thing you want to discuss with me, Blaire?” he asks while he pours some bourbon into a second glass at his corner bar.
“It’s not what you think.”
“What am I thinking?” he asks as he hands me the glass. I accept it from him thirstily. I definitely need bourbon if I’m going to make it through tonight.
“It’s not about today.”
“It’s not?” He’s still grinning! The devil!
“It’s about Rachel,” I reply.
“Rachel? The nanny?”
“Trevor, she is unhappy working for you, and you need to do something about it before she decides to quit and turn Anya’s world upside-down again.”
The grin has disappeared pretty quickly from his face. His brows furrow. I notice the way he clenches his glass tightly, turning his knuckles white.
“What is she unhappy about? She wants more money?”
“No!”
“Anya is a good kid. I know for a fact she’s not any trouble to her.”
“It’s not Anya. It’s you, Trevor,” I say.
“Me?”
“Can you really be surprised? You run this house and your company like it’s your kingdom. Rachel is a part of your household. You need to treat her that way. Be appreciative and respectful. She’s afraid of you and your reaction to her every move. She shouldn’t be walking on eggshells around here.”
My little speech has made me breathless. My chest heaves. I’m amazed I even got this far. That Trevor hasn’t interrupted me yet or smashed his glass on the floor. His face has darkened. His eyes have narrowed.
“And you know all this because?”
“She told me. Well, she told me how she feels about working here. I believe she is on the brink of quitting, and that can’t be good for Anya.”
I have no idea how Trevor is going to react. I’ve already prepared for the worst. I’m expecting him to roar and rage, fire Rachel before she can quit, maybe tear up our contract in the process.
But instead, he takes a slow sip of his drink and purses his lips tightly before he speaks.
“Thank you for bringing this to my notice, Blaire. I will take your advice,” he says.
Sometimes, Trevor Davenport knows exactly what to say or do to move the earth from right under my feet.
I watch as Trevor pours himself another drink. He hasn’t said anything in a while, but when I look closely, I can see that the vein in the middle of his forehead is throbbing. He has his jaw clenched. It isn’t just anger. He is worried. Is he disappointed in himself? He doesn’t want Rachel to quit.
“She really loves Anya, and she wants to stay. I think if you could just create a nicer environment for her here, she won’t leave,” I say, trying to make the situation less intense.
This was not the reaction I was predicting from Trevor.
He fixes his gaze on me now and nods lightly.
“I’ll do the best I can without putting on a show,” he replies.
“Yes, I’m sure that’ll be fine. Anya is lucky to have you.”
“I don’t think anyone else would agree with you. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to be a father. Anya was lucky to have her mom. Nicola was a good mother. Now, everything has changed.”
My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. I want to go to him. Throw my arms around him. Feel his heart beating in his chest. Trevor is more human now than he has ever seemed before. What can I do to help him? What can I do to make him see how truly precious his relationship with his daughter is?
“Anya is going to grow up knowing that you were always there for her, even if you made some mistakes along the way,” I say, and Trevor throws me a darting look. He’s snapped out of the moment. Maybe he’s even a little bitter that he allowed himself to appear weak in front of me.
“Thank you for looking out for Anya, but I have work to do now.”
“Okay, umm…I guess I should…”
“Leave. Yeah. I’m sure you can show yourself out.”
He turns and goes out of the living room. He’s just going to leave me here alone?
I hear a door open and shut somewhere in the apartment. Presumably, he wants to be by himself. Things changed so drastically in a matter of a few minutes that I can’t even fully grasp it.
I’m not sure if I did the right thing by bringing this up. But I needed to warn him. For Anya’s sake.
I don’t know if he’ll be able to make any changes to keep