Page 13 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“Oh great, because I have a bunch of questions too.”
He did? That was the first time a new nanny/manny was actually enthusiastic to be following protocol.
When he noticed the disbelief on my face, Rhys pulled something out of a small brown bag he was carrying. “See? I even brought a notebook.” He showed it to me with a grin that was so adorable I kind of wanted to hug him. Who else could get so excited about stationery?
“You're amazing,” I said before I could even think about what I was saying.
A faint blush colored Rhys' cheeks. The poor guy looked like he had no idea how to respond. Of course not. I shouldn't have said what I did. But there was nothing I could do now but continue like normal.
“If you would follow me into the kitchen, we can go through a list of emergency numbers. And then you can meet the kids. It should be a quiet day. Nathan is grounded and up in his room, probably sulking. I'd be surprised if you see him at all until dinner time. Caleb is in the living room with his Legos. He loves those.”
Rhys' expression brightened. “We had a lot of Legos when I was a child. My nephew prefers play-dough. I mean, that's great too, but I like Legos.”
“Great.” I gave him a smile. “You two should get along then.”
That was the only reason I was smiling, not because of how beautiful the omega beside me was when he was happy.
I just had to keep telling myself that, because I wasnotfalling for my manny.
Once I was convinced that my kids would be in good hands while I was gone, I headed out to do my job. My first stop of the day was a meeting with Cynthia Bellam, who was both a good friend of mine and the town's best (and only) florist. Cynthia was an alpha like me and she ran her flower shop like other people might run an army. Every petal was inspected at least twice a day. Cynthia expected nothing less than perfection from her employees and her plants. She'd been that way ever since I met her back in elementary school.
When I walked into the store that day, breathing in the scent of earth and flowers, I found her behind the register, leafing through a thick catalogue with glossy pages full of colorful images. “Hard at work, I see,” I said, approaching.
“Always, always.” She glanced up from her catalog, but only for a second. “You here about the Maden wedding? I got those arrangements for you. They're not quite ready to go out yet, but you know I always deliver on time.”
“And you know I appreciate it. What are you looking at?”
“Inventory to buy in the new year. I've been thinking about expanding a little.” Finally, she put the catalog aside and turned to me. “How are things going for you?”
“Great,” I said, although I knew my old friend wouldn't be satisfied with just that. One reason I made it a point to check in with her personally rather than over the phone; she always wanted to talk a little.
And I wasn't the only one she talked to. Cynthia had conversations with everyone about everything.
Whatever happened in this town, she knew.
I was an alpha left by his wife, and I'd just hired an omega who left his husband to be my manny.
I knew rumors were going to fly either way, but if I was the first to talk about the situation, and with the right person, I had a chance at nudging them in a favorable direction. At the very least I hoped I could preventsomedamage.
Cynthia didn't spend long beating around the bush. She never did. “Have you heard anything from your wife recently?”
“Nope. Not a word since she packed her bags and caught the midnight train.”
“I'm sorry.”
I shrugged. “You know our marriage was pretty much over anyway. If you want to feel bad for someone, feel bad for the kids. They were blind-sided by this much more than me.” I paused, glancing around the store. Cynthia had one of her employees, a young beta lady, rearranging the flower pots on the shelves in the back, but other than that, we didn't have an audience. “Speaking of the kids, I just hired a manny.”
Cynthia had been eyeing a small cactus next to the register before I spoke, but now her attention snapped to me, as if she was a dog and I'd just opened a pack of sausages. Had she already heard something? “A manny?” she asked innocently.
“An omega,” I elaborated. “He's good with kids.” Or so I believed, anyway.
“An unmated one?”
I made myself laugh to show my friend that she was taking this conversation in an absurd direction.
“Well, technically he's married.”
“Technically,you'remarried,” she pointed out.
