Chapter 1: Promise Me Forever: Chapter 1

‘Can I go play with my puzzle? Pleaaaaase!’ my nine-year-old daughter asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Sure, Paisley. And after we all finish breakfast, we’ll go out on the boat.”

“You’re the best daddy in the world.”

That made me smile, even though I definitely didn’t feel like Dad of the Year today.

Half my family was gathered in the living room of my Chicago home. My grandma Beatrice was sitting on the couch next to me. My brothers Declan and Tyler were scattered around the kitchen island, finishing off their breakfast.

I could tell by their expressions that they couldn’t wait to give me shit. I wondered who was going to start first.

To my astonishment, it was Gran.

As soon as my daughter was out of the room, she sighed, shaking her head. ‘I can’t believe you scared off yet another nanny.’

‘I didn’t scare anyone off,’ I replied smoothly. ‘She wasn’t right for the job.’

‘Yeah. Can’t have anything to do with you being all demanding, right?’ Declan asked with a smirk. As the oldest of six brothers, he didn’t miss a single opportunity to lecture us—or, as he liked to call it, advise us.

But I didn’t give him too much shit about it. At thirty-four, I was the third oldest, and even I’d done my fair share of lecturing as a kid. Mom always said we were her trusted generals when we were young. To this day, I wasn’t entirely sure if it was a compliment. She had a skewed sense of humor.

“No. It has everything to do with the fact that she was putting Paisley in front of the TV while she wasted time on social media, and I flat-out told her that was unacceptable.”

‘Tate, I told you I’m always happy to look after her,’ Gran said.

I cleared my throat, looking straight at her. I knew she meant well, but Paisley was a handful. I needed to be subtle about this. ‘Gran, you don’t have the energy to keep up with a nine-year-old every day.’

‘Young man, are you calling me old?’ She glanced at Declan. ‘Did he just call me old?’

Declan grimaced. ‘Sort of, but he didn’t mean to.’ Glaring at me, he cocked a brow. ‘You didn’t, right?’

I shook my head. So much for being subtle. “Sorry, Gran.”

I had to find another nanny, and I had to do it fast. As a divorced single dad, I made it a point to be home for dinner every evening. I wanted to give my daughter some stability while her mom jet setted around the country. Nora and I married young, when I was fresh out of college. We divorced four years later, when Paisley was three and Nora decided she couldn’t be a model and a wife and mother. I tried to reason with her and even went to couple’s therapy. I gave it my best, right up until I found out she was sleeping with a photographer.

“I spoke to the agency, and they’re already looking for candidates.” I needed someone to look after Paisley full time now during summer vacation. When she was in school, it was different. But in the summer, she was home nonstop, except for the occasional camp outing or sleepover at a friend’s house.

As the CEO of Maxwell Wineries, one of the biggest companies in the industry, I spent the day in the office. I needed someone I could trust to spend that time with Paisley.

No matter how successful I was in business, I couldn’t stop this sinking feeling that I wasn’t a good father. I couldn’t give her the happy family life I’d had growing up, or even keep a nanny around for too long. But I was going to be very careful with the one I chose this time.

“What kind of candidates did you tell them to look for?” Gran asked.

‘I told the agency it’s important for them to send someone who is experienced, likes children, and isn’t taking this job because they couldn’t find anything else to do. I need someone who wants to do this for a living, not as a temporary job until they find something better. Paisley needs stability in her life, and it’s my responsibility to give her that.’

“Tate, she has all of us. That’s more than enough,” Gran said. “It’s not your fault her mother left.’

I stood up, pacing my enormous living room and looking out the window. I’d bought the house in the Lincoln Park neighborhood right after the divorce, wanting to give Paisley as much space as possible while still staying in the city and not moving to a suburb. It was far too big for the two of us.

“I don’t want to get into that today,” I said. The divorce wasn’t my fault, but that didn’t mean I liked the outcome. Nora wasn’t a big part of Paisley’s life. She’d been happy that I wanted full custody. She called her every few weeks and visited on Paisley’s birthday. Once a year, they went on a vacation together for a week. Last time Nora took her to a spa hotel. Paisley wasn’t impressed.

This train of thought wasn’t going to do me any good. I needed to focus on finding the best nanny for Paisley. My parents would be back from their vacation at the end of next month, but they couldn’t watch her nonstop either.

“Well, I’d offer to help you decide on a candidate, but that’s not my area of expertise,” Tyler said with a lazy smile. “I can, however, help you get that stick out of your ass. You’re looking tense, brother. I don’t think you’ll impress any candidates like that.”

“It’s the other way round. They have to impress me.”

Declan cocked a brow. “Yeah, no. I’m with Tyler on this one. No one’s gonna want to work for you if you scare them away.”

I groaned, pacing the living room some more. “Back off, both of you. I don’t need your advice.”

It’s not like I could tell them all to fuck off in front of Gran. My brothers could be a handful sometimes.

“I disagree. I think it’s exactly what you need. I wonder who Travis, Sam, and Luke would side with. Maybe we should call them and find out,” Tyler continued conversationally.

