RAFE: A Buff Male Nanny (Loose Ends Book 1)

by Rebekah Weatherspoon

  “Mommy, did we get Rafe in trouble with daddy and the police?” Avery asked.

  “No, baby. You didn’t at all. Your daddy made a bad choice and did a bad thing. You are not responsible for that.”

  Sloan looked up as one of the cops who had just been speaking to Rafe approached her. “Mrs. Copeland. We have your husband—”

  “Ex-husband and it’s Dr. Copeland.”

  “I’m sorry. Dr. Copeland. Would you like to press charges?”

  “That’s not up to me. He attacked my friend, not me.”

  “Mr. Whitcomb believes that Mr. Ballos isn’t a threat to him. He said that would be up to you.”

  “I—I might have to. He’s not even supposed to be here. They usually fly unaccompanied.”

  “We’ll hold him for a few hours and then put him back on a plane to Seattle.” Sloan was reminded then that it was almost Tuesday. There was no way Drew didn’t have patients in the morning. How could he have been so stupid. Reckless rage caused you to do stupid things, apparently.

  “I might have to file a restraining order.”

  “That might not be a bad idea.”

  Finally, the officers exchanged four different head nods, then let Rafe go. He came right back to them and Addison ran into his arms. He scooped her up and hugged her close. “We can go.”

  Just then, one of the teen girls came rushing over to them. “Hi. Sorry, we recorded the whole thing. Me and my friend, you know, just in case the cops got out of hand.”

  “Thank you,” Sloan said, fighting back tears. Sloan could easily picture how much worse the situation could have gotten.

  “We can email you the videos. Just in case you need them for, like, legal purposes or whatever.”

  Rafe looked at Sloan. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  The girl waved over her friends and the three of them sent her all the footage they had. She thanked them and the couple who had hung around just in case, and then finally all parties went their own way.

  “We’re gonna go home now, okay?” Sloan told the girls as they walked to short-term parking. After they got them settled in their car seats, Sloan caught Rafe’s eye as they both moved toward the front of the car. He looked at her over the hood.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Not at all. You?”

  “Nope. You find out what set him off?”

  Sloan didn’t want to make Rafe even more upset, but he needed to know everything. “Addison saw us kissing. She might have seen more.”

  The color drained out of Rafe’s face. “And she told him.”

  “Yup. I’ll tell you the rest later.”

  “Yeah, okay.” They climbed in the car and Sloan immediately turned and leaned between their seats. She wiggled Addison’s foot.

  “You okay, my love bugs?”

  “Yeah, we’re okay. I did see you kiss. I didn’t mean to, but I saw it,” Addison said. Sloan knew that tone and her heart broke. At some point during this whole ordeal, Drew had called her a liar.

  Sloan was hoping to get them home and fed, but apparently they were having this conversation now. Rafe knew it too. He turned in his seat to face the girls.

  “We didn’t mean for you to see that, sweetie,” Sloan said. “That was a mistake.”

  Avery threw up her hands. “I don’t get it. If Rafe can’t be our daddy, then why were you kissing?”

  Well, she’d failed the honesty portion and the whole not confusing your kid part too. Sloan might as well come clean.

  “Sometimes adults aren’t sure what they want. When you asked if Rafe could be your daddy, we weren’t sure if we were more than friends yet and we didn’t want to tell you until we knew.”

  “Do you know now?” Avery asked.

  Sloan glanced at Rafe. His stressed look matched hers.

  “Yeah, we do. Rafe’s my boyfriend now.”

  “And I’m still your nanny.”

  “That’s right. He’s still going to take care of you. That won’t change. But we just aren’t at the daddy phase of things yet, okay babies? We’re still getting to know each other and it takes time before two people decide to get married. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes,” Avery said. Addison just nodded.

  “We messed up and we’re sorry,” Rafe said.

  “And it’s okay if you don’t want to forgive us right now,” Sloan added. “We made things confusing for you and your dad didn’t make things any better.”

