Page 18 of Rejected Nanny Mate
There was a pause where Scott was assumedly talking, and Gwen responded. “No, please. I want to stay on the schedule. I appreciate you offering to put me on leave, but I don't want to stop waitressing.”
Ah. Then, I understood what the conversation was about, and I felt a twinge of guilt as I continued to listen in.
“Yes. Thank you, sir. That's what I was hoping for. Please don't change anything.”
I almost growled in frustration. I just couldn't understand why she wouldn't just quit the cafe for the time being. The job would be there waiting for her once my need for a nanny wasfinished...Although I couldn't imagine how it would work for Rose and me without one.
“Thank you. See you tomorrow evening.”
Gwen hung up the phone and leaned against the porch railing, and the scent of her stress was strong enough for my nose to pick up, even under the cover of the house.
“What in the hell have I done to myself?” She whispered, sounding exhausted. I could definitely relate to that. “It's just temporary,” she reassured herself, “Only temporary. I can do this.”
That was enough. I couldn't take hearing how miserable she sounded, knowing that I played a part in it. Before she could sense me, I loped around the side of the house and bounded up the stairs, causing Gwen to jump and clutch a hand over her heart.
“Holy shit, Joe,” she breathed, looking up at me. “You scared the crap out of me.”
Her voice was thin and reedy, which worried me. “I just didn't want you to take off. Are you okay?”
She shifted from foot to foot, and it was then that I processed what she was wearing, or the lack thereof. Her matching pajamas consisted of a pair of pale pink shorts and a thin tank, no bra, and a long, silky robe to ward off the evening chill. I wasn't sure that the robe was doing its job very well, and I had the thought that I could keep her warm if she would only let me.
“I'm fine,” she said after a beat. “Just, um, getting some fresh air.” Her eyes darted down over my bare chest quickly and then back to my face, and there was a slight flush on her freckled cheeks. I wasn't the only one affected by the others' state ofundress, and it made me feel cocky. She might be chronically pissed off at me, but Gwen was still attracted to me, at least.
“You don't have to lie,” I told her. “I heard your phone call. Before you bite my head off, I was outside, already getting ready to shift and go for a run. I wasn't intentionally listening in.”
She'd opened her mouth to yell at me, but stopped when I explained myself, and understanding flashed over her face. “Ah. I guess that explains—” she motioned to my bare chest. “This.” I flexed, just slightly, and she scowled. “Knock it off.”
I laughed, but I wasn't going to be thrown off the real conversation that easily. “Anyway. Are you having trouble with work?”
“It's fine.”
“Gwen,” I growled.
She rolled her eyes, and I was glad to see her anger was directed somewhere other than me. “If you must know, yes, I'm struggling. There. Are you happy now?”
“Not really.” I folded my arms. “Why are you struggling? You can talk to me. This setup only works if we're open with each other. About things related to you and Rose,” I added at the end. There were a lot of things I wanted to be open about with her, but that ship had sailed long ago, and there was no way to get it back.
Gwen crossed her arms, still rubbing one hand over her chest. She was breathing rhythmically, in for three seconds and out for three seconds, and it made me frown. But before I could ask if anything else was wrong with her, she spoke, “I'm working two jobs, as you know, and the schedules just really aren't lining up. We're busiest in the morning at the cafe, and I'm one of themost experienced servers there, so I'm missing out on money. Scott still has to keep me on the payroll, which prevents him from hiring anyone else.
“Sometimes I'm so exhausted after being with Rose all day that I'm slower than usual at work, and it shows. Scott keeps pressing me to just go on leave so he can hire a temporary replacement, and I can be here full time, but that's not possible.” She threw her hands in the air at the end of her rant, but quickly went back to pressing her hand to her chest.
I was baffled.” But why isn't it possible? I know when you first took the job, that was one of your stipulations, that you stay at the cafe, but now that things have settled down and we know you're the right fit for Rose, why not take the leave?”
“You wouldn't understand.” Her tawny hair was in a single braid, and it caught the moonlight when she turned her head, a few pieces having escaped the plait and curled around her face.
“Try me.”
Gwen shook her head. “I need to keep the job. It's important to me.”
“Even if it's causing you this much stress?” I paced closer to her, and to my satisfaction, she didn't move away. “I can pay you more, if that's the problem. I can pay you like a full-time, live-in nanny, which you basically already are.”
“It's not the money,” she huffed. “See? This is what I mean. You don't understand.”
“I'm trying to understand, Gwen,” I kept my voice low, not wanting to spook her. “But you're not making it easy. Explain it to me like I'm an idiot.”
That made her smile, just a little. “First off, you are an idiot. But...” Gwen swallowed, and I watched the graceful, pale column of her neck as she did so. “If I give up the job at the cafe, I'm fully at your mercy for housing and pay—” I tried to push back, but she held up a hand to stop me. “It's nothing personal. I would feel the same way even if it were Samson and Kiera, or, hell, my own sister. But as long as I keep the job at the cafe, I still have that single piece of my independence, and if you decide to fire me tomorrow, I'd still be fine.”
“Scott said your job would be there when this was done, though.”
