The Woodsman's Nanny - A Single Daddy Romance

by Emerson Rose

  “Everybody have their driver’s license?” Garcia asks as we pull up to Camp Pendleton’s main gate. Everyone answers yes and starts to dig them out of pockets and purses. Mom is still quiet, but not quite as robotic. She retrieves her license and hands it to me, and Kimber and Garcia pass theirs up too.

  We crawl along behind Major, and I watch his window go down. The military policeman looks inside quickly and waves him through. When I pull up, I expect a full questioning when I roll down my window, but he bends down and looks at my mother and then me and quickly glances at Garcia and Kimber in back.

  “Evening, Mrs. Washington. Follow Major Steele. He will lead you to the Naval Hospital.”

  “Thank you,” Mom says, and the MP straightens up to wave us through.

  “He recognized you, Mom,” I say.

  “Yes, your father was a legend here, and we spent a long time living on this base. The only reason he didn’t recognize you is because you’ve grown up so much since you went to college.”

  “That guy probably wasn’t even in the Corps when I went to college, Mom.”

  “True, you’re probably right.”

  The hospital isn’t far. Major pulls up to the emergency room entrance and we park in the garage directly across the street. Garcia helps Kimber out and they start to walk toward the hospital, but I rest my hand on my mom’s shoulder before she gets out.

  “Mom, is everything okay? You seem a little out of it.”

  She looks out the window, avoiding eye contact with me. “I was in another earthquake a long time ago, and this has brought back some painful memories.”

  “You were?”

  “Yes, but now’s not the time to talk about it. We need to get inside and check on Mattie and Belle.”

  We sit in silence for a second. Whatever happened must have upset her a lot to make her so quiet about it. She opens her door first, and I follow. We make our way into the brightly lit hospital. It’s more modern than I remember. I think they must have remodeled since the last time I was here. The front of the building is all glass. One whole panel has cracked and fallen to the ground. Out front, Marines are securing the area around the glass and holding people back. A beautiful open atrium just past the emergency area is also being heavily guarded, where a multilevel Plexiglas piece of artwork has fallen from the ceiling, breaking into several enormous colorful pieces.

  Taye is at the admitting desk giving them as much information as he can about Mattie and Belle. Mattie’s easy. All they need to do is pull him up in their computer system, but they have nothing about Belle. Garcia and Kimber are talking to another admitting clerk. He’s insisting they check her out and make sure the baby is all right. This Garcia guy is getting straight As from me in the caring boyfriend category.

  I settle my mom in a chair and walk to where Major is quietly standing with his hands in his pockets, staring out the window.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey,” he says, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me close. “They took your friends to the trauma center. A building on base collapsed, and I know this place is packed, but they’ll be seen much faster here than if we had tried the civilian hospitals.”

  I rest my head against his chest. “Thank you for thinking of that. Are they saying anything about the earthquake?”

  He reaches up to rub the back of his neck. “Yes, it was a six point five—lots of damage, buildings down, and they’ve already reported ten casualties.”

  “Oh my God,” I say, covering my heart with my hand.

  “What about your house? Is there someone you can call to check on your house?”

  “No, I don’t socialize with my neighbors. My housekeeper is the only other person with a key.”

  “Well call her, make sure she’s okay, and have her go check for you.”

  “I’d rather not.”

  “Why?”

  “Let’s just make sure your friends are all right. I’ll worry about my house later.”

  He kisses me on the top of my head.

  “We should sit with my mom. She’s right over there.”

  “You go ahead. Take care of her. I’ll just stay here.”

  I step out of his grasp and look into his eyes.

  “You okay?”

  “Yes, I just don’t care for hospitals.”

  I chew on my lip and try to read what’s going on behind those big blue eyes, but he’s too good. I’ve got nothing. I stand up on my toes and softly kiss his lips before going to sit with my mom.

  She’s been watching us, and she’s watching me approach now.

