Her Savior

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “Okay, let’s give Summer some time to rest. I’m going to get these munchkins to bed, and I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” he said. “I’m serious. Stay put. I need to check you out before you get up and move around. Okay?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said playfully as Faith and Thomas both laughed.

  I felt terrible. My hands were trembling, and I was pretty sure I had a cold sweat going on. There was no way I was going to venture to try and move. I closed my eyes and waited for Tyler to come back.

  As I lay there, I tried to think about what it was that I could have done to make myself feel so awful. I’d been sleeping at night. I was taking naps every day. I probably wasn’t eating enough, but that was pretty normal for me and usually didn’t end with me feeling so horrible. Only since coming to work for Tyler had my light eating habits been an issue for me. Perhaps all the running around after the kids was going to require me to put more of an effort into my diet and calorie intake. I certainly didn’t want to get fat or anything like that, but I could use a few hundred more pieces of pizza at the moment. In other words, I was starving.

  Thirty minutes later, Tyler had the kids tucked into bed, and he was kneeling down in front of me. The genuine concern in his eyes was heartwarming as I held onto his hand for a minute and sat up. Tyler was a nice guy. I wouldn’t have known that after our first few days together, but he was growing on me, and I really did think he was nice.

  “Do we need to give your parents a call?” he asked.

  “No, I’m fine. Really. I’m just so horrible at this job. I’m sorry. Don’t call them. Ugh, they will just go on and on about me not taking care of myself.”

  The last thing on earth I wanted Tyler to do was call my parents. They already thought I couldn’t take care of myself. This would just give them the ammunition they needed to continually rub my face in it.

  “It takes a little getting used to this job. But I bet you’d do better if you were actually taking care of yourself. You can’t keep burning the candle at both ends if you want to be able to have the energy to run after them. I’m sure your parents would just say the same thing.” Tyler gave me one of those all-knowing grins of his.

  “Yeah. I know. I was just thinking that I needed to eat some of that pizza.”

  “Just so you know, I actually think you’re doing a really good job. The kids haven’t been this happy in a very long time.”

  “But the house,” I groaned as I looked around at the mess. “I’m sorry.”

  “Okay,” Tyler said as he sat next to me and grabbed both of my hands. “We are done with being sorry and all of that. This job is hard. You’re basically a parent of two school aged kids. You’ve got to give yourself some slack.”

  As Tyler held my hands, I started to think about how I had gotten onto the couch. Had he just picked me up off the ground and carried me there? That was pretty embarrassing, but yet really sweet of him.

  “Did I faint?” I asked as I was finally putting everything together.

  “Yeah,” Tyler laughed at me. “What did you think happened?”

  “I don’t know; I thought I might have lain down on the couch and fallen asleep. But then I was thinking about it, and I couldn’t remember coming over here to lie down. Gosh, I don’t even know what I was thinking.”

  We both laughed at how absurd my memory was at the moment. I really did need to get some food into me as my brain wasn’t working well at all.

  “By the way, you seemed to be keeping the house clean when you were home,” I said as I remembered the first day I visited him. “I don’t understand how you were able to do it, but I can’t seem to get anything done around here.”

  “I’m probably a little meaner than you are.” Tyler laughed as he continued holding my hands in his. “But you have to find your own way with the kids. Just don’t put this all on yourself. They are old enough to pick up after themselves. You don’t need to do it for them. Don’t let them convince you that it’s your job to pick up their toys when it’s really their job.”

  “Okay.”

  “And you have to take the time to eat. I swear I’ve only seen you eat three bits since you’ve been here. That’s just not going to work for me. You’ve got to promise to make a better effort in that area.”

  “I will.”

  “Those kids care about you. I care about you. Taking care of yourself is essential. What if you had been driving, and you passed out? That’s pretty dang scary, right? So you have to eat; I don’t care how mad at me you are.” His eyes squinted a little as he smiled at me.

  “Thanks, Tyler. Thanks for being nice to me even though I suck.” I laughed.

  Tyler gave in and laughed with me. As much as I wanted to be the perfect nanny, it was clear I wasn’t doing the best job at it. At least Tyler was willing to give me more time and let me try and figure out how this job worked with my personality. Maybe I was just going about it the wrong way. Maybe I was trying to be Mary Poppins instead of just being me.

  “I should probably let go of your hands now.” Tyler laughed as he realized he was still holding onto them. “I think you should rest tonight. Eat the rest of that pizza. Then make some plans to go out with your friends this weekend. Maybe a fun weekend with your friends will help get your spirits up.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I’m home, and you look like you need some time with your friends. I need some time with the kids anyway. I’m not used to having to be at the office all day long. This will work out perfectly.”

  “Yeah, I like that idea. Give me that pizza.”

