A Bundle of Mannies

by Lorelei M. Hart

  “Yes, all three and...why do you look like someone beat up your dog?” He set the backpack on the table, giving me all of his attention.

  “You know that stuff with the professor?” He nodded. “I had to deal with some of the fallout from that.”

  He pulled out a chair and sat down, silent as could be. I did the same, across from him. I might not know him well, but I was pretty sure he needed a second to pull his thoughts together. Dear gods, don’t let him have been a victim, too.

  At first, I’d thought it was one underage student. And that was horrible. And then it turned out to be multiple high school, dual-enroll students. And that was even more horrible. And then it turned out to be students of all ages. And it brought horrible to an entirely new level.

  The thought that it might involve Beckham—that was just too much to even contemplate.

  “I was his TA,” he finally said.

  “You were?” There was so much I wanted to ask, wanted to know, but no more came out.

  “That was why I needed a new job.” How had I not put the timing together? Shit, had I even looked at his credentials? Some kind of guardian I was.

  “He didn’t—with—” I couldn’t even say the words.

  “No. I was his paper-grading slave. Nothing more.”

  I’d never felt more relieved.

  “Carter, I need to go. Test day. Do me a favor?” He stood up, not looking any better for our conversation.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Don’t go into your office until I come home.” He gave a wink and slung his backpack over his shoulder. “I have a surprise for you when I come back.”

  That was going to be a long few hours.

  Chapter Ten

  Beck

  As soon as I entered the stadium-type classroom, the professor waved a note and stalked toward me. “Dean Stone has been trying to reach you. He said your phone went to voicemail.”

  That was probably because I hadn’t paid it yet. I was due to get a paycheck from Carter that same day.

  “Oh, okay. I’ll head there now.”

  I stalked to Dean Stone’s office with caterpillars in my stomach and fear in my mind. Would they put part of the blame on me? I supposed I should’ve been wary of Professor Ray’s shut-door meetings, but I honestly never thought twice about it.

  “Hello, I’m Charles Tenner. I’m here to see the dean.” The assistant didn’t seem impressed, so I handed her the note. “He sent me this.”

  Well, that lit a fire under her. “This way.”

  She showed me to the dean’s office, and I went in while he was still chatting on the phone. He motioned for me to sit down, and I complied. I’d always hated these offices. Stiff and formal, looking more like a lawyer’s office with riveted leather chairs and all the pomp and circumstance hanging in oak frames along the wall.

  “Charles…” he began.

  “Beckham, please. Charles is my father.”

  “Of course. Beckham. I’d like to talk to you about the circumstances of working with Professor Ray. How long did you work for him?”

  Pet peeve: when people ask questions they already know the answer to.

  “A little over a year, sir.”

  He sat forward in his chair and leaned his elbows on the desk. “How often did you see Professor Ray with students in his office?”

  I scoffed. “Every day.”

  “And you had no inkling of what was going on? These omega boys are saying it all happened in his office.”

  I took great offense to what the dean was trying to say but didn’t let it show. “No, sir. Of course not. I would’ve reported any such things immediately. I have little brothers. I’d never want them to have to go through that.”

  That seemed to quell him.

  “My job was to grade his papers—all of them. I had my own work area and stayed there. I wished I had known about what was going on so I might’ve put a stop to it earlier,” I explained. It appeared the scandal was growing by the day, and I had a feeling this might not be the last time I was questioned about it.

  He took a deep breath. “Well, in the meantime, we have no job for you. All our professors already have TAs and we are full. I’m sorry you don’t have a job anymore.”

  Relief flooded me. Technically, I’d agreed to an entire semester, and if they’d had a place for me, I’d have to either juggle more than I was already going to have to or say no to the job, which would only ruffle feathers.

  I still had to be officially accepted to the nursing program, the school allowing a simple transfer but requiring certain classes be completed before admission, all offered here. Ruffling feathers was not a good idea. No, being canned was much better.

  Who’d have ever thought being laid off would be a good thing?

  “I’ll find something.” I didn’t want to bring the spotlight onto Carter, and letting him know I’d already been hired would do exactly that. “Thank you. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  Please don’t have any more questions.

  He smiled. “I appreciate that, Beckham. And, Beckham?”

  “Yes.”

  “If anyone comes to you about this situation, I need you to report it to either me or the authorities immediately.” His left pointer finger tapped away on his desk as he stumbled through his directive.

  “The authorities? Like the police?” I felt like he was warning me against far more than school politics and rumors. It felt—potentially dangerous.

  “Possibly. You should have nothing to worry about.”

  My mind wandered back to what Carter had said earlier about why he was late, and my gut clenched.

  “With all due respect, if you are leaving something out that might impact my safety, I should be aware, and suggesting contacting the police implies that.” And I needed Carter to be safe.

  “No. Nothing like that. It’s just some witnesses are feeling outside pressure to no longer be so.”

  I agreed to let the proper people know, the entire time worrying about Carter and what may or may not have had him looking so wretched when he finally came home.

  I wandered into class and attempted to take notes and focus on the short time remaining. When I’d first arrived, I couldn’t wait to get home and share my surprise with Carter, and now I needed to get home so I could make sure he was okay and figure out what the heck was going on.