  “He’s a good catch. Don’t throw that one back, Vie.”

  “Well, I haven’t exactly caught him yet, we’ve only been out twice, and I did just meet him yesterday, Mom.” Whatever was bothering her seems to have disappeared as quickly as it came. She’s back to her pushy, sassy self.

  She flicks her hand away dismissively. “I fell in love with your daddy the moment I saw him at a movie theatre. I was on a date—a really crappy date. I looked over and saw your daddy paying for popcorn, and my heart skipped a beat. It actually skipped a beat.

  He was the most handsome man I’d ever set eyes on. He sensed me looking at him and turned to look at me. What I saw in his eyes was so captivating, I just walked away from my date.”

  “What? You never told me that story. You just ditched your date for Dad?”

  “Yep, never said a word. It was like he cast a spell on me and reeled me right in with a magic fishing line.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “I said hey, and he said hey, and he handed me a box of popcorn, took my hand, and led me into the theatre.”

  “Just hey? That’s it, and you guys were on a date?”

  “Yep, he never let go of my hand during the movie, he drove me home and kissed me goodnight, and the rest is history.”

  “Wow, why didn’t you ever tell me that story before?”

  “Because I know that kind of love doesn’t happen very often, and I didn’t want you to expect it to happen that way.”

  “You should have. I probably would have avoided a lot of shitty relationships if I thought it was supposed to be so easy and romantic.”

  “I’m sorry, honey.”

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you told me now.” I look over at Major. He hasn’t moved a muscle.

  “So, what do you think? Is he a keeper?” she asks.

  “Maybe. He seems to have some issues, but he’s kind and caring and smart—”

  “And good in bed,” she says with a wink.

  “Yeah, definitely good in bed.”

  “That’s really important, you know,” she says with a stern look.

  I laugh, “Yeah, Mom. So you’ve always told me.”

  I slide my hand over hers on the shared arm of the uncomfortable metal waiting room chair and look at Major. It wasn’t love at first sight with him. Hardly. More like supreme irritation at first crash, but he’s grown on me a lot. There is something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on though. Something just below the surface like a warning bell or caution tape that says Do not enter or Proceed at your own risk.

  “Mom?”

  “Yes, Violet?”

  “What happened in the other earthquake?”

  I can feel her stiffen next to me, and she slides her hand out from under mine.

  “I never told you, but when your father and I first met, I got pregnant right away. We were careless, and he didn’t think he could get anyone pregnant. Anyway, I was about two months along when I figured it out. I told him, and he was over the moon. He already had a ring and he was going to ask me to marry him, so the pregnancy just sealed the deal. And then we had an earthquake. I was carrying laundry downstairs when it hit, and I fell.”

  She takes a deep breath in and blows it out.

  “Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry.” I reach for her hand again, and she turns to me, her eyes brimming with tears.

  “It’s all right. it was a long ti
me ago. I haven’t thought about it in years, but tonight just brought back some old feelings. We went on to have you and your brother. We were blessed in so many ways, and I had a lot of wonderful years with him. I can’t complain.”

  I hug her tight. It’s strange to realize that my parents had secrets. Taye and I thought we knew everything about our parents. Mom untangles herself from my arms after our brief embrace and stands up. “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay.”

  The television in the waiting room is showing coverage of the damage in the city and surrounding areas. Thirteen deaths so far and hundreds injured. This is awful.

  “Garcia took Kimber back to see a doctor. Her baby is fine,” Major says from behind my chair, startling me.

  “Oh, good. I’m glad he insisted on having her seen.”

  Especially after hearing my mom’s story just now.

  “Your mother looked upset. Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she had a bad experience with an earthquake in the past. She’s all right though. Have a seat,” I say, patting the chair next to me.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll stand.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why won’t you sit? You’ve been running around for a couple of hours helping everyone. You should rest.”

  “I don’t like hospitals,” he says, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets.

