by Clare Revell
Vicky looked at her with wide eyes and shook her head.
“You should. It’s almost as good as chocolate.”
Dane shook his head. “Then homework. Then an hour of TV before dinner if the homework is done.”
Vicky scrunched her nose up and shook her head, pointing at one of the other boys from her class.
“Does he get all his homework done?”
She shook her head.
“Then he’ll get in trouble. Miss Macnin said you have some tonight?”
She nodded slowly, rolling her eyes. She may not speak, but she had no trouble making her feelings known.
“OK. I’ll have a look when we get home.”
Vicky held his hand tightly as they walked the short distance to the house.
Jodie sat on the doorstep, blazer undone, and hair disheveled. Her tie was peanuted and her shirt untucked, covered in something he couldn’t identify. She leapt to her feet. “Where have you been? You’re late. Again. And where’s Grandma? She’s meant to be taking me over to Rebecca’s.”
“Grandma isn’t coming tonight. I’m here instead.”
“So how do I get to Rebecca’s house now? Because you won’t take me. You never do.”
Dane scowled. He’d suspected Jodie had his parents wrapped around her little finger and this just confirmed it. “Walk, maybe—use the legs God gave you for once? And I wasn’t here because I had to speak to Vicky’s teacher.”
“Great. What’s the freak done now?”
“That is no way to speak of your sister. I had to introduce Amy, otherwise she can’t do the school runs.”
“And who’s she?”
Dane sighed internally, curbing his frustration. “This is Amy. She’s the new nanny. She’ll be living in the spare room and when I’m not here, what she says goes.”
“Oh, really?”
He unlocked the front door. Jodie shoved past him and straight up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door. “That was Jodie.”
Amy rolled her eyes in mock amusement. “Twelve going on nineteen.”
He nodded grimly as he deactivated the burglar alarm. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go have a word. Vicky, can you show Amy where the milk, cookies, and glasses are?”
She nodded and headed to the kitchen, Amy close behind.
Dane took a deep breath and walked up the stairs for the inevitable fight with his oldest daughter.
Amy looked at Vicky. She really didn’t say anything and now that her dad wasn’t there, she seemed to have shrunk several inches. Something had really traumatized the little girl and it was a fair guess it was the death of her mother. “So which cupboard are the glasses in?”
Vicky pointed.
Amy nodded and got down two. “Though I don’t suppose Jodie will want one, will she?”
Vicky shook her head.
Amy put one back. “Will Daddy want coffee or milk?”
Vicky pointed to the kettle.
“OK, then we’ll do him coffee.”
Amy poured a glass of milk for Vicky and beamed as she reached down the box of cookies. “Oh yummy, homemade ones. They always taste heaps better. Did Daddy make them?”
Again Vicky shook her head. Oh, this was hard, but she wasn’t going to give up.
“Grandma?”
This time she got a small nod.
Yelling echoed from above them. A door slammed, opened and slammed again.
“I think Jodie’s in trouble,” Amy said.
Vicky nodded.
Dane’s voice increased in volume. “Jodie, don’t you dare walk away from me! Get back here now!”
“No!” Footsteps hurtled down the stairs, and the front door opened and slammed shut.
Amy looked at Vicky. If anything, she’d shrunk even further. “What about you? You get into trouble?”
She shrugged and made a wobbly hand gesture.
Amy leaned forwards conspiratorially and put a hand to the side of her mouth. “I get in trouble sometimes. Everyone does. It doesn’t mean people don’t love us though.”
Vicky dunked the cookie into the milk. Her eyes were fixed on the door, but her tilted head showed she was still listening.
“I was wondering what we could do tomorrow after school. Do you like going to the park?”
Vicky nodded slightly.
Amy filled the kettle and put it on to boil. “Cool, because I love parks. We could feed the ducks. Maybe find the swing and slides. Would you like that?”
There was a slight nod.
“Brilliant, because I love going on the swings.”