  My attempt to focus on the lecture quickly turned to making a list of any and everything that felt off about Ray, from the closed door, which I felt stupid for not questioning earlier, to his odd hours, to his bonus at break for all my hard work.

  Had that been what Dean Stone had been talking about? It had been given as a thank you and at the time felt appropriate. The card only said Thanks for all you do. Nothing fancy, just the kind you get at the dollar store. No, it wasn’t conditional by any means.

  Sugar. This thing was such a mess. I decided the best way to go about things was to talk with Carter. So much for an evening of surprises and meal planning. I really hoped my connection to Ray wasn’t going to have Carter second-guessing hiring me. I already loved the kids, and Carter needed me—needed someone, anyway, and I felt honored to be that person.

  Chapter Eleven

  Carter

  Not going into the office became my sole focus. I was like a kid the night before Christmas. It was the first room we emptied because it was the easiest. It was one of the rooms being expanded into the backyard.

  And I wanted to go in.

  Thankfully the kids woke up and distracted me from my foolishness. Being the amazing uncle I was, we ate breakfast for dinner only to see the dinner Beck had already made for us when I put the butter away. Looks like we had dinner for the next day. Some kind of casserole from the looks of it, possibly mac and cheese. He was worth twice his salary, and if I had the means, he’d get it.

  “Uncle Car, can we have ice cream?” Hannah looked up at me with her puppy-dog eyes, the ones my brother had tea
sed he was far from immune to. Turned out I wasn’t immune to them, either.

  “Cone!” Jase jumped up and down.

  “Fine. But everyone needs to go potty first.” They agreed, and the older two ran to take care of their bathroom business as I changed Chelsea.

  “I have a feeling you are going to be just as persuasive as your siblings.” I tickled her foot as I put her sock back on. Those suckers never stayed in place.

  “Nom nom.” Oh yeah, she was going to be just as persuasive.

  We had a convenience store with an ice cream window three blocks away. I quickly went over the pros and cons of both forms of transportation, car or foot, and decided a nice evening walk would do us good. The double stroller lived on my front screened-in porch, making it easier to get them wrangled than I originally feared. Technically, Jase should be walking, but keeping track of two walkers and one toddler in a stroller felt overwhelming to even think about, so into the stroller he went.

  Two blocks into our journey, I’d only had to remind Hannah twelves times to stay by my side. I finally understood why there was a market for those leashes for kids disguised as a cute backpack.

  “Beck,” Chelsea called out. “Beck.”

  “Beck’s not here, sweetheart. He’ll be home soon.” Crap, I’d forgotten to leave him a note about where we were going. Not that I had to report to him, but it was common courtesy. “I will send him a message.” I took out my phone and typed away only to have it come back as undeliverable. “We won’t be long.”

  “Have you already been to the store?” Beck spoke from behind me.

  “How—where—when?” Yeah, I was blabbering.

  “I saw you walking. Chelsea even waved.” He leaned over the stroller. “You are such a clever girl.”

  “She said your name, and I completely missed her point. I thought she missed you.” I needed to figure out her communication better if I was going to foster her language skills. I’d so misunderstood her.

  “I missed you.” Hannah hugged his leg. “We’re getting ice cream for dessert. I want chocolate.”

  “Chocolate is ewww. Nella,” Joey piped in.

  “You are more than welcome.” At my words Hannah grabbed his hand.

  “Looks like I am having ice cream for dinner and chicken noodle casserole for dessert.”

  “We had eggs and toast.” Hannah had no idea she was throwing me under the bus.

  “I didn’t see it until we ate.” I started in the direction of the store again. “It probably tastes better the next day.” I’d heard that somewhere, right?

  “I’ll leave a note next time.”

  “Speaking of notes...” We stopped at the corner. “Look left. Look right. Look left.”

  “No cars!” Hannah and Jase called out, and we crossed the street.

  “I should’ve left you a note about the ice cream as well,” I said. “I tried to text you but it bounced.”

  “I need to pay my bill.” He spoke low and only to me.

  “Are you contract?”

  “No. Pay by the month. I was trying to save money.” The convenience store came into sight, and giggles abound from the buggy.

  “We can do a family plan if you would like—as part of your salary. It makes sense.” We turned into the lot, effectively tabling that conversation. We’d have time to iron it all out. He’d been caught in the trifecta of bullshit, from a stealing roommate to a job that no longer existed to being close to losing his apartment. If I could help that stress out with a family plan on my phone, it was the least I could do.

  “What’s good here?” he asked as we got to the window. It was a neat place with unusual flavors, my favorite being peach praline.

  “Are you the kind of guy who likes to live on the culinary edge?” I asked as we stood at the end of the line.

  “Normally, I am all about butter pecan, but I could be persuaded. What are you thinking?”

  “Mystery.” I pointed to the sign. Each day they had a mystery flavor. Sometimes it was boring vanilla. Other times it was something they concocted in their test kitchen, also known as the back room, and they never told you what was in it, only answering yes or no if you stated a specific allergen.