  “I hate him,” Addison said. Tears started welling in her eyes again.

  “Daddy said Addison was bullshit. And then he said he was gonna get Rafe fired and make us live with him.”

  “Please don’t make us go back. I don’t want to go back,” Addison said, the tears flowing freely again. Sloan’s heart split in two when Avery reached over and started wiping her sister’s cheeks. Sloan was gonna kill Drew.

  “You won’t have to,” she said. “I promise.”

  16

  After a quick trip to the McDonald’s drive-thru to ease the tension with nuggets and Happy Meal toys, they took the girls straight home. They were pretty jazzed to see the mountain of cinnamon sugar cookies waiting for them, but they were only momentarily distracted. They had more questions about their dad and what was going to happen next. Sloan told them the truth. She didn’t know, but she would handle it.

  She tried to distract them, asking more questions about the Under the Sea unit they would be continuing this week with Mrs. Brown. By the time they finished their dinner, Sloan could tell they were completely wrung out. Aside from the shit Drew had just pulled, they’d been running around since Friday. They had to be exhausted.

  “Why don’t we do bath time a little early and then we can just veg out and watch a movie. How does that sound?”

  Avery hopped off her stool “Yeah, okay.” Addison didn’t say anything. She just followed, her eyes down.

  “Do you mind?” she asked Rafe. “I’m gonna call my mom.”

  “Yeah, sure. Take as much time as you need.” He kissed her on the forehead and followed the girls upstairs.

  Her mom was just about to leave her sister’s house for the night when she answered. She put the call on speaker, and Sloan told them both everything. She managed to hold back the tears, but as she recounted the whole incident at the airport, she started shaking. The adrenaline in her system wasn’t quite done with her yet.

  “I might have to challenge his custody, Mom. I can’t—this can’t happen again and I definitely don’t want to risk something even worse happening.”

  “Well, you know how I felt when you left him. There are mistakes and there are major red flags. This a red flag the size of a football field—”

  “And you know what comes after a red flag?” Lauryn suddenly said into the phone. “An ejection. Kick him all the way to the curb, girl.”

  Sloan burst out laughing. A few tears came with it. “I think you’re talking about a red card. But thanks, Laur.”

  “Same thing. What would you tell me if Pres pulled something like that?” Lauryn’s husband was the sweetest man. Sloan couldn’t even imagine him raising his voice in anger at her sister, let alone their son.

  “I’d tell you to shove him into a cannon and aim it directly at the surface of the sun.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I want you to be happy, but more importantly I want you and the girls to be safe,” her mom said. “If Drew can’t control his temper, then keeping the girls away from him might be for the best.”

  “I just—I can’t wrap my mind around it. He’s always been arrogant, but he completely lost it. And I can’t tell Addison that she needs to forgive him for the way he talked to her.”

  “Especially if there’s a chance he doesn’t think he did anything wrong,” her mom said. “Yeah. Do you want me to come out? He got off easy with me last time. He hasn’t met the full wrath of Pauletta yet.”

  For a moment she considered it. She hadn’t seen her family in months. “No, I thin
k we’re okay for now. I’m just so pissed. Screw him.”

  “Let me know how me and your dad can help. And let me know when you call Wendy.” Contacting her lawyer was next on Sloan’s to-do list.

  “I will.”

  “So, you’re seeing this Rafe now?”

  Sloan cringed. “Yeah, I know we didn’t meet under ideal circumstances, but I really care about him and he’s so good to the girls.”

  “He cute?”

  “Lauryn,” her mom scolded.

  “Yes, he is cute and that definitely doesn’t matter.”

  “What? I just wanted to know.”

  Sloan heard her mom suck her teeth. “I met your father when he was cussing out my brother for not tipping enough and that turned out fine. I’ve talked to Rafe a few times and he seems very nice. I’m going to talk to him again though.”

  “Okay,” Sloan agreed.

