But when the doorbell rings, I’m feeling so anxious, torn down, and vulnerable that I don’t want to answer it, and I have to give myself a lecture about how it’s my job to greet whoever’s at the door.
“Can I help you?” I ask as I pull the door open.
“Surprise!” Teagan throws her arms out wide and grins at me. “Guess who got called off today?”
“How did you know where the house was?”
She shrugs. “Small town. I know stuff.”
I wrap her up in a hug before she can even get inside. “You have no idea how much I needed to see a friendly face.”
“Aww!” She strokes my hair. “What’s wrong?”
“Come inside,” I say. “I need a cup of coffee, and then I’ll tell you about my awesome day.”
In the kitchen, I make a fresh pot of coffee and give Teagan the rundown of everything she’s missed since we saw each other last—Ethan finding me in his wife’s closet, dinner last night, and, finally, the women at the store today.
“I wonder who the bitch was,” she says, making a face.
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m sure I’ve never seen her before, but she was awful. And then the cashier all but admitted they were gossiping about me.” I take a long swallow of my coffee. I know caffeine isn’t a good idea when my anxiety is flaring up, but coffee is liquid comfort to me, so I’ll just try to stick with a half-cup and hope for the best. “Wait. Kyrstie? I think the cashier said that was the lady’s name.”
“Dr. Weir,” Teagan says with wide eyes. “Blue eyes and total resting bitch face?”
“Sounds about right.”
“Oh, yeah. That makes sense. She and Doc Jackson were messing around last summer, and she didn’t take it well when he wasn’t interested in turning their fling into something more serious.”
“How crazy do you have to be to take it out on the new nanny?”
“Bitches be jealous,” she says with a shrug.
I grunt. “Jealous because I get to live with Dr. McBroody Pants? Seriously? I mean, he’s hot, but no amount of sexy can make up for the guy being an asshole.”
“Come on, Dr. Jackson isn’t that bad,” Teagan says. When I gape at her, she holds up her hands. “Okay, okay. He’s been terrible to you. But he’s nice to the nurses at the hospital, which is more than I can say for a lot of doctors. It’s more like he’s closed off. Mostly, I think the women are just disappointed that he’s so hard to get close to. Otherwise, he’d be eligible bachelor material.”
I grimace. “Well, they can have him. I mean, what kind of man doesn’t want to be involved in selecting the person who’s going to care for his child? Don’t you think that’s weird? His mother did everything to hire Veronica.”
“It is a little weird,” she says. “I bet the whole thing’s hard on him because he still hasn’t gotten over his wife’s death. He doesn’t like the idea of another woman moving in here—even as an employee.”
The reminder takes the snark out of me, and I sigh. “Kathleen told me Elena died at Christmas.”
Teagan flinches. “That’s rough.”
“Brutal,” I agree. My heart aches for Lilly. I’m sure that day left a mark on her. “Do you know what happened to Elena?”
Teagan shakes her head. “I don’t know. Dr. Jackson was a widower when I moved here.”
“It’s weird, Teagan. I’m sure losing her had to be hard on him, but when I walk around this house, it’s like she never left. Her clothes are all still hanging in the closet, her jackets are on the rack in the mudroom, and there’s even a book on her bedside table and a pair of her shoes by the back door—as if she might show up and pick up where she left off at any minute.”
“Wow.” She blinks and rocks back on her heels. “How long has she been gone?”
“Three years this Christmas. And if he wasn’t ready to pack up her things, you’d think his mom or one of his siblings would have come in here and done it for him.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t let them.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t, but what exactly is he going to accomplish by keeping all of her things in place?” I shake my head. “I guess I’ve never lost someone like that, so maybe I don’t have any idea of what’s normal. When I see him holding on to her like that, I almost can’t hate him for being an ass.”
She tucks her hands into her pockets and studies me. “Is he still looking for your replacement?”
“Yeah, but he said he’ll need me here at least a couple of weeks. They’ll send him a list of candidates and then he’ll have to go through the interview process and all that.” I take a deep breath. “I’m anxious to get away from Ethan, but I hate to leave Lilly. That child is amazing. She’s a super-smart, happy kid. She deserves better than a revolving door of nannies, you know what I mean?”