  I downed a few slices of pizza and was feeling much better by the time I crawled into bed. The last two weeks of my life had been harder than I remember anything being before. I couldn’t quit this job; I didn’t even want to quit. But it was hard. I sucked at it, and I was really excited to have the weekend off to hang out with my friends and finally relax a little.

  Before falling asleep, I sent out some messages to everyone to get things started to go out on Saturday. I had barely talked to any of my friends that week because I was so busy, and I knew they were going to hammer me with responses. I flipped my phone to silent and went to sleep. Whatever they had to say was just going to have to wait until morning. I really needed my sleep.

  I didn’t set an alarm, and it was fabulous to sleep through most of the morning and wake up to the warm afternoon sun. My stomach was growling again, and I couldn’t wait to make a healthy breakfast and visit with Tyler and the kids before I made my way over to Patrick’s apartment for the night out on the town.

  Since I was asleep, everyone took it upon themselves to decide what we were doing that night, and that was just fine with me. I was supposed to get my butt over to Patrick’s apartment by eight o’clock, and everyone else was going to meet up there as well. Then our crew was heading to Club Lively, one of our favorite dance clubs in the city. Lively was a much younger crowd, and I’d never been able to find a decent guy around there, but I didn’t care at all. This weekend I truly just wanted to hang out with my friends and have some fun after the two most stressful weeks of my life.

  The house seemed really quiet as I came downstairs, and for a minute, I thought I had read the clock wrong and it was much earlier than noon. But as I looked at the stove and the microwave, I was assured that it really was a little after noon and everyone appeared to have taken off for the day.

  “Anyone home?” I yelled out, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

  As I walked into the kitchen there was a note from Tyler:

  Took the kids to the park and then a baseball game.

  Have a great night with your friends. – T

  I smiled as I held the paper. I already felt like a million pounds of pressure was off of me since he told me I was doing a good job. I hadn’t thought of how happy the kids were, and they certainly did seem happy with me around.

  This night was so needed, though. It was going to be wonderful just to get out of the hous
e and not have to worry about Faith or Thomas for the night. I really wasn’t used to having to take care of anyone else besides myself. Heck, I wasn’t even that great at taking care of myself.

  With the house quiet, I made myself some coffee and went to enjoy the peacefulness of the backyard. It was an entirely different experience back there without the kids running and screaming.

  The grass looked a little greener than it had the last time. The trees along the back fence even seemed a little taller to me. I sprawled out on one of the lounge chairs and just took in the warmth of the sun. This was what I had pictured myself doing while the kids were at school. But instead, I was curled up in my bed totally exhausted.

  For the rest of my afternoon, I took advantage of the beautiful day we were having and sat outside as much as possible. I made some eggs and brought them out first and then since I was still hungry, I made a sandwich and brought it out as well.

  I even went and grabbed my swimsuit and threw it on as the afternoon warmed up even more. With a good book and my shades on, I did my best to fully relax and enjoy the day. I didn’t have to start getting ready until at least six o’clock, so I was going to really enjoy the quiet I had going on.

  “Summer is naked!” I heard Thomas yell as he slid the back door open.

  “I am not,” I protested. “This is my swimsuit. I’m getting a suntan.”

  Thomas and Faith just blasted right past me as they ran out to their fort in the back of the yard. As I stood up from my lounge chair, Tyler was standing in the doorway staring at me with a smile he just couldn’t wipe off of his face.

  “What? I’m not naked,” I again protested.

  “Pretty close,” he teased.

  “This is a normal swimsuit. It’s not that tiny.”

  “Let me see, do a spin,” he said as he playfully motioned for me to spin around.

  I did as he asked just to play with him. This particular swimsuit was actually covering me more than any other from my collection. It had cheeky bottoms but a full top. Nothing like the string bikinis I had decided not to bring with me.

  “You like?” I teased.

  “Yeah, that’s a nice swimsuit. But I thought you were going out with your friends tonight?”

  “I am, just not meeting up until later. I really enjoyed spending the day out here. The house is a lot different when everyone is gone.”

  “I always found it hard to relax when I had the house to myself – like when I would take the kids to school and work from home. It was creepy as it was so quiet.”

  “Well, I better go get in the shower and start getting ready,” I said as I walked over to the sliding glass door, but Tyler didn’t move.

  His eyes were glued to my body as he stayed right where he was. The look of desire that filled his face was clearly the same one I’d seen before. I wasn’t sure if I’d just been too tired this week to notice it or if he had been behaving himself so much that he wasn’t giving me that look.

  “Oh, sorry,” he said as he finally realized he was blocking the door. “Call if you need a ride home or anything like that.”

  “I can get an Uber, but thanks.” I laughed as I went toward the stairs.