  “This is mystery,” a young alpha woman finishing up at the counter said, tipping her cup in our direction. Not vanilla.

  “Does it taste good?” Beck asked.

  “That would ruin the surprise.” She winked at him and then swayed her hips as she brushed by him.

  “Subtle,” I mumbled despite myself.

  “Wrong tree,” Beck whispered in my ear as we all stepped up to the counter.

  “What can I get you?”

  I helped the kids order and then got a small dish of butter pecan, which suddenly sounded amazing.

  “And you, sir?” he asked Beck who had stood back slightly.

  “I’m fine. Thanks.” He had been all about the ice cream and then the subtotal on the register caught my eye. Of course. Five-dollar ice cream was a lot. I wanted to kick myself for not making it clear that this was my treat.

  “And one mystery,” I added and handed over my card.

  We grabbed our ice cream and headed to the small seating area off to the side, letting Jase out to sit beside his sister as they dressed themselves in melty ice cream, loving every minute of it.

  “You didn’t need to do this.” Beck motioned to his dish which sat on the edge of the table as he took Chelsea’s small dish from me and helped her finish so I could eat mine before it was liquid.

  “Of course I did. I needed to know what it was.” I winked.

  “Delicious is what it was.” He did some magical thing where he scooped up the ice cream dripping down her lip with the spoon. She was far cleaner than the other two who were heading straight to bathtime once we got home.

  “And the flavor?”

  “Not a clue, possibly some coconut? I’m just sticking with delicious and thank you.”

  “Anytime. And besides, I have a surprise waiting for me.”

  “I see where Hannah gets her impatience,” he joshed.

  “I own it.” I scooped the last of my ice cream into my mouth. “I never pretended I was patient, as you probably well remember.”

  His jaw dropped.

  “That was inappropriate. I’m sorry.”

  “I was thinking more accurate than inappropriate.” He leapt from his seat, catching Jase just as he was about to tumble to the ground. Damn, he was good at his job.

  Chapter Twelve

  Beck

  After the sugar high of ice cream wore off, the sugar low came in like a tornado. The kids became whiny and happy with nothing we did.

  “How about a bath and a story?” I asked, already picking Jase up, not really giving them a choice. Jase in particular had ice cream stuck in his hair and some smudged on his earlobe. How he got it all the way there was a mystery.

  “Bathtime, you heard Beck.” Carter picked up the girls and brought them upstairs behind me. I ran the warm water while Carter stripped everyone and tickled their little bellies.

  “Not too much tickling unless we want to see that ice cream revisit,” I warned and winked at him. Oh gods, I had to stop doing that. My slipups were going to land me on the unemployment line.

  “You always think of things I don’t. One day maybe I’ll get the hang of it.”

  “You will,” I assured him, stuck the kids into the water, and dumped their bath toy basket in with them

  Carter took on bathing Jase as I washed the girls. Little Chelsea squinted s as I rinsed the soap from her hair.

  Once they were clean, we sat back against the wall and let them play for a while, splashing each other.

  “I got called into the dean’s office today,” I said to him.

  “What for?” His voice was laced with concern, and he put a hand on my shoulder only to retract it almost immediately.

  “They were asking me about Professor Ray. They wanted to know if I suspected anything.”

&nb
sp; Carter spoke quickly. “Of course you didn’t. I know you would’ve reported anything suspicious right away.”

  His confidence made me want to puff out my chest and, well, kiss him speechless.

  “That’s what I told them. Then they told me that they didn’t have another job for me, which is convenient since I like my new one so much more.” I reached out to sit Chelsea back down as she tried to climb out.

  I felt Carter’s eyes on me while I made noises with the little tugboat they were bobbing around. “Okay, who is ready for jammies and a story?”

  Chelsea wasn’t pleased, but I got a yay from the others.

  Hannah pointed to the hair dryer, and I combed out her hair and dried it while she giggled at her reflection in the mirror. These kids were absolutely precious. I almost wished they were mine.

  “I found a rebel amongst us! She was trying to get out of going to bed,” I roared, pretending like Hannah was an airplane, flying her this way and that until she landed in the bed.

  That was a mistake because, for the next hour, Carter and I had to make everyone into airplanes.

  Mental note, nothing fun before bedtime.

  Chelsea sat in my lap and played with my earlobe as she listened to Carter tell a story. Even I laughed along at the funny parts. He did great spider and caterpillar voices.

  With the kids settled into bed, I went to gather all the towels and hang them up and put the toys away.

  “You’ve worked enough, Beck. Anyway, I want to see my surprise.”

  I’d almost forgotten in the bustle of the nighttime routine.

  “Come on.” I almost took his hand but didn’t. He followed me to the office, and I opened the door wide. “We picked this up for you. Mr. Leighton, down the street, was getting rid of it. We can strip it and repaint it.” Carter said nothing, so I retracted. “If you don’t like it, it’s okay. Maybe I can redo it and sell it. It’s okay.”

  I moved to leave the office, completely deflated at his lack of response. Then, as I passed him, he took my arm and pulled me closer to him. His scent of cedar and moss took over my senses, and I became woozy, my head spinning.