Page 43 of The Surrogate Nanny
“Is he here?”
“No, I’m driving myself.”
“Where are you going for dinner?”
“This Italian place on Broadway.”
I nodded. “It’s a great restaurant. If I were you, I’d try the Bella Italia; just a suggestion.”
“Bella Italia...got it. Bye, Nori. Be good for your dad.”
Nori smiled and waved her mother off.
“Wait, wait, wait,” I called out as I snatched Nori out of the highchair, not paying any mind to her fingers covered with mashed potatoes. “Let me give you some money,” I said, catching up to her in the foyer.
“For what?” Simone asked quizzically.
“In case of an emergency.”
“I have my own money, Anthony. I should be back home before 11:00. Take care of our girl.”
I stood helplessly in the doorway as I watched the woman I’d been falling for leave to go on a date with another man. I grabbed Nori’s wrist and waved at her mother.
“Tell your mother bye, and you hope she has a horrible time and never wants to see Uncle Jonathan again. Ugh, I sound like a lunatic. Let’s finish eating, then lay on the couch and watch Ms. Rachel. We’ll pretend that we won’t be thinking about what your mother is doing every second. How does that sound?”
“Mama!”
“Wrong. You’re supposed to say, Daddy.”
“Mama!”
“You’ll get it right one of these days, kid.”
Chapter Eighteen
Simone
I adjusted my hair again, tucking a stray curl behind my ear as I touched up my lipstick at a red light. The upscale Italian restaurant wasn’t far from Anthony’s place, and after reading the glowing online reviews, I was ready to eat. The light turned green, and my phone rang. My stomach flopped at the sight of Jonathan’s name.
“Hey, Jonathan. I’m about five minutes away.”
“I’m sorry, Simone,” Jonathan greeted, his deep voice filling my car over the GPS instructions. “My ex brought the kids over at the last minute. It’s an emergency—her sister’s in the hospital and—”
“Okay, but how long have you known you needed to cancel?”
Jonathan sighed heavily. “Simone, I’m—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Can we reschedule?” he asked hopefully.
I chewed my bottom lip, buying myself time to formulate my response.
Let him down easy, Simone.
“I’m sorry, but no. My time is valuable, and while I understand life happens, I think I deserve more than a five-minute head’s up that you have to cancel. I wish your sister-in-law a speedy recovery.”
I held my breath and waited for his response.