Page 35 of The Surrogate Nanny

“For what?”

“For allowing me to tag along today. It was...nice.”

She finally found the strength to release her seatbelt and opened the passenger door.

“You don’t have to thank me. It was a family outing, after all,” she mentioned before sliding out of the truck.

There’s that word again...family.

Chapter Sixteen

Simone

One Month Later

“Is that you, Simone?”

I turned in the dairy aisle of Whole Foods to find none other than attorney Jonathan Baker with a basket teeming with food. It was enough to feed a basketball team.

“Jonathan? What are you doing here?”

Anthony emerged from the next aisle. “I found it. We should have everything.” He paused when he finally noticed his friend. “Hey, man. What are you doing here?”

Jonathan nodded at his basket. “The same as you. Just trying to get a few things.”

“A few things?” I asked, snorting at his response. “I think you might need another cart.”

“Let’s hope not. These children are eating me out of the house and home. How’s it going?” he asked, his eyes trailing to Nori in the basket. He waved at her. Unfortunately, it was past her nap time, resulting in a half-hearted flap of her hand.

“Good. Good. We were gonna put a few burgers on the grill tonight and let Nori play in the kiddie pool,” Anthony explained.

“Sounds like a diverting time,” he replied with a grin.

Diverting? This man needs to loosen up.

“It should be. Do you have the kids with you this weekend?”

“No, they’re with their grandparents this weekend.”

“Why don’t you come by?” Anthony suggested. “We’ll be grilling around six. It’s nothing fancy, but you’re more than welcome to join us.”

“Thanks for the invite. I’ll come. If you’ll excuse me, I need to swing by the booze aisle before heading to checkout. It’s unbecoming to arrive to a function empty-handed.”

We said our goodbyes and a sense of anxiety started to overwhelm me.

“Simone? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You have this weird look on your face.”

“We’re expecting guests. Do we have enough food? There are toys all over the living room, and—”

“Relax, Simone. It’s just Jonathan. The man has three kids and lives off organic chicken nuggets and tater tots. Have you seen his house?” Anthony asked, voice raising an octave.

“Of course not.”

“His house looks like a tornado went through it. We’re good. So what if there are a few toys here and there? You can damn near eat off the floor.”