Vicky glanced at her and then waved her hands, making a tall and wide gesture.
Amy read between the lines and winked. “No one’s ever too big to go on the swings. We’ll go tomorrow.”
Dane came in as the kettle boiled, his face set and his eyes glittering. “You read my mind.” His voice was as taut as his shoulders.
“Tea or coffee?”
“Coffee, please, with just a little milk.” He leaned against the counter, folding his arms tightly against his chest. “So, you got this letter about your homework then, Vicky?”
Amy made the coffee as Vicky pulled it from her bag and handed it to him. Amy added the milk and looked for sugar. She couldn’t find any. She glanced over at Dane who was frowning over the letter. “Is there any sugar?”
He shook his head. “No, we don’t have any. Vicky, I can’t work this out. I’ll look at it again later.”
Amy watched as Vicky’s face fell. She held out a hand. “May I?”
Dane handed it to her. “Be my guest.”
She read the letter through twice. It could have been phrased in a much easier way, but she got the gist of it. “So you need to make a boat. We’ll need something that floats then.” She looked at her. “Does your glass float?”
Vicky pointed to the milk in it.
Amy clicked her fingers. “Good point. Why didn’t I think of that? Try this one.” She handed her an empty one.
Vicky put water in the sink and dropped the glass into it. She shook her head.
“Then we try something else. How about we check the recycling box?”
Vicky looked at her father.
“Go on. It’s in the garden. I’m right here, not going anywhere.”
Vicky slowly headed to the back door.
Dane looked at Amy. “Go with her. So long as she knows where I am, she’ll be fine.”
Amy followed Vicky into the large, well-cared for garden. Plants lined the borders, and a neat lawn filled the gaps between. She glanced at her employer through the kitchen window, wondering where he found the time to keep tabs on this as well as the house. He stood slumped against the counter, hands hung loosely by his side and his eyes downcast.
Vicky tugged on her hand. She held up a box, milk carton, washing up liquid bottle, a tin, and some wood.
She gave Vicky a thumbs up. “Let’s go and try them out. Then we can design a boat. Take them inside to Daddy.”
She followed Vicky inside. There must be a way to reach her. She just wished she knew what it was.
Dane trudged into the lounge and flopped onto the couch exhausted. At least Vicky was asleep now and Jodie was in bed. Well, upstairs in her room, would be more accurate. The beginnings of a boat sat on the coffee table. He nodded to Amy who sat curled up and shoeless on the end of the sofa. “Thank you for helping her with that.”
“It was fun.” Amy smiled. “She’s a cute kid.”
“She seems to like you. She rarely responds to anyone she doesn’t know.”
“Does she speak at all?”
Sorrow filled him, and he shook his head. “No. After Jas’s death, she just stopped speaking. She hasn’t said a word or uttered a sound since. Sometimes Jodie will speak for her, but that depends on her frame of mind.”
“I wonder why.”
Dane stiffened. “Don’t suggest child psychologists. She doesn’t need one—she
manages to communicate fine without speaking. Besides she wouldn’t respond anyway.”
“I wasn’t going to. She’ll probably respond eventually, given time and love.”
“Hope so.” He pulled his laptop over. “This bounces off the router attached to the main PC in my room. I’ll make you an account on here so you can use it.”
“Thank you.”
“Welcome. I need to come up with a contract. That’s assuming Jodie hasn’t put you off working here.” He looked at her over the top of his reading glasses. “She can be a right little madam at times.”
That was putting it mildly. She’d been downright rude and stand-off-ish. She’d even accused him of replacing Jas. A fact he’d vehemently denied, but Jodie didn’t listen. He’d sent her to bed immediately after dinner, and she wasn’t allowed to watch her favorite TV soap all week. He had no idea what was wrong with her. She’d been moody for the past few months, but this was a new low even for her.
Amy shook her head. “No. At her age, everything is a drama. She’s bordering between wanting to be a child and being a grownup.”
