Page 16 of Now and Again

‘So, he’s changed his mind?’

‘Oh, god yes. He’s super sorry,’ Amanda lied with such little skill that it was quite endearing. ‘He’d tell you himself, but he’s a bit busy now. Though he did say that he wanted us to give you a pay rise as an apology.’

‘A pay rise?’ Juliet goggled.

‘Yes, er, five percent?’

Well, this was quite the turnaround. She’d been waiting out here to be given the final bullet in the back of the head, and now she was the one with the gun. Amanda was practically begging her to stay.

‘Did err… Did Riley talk to Mike?’ Juliet asked.

Amanda nodded. ‘She did, yes. She was the one who made him realise how silly he’d been, actually.’

‘I see,’ Juliet said, not seeing at all. Why would Riley plead her case with her dad? She didn’t want Juliet here; it was quite obvious. But she had seemed rather set on correcting things when she’d come in. She had to have done it for Mia.

‘So, what do you think?’ Amanda asked, breaking up Juliet’s wonderings about Riley’s motives.

‘I’m not quitting,’ Juliet said quickly.

Amanda let out the largest sigh of relief Juliet had ever seen, cartoon big. ‘Oh, thank you. Thank you!’

Juliet didn’t want Amanda to feel so beholden. ‘Everyone’s allowed a bad day,’ she said with as much grace as she could muster.

Amanda nodded. ‘Yes, they are. Speaking of which, I need a glass of wine. You’re here till six, is that correct?’

‘Yes, we’ll be fine. Go ahead.’

Amanda scuttled back into the house. Juliet could find no ill will toward her for what had happened. Mike, however? She was going to have to watch him. Whatever Amanda had said, Juliet didn’t believe he was sorry. She thought there was a possibility he’d be gunning for her now. She really didn’t want to be shouted at like that again. Even though she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, it was a hard thing to bear.

***

Juliet was getting her coat on to leave. Day one was done. She hoped day two would be far less dramatic.

Only the drama of the day wasn’t quite finished because Juliet had something she had to do now. Shereallydidn’t want to. But it was the right thing. ‘Hey, Amanda, OK if I pop up and speak to Riley?’

Amanda raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, yes, of course. The third room on the left.’

Juliet thanked her and jogged upstairs. She knocked on Riley’s door. ‘Yep?’ came a muffled reply.

Juliet cleared her throat. ‘It’s me, Juliet.’

The door swung open. Riley appeared, astonished. ‘Oh. Hello.’

‘I didn’t want to bother you, but I felt like I should come up and just say—’

Riley wanted none of it. ‘If it’s thanks, don’t. Mia obviously likes you. Not to mention Amanda. She needs to be back at work or she’s gonna lose her marbles; she’s not cut out for the stay-at-home life. Given all that, I’d have to be a monster to stand aside and let you get sacked.’

‘I’m not sure I’d use those words,’ Juliet said. ‘And, anyway, there are other nannies.’ Juliet cleared her throat. ‘Maybe even nannies you didn’t… That you don’tknow.’

Riley gave an embarrassed little laugh. ‘Right. Yeah.That.’

This was as close as they’d come to mentioning their history. It was a small relief. Juliet didn’t have the constitution for the level of denial they’d been practicing thus far. She couldn’t compartmentalise for toffee. ‘Yeah. That.’

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter what happened now, does it? It was a long time ago. We were kids. I mean, we were practically Mia’s age, right?’ Riley said with a chuckle.

Juliet had to laugh. ‘Good point. So, does that mean as adults, we can stop being awkward when we see each other around the house?’

Riley gave a slow smile. ‘That would be nice.’

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