by Natalie Ann
“Ass,” he said to Evan and put his beer to his lips.
He knew his cousin was busting. “Boys,” his Uncle Michael said. “Evan, behave or I’m going to make you go watch Scarlet.”
“Don’t you like your niece?” he asked Evan.
“I love my niece,” Evan said. “What I don’t love is the mess she makes in her diaper. Damn, it’s nasty and every time I’m around she does it and I gag.”
Ryan found himself laughing again. This time all his family looked at him like he’d grown two heads.
What the hell? He wasn’t that miserable, was he?
8
Watching Over Us
“Well,” Zoe asked when she made her way back over. “What did you and Ryan talk about?”
“Nothing,” she said, not wanting to get into it here with all the people and the kids. “I just met the realtor that sold me the house though. She seemed nice.”
“You’re doing your avoidance tactic which means it’s something good. Now you’re going to make me wait, aren’t you?”
“I don’t like waiting,” Maddie said. “Waiting isn’t fun. Like driving here. That was a long wait.”
She stared at her sister as if to say, “See, they hear everything.” Zoe grinned at her like she normally did but let it drop.
“Mom?” Jeffrey asked. “There are boys playing baseball. Can I go get my glove? We didn’t bring it?”
“No, sweetie,” she said. “Those boys are bigger.”
Jeffrey looked like he was going to throw a fit and he never did before. Of all the places for this to happen where she was new and meeting people, the last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself as a rotten mother.
“I can go get it if you want,” Zoe whispered.
“No. He can’t always get his way. I can’t give in even when I want to.” But she could distract her son. “Jeffrey, Ryan said that he will show you how to use your tools next weekend. What do you think of that?”
“Really?” Jeffrey asked. “That’d be neat. Then I can do things around the house like a man.”
She wanted to laugh over his excitement and finally did. It was that or cry over the fact that her five-year-old was the man of the house.
“I’m hungry,” Maddie said. “Can we get some food? When can we eat?”
“I think they are starting on the food now. There are a bunch of people here and it looks to be a lot of work. I’ve got some crackers and cheese and veggies in our cooler.”
She wasn’t sure how things were done for this and had asked Whitney. She thought it was a great thing the founders of the development and their family provided all the hamburgers and hotdogs and cooked them. There were jugs of ice tea and lemonade and bottles of water. Everything else the guests brought.
She’d made several batches of cookies, over ten dozen when it was done, hoping it was enough and was glad to see others had brought cookies too. There was every kind of side imaginable, lots of the same, but each made differently.
Whitney said that they just put everything out on the tables with spoons for people to help themselves. There didn’t seem to be a lot of snacks though, or if there were, they were put out with all the food.
Knowing that and how hungry her children were, she’d packed a few snacks herself to let them munch on while they waited.
It had been an adventure with her and Zoe pulling the cooler and bringing in chairs for the four of them, not to mention everything else her kids wanted to bring.
She’d finally had to lay the law down and told the kids no on many things. They each had a small bookbag on with a few toys in it. Mainly cars, dolls, or coloring books and crayons.
“Hi.” She looked up to see a woman she’d waved to a few times while they were walking the dogs. “I’m Lauren Hines. We live about four houses down from you on the other side.”
“Hi,” Shannon said, standing up and shaking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you formally.”
“I think your kids are about the same age as mine. Since I’ve seen you during the day, can I assume you’re a stay at home mom too?”
“A work at home mom,” she corrected. “This is my sister, Zoe. She lives with us.”
“I’m the nanny,” Zoe said, laughing. “For now.”
“Oh,” Lauren said. “I thought it’d be nice to know there was someone else around during the day. My daughter, Molly, is six and son, Ben, just turned three.”
“I’m going to be six,” Jeffrey said.
“I’m three,” Maddie piped up. “Can we play together?”
Lauren smiled. “I think the kids would like that. They’ve seen you walking those cute puppies and have wanted to go out and say hi, but I wanted to come introduce myself first. The kids are with my husband, Tim. Is your husband here or is he working?”
The question she pretty much expected to get. Not many would think she could have that house on her own with two small children. It was kind of sexist in her eyes, but she put a smile on her face.
Before she could answer, Maddie said, “My Daddy is in heaven, but Mommy says he’s right here.” She put her little hand to her heart. “And he is always watching over us.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lauren said. “I tend to put my foot in my mouth.”
“Don’t worry. It was unexpected. We just moved here to get a fresh start.”
“Maybe we could have coffee together sometime if you get a break from your job?” Lauren asked.
“I’d like that,” she said, knowing it would do her good to talk to someone close to her own age with kids.
“If you don’t mind, can I bring the kids over to say hi?” Lauren asked. “I just wanted to talk to you first before they ran over. They can be little animals at times.”
“I’m a monkey,” Maddie said. “Cuz I like bananas.”
Lauren laughed. “If that is the only reason you are a monkey then your mom is doing something better than me and I’d love to know her secret. Mine like climbing all over everything.”
