Page 2 of The Unconventional Nanny
"Oh . . . uh. Okay. Come on in and let me show you the space." The mystery man swoops down to pick up his crying child. It's evident he doesn't have much patience left to spare.
"Just like that?" Huh. For some reason, I thought it would be harder to convince him. "You don't want me to come back at a better time?"
Like maybe when there isn't sauce all down your shirt.
Obviously I don't say that out loud, but my brain is definitely chanting:
Please say no.
Please say no.
Pleasesay no.
"No, it's fine. My nanny asked to come in late today and Little Miss Priss here isn't happy about it."
"I want to go to the park," the little girl says with determination.
At least I think that's what she says. It sounds more like “I wan to go to da parf”and fuck if I know what a parf is. Although I have to give her credit—the tears magically dried up with the statement.
"You can go. Just as soon as Ms. Casey gets here. Daddy has to go to work." The man sighs before turning back to me. "Sorry about the mess. Lunchtime can sometimes be difficult. The mother-in-law suite is right this way."
I follow him through what would be a pristinely remodeled kitchen, with green walls and dark cabinets running throughout, if it weren't for the spaghetti splattered across the space. The dark color should've made the room less homey, but the green does a nice job of lightening the room up. Plus, the kitchen has a huge window behind the sink and a sliding glass door to the backyard that brings in plenty of light.
"Here we go."
Just like the kitchen, the mother-in-law suite is gorgeous. The open-concept space includes a large bedroom with a small, attached seating area, and three separate doors leading from it.
I follow my hopefully soon-to-be landlord and his child farther into the room. "It's not huge, but it has an en suite bathroom." He opens the first door to a fairly oversized bathroom with a shower and a claw-foot tub. "A decent-size closet." The man isn't lying as he leads us to door number two. The closet is huge. I’ll be lucky to fill up half of it with the clothes I own.
"And the third door?" If I remembered correctly from a discussion with Annalee, there isn't a kitchen, but I would be sharing one with the landlord.
"That leads outside, so you have a separate entrance."
"Makes sense." The gentleman, whose name I really need to get sooner or later, wouldn't want someone coming in at all hours of the night while his kid is sleeping. Not that this town has much of a nightlife. "It's beautiful."
And fully furnished. Something I desperately need considering I fit everything I own into the trunk of my car.
Spoiler: It isn't much.
"How soon will it be ready?"
The man laughs. "Today if you want it. This isn't some fancy city apartment. I don't need first and last months’ rent, or, hell, even a security deposit. I just ask that rent is paid on time so I can pay for my girls’ activities."
That's a relief since I don’t have that much money saved up.
"Girls?" I only see the one kid so far.
"I've got three, and they all love to keep me busy."
Well, damn. Three kids is a lot for a single father. Annalee mentioned a little about him when we talked, and the one thing that stuck out was there's no Mrs. in the picture.
Not that I'm interested. I mean, sure, he's attractive, but I don’t do kids. They're messy and leave a person sticky. I could do just about anything but that.
"So how does tomorrow sound for moving in?" I ask.
I mentally go through everything I have and what I would need to buy. It isn't much, and I didn't get the chance to check the bathroom out, but I thought I saw towels hanging up. Since there's no security deposit or upfront costs, I could make it about two months before things would get dicey. That's plenty of time to find a job. I’ve never served food before, but I'm sure the diner could always use some help.
How badly could I fuck that up?
