Never Say Never by Rachael Sommers (books to get back into reading TXT) 📕

Friday afternoon, as she and Jaime were on the floor drawing at the coffee table, Emily’s phone buzzed with a message. She set down her pencil and reached for it, careful not to bump Jaime’s hand as he frowned with concentration, orange crayon held tightly.

My ex-husband is coming around to pick up some mail from the apartment. Usually he gives me a bit more warning, but I’m sure he wants to check out the new nanny without me there. If he’s there too long, feel free to kick him out.

Emily grinned as she read the text. She could hear the words in Camila’s voice, imagined her exasperation, and even saw the eye rolling behind the message.

Emily had barely sent a reply when the front door clicked. Jaime looked up at the noise expecting to see his mom, but his face fell when he saw it wasn’t her, and he turned his attention back to coloring.

Chris Wright was exactly the kind of man that Emily expected someone like Camila to marry. He was tall and handsome with impressive cheekbones, blue eyes that sparkled a little too much, and brown hair just starting to gray. Camila had told her he was a lawyer with a well-known firm, and she thought from his pressed Armani suit that he wanted the rest of the world to know who he was.

“Hi.” He stepped into the room. “I’m Chris, Jaime’s dad. You must be the new nanny.”

“Emily Walker.” She stood up to shake his outstretched hand.

“Hi, Daddy.” Jaime tore his attention away from his drawing long enough to glance up at his dad.

“Hey, big guy.” Chris ruffled Jaime’s hair affectionately. “You having fun? What are you working on there?”

“It’s a picture of me and Mama and Emily.”

Emily felt awkward about being in the family drawing when Chris was not, and she could tell from the set of Chris’s jaw that he wasn’t pleased.

“You gonna make me one too?”

“Do you want one?” Jaime peered up at his father curiously.

Chris swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“Of course I do, Jaime.”

“But you’re never here anymore,” Jaime said softly.

“I know, big guy.” Chris sighed and moved around the coffee table to sit on the couch behind where Jaime worked.

Emily felt like she was intruding. She retreated into the kitchen to give them some semblance of privacy in the open-plan apartment and busied herself with cleaning up the dishes she and Jaime had used for lunch, though she could still hear every word Chris and Jaime said.

“You remember why I left, right? Because your mom and I weren’t getting along anymore.”

“Yeah.”

“I might not come over here as much anymore, but once I’ve got your bedroom set up in my new place, you can come over whenever you want, okay?”

“Okay.”

Emily was surprised at the affectionate tone Chris had with Jaime, and she wondered if she had judged him too harshly—but then she remembered the affair that had led to Camila divorcing him and the way he had not-so-subtly checked her out earlier. She decided he could still be an asshole.

“I have to get back to work now, but I’ll come and see you again soon, okay?”

“Bye, Daddy.”

Chris ruffled Jaime’s hair one last time before standing up to leave. “It was nice to meet you,” he called out to Emily. She waited until the door closed before padding back into the living room and sitting on the floor across from Jaime again.

They finished drawing and then Emily made him dinner. When Camila called to say she wouldn’t be home until late, she gave him a bath, and afterwards, when he was in his pajamas, they curled up together on the couch for a movie.

Jaime was asleep with his head on Emily’s lap when Camila finally arrived home. The stress and exhaustion of her busy day melted away when she looked down at her son.

“Was your day okay?” she asked Emily, settling down on the couch by Jaime’s feet.

“Better than yours, judging by the time,” Emily replied. “I, uh, I already ate, but I heated up something for you too. It’s still in the oven.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but it was no trouble.”

Camila smiled, and Emily’s heart skipped a beat.

“Did Chris come by?”

“Yeah.”

“Did he hit on you?” Camila asked. Emily shook her head. “Huh. That’s a surprise.”

“He checked me out at some point, but that was all. He sat with Jaime for a little while. I…I think he misses him.”

“He is easy to miss,” Camila conceded, glancing down at her sleeping son. “Chris never wanted kids, but he is good with Jaime. Sometimes…sometimes I worry that our strained relationship will have a negative effect on him. I never wanted him to grow up in a broken home.”

“It might have done him more damage if you’d stayed together.” Emily was a little amazed that Camila was talking about something so personal.

“Oh, there was no way we were staying together after I caught him with his secretary,” Camila replied, her eyes darkening. “He was lucky I didn’t throw the pair of them over the balcony railing.”

“Wow.” Emily couldn’t comprehend why someone would cheat on a woman like Camila. “You deserve better than that.”

“Yes, well, I can’t say I was entirely blameless.” Camila gazed off into the distance, a million miles away. “When we got together, CEBC was just getting started, but as it grew, I focused more on that than my marriage.”

“Still no excuse for what he did,” Emily said a little uncertainly. “He’s an idiot.”

Jaime stirred on Emily’s lap, interrupting the conversation.

“I think it’s time we got you to bed, buddy.” Emily gently nudged him awake. Jaime blinked sleepily for a minute before he realized that he and Emily weren’t alone on the couch.

“Mama!”

“Hi, sweetheart.” Camila chuckled as Jaime roused himself to wrap her in a hug. “Had a good day?”

“Yeah.”

“Ready for bed?” she asked him, and he nodded, rubbing his eyes. “Say goodbye to Emily, then.”

“Bye, Emily.”

“Bye, Jaime. I’ll see you on Monday.”

Emily gathered