“We aren’t allowed,” Jeffrey said. “But we do it upstairs in the kids’ space.”
She felt her face flush and Lauren laughed. “Oh, I like you already. I’ll be right back with the kids.”
“How come she wants coffee with you and not me? I’m the nanny with the kids all day,” Zoe complained.
“Because you’re the temporary nanny and you’re twenty-five.”
“You’re twenty-eight,” she argued. “Not much older.”
“Almost twenty-nine and I’m much more mature than you, and you know it,” she told her sister.
“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Zoe said, her eyes moving over to a group of people at a volleyball game. People close to her sister’s age. Shannon figured they were college-aged kids or a little older, as not many her sister’s age were buying houses in this development.
“Why don’t you go introduce yourself. Have fun. You don’t have to be the nanny today. I’m here. Go.”
Zoe jumped up. “Thank God. If you need help when it’s time to get food, let me know. Just text me.”
“I’ve got it covered,” she said.
She’d have to. She couldn’t keep relying on everyone else to help her and hadn’t been. Zoe had been reluctant to leave her side for weeks, but since she jumped up so fast maybe the two of them needed to have some space.
She’d never wanted the first nanny to begin with. It wasn’t the life she dreamed of, or the one she was raised in.
But work had taken over her and Tyler’s life and having the extra help had come in handy.
Now she was going back to being the mother she always said she’d be. If she could afford the help—which she could—there was nothing wrong with that. It wasn’t any different than dropping the kids off at daycare, but in this case they were in the house.
When the work was done though, she was going to tell her sister that she could go out and enjoy herself. Starting today.
And four hours later when she was packing up on her own,
she realized what a big mistake it was to tell Zoe she’d see her later at the house.
The kids had their backpacks on, the cooler had a bar to pull and she had the straps of the two chairs she and Zoe sat in, one on each shoulder.
The kids’ two chairs were remaining. “Jeffrey, can you carry both of those chairs for me?”
“Yes,” he said, picking them up. She strapped them over his shoulders like hers and watched him walking with them banging into his legs. She knew the feeling, as hers were too and she was going to be bruised up something fierce by tomorrow.
Damn them for sitting so far away from where they were parked. There were still a lot of people here, but Maddie was rubbing her eyes and getting cranky. Her daughter still took a nap most days and she thought for sure they could forgo it. She thought wrong when Maddie said, “I want Taffy,” and started to wail.
People were looking at her and they probably thought she fed her kid chewy candy she could choke on. Just great.
“Need a hand?”
Shannon turned and saw Ryan standing there. She wanted to say she had it covered, but the truth was she had to look like Dorothy coming out of a tornado in Oz with her hair blowing all over the place and things swinging off her body as she pulled a big cooler with flip flops on that were getting tripped up on the wheels.
“I’ve got it,” she said.
He didn’t seem to accept that answer and reached for the chairs. “I’m sure you think you do, but your daughter looks ready to stop in her spot and scream for candy.”
“Crap,” she said. She’d thought Jeffrey was holding Maddie’s hand. How could she have not realized they were right next to her one minute and now two steps behind while she was adjusting the stupid chairs on her shoulders?
“Thanks,” she said. “Come here, Maddie.” She picked her daughter up and held her with one hand while she pulled the cooler with the other. “And Taffy is her new puppy, not candy.”
“Cute name,” he said.
“I named mine Oreo because he’s black and white.”
“Two of my favorite foods,” he said back. “Did your sister ditch you?”
“She found a group of people her own age and took off. She isn’t on the clock nonstop and I don’t want her to feel that way. She needs to get out and meet others.”
“I’m sure she met plenty today. Did you have fun?”
They were walking to her SUV now. “I did. This is wonderful. I didn’t know what to expect, but the kids loved it. We met a bunch of new people and other children we can set play dates up with.”
“Sounds like a success then.”
“Mommy said you’re going to show me how to use my tools,” Jeffrey said. “When?”
“I am. Your mother is going to let me know a good time.”
“Next Saturday,” she said. “Seven days from now.”
“That’s a long time,” Jeffrey complained. Looked like both of her kids were going to be crabby now. The perfect way to cap her day off. She should have left over an hour ago rather than trying to stretch it out.
“Ryan has to work just like Mommy does. The next day we have off he’ll stop over and show you. What do you say?”
“I say thank you when he does it,” Jeffrey said. “But he hasn’t yet.”
She wanted to groan. “I’m so sorry about their manners. It’s been a long day.”
“Your kids are much more well behaved than many here today. I might have been a bit of a wise guy myself at Jeffrey’s age.”
“He wasn’t being wise, just honest. Everything is literal with him.”
“Nothing wrong with that either,” he said.
They’d gotten to her vehicle and Ryan helped her load it. She wasn’t sure what to say to him right now. Why did it have to be so awkward?
“Thanks for the hand. Next time I’ll make sure I only bring enough that I can carry back.”
“No problem. Don’t forget to text me a time for next Saturday.”
