Page 11 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“I was in a bit of a pickle when my last nanny quit. My youngest is at a friend's house today, but I can't always rely on the kindness of strangers.”
“No, I understand.” And though I wondered why his last nanny had quit on short notice, I didn't ask.
“Please, take a seat,” Ethan said, motioning at the chairs in front of the island. “I've just finished making coffee. Would you like some?”
“Yes, please. I take mine black.” A habit I'd started while cramming for my college finals.
“Sounds like you're a little more hardcore than me,” Ethan joked. “Well, that's good. As a manny, you might have to be.” He poured me a mug of coffee and slid it over the kitchen island to me before he proceeded to pour another mug and add two sugar cubes to it.
“I'm not hardcore at all.” How could I claim to be when I'd run from my last relationship? That wasn't exactly a hardcore thing to do.
“No?” Ethan sat down and studied me curiously. I couldn't help but wonder what he was seeing. An average looking omega he'd never heard of who'd come to apply for a job? I felt like his gaze lingered on me a little bit too long for that, but maybe that was just my imagination. He couldn't recognize me, even though I could never forget him. He hadn't changed too much from the boy I'd known. He still had the same light hair and bright eyes, the same athletic build that had made him a star among the kids in our neighborhood. I wanted to say that his scent had changed but I wasn't sure if it was different or just more intense now that he was an adult. And to be honest, I didn't want to spend too much time thinking about how alpha he smelled.
Thinking like that would only lead to trouble.
I wasn't evendivorcedyet.
“I have to admit my children can be a handful,” Ethan spoke on. “Well, I don't think you'd have too much trouble with my youngest. He's nearly four years old now and he listens well. It's the almost-teenager who can be... how to put this...” The fine lines on Ethan's forehead drew into a frown. “He's going through some tough times and I'm afraid it's making him act out.”
I nodded, filing the information away in my head. A nearly four-year-old and a kid who was nearly a teenager? That meant the older boy must be twelve. I’d expected him to be a little younger, to be honest. If I remembered correctly, Ethan was five years older than me, which meant he had to be just around eighteen when his first son was born. That was rough. Also not at all how I'd imagined his life would go.
Then again, people were probably just as surprised at the path my life had taken.
“It's no problem,” I told Ethan. “I'm not easily scared.”
“No, I guess you're not.” Ethan grinned, although I couldn't quite tell why. It almost looked like he was remembering something. Something about me? My breath caught in my throat.
Calm down, Rhys. There's no way you're reading this situation correctly.
“Honestly,” Ethan continued. “I was a little surprised when your brother told me you wanted to be a manny.”
Wait, what? “Why were you surprised?”
Did he actually remember me after all?
“You were always such a bookworm that I figured you'd go into academia or something.”
Shit, he really did remember.
And I didn't know what to say. I'd never have thought that I'd made enough of an impact during my time in Oceanport to remain in anyone's memory, much less Ethan's.
“I'm sorry if I said something rude or insensitive,” Ethan backpedaled when I didn't respond. A sheepish smile on his face, he rubbed the back of his neck as if he was actually worried he might have offended me. “I was just always impressed by how studious you were when we were younger.”
It was true; I'd always had my nose in a book. I never thought I was impressing anyone by hiding behind the pages of my favorite textbooks, though. “I just um...” Why was I fumbling for words now? I shouldn't be. I knew lots of words! “I just like studying,” I finished lamely, feeling myself deflate. I knew my love for studying was not an attractive quality. I'd been told many times.
Why did it have to bethisthat Ethan remembered about me?
Although, to be honest, I wasn't sure what else I might have liked him to recall. That I'd had the biggest ant colony in all of Oceanport in my room and how my brother Nick let them escape one day?
Truth be told, there justweren'ta lot of attractive qualities to me. I'd always been an outsider. The kid who liked his books and bugs better than the other children. I was quiet and didn't really know how to talk to people. I didn't make trouble. Among my six siblings, I never stood out.
Sometimes I wondered whether that was why it had been so easy for Jeremiah to impress me. All because he'd taken an interest in me while I knew there wasn't anything interesting about me.
“I think that's great, though,” Ethan said, oblivious to the thoughts going through my mind. “Sometimes I wish I could have gone to college, but I just barely managed to graduate high school.” He laughed, as if slightly embarrassed by this fact. “I'm sure by now you've done the math in your head and you know why I haven't gone to college.”
“That's nothing to be ashamed of, though,” I said. “I know lots of people who've gone to college who aren't very smart.” And even some college professors who weren't super smart. “It doesn't prove anything. Raising a child is something different. And at that age too. You should be proud for managing so well.” At least it looked like he'd managed well. He had a roof over his head, his children were fed and he seemed to be doing okay career-wise.
“I don't know that I am managing well.” Ethan stared into the brown liquid in his mug with an almost forlorn expression on his face. Then he rubbed his temples. “Forget I said that. You're not here to hear my life's story.”
