cheek as I straightened and tiptoed out of her room.
Growing up, I’d discovered there were two kinds of military kids. The ones that remained aloof and guarded themselves from any close friendships because they knew they would be moving in a short amount of time anyway, and those who formed attachments quickly, milking the moments and memories they could make with their new friends before they were whisked away to someplace new.
I filled my lungs with a shaky breath.
Those in the first group were lucky sons of a gun. Maybe if I’d learned to guard my heart when I was younger, I wouldn’t find myself in my current predicament.
There had to be a rule somewhere. Some kind of nanny code.
Don’t fall in love with the family you work for.
I could blame it on the night. Bedtime stories and butterfly kisses. The magic of dreams as my head hit the pillow in a house filled with love. Or I could blame it on the morning. The promise of a new day beginning with peels of gleeful laughter followed by the stability of a hero in a dashing white lab coat.
I padded to the guest bedroom—my bedroom while Ben remained on night float duty—and folded back the covers before I laid my glasses on the bedside table.
So what if I loved them? Teachers were meant to love their students. Nannies were meant to love their charges. Didn’t mean they, I mean me, uh, I… Didn’t mean I couldn’t remain professional at all times. Nothing had to change. I’d still be there for Ben. Someone he could rely on. Take as many burdens off his shoulders as he’d allow me so he didn’t get crushed by the weight. And, of course, I’d be there for Chloe. Not as a mommy, although apparently I read like one, but at least as friend.
Friend.
Nanny.
My heart would just have to accept these, and only these, were the titles I would hold in the Reed household.
My eyes grew heavy and my thoughts drifted, consciousness loosening its grasp like gravity sprinkled with pixie dust.
Girlfriend.
Wife.
Mommy.
…
Wakefulness gradually settled upon me like an optometrist settling a pair of glasses on the visually impaired. My hazy brainwaves came into focus and I reached for my real glasses on the nightstand. Pushing them onto the bridge of my nose, I blinked my eyes.
And swallowed a scream.
Pulse throbbing in my throat, I tried to wrangle my galloping heart. Chloe stood right beside my bed like a poltergeist from a horror movie. How long had she been standing there watching me sleep? A shudder went down my spine.
“Are you hungry?” I managed to keep the heebie-jeebies from my voice.
She nodded and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the kitchen. I got a bowl down from the cabinet while she retrieved the milk from the refrigerator. Cheerios tinkled into her dish while I filled the water reservoir on the Keurig.
A metal-on-metal thunk sounded from outside. Mail carrier was early this morning. While the coffee brewed, I stepped outside and collected the few envelopes waiting in the black mailbox screwed into the side of the house by the door. The name on the top envelope caught my eye.
Benji Reed.
Ben’s real name was Benji? A giggle caught in my chest. And to think I’d compared the slight downturn at the outer corners of his eyes to a Bassett puppy the first time I’d met him. I was wrong, since the Benji I knew from films was a terrier mixed breed.
“Chloe.” I dropped the mail on the countertop. “Want to watch a movie after school today?”
Her head popped up from her bowl of cereal. “Can we watch Moana?”
“I was thinking we’d watch this one I used to love as a kid. It’s about a dog named Benji.”
Her eyes rounded. “That’s my daddy’s name!”
A grin danced across my lips. “What a coincidence.”
“What’s a coi-say-dance?” Her brows pulled low.
“Co-in-ci-dence,” I repeated, enunciating each syllable. “It means two things have an unexpected connection.”
“Oh.” She shoveled another dripping bite of toasted Os into her mouth.
I poured creamer into my coffee and took a sip. Chloe’s bowl clanged in the sink behind me and I winced. More coffee needed. When half the cup was in my system, I set the mug down. “I almost forgot that I have a surprise for you.”
She stilled. Miracle of miracles. “For me?”
“Mmhmm. I brought it with me yesterday, but we had so much fun at La Jolla that I completely forgot.”
She bounced on her toes. “What is it?”
I motioned