The Nanny, the Husband, and the Woman They Forgot I Was novel · Chapter 11 of 32

Chapter 11: Home Visit

I parked behind Harper's car, close enough that she couldn't back out.

Then I got Rosie out of her seat and walked around the side of the garage.

The guest house door was open.

Harper was inside, hanging cream sweaters in the little closet.

Blake was on the couch with his laptop.

They both looked up.

"Oh," Harper said brightly. "Hi, Mar. Did Blake's lawyer call? I'm his assistant. It's totally above board."

"It's in writing," Blake said, not looking up. "Read it. You used to be good at reading."

I stood in the doorway with Rosie on my hip.

"Three rules," I said. "Harper doesn't come into the main house. Not the kitchen. Not the laundry room. Not the nursery."

"You can't..."

"I own half of it. I'm the half that lives there." I shifted Rosie. "Two. She doesn't touch my daughter. The judge said she doesn't supervise visits. If she so much as holds a bottle, Vivian files on Monday."

Blake finally looked up.

"And three?"

"Three, the locksmith comes at four. You'll get a key, Blake. You're her father. Harper won't."

Harper turned to him.

"Blake. Say something."

Blake closed his laptop.

"Harper doesn't need a key," he said. "Harper lives here now."

He said it to me, not to her.

He liked watching it land.

I didn't let it.

"Then Harper can use the side gate," I said, and walked back to the house.

The locksmith came at four.

The neighbor came over to watch him work and brought a lemon loaf.

She had a small notebook in her cardigan pocket.

"White sedan, eleven-forty a.m.," she said, and wrote it down.

On Friday at ten the evaluator rang the bell.

She was a woman in her fifties with a canvas tote bag and comfortable shoes and no expression at all.

"I'll be here two hours," she said. "Do whatever you'd normally do. Pretend I'm a lamp."

I gave the lamp a cup of coffee.

I'd slept five hours. The house was clean, but not too clean.

← Chapter 10 · All chapters · Chapter 12 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend