a new nanny to put up with them either. We’re getting home, they’re getting reprimanded for acting out, and I’m putting them to bed.”
“Don’t be so hard on them, Kevin. All they want is their father.”
“And they have me.”
“No, they don’t. You promised them that this was going to be their vacation with you. And you’re working more often than not. You did this to me all those years ago. Empty promises and dates that took a backseat to work. But this is different. These are your children. You have a billion-dollar company, Kevin. Slow down and pay attention to your kids. They’re begging for you and now you’re upset with them,” she said.
She fell silent and I watched as tears filled her eyes.
“Is that why you’ve been so distant?” I asked.
“Don’t do this now,” she said.
“When the hell are we supposed to do it, Brooke? We were having a good time. We had a moment down there. I felt it. You felt it.”
“We’ve had many moments, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
Her words were like a punch to my gut.
“Give your children the vacation you promised them and maybe they won’t act out like they are,” she said. “You neglected me. But don’t neglect them. Find a way to balance your personal life and your business life.”
Her knee slid away from my hand and she pressed herself against the cab door for the rest of the ride home.
My blood was boiling when we walked inside, but nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into. Sydney was running around with toilet paper trailing behind her, and it looked like she’d unraveled most of it on the floor. Daniel was screaming at the nanny, writing crayon along the wall as she tried to wrestle it from his grasp. Pictures were hanging lopsided on the wall and there were wet stains all over the damn floor.