My front door opens. “Jonah?” Zander calls out.
“Up here.”
Zander takes my stairs two at a time, and cringes when he finds me in the baby’s room. “Bubble-gum pink?”
“I like it,” I say. “Now grab a brush and get rolling.”
Zander shakes his head. “Did Quinn pick this color?”
“No, I did.”
“Dude, come on. You’re going to have to turn in your man card.”
I laugh at him. “Wait and see the things you’ll do for your own child, Zander.”
“That’s not going to be for a while.”
“You do want kids though, right?
He gives an easy shrug. “When the time is right.”
I dip my roller into the tray and load it. “Quinn says she never wants kids. How can a girl who works at a daycare, and is so good with Daisy, not want a family of her own?”
Zander grabs a roller, loads it, and starts on the wall opposite me. “I don’t know. I guess that’s something you’ll have to ask her.” A pause and then, “How are thing going between you two, anyway?”
My gut clenches. I hate lying to my best friend, but what the hell am I supposed to do? “We’ve been doing okay. She’s a great help. I’m not looking forward to her leaving.”
“Is that why none of the nannies are suitable? You want to keep Quinn here?”
I’m glad my back is to him, because the guy can read me like a book. One look at my face and he’d see right through me. That yes, none of the nannies are suitable, because none of the nannies are Quinn. I find fault with everyone we interview, and while Quinn does too, she keeps reminding me she’s not going to be staying with us forever.
“She’s just really good with kids. Daisy loves her.”
“I think Quinn feels the same way about Daisy.” I hear the worry in his voice.
“What?” I ask.
“I just don’t want to see either of you hurt.”
I go stiff and suck in a fast breath. “What do you mean?”
“What if Shari comes back, Jonah? What if she takes Daisy away?”
“I won’t let that happen. She’s my daughter too, and Shari just abandoned her.” I turn and find Zander looking at me. “What she did was wrong. You of all people know that.”
He nods. “I know, but…maybe you should talk to your dad, get some legal advice here.”
I grip the back of my neck and rub as worry prowls through my body. “Where is all this coming from?” I ask, getting the sense that he knows something I don’t.
“Yesterday, at the park. I was almost certain I saw Shari pull up in her car not too far behind you.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, my phone pings. I stare at it, my heart jumping into my throat.
“You better get that,” Zander says.
I reach for my phone, and relax when I see it’s a text from Quinn. But then a new kind of worry tears through me.
“What?” Zander asks when I tense.