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Tears blinded Rose as she ran, slipping in the sand in her haste.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. She’d been fooled by the rich for the last time. She hit the street and hailed a cab. She was going home to France where she belonged.
♥ ♥ ♥
Leo moved to race after Rose, but Stavros grabbed his arm. “Let her go. She won’t listen to you right now. She’s hurting.”
Leo slumped onto a stool and buried his head in his arms.
“Leo, what’s going on?” Nessa placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“I’m an idiot, and I lost her,” he said, his voice muffled by his skin.
“Yes, I can see that part. But what’s going on?”
He felt his parents settle into the stools on either side of him before his father’s hand rested on his back. Leo raised his head to look at his best friend. “Stavros?”
“I anticipated this. I’ll keep tabs on her. Let you know where she is.”
“Thank you.” A modicum of relief penetrated the anguish of his soul.
“In the meantime, I’m taking Adonis to the beach to toss the ball around while you explain things to your parents.” Stavros waved to Adonis to follow him, and they left.
Leo heard Adonis ask, “Where’s Rose going? Why was she so sad?”
He felt the gaze of his parents on him but couldn’t meet their eyes. “Rose was our temporary nanny. Her sister, Marie, was supposed to come, but she hurt her foot and sent Rose instead while she located a suitable permanent nanny. You know how I’ve been in hiding since Nia’s death.” From the corner of his eye, he saw his parents exchange a glance. They’d encouraged him several times lately to return to public life and seek out a wife and mother.
“Yes, son, we know,” Theo said.
And then Leo let the whole story spill out about how Rose had come and awakened feelings he’d long thought dead and resurrected that part of his soul that yearned to love a companion with his whole heart.
“She was prejudiced against the wealthy. Since she was a temp, I didn’t explain who I really was on the first day. I didn’t know I’d fall in love with her. I kept putting off telling her, and once she explained why she disliked the wealthy, I wondered if she’d ever forgive me for not being honest from the start.”
“And then we walked in,” Nessa said. “We spilled the beans, as they say.” She rubbed circles on his back.
“Your last nanny knew about the ruse from the start. We assumed the new one did too,” Theo said. “We didn’t mean to cause any harm.”
“I know, Papa. This mess isn’t your fault. It’s mine,” Leo rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“The question is, what are you going to do now?” Theo asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? He must go after her.” Nessa turned Leo’s head to face her. “You go and tell her the truth. Show her how you feel. Beg if you must. Fight for her.” She gave an emphatic nod. “Like your father did for me.”
Leo looked at his father. “She’s right. I fought for your mother.” He rubbed his face. “Nearly got a broken jaw out of the deal too.” He winked at Nessa.
“Papa?” Nefeli stood in the doorway of her bedroom.
“Nefeli.” Leo ran to his daughter, picked her up, and held her tight. “How are you feeling?” He ran a hand over her forehead and pushed back her hair, noting she felt normal and not feverish.
She yawned. “Hungry. May I have some breakfast?”
“Of course. Guess who’s here to see you?” He carried her over to the stools and plopped her in the one he’d vacated.
“Yaya! Papaous!” She hugged both of them.
“Let’s get you some crepes,” Nessa said.
Leo looked at the stack of uneaten crepes made by Rose’s loving hands, and his heart broke again.