“Yes, well, you don’t know my parents.” He laughs a little bit, but I can tell that it’s forced.
I’m good at picking up on how people speak.
“It can’t be that bad.” I encourage him to talk about it.
“My parents are here, because they think that they need to help with Tyler. With that out of the way I have to say that, if they act slightly snotty toward you, it’s not you. It’s because I went against their wishes and they don’t like it when one of their children defies them,” Kevin tells me, not looking at me.
“If you don’t want to talk about this, you don’t have to. We barely know each other and this is my first day,” I point out to him, as if he doesn’t already know this.
“That is why you need to know. I suppose I should’ve told you at dinner last night, but you and Tyler were getting along so well – let me tell you, Shelly, I don’t feel so lonely knowing that there’s another adult that I can talk to,” Kevin admits to me.
“It’s always nice to know that you’re not alone. That’s the good thing about great company.” I smile at him.
“Yes, I agree. However, I do have to get back to work and there are going to be times that you’ll bump into my mother, and possibly my father.” Kevin takes another sip of his beer. He seems nervous.
“Why is it so hard for you to talk about them?” I turn my chair so that I’m against the table, my back straight, showing him that he has my undivided attention.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s because all of our lives our parents weren’t always been the best.” He shrugs one of his shoulders.
“Not everyone has the best upbringing.” I clear my throat, feeling my face growing hot and happy that it’s dark enough that he can’t see the redness in my cheeks.
“My parents aren’t together, but live together, even after all these years. My father – well, he tends to look at women as if they are sex objects. It’s been that way ever since we were young. I believe that my parents were happy at one time, and now they put on a good show. However, the last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable around here. So, if you see him – even in passing – even if you don’t talk, but if he says anything or tries to. . . ” His voice trails off.
I feel my heart racing. I understand what he’s talking about, now. I do.
“I’ve been through this time and time again with men. You don’t think I know that I’m pretty?” I try to laugh it off.
“It’s different with him. I just wanted to warn you. Only it’s not something that you bring up at an interview, is it?” he asks me without laughing as he speaks.
I want to run. The way he looks at me with such seriousness, and with such worry. I’ve never seen such worry in a man’s eyes before.
If I get up, I know I’ll walk right out of the house. Out of the mess that is beneath the surface, but I don’t want to do that.
I’m not willing to do that to Tyler.
“Don’t ever be alone with him. Ever,” he tells me, his tone soft and low, but there’s sternness in it. There’s hardness in it.
“I won’t.” I whisper
I swallow hard.
Chapter 11
Kevin: Staying Alert
I can see the fear in her eyes. I know that she wants to leave. I believe the only thing that is keeping her here is Tyler. It’s not hard to figure out.
“I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry for scaring you. I know that I should’ve just kept it to myself, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.” I bow my head and look down at my bare feet.
“No. I’m glad that you said something. If you hadn’t and something had happened, I’d have been pretty upset. But, don’t think that I’ll quit, because I need the money, and I’m already falling in love with Tyler. He’s such a great boy.” I hear her soft words and I can hear the smile before I look up and see it.
“Yes, he’s a good kid. I just wish we knew a little bit about his home life before he came here. I mean, who the hell drops a kid off and says, here, he’s yours take care of him?” I ask her, wondering if maybe she might have an answer for me.
“Maybe something happened to his mother. Maybe she just couldn’t take care of him and did the right thing by bringing him here. There could be many reasons why he was just dropped off. If you carry on asking yourself, instead of living life and having a good time of it, then it’s going to drive you insane. I grew up without a father. Some dads step up the plate and others don’t,” she explains to me.
“How old are you?” I asked her to change the subject quickly.
“I am twenty-three,” she states proudly.
“Thirty-two.” I grimace as the words come out of my mouth.
“It’s not that bad.” She laughs at me, her eyes dancing.
“Maybe not to you.” I raise an eyebrow.
The world of seriousness is forgotten about for just a few moments as we get to know a little more about each other.