  “Nobody likes hospitals, Major. Sit,” I say again.

  “No,” he says, avoiding my eyes.

  “Is it because of the germs?”

  This captures his attention. “What do you mean by that?”

  “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? I mean, do you dislike hospitals because of the germs?”

  “Nobody likes germs, Violet,” he says, throwing my logic back in my face.

  I roll my eyes and sigh.

  “Let’s go out and sit in my car then. You need to rest,” I say.

  He extends his hand to me just as Garcia, Kimber, and my mother return to the waiting room.

  “Oh, Kimber, I’m so glad everything’s okay,” I say, hugging her.

  “And thank you for insisting she be seen, Garcia.”

  “Has anyone heard anything about Mattie or Belle? Oh my gosh, has anyone called their parents? I didn’t even think to do that.”

  “The hospital called Mattie’s mom and dad, but they don’t have Belle’s information,” Garcia says.

  “I’ll call her mother,” I say, taking my phone from my purse. “It’s dead, damn it.”

  “We can charge it in your car,” Major says.

  “Oh, good idea. Are you guys staying?” I ask Garcia and Kimber.

  “We sort of have to. You’re our ride,” Kimber says.

  “Oh yeah, well we could try to run you back to the hotel, Kimber but I don’t know what kind of traffic we’re going to run into or what condition the hotel is in.”

  “You can just bring her to my house. It’s close and I already called. There’s no damage,” Garcia says.

  I tip my chin down and lift my brows. “Impressive, Garcia. You’re quite the gentleman, aren’t you?”

  “Always.”

  “Is that okay with you, Kimber?” I ask.

  “Yeah, sure. Will you let me know what’s going on at the hotel though? If I hear something first, I’ll call you too.”

  “Of course. Mom, are you staying here?”

  “Yes, I can’t leave Mattie. You go ahead. I’ll be fine here until you get back.”

  I kiss my mom on the cheek and we head outside to the parking garage. Major’s SUV is still parked in front of the ER entrance. He suggests we take his car since it’s bigger. All four of us pile in, and he points at a phone charger. Thankfully, we have the same phone.

  I plug it in and wait for it to charge enough to make a call and dial Belle’s mother, Marjorie. She’s hysterical, and rightly so. She got a ride back to the hotel from the restaurant, thinking that Belle and Mattie would have gone back there when she couldn’t find them. But the hotel had sustained serious damage, and nobody there had seen Belle. I gave her directions and reminded her that it’s a Naval hospital on base and she needs to have identification to get in. I hope she was paying attention, but I doubt it. I could hardly understand her between sobs and cellphone interference.

  The damage to the roads is random. Some are fine, others are complete rubble. We make it to Garcia’s house, and just as he said, there is no visible damage. We let them out and promise to keep them updated on Mattie and Belle. I watch them until they’re inside his cozy bungalow. I like the way they look together.

  “Do you mind if we check on my house before we go back since we’re so close?”

  “Of course not. Let me text Mom and let her know we made it to Garcia’s.”

  We drive in silence after I send Mom a text . Halfway to his house, he slides his hand over my bare leg and squeezes it. It feels like he’s nervous, maybe worried about the condition of his house?

  When we turn off the main road onto his street, it’s pitch black dark. The main road has a few traffic lights still working, but the residential streets and houses are all dark.

  He drives slowly with his bright lights on, counting each driveway as it comes into view until he reaches eleven. He turns into his drive, and his grip on my thigh relaxes. It looks fine as far as we can tell with our limited field of vision.

  “Do you mind if we go in?”

  “No, I figured we would.”

  He opens the garage door, and it lifts automatically, so the house must still have power. When he pulls inside, everything still looks okay. A few things have shifted out of place and fallen onto the ground, but there’s no structural damage. Major takes a few minutes to replace the wayward rakes and shovels before going inside.

