Kate felt better with Simon out of the house. As she got dressed the next morning, she felt slightly lighter for the first time in days. There was one more thing she had to do, though. Opening the door to Annabelle’s room, she smiled at her daughter.

“Hi, sweetie. Granddaddy and Aunt Blaire are in the kitchen. Why don’t you go down and see them? I need to talk to Miss Hilda.”

Hilda gave Kate a questioning look as Annabelle ran past her and down the stairs.

“Is everything okay?”

Kate raised her eyebrows. “Does it look like everything’s okay? Are you in on it with him?”

Hilda took a step back. “I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”

Kate scoffed. “The candles, the EpiPens, the cough medicine, the sweater—you’re working with Simon. I almost believed I was losing my mind. Now I see, you’re trying to get rid of me, so you can be the only woman taking care of Annabelle.”

Kate had done some research that morning. She’d gone back and reviewed Hilda’s employment application and found her daughter’s number, listed as the emergency contact. But it was an old number, from before she’d moved away, and Kate couldn’t find a new one. Kate had found her right away on Facebook, though she’d only been able to scroll through a handful of pictures due to the privacy settings. She’d been right. Hilda’s daughter, Beth, had a little girl Annabelle’s age. She even looked like Annabelle—long blond hair and big brown eyes. Then she’d googled Beth and found a blog about mothering. No mention of Hilda anywhere, but there was a post about getting toxic people out of your life. That was proof enough to Kate that Hilda was bad news.

“Kate . . .”

Kate put a hand up. “Don’t bother. I’m sick of your lies. Pack your things and get out. You’re fired.”

Tears sprang to Hilda’s eyes, and her face paled. “Kate, you’re wrong—”

“Wrong?” Kate’s voice rose. “I’m not wrong. You’re wrong if you think you can trick me anymore.” She turned and walked away before Hilda could say anything else. Marching down the stairs to the kitchen, she walked in and called over to Harrison and Blaire sitting at the table. “Now we’re safe.”

Annabelle looked up. “What, Mommy?”

“Don’t worry, sweetie. Everything’s fine.”

Harrison rose and walked over to Kate. “Kate, are you okay?”

She gave him a triumphant smile. “I am now. I just fired Hilda. Another traitor gone.” Why did he look so upset?

He put his hands on her arms. “Katie, Katie. Hilda’s not a traitor. Where is she?”

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. “She’s packing. I want her gone.”

He started to say something, and then stopped. “Okay. I’ll just go and make sure she leaves.”