“She’s twelve, nothing more than a little girl.” His defenses went up automatically. He’d defend his kids to his dying breath and woe betides any kid or boy or man who laid a finger on them. Ever.
“She’ll always be your little girl. Dad saw me as that, right up until he died. But all you have to do is look at her to see she’s growing up.”
Dane sighed. “I’m not ready for her to grow up.”
“There isn’t a lot you can do to stop it. Not even locking her in a tower like Rapunzel would fix that one.”
“I can try.” He typed as he chatted, trying to word the contract. At the same time he found himself loving the company. It had been so long now since he’d been able to talk about anything other than work. And talking about the girls this way was a relief. “I’ve tried to get through to her, but nothing. Maybe she’ll respond to you.”
“Maybe. But there are things that a girl never tells her father, no matter how much she loves him.”
Dane looked up sharply. “She’s twelve.”
“And probably has a new boyfriend every week. I know I did at that age.” She paused, studying her nails. “Just so long as she doesn’t see me as a threat.”
He straightened. Surely, she hadn’t overheard the conversation he’d had with Jodie. “What do you mean?”
“I moved in. She probably sees me as taking her mum’s place.” She paused, tilting her head a little. “I overheard some of what she said. Well actually, it was difficult not to. But that is how any child would see it.”
“You’re her nanny. Not her stepmother.”
“Probably just as well, as all stepmothers have horns and a pitchfork, don’t they?”
Dane rolled his eyes. “As do I, right now.”
Amy looked at him critically, her gaze running slow enough over his body to cause a burst of heat to flood him. He shifted in his chair. Finally her gaze returned to his face.
She tilted her head. “Can’t see any, but then you’re not yelling at me. Not so far, anyway.” She winked. “Jodie simply doesn’t see the distinction between the two yet. What do you usually do about food shopping?”
“Usually I do it at the weekends with the kids in tow.”
“I can do it, if you want. I’ll have time while they’re at school.”
“You don’t drive.”
“One of the supermarket’s in the precinct delivers free if you spend over twenty five quid—we had one like that back home which I used a lot. I can shop on the way home from school first thing.” There was a long pause, and she looked down at her hands again. “If you want, it was just a thought. I don’t want to overstep my place.”
Dane peered at her over his glasses. Why the sudden change in her? She hadn’t held back while talking about the kids, but suddenly her whole demeanor altered. “That would be good, thank you. I’ll leave you some housekeeping. Also that way if the girls need anything, you can just go ahead and buy it.”
Amy nodded. “I’m also happy to take them clothes shopping.”
Relief filled him. “That would be wonderful. Although, that’s another potential minefield where Jodie’s concerned.”
She tucked her hair back behind her ears. “I’m a pretty good negotiator.”
Dane turned back to the laptop, working on the contract, while Amy flicked through the TV channels with the remote. He was struggling to phrase this and debated searching on line for ideas. Then he decided to just put in writing what they’d spoken about. Half an hour later he had something he was happy with and printed it off. “Here you go.”
Amy took it and read it carefully. Then she signed it and handed it back. “It’s fine.”
“I figured a week’s notice either way seemed fair for now.”
“Yeah.” She yawned. “Think I’ll turn in. It’s been a long day. What time do they need to be up?”
“I’ll wake them before I leave, but I need to be gone by eight. Again that varies each day. Jodie needs to be in school by eight twenty-five for the first bell, and Vicky by eight forty-five.”
“No problem. Good night.”
“Night.” Dane let out a deep breath as she shut the door behind her. He reached for the TV remote. He’d catch the second half of the Rangers game before going up to bed himself.
It was so strange having a woman in the house again. He shoved to one side the insistent voice telling him he was betraying Jas. He wasn’t.
Nate was right. Amy was very pretty, but she was his daughters’ nanny not their governess. And he was definitely no Mr. Rochester.
