Page 2 of Summer Salvation
TWO
THEO
“Where’s Piper?” Colton sits with the woman I hired to be the new nanny, who looks up at me and blinks.
“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” she says with a nervous smile.
This isn’t going to work out, just like the others. “It’s a public beach,” I inform her as calmly as possible, though internally, I’m seething. “It’s filled with strangers. If you want to get paid, get off your ass and look.”
When she doesn’t jump up to immediately begin searching for Piper, my patience runs out and my temper boils over. “Get out of my sight! You can forget about payment, and if anything happened to my daughter, you’ll hear from my lawyer.”
My heart pounds wildly in my chest as I start searching, my head moving from side-to-side as I scan the dozens—no, hundreds—of people on the beach.
This is the first time since Serena, my ex, left that I feel like a failure. I’m supposed to take care of my children, protect them from anything or anyone that may hurt them, and now, one of my greatest fears is reality.
“Piper!” I shout as I walk along the beach, making sure to keep an eye on Colton, who’s also joined the search. Like his sister, he is also known for wandering off. The sand is hot as my feet sink into it, the sun blazing down on me making me instantly regret my choice of clothing. Linen can only do so much to keep a person cool.
I approach random strangers, asking if they’ve seen my daughter, but they either ignore me or brush me off.
People are selfish assholes.
“Hey!” The sound of a female voice stops me, and I turn to watch the woman from the other day, the one Colton drenched with his ice cream, hurry toward me holding Piper’s hand. Today she’s wearing a black tank top and frayed cut-off jean shorts. My gaze drops to the way her full breasts strain against the fabric of her shirt.
Focus, I remind myself.
“Thank God,” I breathe out once I’ve regained my senses before rushing toward them.
“Is this your daughter,” she asks. I reach for Piper, but the woman keeps a firm grip on her little hand.
“Yes,” I insist, reaching once more for my child.
Piper seems clueless about the panic she’s caused, even when the woman glances down for confirmation. “Is this your daddy?”
My daughter, with her fingers in her mouth, nods and smiles. The woman releases her hand, and she hurries toward me. I scoop her into my arms, kissing the side of her head. “What happened? Why did you leave the nanny?”
“I saw a doggie,” she says sweetly, as if dogs are reason enough to run away from the adult supervising you.
“Piper,” I say sternly. “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” she whispers, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her tiny face against my shoulder.
I glance over at the woman whose name I don’t even know but who’s managed run-ins with both my children in a matter of a few days. “Thank you so much. We seem to be running into each other quite a bit.”
“I guess I’m a magnet for unruly children.”
The dig stings more than it probably should but what do they say, truth hurts?
I set Piper down and brush the sand from my pants. “I’m Theo,” I tell her, extending my hand.
“Hadley,” she says with a grumble before taking hold of my hand and shaking it. “You should probably fire your nanny.”
“I did,” I assure her. “Although now I’m shit out of luck. She was the third nanny we’ve been through in the last few weeks.”
“Daddy!” Piper scolds me. “You said a bad word.”
“Sorry,” I quickly apologize before turning my attention back to Hadley. “You wouldn’t happen to be a nanny, would you? Or even a teacher? At this point, I’ll take anyone.”
Hadley shrugs. “Not a nanny or a teacher, but—”