  Inside appears to be in order as well. There isn’t really anything that could have fallen, no knickknacks on shelves or crooked pictures. He straightens a vase in the foyer that looked perfectly fine to me before deeming the house satisfactory overall.

  On the way back to the hospital, he fidgets in his seat and adjusts his seatbelt several times.

  “You okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “You seem a little nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous,” he says, but he sounds offended.

  He’s quiet for a couple of miles. I keep looking at him out of the corner of my eye, checking on him. He is so nervous. I don’t care what he says. His mouth his body language speak volumes.

  We turn into the hospital parking garage, and he shuts off the engine.

  “I think you and your mother should come and stay with me. The hotel isn’t habitable. I had it checked out, and it’s not safe. We can go by and see if they’re able to get any of your things, but it’s been closed for business until further notice.”

  I turn in my seat and pull my knee up so I can look directly at him.

  “How did you find all of that out? And when?”

  “I texted a friend of mine who works in security at your hotel.”

  “I don’t think you really want us staying with you.” I have to say it. He’s obviously been stewing about this since we left his house. I’m no psychiatrist, but I’ve pretty much diagnosed Major with OCD.

  “I just extended you an invitation, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, after miles of adjusting your seatbelt and trying to get comfortable in your own car. Major, it’s okay. We can find another hotel. Actually, I’m sure the wedding’s going to be postponed, if not because of the earthquake, then Mattie’s and Belle’s condition. We’ll probably go home tomorrow.”

  “Violet, I want you and your mother to stay with me. I have no reservations about it. You may be going home tomorrow or the next day, but you’ll need somewhere to stay until then, and it only makes sense that you both stay with me.”

  For the first time since I met him, I can read emotion on his face. His blank, flat affectation is gone and tension is vibrating i
n his eyes. He is being very stubborn about this, however, so I accept his invitation.

  “Okay, if my mom will come, I will too, but I’m pretty sure we will be going home tomorrow.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  11

  Who’s the Boss?

  Major

  This is so not fine. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I’ve never had anyone over to visit, let alone houseguests to stay the night—or two nights, or however long they need to stay.

  Six years I’ve lived here, and no one other than maintenance people and my housekeeper, Edith, have stepped foot inside until this weekend. But I needed to know they were safe. I didn’t have a choice, so now I have two people in my house, touching my things, using my bathroom, and eating in my kitchen.

  I can’t concentrate. I’ve been pacing the floor in my bedroom since we got home this morning. Standing in that hospital, where I spent so many days waiting to see if Katie would pull through, was awful, but being home and having people inhabiting my sanctuary is worse.

  Violet is in my shower, and her mother is downstairs sleeping on my couch.

  I rub the back of my neck and stretch it out, trying to relieve the tension there. Katie used to tell me I looked like a pelican trying to swallow a fish when I stretched like this. She teased me all the time about my idiosyncrasies, but she loved me despite them. She couldn’t comprehend my strong sense of organization or my need to make lists so that things would be done properly. I told her it’s the Marine in me, but she would just shake her head as if she knew better.

  We had our fights. I would flip out if she moved something unexpectedly or if she didn’t replace something before it ran out. I hate that. I keep four of everything in my house so that when it runs out, there’s another ready to replace it. Soap, toothpaste, condiments, fabric softener. Everything is stocked at least four deep.

  I like lists. I make them for everything that I do. But once in a while, my Katie would add things to one of my lists in her handwriting, which is nothing like my handwriting, ruining my list.

  I would have to throw it away and start over, and it pissed me off. Probably more than it should have. I would yell at her, and she would yell at me, and then she would go into the bedroom and cry. That made me even angrier, and then later on, when her eyes were puffy and she would be cooking my dinner, keeping every box and every bottle in straight lines on the counter and cleaning up every splatter or drip as she went, I would feel like a complete asshole. It was a vicious circle of madness, and she was a saint to put up with me. I vowed never to subject another woman to my eccentricity, and now here I am having . . . I don’t know what I’m having with Violet.