I smile sarcastically. “Is that what your game is? Be an evil little bitch until the nanny runs away? Do you try and make their life a living hell, Willow?”
She narrows her eyes.
“Does Daddy come to your rescue?” I whisper in a baby voice.
“Fuck you.” She sneers. “Stay out of my fucking way.”
“Oh, I’m in your way, and don’t fucking speak to me like that in front of Samuel again. I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like me, but you will not upset him. Do you hear me?”
Her eyebrows rise in surprise. “He’s a little kid and having an evil sister is not helping him one little bit. I don’t want you to hold your tongue for me, but for God’s sake, hold it for him.”
She glares at me.
“Now, get inside the damn van.” I growl.
She takes off outside in a huff, and I close my eyes as fury pumps through my blood.
Great. This day just keeps getting better and better.
“So, just up here,” Sam directs me as I pull into the circular school drop off bay.
Sam is in the front seat and Willow is in the back. She wouldn’t get in the front with me.
I peer out at the fancy school in front of me. It looks like Hogwarts from Harry Potter or something. “Wow,” I whisper. “This is swish.”
Willow climbs out of the car and slams the door.
I open my window. “Have a nice day, dear,” I call out.
She flips me the bird as she walks away, and I giggle and look down at Samuel. He bites his bottom lip to hold back his smile.
“Well, she’s clearly not a morning person, is she?” I widen my eyes at him.
He shakes his head and fidgets with his hands on his lap.
“Where is your school, buddy?” I ask.
“We go up here and turn left.”
He directs me again as I drive, and ten minutes later we get to his school. I pull up out the front. I dip my head and look around at the empty playground. “Where is everyone?” I ask.
“Oh.” His little face falls. “They don’t get here yet. They don’t come until right on the bell.”
“What do you do until your friends get here?”
He shrugs. “I just sit in the playground near my classroom.”
“By yourself?” I frown.
He shrugs again.
“What time do you get to school each day?” I ask.
“About 7:50 a. m.”
“What time does your bell go?”
“9:15.”
“So, you just sit here in the cold every morning, all by yourself?”
He nods.
I stare at him for a moment and shake my head before I pull back out into the traffic.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“We’re going for hot chocolate. You don’t sit in the cold alone on my watch.” I reach over and squeeze his little thigh, and he smiles broadly. “We might even have chocolate cake.” I tickle him, and he laughs, wriggling to get away from me. “Don’t tell your dad we had cake for breakfast, will you?”
He shakes his head with a big goofy smile on his face, and then he takes my hand in his on his lap.
This kid has got me already.
I get back home at about 9:45 a. m. I got completely lost and had to use the maps app on my phone to find the damn house. When I walk inside, I can hear a vacuum running upstairs. The cleaner’s clearly here. What was her name again? Damn it, I need to sleep. This jet lag is kicking my butt. I glance into the office near the staircase, and I tentatively walk up the stairs and down the hall. The cleaner is in Willow’s room, and I open the door to introduce myself.
An elderly lady is inside vacuuming, wearing a light blue uniform and looking every bit the part of the housemaid. She looks up and smiles broadly. “Hello.”
“Hi.” I smile, grateful to see a friendly face.
She turns the vacuum off and shakes my hand. “I’m Janelle. You must be the new nanny?”
I nod nervously. “Yes, I’m Brielle, but call me Brelly.”
She smiles as she looks me up and down. She has this warm, safe feel about her. “How’s it going?”
I roll my eyes and flop onto the bed. “Really bad.”
She chuckles as she picks up a feather duster and begins to dust the dresser. “Why is that?”
I blow out a defeated breath. “Willow hates me, Mr. Masters is only tolerating me, and I just can’t seem to do anything right.”
Her eyes hold mine and she smiles softly. “Finally.”
I frown. “Finally?”
“Finally, an honest nanny.”
My face falls. “They all leave, don’t they?”
She nods.
“Because of Willow?” I ask.
“Among other things.” She dusts for a moment as she thinks. “They are a lovely family, dear, just a little dysfunctional.”
“Does Willow hate everyone?” “Yes.”
“How long have you been with them?”
“Five years. I came to work for them the week after Alina died.”
“Alina?”
“The children’s mother.”
“Oh.” I stay silent, thinking carefully about what to say next. “I think Mr. Masters is going to fire me tonight.”
“Why?”
“I got caught in his room this morning. I was smelling his aftershave, and then I forgot to wake the kids up and lied about it, and then I had a raving row with Willow and dropped the F-bomb on her.”
Janelle bursts out laughing. “Oh my… you are honest.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah. It’s my biggest fault.”
Her eyes dance with delight. “Fault? I think it’s a virtue.” She dusts a little more. “One that is not shown around here often, unfortunately.”
I scowl. “What do you mean?”
She shrugs as she continues to clean. “It’s really none of my business, dear.”
I watch her for a while. “But if I’m going to try and make this work any information you have could be helpful. I don’t want to fail.”
She bends down and cleans the skirting board, her back to me. “Well, for what it’s worth, here’s my take on it.”
I listen intently.
“Mr. Masters has a broken heart and Willow reminds him of his late wife. They hardly speak, unless she is getting disciplined for something, and Samuel over compensates their lack of relationship with too much sweetness to make up for his sister’s cold front.”
My face falls. “Mr. Masters shuts her out?” I whisper.
“That, and she won’t let him in now. She won’t let anyone in. The damage has been done. You’ll soon know that she’s very difficult to get along with.”
Oh, that poor girl. Sadness fills me. She’s still only a baby. Suddenly I feel guilty for being horrible to her this morning. No wonder she’s snarky, and what an asshole he must be for shutting his only daughter out after her mother died.
I blow out a deflated breath and flop back on the bed.
Jeez, it’s like a bad Nicholas Sparks movie.
Janelle continues to clean around me.
“How did their mother die?” I ask.
“Car accident.”
“How was he after she died?”
“Who Mr. Masters?”
I nod.
“Quiet.”
I frown. “Is he always quiet?” She shrugs. “He is with me. He holds a very powerful position at work and I think it’s very taxing on him. When I first started, just after she died, I searched for Alina on Facebook. There were a lot of shots of the two of them out on the town together. She was beautiful.”
My eyebrows rise as I listen.
“But her page was shut down not long after.”
“Hmm.” All this information and I have no idea what to do with it. Janelle continues to clean, and I feel guilty for lounging here, just watching her work. “Do you want some help?” I ask. “Can I do anything?”
She smiles warmly. “No, dear, but why don’t you go and have a lie down. I’m sure you must still be jetlagged.”
“Yeah, I am. Dead tired, to be honest.” I hop up and make my way to the door, glancing back over my shoulder. “It was lovely meeting you.”
She smiles warmly. “You, too, dear. Sweet dreams.”
I make my way down to my room, set my alarm, and climb into bed. I pull my big, heavy quilt over me, and then I try to imagine I am home.