This time, I chuckled.

We did this a lot, randomly giving opinions on each other’s lives. Things could get out of hand when we were all together. It had always been this way.

Declan and I were Mom’s “generals” only because Luke, the second oldest, had made it his mission to cause mayhem. The funniest fact was that he almost always convinced us to get into trouble—to this day, he still counted talking Sam and Travis into pranking Gran that they had chickenpox by painting red dots on themselves as one of his top ten achievements.

It was probably why Declan became a lawyer. He spent so much time getting us out of hot water that it was an obvious career choice. Sam and Travis, the youngest ones, were like a weird mashup between Declan and Luke. Depending on what the situation required, they were the troublemakers or the saviors. It had been fascinating to watch.

“I dare you to call them this early on Saturday,” I said. “They’re gonna bust your ba—”

I cleared my throat, stopping before I said “balls.”

Gran shook her head. “I’ll pretend I haven’t heard anything. But I think Tate’s got enough on his plate with the three of us offering our opinions. And I don’t think you can get ahold of Sam or Travis.”

That was true. Sam was on the other side of the world working for Doctors Without Borders. Clearly he’d followed his savior instinct. Travis was in the process of selling his hugely successful startup—and he was working nonstop.

Tyler only had so much time on his hands because he was the goalie for the Chicago Blades—the hottest hockey team since they won the Stanley Cup. He had summers off, but otherwise he was always busy.

Gran sighed. ‘Well, if you ever change your mind and decide I could handle it, I’m up for the job. I love my great-granddaughter and would adore spending more time with her.’

I knew she did, but Gran was eighty-two, and no matter what she said, she couldn’t keep up with Paisley for more than a weekend.

Checking my watch, I said, ‘I promised Paisley I would take her out on the boat today. Anyone want to come with us?’

‘No, no. I don’t like boats. They make me queasy,’ Gran said. “I came to have breakfast with you all.”

Saturday was the unofficial get-together day of the Maxwells, but I suspected the news about the nanny also had something to do with these three dropping by unannounced for breakfast.

Declan clapped a hand on my shoulder. ‘As much as I like spending time with my niece, I’ve got a lunch date today, and I have to leave. I don’t want to be late. Gran, want me to drop you off at home?’

‘That would be lovely. Thank you, dear.”

“I’m coming with you, Tate. I don’t have anything better to do today,” Tyler said to me. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and end up with a date too.”

I stared at him, narrowing my eyes. “You’re not going to use an outing with my daughter and me to pick up women.”

Tyler smirked. “I can’t use you, that’s true. But women have a thing for hot uncles. For hot single dads too, I hear—not that it’s working for you.”

“Very funny. Don’t make me take back the invitation,” I warned.

“Paisley asked me earlier, and I said yes, so don’t even try it. You don’t want to disappoint your daughter, now do you?”

“Tyler. Behave,” Gran jumped in.

“Never,” he responded, walking over to Gran kissing her cheek. The man had no shame.

Gran laughed, shaking her head. “You six are responsible for every strand of white hair I have. And that goes for your parents too. I’d always hoped you’d all have boys just as rambunctious as you were to see what you put us through. There’s still time. And then I’ll sit back and chuckle as you try to outmaneuver their shenanigans.”

Neither of my brothers was seeing anyone seriously, so I doubted Gran’s wish would come true anytime soon.

After she and Declan left, I headed up the spiral staircase to my daughter’s room while Tyler waited for us downstairs. She was lying on the bed, reading her favorite story, Snow White.

‘Paisley?’ I said. ‘Want to go out on the boat?’

She jumped to her feet. ‘Yes, Daddy.’ Running up to me, she laced her small arms around my legs and looked up at me. ‘And can we also walk along the shore and collect stones, please?’ She was batting her eyelashes, making me laugh. Paisley looked a lot like the Maxwell side of the family. We all had dark brown hair, though she didn’t inherit my blue eyes. Paisley had my mom’s green ones, just like my younger brother Sam. My dad and other brothers had the dominant brown shade.

‘Sure, Pea. Come on. Let’s go.’

When I got back, I’d have to look at a stack of applications to figure out the next steps, but it was only Saturday, and I had until Monday to tell the agency which candidates I wanted to interview. I was going to spend tomorrow looking at résumés before preparing for the week ahead. It was going to be busy. Summer was one of the peak times in the wine business, and I didn’t mind one bit putting in extra hours. Maxwell Wineries was my pride and joy. I got the wine bug from Dad. The two of us spent hours on the family vineyard when I was a kid.

As Paisley and I went down the spiral staircase, her laughter echoed throughout the house.

It was good that my family came and went whenever they pleased, and the door was always open to them. Between Gran, my parents, and my siblings, we never lacked company, but even so, it didn’t entirely feel like a home.

Many years ago, I’d wanted a huge family, but I’d made my peace with the fact that it wasn’t in the cards for me. For now, I had one goal: find the best nanny for Paisley.