  “Dang, I want to talk to him too,” Lauryn said. “I didn’t meet Drew until you were engaged.”

  “I’ll arrange a conference call.” She was only half joking. She knew her dad would want in on this too.

  She almost bit a hole in her bottom lip and let out a trembling breath through her nose. This was her mom’s own subtle “I told you so”. There was nothing bitter about it left between her and her mom anymore, but when Sloan met Drew, she and her mom were still healing from being glued together at the hip for more years than either of them liked. Her mom wanted to do things a certain way, meet his parents and all of that, but Sloan was so sick of her mother’s hovering that she begged her to let her do this one thing alone.

  Sloan didn’t realize at the time that she was going along with what Drew wanted. Her mom wasn’t going to let that happen again, even if Sloan was really grown this time. And this time, Sloan knew she was right. She trusted Rafe, but she was that level of sprung, so it would be a bad call to not to listen to her family, who wanted the best for her and her daughters.

  Plus, she’d already met his family and she didn’t doubt for one second that Monica was doing more than being friendly when she’d welcomed Sloan into her home. She wanted to make sure Sloan was what she and Joe wanted for Rafe. Sloan was sure they wouldn’t be psyched to find out that her ex-husband had attacked their son in the middle of LAX.

  Another thing to do. Apologize to the Whitcombs from bringing this drama into Rafe’s life.

  “I’m going to go check on the girls, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Okay, baby. You can call back tonight if you need to. It’s okay if you wake me up.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” She knew she shouldn’t blame herself for Drew actions, but now she couldn’t help feeling like a burden to a multitude of people.

  After they ended their call, Sloan opened her LetsChat app and saw a bunch of notifications from the group chat with the girls. Meegan was currently in a Target dressing room, snapping pictures of every outfit she was trying on. Sloan almost started typing, but she didn’t want to disrupt the easy fun of their conversation. Instead she texted Xeni privately, telling her what had happened. Xeni was with her family, so she couldn’t talk on the phone, but she was texting back with a fury.

  You know I’m going to kill him right?

  I’m not even letting the aunts handle this.

  I’m gonna fuck him up myself.

  Sloan smiled at her screen. Okay, maybe burden was the wrong word. She was lucky so many people had her back.

  Nothing physical.

  I don’t want you to get arrested.

  But I might take you up on that hex.

  Done. I’m gonna hex the shit out of him.

  Also. What happens to a surgeon when they

  break one of their hands in a fist fight?

  “Oh my god,” Sloan said out loud. “That motherf—”

  They might find it hard to do the work

  that pays for the children

  they claim to want full custody of.

  That. Take that to your lawyer.

  Sloan hopped up and grabbed her laptop. She immediately pulled up the videos the young girls had sent her from the airport. She replied to Riley_Anne03 and yuriXviktor2k4ever@memail with a heartfelt thank you, then pressed play on the first video, with the volume on low. Somehow it was worse than she remembered. From where Riley and her friends were standing, they really did capture everything. Drew looked completely deranged and it was clear how hard Rafe had tried to deescalate the situation.

  Sloan attached the file to a new email then started typing.

  It was more than two hours after Rafe and the girls had headed up for their bath by the time Sloan felt like she had done all that she could do. Rage was a funny thing. It clearly made Drew lose his ever loving mind. It made Sloan sharper. Drew might never fully regret the day he lost his shit in front of their kids, but maybe finally he’d understand that Sloan meant what she said. She wasn’t under his thumb and he wouldn’t fuck with her life or her kids anymore.

  Heartened by her own resolve and Xeni’s clear thinking, Sloan headed upstairs to see how things were coming along. Addison and Avery rarely missed out on the chance to rewatch one of their Disney favorites. It was quiet and when she poked her head into the girls’ bedroom, she saw that Addison was already sound asleep.