“I won’t. Enjoy the rest of your weekend,” she said and watched him walk away in cargo shorts and a navy T-shirt. Damn, he had some muscular legs on him. It’d taken one hell of an effort to not stare at his biceps as they flexed when he grabbed her chairs and put them over his shoulders.
Or not to notice the tingling in her body when his fingers brushed against her in the exchange.
Today turned out to be more than she bargained for but in such a lovely way.
9
Cozy and Lived In
Ryan pulled into Shannon’s driveway at three the following Saturday. He’d spent the morning helping his cousin Christian on one of his flips to kill the time, then went home and did chores around his house while he waited.
He was wondering what he was doing here when he normally didn’t volunteer to do much with people. No one other than family.
Especially not women.
When he dated it was because someone asked him. Yet here he was offering to show a cute kid how to work with some tools that he’d had his sister give him.
He grabbed the box from the passenger seat and carried it to the front door. He didn’t even have to ring the bell before it was opened. He’d seen the little camera there that probably alerted Shannon to a presence on her property.
“Hi,” Shannon said, standing there. “Come on in.”
He went to take his sneakers off when he saw she was barefoot. “No. Keep them on. It’s fine. Now if it were raining, I might ask you to take them off, but they are dry.”
“You’re like me,” he said. “I don’t care for the mess on my floors.”
“I’m not too bad despite what my sister tries to tell people. I have two kids in the house and they aren’t that neat. But this is a lot of house to clean so the less I can do, the better at times.”
He figured she’d have a cleaning lady, but it seemed as if that wasn’t the case. “It looks different furnished now.”
The formal sitting room across from her office had some comfy-looking furniture in it. Most people filled it with stuffy items that no one ever sat in. There was even a large TV on the wall and he wondered who installed all of that for her. Probably the movers.
“Thank you. I had to buy furniture for that room. I figured it’d be a nice spot to escape to. Or to put Maddie in when I was working and Zoe wasn’t around. She could watch TV and I’d be able to see her.”
He turned his head and noticed her desk was positioned so that she could see from one doorway into the other. Smart.
“All set up to work now too?” he asked.
“I went back last week. John told me I had to take two weeks off. Since I wasn’t really set up to do much, it was kind of holding my feet to the fire. Our IT person flew out last week and took care of it and anything else I needed done around here. We were struggling with the internet connection too. I troubleshot it the best I could and even called the provider twice.”
“You could have called me. I would have come out to look into it. It could have been something we did.” Though he didn’t think there was an issue or mistake.
“It’s fine. I think the communication company was jerking me around for being a woman. They were blowing smoke up my... You get my point. Once Bill was here they changed their tune and whatever the problem was it was fixed. Bill insisted it wasn’t anything in the house.”
He didn’t know what to say about the fact that her company flew people out cross-country to set up her computer. Must be top secret or high tech. It wasn’t his place to ask though. She had said it was her husband’s company, so maybe it was more a favor than anything.
“I thought Jeffrey and I could work in the garage if that is okay?”
“Where are my manners?” she asked after almost jumping. She looked nervous for some reason. He had noticed her staring at his arms longer than normal too. “Please come in the back. You can put that on the island while I go get Jeffrey. He’s in the yard with Maddie and Zoe.”
He followed her down the hall. The walls were stil
l pretty bare except for a few family pictures, but the house looked cozy and lived in now. Not so stark and cold.
When he placed the box on the large island he noticed the kitchen definitely had a warmth to it. Four large blue chairs were pushed against the island. There was a smaller table off to the side. The dining room had another large table in it. The furniture in the family room looked more comfortable than that in the front room. More lived in too, so that told him she’d brought it here with her.
He looked out and saw Zoe in a bikini on the deck getting some sun, Maddie and Jeffrey running around with two little bundles barking. He’d noticed the dog bed in Shannon’s office and another in the family room.
“Cute dogs,” he said.
“Oreo and Taffy,” she said. “French Bulldogs. They are just over three months old. Good dogs so far. House training not so much fun, but it’s getting there.”
He watched her open the door and call the kids in, followed by the dogs chasing them and hopping up the few steps of the deck. Zoe stood up and pulled a shirt on over her bathing suit. She was one built woman and he wondered if Shannon looked like her younger sister under her clothes since they were similar in build.
Then he told himself to get his head out of the gutter. It had no place being there even if he was attracted to her.
He was here helping her son, not her. She’d given no indication she wanted to get to know him.
“Hi, Ryan,” Jeffrey said. “Thank you for coming today.”
“You’re welcome. Is Maddie going to watch?” he asked.
“No. I’m not a man. I’m going to play with my dolls while Mommy bakes. That’s more fun.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help himself with the blonde pigtails and little dimples. “I’m going back on the deck then if you don’t need me,” Zoe said.
“I’m good. Go relax,” she told her sister. “Maddie and the dogs are good with me.”
He bent down to scratch the ears of the cute pups that were running around his feet. “They are balls of energy,” he said.
“For now. They have spurts of it and then they sleep for hours,” she said.