“You don’t look thirty-two. You don’t even look to be in your thirties. If I had to guess without you telling me I would peg you for twenty-five.” The guess comes right off the top of her head and I know that she’s not trying to flatter me.
Not someone as blunt as she is.
“Thank you, I’ll take that as a compliment.” I finish my beer and stand up.
“Are you going to bed?” She asks me, a little surprised.
“Yes, I have to get up early and make my rounds at the office, or at least show up, even if I don’t attend the board meetings and check the invoices of the shoes that we’ve sold so far this week.” I groan, not wanting to leave the house as much as I used to.
“I’m going to head to bed too, then,” Shelly tells me and we walk into the house together, I close the sliding doors and lock them in place, knowing that Darla will go around double-checking the doors before she goes to bed.
I make sure that the security alarm is in place and when I turn toward Shelly, I see that there’s unease in her eyes.
“Just a precaution, that’s all,” I reassure her, leading her away from the door as we head up the stairs together.
“Good night, Shelly,” I tell her, standing in front of my door. She hasn’t gone on to her room yet, but stops for just a split second.
“Goodnight, Kevin.” She blushes, and I don’t think she knows how cute she looks when she does that. I just want to wrap my arms around her and kiss her. I want to know how her lips feel against mine, but I open my bedroom door and slip inside, closing it quietly behind me.
Lying on my bed I see that my phone is blinking. There’s at least one missed call.
I reach for it and see that there are calls back-to-back. I don’t like the fact that they’re from a restricted number.
Probably the same number as last night.
“What the hell do they want? Who would continuously call me?” I mutter to myself. My heart is racing, and this time I hate to admit it but it’s out of fear.
Is it a warning that someone is coming to take my son away from me? That’s the biggest worry that I have in the back of my mind. If they did, it would be kidnapping. I have complete legal rights over Tyler, as his father and because of his mother’s abandonment of him. As soon as I received the positive results of the paternity test, I’d also had my lawyer make sure of that. There was no way I was going to allow someone to take him from me.
Why in the hell would someone be calling me now?
I feel sure it has to do with Tyler, and I can’t shake the feeling. I wasn’t getting any calls like this before he arrived here.
“What am I going to do?” I whisper to myself, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. I try to relax and go to sleep, as know I have to get up and go to work tomorrow, even if I have to force myself to do it.
Just thinking about leaving Tyler here at the house with the anonymous phone calls, and leaving Shelly here unprotected, if she runs into my father, makes me begin to sweat.
I’m not happy about either scenar
io.
How far will this go? Am I worried about nothing when it comes to my father? Has he learned his lesson from the times before?
Then there are the phone calls. I want to know who’s on the other end of the line. I want to know what’s coming, and something is coming – I can feel it.
There’s a possibly it’s a storm that I might not be able to control – that I might not be able to prepare myself for. The one thing I do know is that I’m not willing to lose Tyler or Shelly; but, how far will I have to go to protect them?
To Be Continued . . . .
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Sneak Peak:
Calls Can Be Threatening
Kevin
I think it’s all over with when Tyler goes missing. I know why I think it would be: the phone calls that come in are worse than ever. I wonder whether my son is going to be snatched from me. Who would want to take him? What do they want with him? I’m his father and I want to take care of him. Just when I think it’s over something else happens – another problem comes up.
Shelly
I soak in the bath, relaxing after a horrible day. The hot water surrounds my body, and the bubbles make me feel a little better. It’s as if I can breathe again. I hear a small noise that that tells me that the strangeness is not over for tonight. I get out of the tub, to investigate the noise, thinking it might be a mouse, but what would a mouse be doing in such a clean mansion? I notice a small hole in the wall, as if someone had drilled it on purpose. I go to Kevin about it, fearful of sleeping in my own room. He suggests that we share a room….could this be a spark of the love that I’m looking for?
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The Nanny (Family Secrets Book 1) Page 4