  Rafe sat on the floor in between their beds, intently reading a copy of Madeline’s Rescue in the dim light coming from Avery’s unicorn lamp. Avery was laying on the floor beside him, half heartedly playing a match game on the tablet. Rafe looked up at her, the corner of his mouth tipping up. Sloan gave him a little smile back, then squatted down beside Avery. She lightly touched the back of her head, over her silk bonnet. Her hair was damp.

  “Hey, baby. Do you want to get in your bed?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Avery closed out of the game and sat up. “I’m pretty tired.”

  “Come on.” She let Sloan scoop her up and tuck her under the covers. “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too. Did you eat all the cookies?”

  “No,” Sloan laughed quietly. “There are plenty of cookies left.”

  She and Rafe said goodnight, then stepped back into the hallway.

  “How was bath time?” she asked.

  “Fine. Their table mate Seth has a birthday tomorrow. We just talked about that and his party this weekend. And then I showed them cute animal videos until Addison couldn’t stand the cuteness anymore.”

  “God, I’m gonna have to buy them a pony for their birthday.”

  “It’s a possibility,” Rafe said.

  “Did they let you wash their hair?”

  “No. I didn’t do the whole routine. I just did a co-wash or whatever and detangled it as much as they would let me. Tomorrow is basic pigtail day. I’ll fancy it up with some ribbons.”

  “That’s great. Thank you.”

  Rafe just nodded, a muscle in his cheek tensing. “Let’s go downstairs.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Sloan said, suddenly nervous about whatever would happen when they got down there.

  Rafe flopped on the couch and let out one hell of a sigh, stretching his long legs beside him. She felt like she could fight a bear after sending that final email, but she’d only done what she could for herself and her kids. Rafe was probably in a different head space.

  “How you feeling?” she asked tentatively.

  “Still pretty fucked up, to be honest. Did you talk to your mom?”

  “Yeah. She has my back, whatever I decide. I told her about us, of course. She wants to talk to you at some point. About us.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense.” He closed his eyes and pushed his head back into the cushions. He’d seemed so peaceful reading that children's book and now Sloan could feel the tension rolling off of him.

  Sloan wanted him to say something, anything, but she’d spent the last three hours processing and ranting while Rafe had been taking care of her kids. He needed that chance now. So Sloan sat there and waited.

  “Can I be honest with you?” he sa
id suddenly.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “If no one else had been there, I would have fucked him up. He wouldn’t be walking right now.” Rafe didn’t lift his head, but he opened his eyes and looked at her. “I’m proud of myself for keeping cool, though. For his sake and mine.”

  “I am too. Things would have been a hundred times worse if you’d stooped to his level of BS.”

  Rafe’s throat contracted and he closed his eyes again. He let out another deep breath and sat forward. Sloan kept her eyes on him as he scrubbed his hands through his hair, then scratched his beard.

  “I wouldn’t do another minute as a guest of the county for someone like him, but I was this close to doing it for you and the girls,” he said, blunt and to the point. “And I’m trying to figure out if that scares me.”

  A massive knot tied itself in Sloan’s throat. She knew any man who thought she and her kids weren’t worth fighting for was not the man for her, but this was different and Rafe knew it. There was flexing, bravado, words exchanged between men and then there were the two different sides of the violence coin. Drew had picked his side and Rafe was making it clear what his side meant to him. It meant approaching a situation with a level head and choosing to be the better person, no matter how badly he wanted to prove a very specific point. Rafe knew the consequences though. He’d gotten a real, no-fucking-around taste of the consequences. Drew didn’t know how lucky he was, on a lot of levels.

  Sloan wiped her face, catching a tear that suddenly jumped out. Their honeymoon period was definitely over.

  Rafe scratched the back of his neck, like a nervous twitch. He had to touch some part of his body before he spoke again. “When the Bakers left for Australia, I was going to give up this work for good. I was done nannying. That’s why I was available when Sarah Kato called me. I was going to do something else.”

  The knot in Sloan’s throat tightened and started to migrate south. “Oh. What were you going to do?”