Page 42 of Healing Hope

“I am aware. Does your distraction have anything to do with the young woman that came in with you the night you were attacked?”

Incredibly, he could feel himself flush with embarrassment. Jane smiled knowingly. “I thought so. No wonder you don’t want me to find her replacement.”

Paul clenched his jaw. “I have to find a replacement. She’s leaving the country soon.”

Jane gave him a sad smile. “You’d better start sweet-talking, then. I saw how that child was interacting with her. Hope has been like this little lost ghost haunting the halls around here. That was the first time I’ve seen her actually interacting and animated.”

“I know,” Paul sighed, “but we knew going in that Jess was short term. She has plans, and I don’t think we’re going to be able to change her mind.”

“You won’t know if you don’t try.” Jane crossed to his office door. “I’ll let you know when Mrs. Brown gets here.”

“Hey, Jane,” he said, before she could slip out. “Thank you for making me look like I have my shit together.”

She laughed, stepped out, and closed the door behind her.

Thirty minutes later, Paul let the woman into his office for her interview. She was as perfect as Jane had thought. Maybe even more so, because she had grandkids Hope’s age. Since she and her family lived locally, there was a very real possibility that her grandkids could go to school with Hope.

Before the woman left the office, Paul set up a time when she could come out to the house and meet Hope, two days hence. That would give him time to get the rest of the interviews out of the way. Paul had an instinctive feeling he’d just found Hope’s nanny, though.

Two more interviewees came through his office that day. They were just as qualified as Mrs. Brown, but they didn’t have the natural warmth that had exuded from the first woman. Paul tried to be open-minded, but it was difficult.

Jane had already run background checks on all the applicants, but he knew without looking that Mrs. Brown had no criminal record. She wasn’t the type.

The thought of telling Jess that he’d found her replacement put a knot in his stomach. Realistically, he’d known from the beginning that it was going to happen, but things were different now. Actually, things were different with Hope and Paul. Their feelings had changed. Jess still maintained her course, and planned to leave by the coming Friday. So, they had three days left with her.

They needed to make sure that Hope wasn’t expecting Jess to stay. That would be a miracle, but it wasn’t going to happen.

Paul needed time to convince her to stay, but he wasn’t going to get it. In the back of his mind, he’d thought that maybe if they were so incredible in bed together, she wouldn’t leave, but every once in a while he would catch this look in her eye, like it was going to hurt to leave him. But she had the determination to do it.

That night as they ate dinner on the patio, Paul brought up the subject of the nanny. “I interviewed a woman today for the nanny position and I really liked her. Mrs. Brown is a grandmother, and she has family in the area. She’s coming out on Wednesday to meet you, Hope.”

Hope blinked and stopped mid-chew. She swallowed hard and looked down at her lap. The feel of the night changed with her growing anxiety. His gaze collided with Jess’s, and her expression told him how hard this was going to be.

“Hope, look at me.” He waited until she looked up at him, tears swimming in her eyes. “You knew that Ms. Jess was going to be short term. She has another job lined up next week.”

“And you know I’ll keep in contact, baby,” Jess said, leaning across the table to take her hand. “We’re going to go see Dawn tomorrow, remember? I don’t stay with her anymore, but I still keep in touch.”

“I know,” she cried, “but I need you more. She has a mom and dad. I don’t.”

Paul knew this would come up. And it was easy to tell the girl not to get attached, but she was a child. She couldn’t separate her emotions like that.

“That’s my birthday wish,” she said truculently, looking up at Jess and Paul defiantly. “I want Jess to stay here.”

Paul looked at Jess, wondering how they were going to get out of this mess. His daughter meant the world to him, and if there was a way he could make Jess stay with the family, he would.

“It doesn’t work like that, sprite,” he said softly.

Without saying a word, Hope jumped down from the table and ran into the house, Sophie jogging along behind her.

There was a yawning silence after she left, and he looked at Jess. “What do I do for her?”

Sighing, she shook her head, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “I suppose she’ll just have to learn that she can’t have everything she wants.”

“I don’t want her to slip into the fugue state she was in before. I just found my little girl, Jess.”

Her face fell. “I know, Paul. This is always the hardest part. And there’s never a good way to say goodbye. Plus, this situation is a little different. Usually, I’m helping a family waiting for a loved one to return from overseas. Maybe it was a mistake for me to come into the house, knowing that she would be vulnerable and looking for a mother figure.”

“What is your next job? Can Carolina delay it?”