Chapter 109

“You have your reasons, so I don’t blame you or hold anything against you,” Stella said calmly, her expression as serene as a quiet lake. “Mr. Richards, I’ve got other matters to attend to, so I’ll be on my way.”

She used to call him Forman, but now it was back to the more formal Mr. Richards. Foreman tried to say something, but Stella didn’t give him the chance to explain. She grabbed Abby’s arm and walked away without looking back.

Abby looked from Stella to Foreman, who was now just a figure left behind. “Star, did he come all this way just to see you?” Abby asked, her curiosity piqued. “Since when did you and Foreman become so close?”

Stella replied, “After I found out you’d been taken by Haynes, I went to the hospital to find him. That’s where I ran into Foreman. Once he knew why I was there, he offered to help track you down.”

Stella paused, a cold glint in her eyes like ice on a winter morning. “Turns out, he was waiting there for me on purpose.”

Abby frowned. “Waiting for you on purpose?”

Stella explained the whole back story to Abby, concluding, “It must have been Haynes who set it up.”

Abby took a moment, then said, “Star, I think you might have misunderstood Foreman.”

“Misunderstood?”

“Think about it. Even if you found Haynes, without proof, there’s nothing you could do. Why would he bother having Foreman wait for you? Besides, maybe Foreman really couldn’t find out where I was.”

Abby looked at Stella earnestly. “Or maybe he did find me but couldn’t get me out, so he didn’t tell you yet. I mean, why else would Haynes suddenly play nice, letting me go after apologizing to Rachel?”

“I’m guessing Foreman might have said something to Haynes, which is why Haynes didn’t go all out against me.”

“Star, I think you should talk to Foreman. If he really did help, it wouldn’t be fair to keep misunderstanding his intentions.”

Stella hesitated. Abby had a point. Just because Foreman didn’t tell the whole truth, it didn’t mean he wasn’t helping. She’d let Haynes cast a shadow over her judgment of Foreman.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll talk to him when I get the chance.”

Abby was about to suggest they go check out her new apartment when Stella’s phone suddenly rang.

“Hello, is this Mrs. O’Brien? Your son Keen had a disagreement with some other children. Could you come to the kindergarten?”

Stella blinked, momentarily thrown off by the title. Since Keen’s birth, her identity seemed to have been swallowed up by the roles of Keen’s Mom or Mrs. O’Brien.

“Mm, sorry,” Stella replied flatly. “You’ve got the wrong number.”

The caller hesitated, confused. “Wrong number? Aren’t you Keen’s mom?”

“No, I’m just the O’Brien family’s nanny.”

Not waiting for a response, Stella hung up. The phone rang again almost immediately.

“Hello, are you Marvin Connolly’s guardian? Marvin’s had an incident, could you come over?”

Stella’s face tightened. “What happened to Marvin?”

“He got into a fight and got hurt… Please, come as soon as you can.”

Stella’s face tightened with concern. “I’ll be right there.”

After a quick explanation to Abby, Stella hurried off to the kindergarten.

The kindergarten was quite a distance away, so it took Stella about forty minutes to get there.