The Bond Between Us novel Chapter 821

The Next Day

Herman was gone. He’d actually left for Willowbrook by himself—not even Nelson or Dailey went with him.

Anastasia drove him to the airport. She watched him go through security, standing there as his figure faded into the crowd, swallowed up by the sea of travelers. It felt like losing him all over again.

She stood there for ages, lost in her thoughts, until Salma called—Emmie had choked on her milk. Anastasia snapped out of her daze and rushed home, her heart pounding.

The nanny had been careless, and Emmie ended up choking. By the time Anastasia arrived, Katelyn was already there, holding a now-okay Emmie while giving the nanny a piece of her mind and firing her on the spot.

Emmie was fine, but the poor nanny was beside herself, apologizing nonstop. “Ma’am, I’m so sorry. It was my mistake. I promise it won’t happen again. Please, don’t fire me. I really need this job.”

Katelyn wasn’t having any of it. “You let my granddaughter choke! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? What if something worse had happened? I’ll give you an extra month’s pay, but that’s it. Pack up and go.”

Blushing and flustered, the nanny gathered her things and left.

Katelyn kept muttering under her breath. “Honestly, I pay her twice the going rate and this is what I get? So careless, so irresponsible. You can’t be sloppy when it comes to kids.”

“Mom, I’ll take her,” Anastasia said, taking Emmie gently into her arms. Emmie, still so little, just looked around with wide, curious eyes, blissfully unaware of the chaos.

Salma didn’t say a word—she wasn’t the one paying the nanny, after all, and since this was the Salstrom family’s granddaughter, Katelyn had every right to handle it as she saw fit.

Upstairs, Liana was patiently teaching Pattie English. Teaching a language is tough when the kid won’t speak up, and Liana was never sure how much Pattie was really learning. She did her best, but for now, it was mostly textbook stuff, not much actual conversation.

Liana heard the commotion downstairs but kept to her role. She was the tutor, not part of the family drama.

After the lesson, Pattie gestured shyly. “Ms. Liana, can I go play with my brother and sister for a bit?”

“Of course, you can have a twenty-minute break. Next up, we’ll go over some classic poetry,” Liana replied with a smile.

Pattie nodded and scampered downstairs.

Anastasia was sitting on the couch, playing with Emmie, when Katelyn turned to her, clearly stressed. “Why did Herman go to Willowbrook? Ana, why didn’t you stop him? What if that fox Sandy lures him away again? Herman doesn’t even remember how much he loved you!”