4
Amy woke with a jump, convinced there was someone leaning over the bed. Her heart thudded against her chest wall, wanting to leap free of the constraints holding it. The door must be open, for a shaft of light shone in from the landing, slicing across the darkness of the room. It had been closed. There was no way she’d sleep with it open, not in a strange house at any rate. Reaching out, she flicked on the bedside lamp, bathing the room in a soft pink light.
She turned over and gasped. There was someone there. She wasn’t paranoid after all.
Vicky stood beside the bed, her dark hair stuck to her head, her long white nightie emphasizing the paleness of her skin.
“Vicky, are you all right?”
Of course she wouldn’t get an answer, but this time the child didn’t even acknowledge her or move her head in response. Instead, her eyes stared at Amy; a hollow gaze that looked right through her. It was most unnerving to say the least.
“Vicky?”
Amy threw back the covers and sat. The only obvious explanation was that the child was sleepwalking. “Let’s get you back to bed. It’s chilly tonight.” She stood and put a gentle hand on Vicky’s shoulder, leading her, via the bathroom, back to her room.
Vicky got into bed, and Amy tucked her in. The child continued to stare for a moment longer, then closed her eyes and relaxed into the pillow.
Amy stood there for a few moments, to make sure Vicky was OK. Did Dane know about the sleepwalking? What really bothered the little girl? Maybe the teacher was onto something with the drawing. Could this be why she’d been led here to the seventh stop on the seventh train, to a town she’d never heard of? To help.
She returned to her room and closed the door. Getting back into bed, she turned out the light. Of course, she had enough of her own demons to fight and keep her from a decent night’s sleep. She didn’t want to close her eyes, afraid she’d see the accident again. It was amazing how a very simple, but very wrong choice could mess up your life and turn it in a totally different direction. Despite the fact she was running from someone who wanted her dead, perhaps for now at least, she was safe.
Until Dane found out the truth and fired her.
A pang of regret flooded her. How had Rosalie and Ray taken the news of her “death”? The tides around Filely were notorious, and it wasn’t uncommon for bodies washed o
ut to sea to never be recovered. She just hoped they didn’t waste too many man hours searching for her. She needed to look online tomorrow and check. Something else to add to her growing to-do list.
But now, the only thing she could do to help Vicky was pray. And that she could do.
Amy sat on a kitchen stool, watching Dane fuss around the girls. Anyone would think he’d never left them before. Well, technically he hadn’t, at least not with her. She shot him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “They’ll be fine. And so will I.”
“Are you sure? I can ring in, take the day off.”
“And do what?” she asked, keeping her tone light. “Watch me Hoover? The girls will be at school until three fifteen or so. Then it’s only a couple of hours until you get back.”
“OK.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll cook when I get in.”
“OK.”
Dane pulled out his keys and slid one off the ring. “I meant to give you this yesterday. It’s the front door key.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded and kissed the girls’ foreheads. “Be good. See you tonight.”
“Bye, Dad,” Jodie answered as he headed out. Then she looked at Amy and pushed the bowl away. “Not hungry.”
“That’s fine.” Amy grimaced as she swallowed the unsweetened coffee.
“You’re not going to make me eat?” Jodie sounded surprised.
“I can feed you like a baby if you want, but it won’t help. You’ll be hungry by lunch if you don’t eat, but that’s up to you.”
“Oh.” Jodie’s eyes widened. “Dad yells at me until I eat all of it.”
“I’m not your dad. But I can yell if you want.” She winked as Jodie shook her head. “Now, if you don’t like that, then I can pick up something else for breakfast on my way home from school. Personally, if I eat breakfast, then it’s muesli.”
“Yuk. That’s rabbit food.” Jodie pulled a face.
Amy was amused to see the look mirrored on Vicky’s face. “I thought they ate salad. Anyway, given a choice what would you eat for breakfast? Crackers, a different cereal, toast, eggs, waffles, full English with black pudding…”