Page 47 of Whisper Sweet Nothings
And he was completely off limits.
thirteen
. . .
Archer
I was sittingon the end of the row, as far away from Winnie as I could get. She didn’t seem to notice or care. My entire family was here to see Melody in her holiday show, and Winnie was sitting between Wren and my mother on the opposite side.
My mother adored her, as did my aunt Ellie. Winnie attended Sunday dinners with us, and she’d go over early and cook with them.
It was her passion.
She’d become a part of this family, and I’d almost fucked it all up.
“What’s your deal?” Bridger said, keeping his voice low as he sat beside me.
“What do you mean? I don’t have a deal.”
“You seem—uncomfortable.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine. Stop overanalyzing me.”
“Did something happen?” Rafe leaned in from where he sat behind me. “You seem a little off.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “I’m not off. And nothing happened.”
“I’m not buying it,” Bridger said, chuckling. “Something is definitely going on.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you took the farthest seat in the room from your nanny, whom you’re usually attached to at the hip.”
“I didn’t even notice where she was sitting,” I lied. “And be quiet. The show is starting.”
Mrs. Groucher came onto the stage and introduced her class, and for the next forty-five minutes, we listened to several holiday songs, and they did a little skit. And that was when Melody moved to the front of the stage. This was her big part in the show. Only a few kids had lines, and Melody had taken it very seriously that she’d been chosen to recite some facts about the holidays.
Her gaze found mine in the audience, and I gave her a thumbs-up, and then I was surprised when her gaze moved down the row and she found Winnie.
Even my daughter couldn’t keep her eyes off our nanny.
And as she started reciting the facts that I’d heard every single day for the last two weeks, I glanced over to see Winnie’s lips moving as she recited them silently along with my daughter.
“And we wish you all a very happy holiday!” Melody shouted, and the crowd erupted with applause.
Mind you, half the people in the audience were my family members, so Melody drew a large crowd. And the first one to jump up on her feet was Winnie. She was clapping and jumping up and down as if Melody had just won a Pulitzer Prize.
Trust me, I got it.
I was proud as hell of my little girl.
It was brave to get up in front of all these people and speak.
But I wasn’t used to anyone outside of my family responding in this way.
All the kids left the stage to go find their families, and I stood.
“Well, even if you don’t want to admit something’s going on, at least Melody isn’t ashamed to admit it,” Bridger said with a laugh as my daughter rushed off the stage into Winnie’s arms.
