Page 82 of Liar Byrd
Chapter 27
Nash
Outside, a storm rages, shaking the glass in the windows.
I’ve turned on almost all the lights, but the house still feels dark.
With no gardener to trim the bushes that crowd the garden, I'll have to do it myself before they block more light. And I would if I didn’t want to set this house on fire and watch everything burn.
I’m standing at the glass double doors leading to the garden when a scuff behind me warns me I’m no longer alone.
Jessica hovers in the doorway, her fingers twisting together, back in her maid's uniform.
I hide my frown when I see the uniform.
She wants to work and seems to enjoy cleaning, but I haven’t felt comfortable with her doing it for a while now. Nance mentioned that she was eager to start again. I told her to tell Jessica to come and speak to me about it. It’s been two days, and it’s taken that long for her to work up the courage to do it.
I have a million-dollar trust fund. I’d give her money to sit around and watch TV all day, but there’s a wariness in her that she’d wonder if she had to do something else to earn a wage.
I don’t want her to think that my help comes at a price.
So I’ve started picking up more after myself. Vonn and Makhi have as well. The less mess we make, the less there is for her to clean. I’m not sure if she’s noticed it yet, or if I even want her to.
“How is your ankle?” I ask her, pretending not to notice her blond roots or the way she keeps glancing at the grand piano.
“Better.”
It's not. She’s still limping a little. Not at the moment, but I’ve seen her moving around the house, often asking Nance if she needs help in the kitchen.
“I won’t fire you if you take time off to heal,” I tell her.
The house has never looked cleaner. I have a dead gardener buried in my garden, and I have no idea what I’ll say when someone notices he's missing, but this is the most peaceful we’ve been in the last several months.
She shrugs. “I like to keep busy.”
When she hovers in the doorway, I eye her curiously. “Did you want me to leave so you can clean in here?”
A hint of amusement softens haunted dark blue eyes. “I don’t think it’s supposed to work like that.”
That almost-smile captivates me. “What doesn’t work like that?”
She shrugs. “The, uh, maid isn’t supposed to kick her boss out of rooms to clean them. I guess I could chase you out with a mop, but then you’d have to fire me. If you didn’t, Nance absolutely would.”
Beneath that haunted sadness lies a sense of humor.
I find myself wanting to smile, a rarity before she walked through my front door. “I promise not to fire you if you promise not to chase me out of rooms with a mop.”
“Nance said I should speak to you about working again,” she says, avoiding my gaze.
“Are you so desperate to clean?” I heard about her cleaning Makhi’s bike.Twice. Vonn told me he gave her his dog tags soshe’d have something to cling to for strength, and he made her promise not to polish them.
“She’d polishmeif I stood still long enough,” Makhi had quipped.
Vonn had laughed, and I’d thought about why that might be, and I keep thinking about it.
“Why?” I ask.
“Why, what?”
