Page 26 of The Nanny and the Don
“You bringing the kids out here today?” she quizzed.
“I was thinking about it. It’s nice out.” I observed as I looked around taking in my surroundings. The yard was massive. Trees lined the edges of the property at a distance making me wonder what was on the other side. “There aren’t any bears out here, are there?”
“The worst thing I’ve seen was a deer. We get a lot of rabbits too. There’s miles of forest over there. Mr. Gray owns all of it. I think I heard him tell someone that a mile of the land around him, on either side, belongs to him. Then there’s a house a few miles down the street, and he owns that too.”
“Damn,” I muttered.
She laughed. “I know right. Everybody ain’t able.”
“You ain’t joking.”
“Well at least you get to live here with him. I don’t think anybody has lived upstairs since his sister left.”
That made my ears perk up. “The kids’ mother?”
“Yeah. She used to live upstairs. It was way before she had the kids. I didn’t even know he had a sister, but I heard him telling his friend Four that someone was finally up there after all these years, and he didn’t know how to feel about it because he had that apartment built for Angela.”
“Wow.”
“He must really like you. I clean this spotless castle from top to bottom every day, and I’ve never spent the night here.”
“Well, the nature of my job calls for me to live here, I guess. The kids are always here,” I noted.
“Who do you think took care of them up until you got here? I didn’t spend one night here. He made sure that I got out of here at eight so I could be back by eight.”
“How long have they been here?” I quizzed.
“A few weeks. Maybe a month now. Let me tell you, he is clueless when it comes to those kids, and he’s not interested in learning what to do with them from what I can tell. He’s all business all the time. They’re just another thing that he has to handle or have someone handle.”
“So, where is their mother?” I asked, hoping she could shed some light on that part of the mystery.
“Who knows? He’s so elusive to questions. If you like your job, you learn not to ask too many questions. I love my job, so I try not to pry. I didn’t even know he had a sister until he told me to get the rooms ready for the kids.”
I wondered what he’d told her about me. I knew that he hadn’t initially planned on bringing me here because he couldn’t have known that I was at Brendan’s house. He came there withintentions of confronting Brendan and just took me as collateral. Still, I wanted to know how much she really knew.
“Did he have you to clean the upstairs apartment before I came? It was spotless.”
“Girl, no. I only found out that you were here through Miguel. He called me last night saying that Mr. Gray hired a gorgeous nanny to take care of the kids. He knew how we were struggling with them. I can tell you know what you’re doing because they are still sitting at the table waiting for you to come back.”
“It just takes a little patience.”
She laughed. “Who are you kidding? It takes a lot of patience. I mean a whole lot.”
“Thankfully, I have it.”
“Yeah, you’re good with them. Miguel and I have a bet going on.”
“You’re betting on how long I will last? Is it because you think I’ll quit or that he’ll fire me?” I asked, just to see what she would say.
“Neither. We think that you two are going to end up being an item,” she revealed.
Now it was my turn to laugh. If only they knew the truth. “What?”
“He’s been single for as long as I’ve been working here. I’ve known him to entertain here and there but mostly it’s work, work, work. Now that he has no choice but to be in the company of a beautiful woman, he will have no choice but to acknowledge his carnal side.”
“Y’all are tripping. What’s the pool? I kinda want to get in on that action,” I joked.
“No ma’am. That would taint the experiment. I’m not even going to tell you the time frames we picked. Just know that I’m going to win, and when I do, just say congratulations.”