  “Where are you guys going?”

  “Club Lively.”

  “Oh, yeah, I hear it’s nice there. Okay, well, have fun,” he said again as I turned and made my way up the stairs.

  I couldn’t help smiling as I closed my bedroom door behind me and hopped into the shower. It only took me an hour to get ready instead of my usual two hours because I just didn’t care as much as I normally did. I wasn’t at all interested in looking for men and just wanted to have fun.

  Instead of my usual super short dress that clung to every curve, I opted for a flowing style dress with flowers. I kept my hair down with a couple of braids on either side to spice it up a little, and instead of my super hi-heels, I had on a pair of sandals. It was a great feeling to come down the stairs and not have to worry that I might topple to my death.

  “Wow,” Tyler said right away.

  “You look like a princess,” Faith added.

  “Thanks, guys.”

  “I like this look. Very cute,” Tyler added with a nod.

  I knew exactly what he meant. I wasn’t dolling myself with a ton of makeup and my super hi-heels. Instead, this felt much more like the real me, and I was one hundred percent more comfortable than I normally was on a night out.

  “Well, you guys have a fun night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I gave Faith and Thomas a little hug. “You too,” I motioned to Tyler but didn’t hug him.

  “Have fun,” they all said as they waved goodbye.

  Chapter 10

  Tyler

  Summer was looking damn good. It was really worth it to come home early and run into her in that swim suit. Dang, I couldn’t stop thinking about her for the rest of the night. It was a little surprising that she had on sandals instead of those heels that she loved so much, but it was a good look for her.

  Her hair was pulled up in a cute design, and she had color back in her cheeks and a smile from ear to ear. Things seemed to be going much better for her with a day off to relax, and I was really glad.

  With only a few weeks left until my big trip, I had to make sure she was going to be able to handle the kids without any major events. At this point, I was still a little worried about her being able to hold down the fort, but hopefully, she’d keep feeling more and more confident.

  When Summer left for her evening of fun with her friends, the kids and I started our movie marathon. The baseball game had been a scorcher, and we were all a little sunburned and tired, so I doubted we would make it through all three of the Disney movies that the kids had picked out.

  At 8 o’clock, I loaded in the first movie to the DVD player, and we cuddled up on the couch with our popcorn. This sort of downtime with the kids was what I craved the most. I could care less about running around and constant after-school activities. I liked spending as much time alone with the kids as possible.

  “You guys are growing up so much,” I said as I pulled the two of them closer to me.

  “Dad,” Thomas said as he wiped the kiss off of his cheek.

  Faith just smiled up at me and then turned back to the movie. It was true, though, I could still remember when they were both barely able to talk, and now the two of them could practically take care of themselves. I couldn’t imagine what life was going to be like when they were teenagers.

  Our night ended a little early as both of the kids fell asleep during the first movie, and I had to carry them off to bed. For the first time in a very long time, I thought about their rooms upstairs and how I should clean them out and get them set up for the kids again. With such a giant house, it was ridiculous that we just lived downstairs because of all the old memories. Plus, having Summer upstairs might actually make the kids feel better since I often left for work before anyone was up.

  After tucking both of the kids into their beds, I made my way up the stairs and to the bedroom that had once been Faith’s. It was still decorated in her baby nursery décor, which Claire and I had talked about changing for years and never got around to.

  At one point, I had put some boxes in the room because I was going to pack things away, but I never got to that step. This time, I opened one of the boxes and actually started to load things into it.

  Although it was slow going at first, soon I was getting excited about how much fun Faith and I would have picking furniture out for her new room. She was going to love picking out big girl furniture and trying to find things to decorate her room with.

  With my music blaring, I managed to work well into the night cleaning up Faith’s room first and then moving over to Thomas’ room. When two o’clock rolled around, and I saw a car stopping in front of the driveway, I was wide awake and packing up the boxes still.

  I watched Summer from the window as she wobbly walked up to the house. She looked like she had a little bit to drink, but no
t too much. She managed to get into the house just fine and walked up the stairs quietly so she wouldn’t wake any of us.

  When she got to the top of the stairs, I peeked my head out to check and see how her evening went. She really did deserve to have a fun night with her friends and let loose a little. She was still young, and being cooped up with the kids all day every day had to be getting hard for her.

  “Did you have a fun night?” I asked.

  “Oh, my God, yes,” she said as she came straight up to me and hugged me. “We talked about you a lot. Sorry.”

  I had to laugh at her playfulness as she let go of me and stood at the other side of the hallway near her bedroom. She looked so damn beautiful in her flowing dress and sandals like someone out of one of the kids’ Disney movies.

  “You look like you had fun.”

  “Come here; I want to tell you all about it,” she said as she motioned for me to come into her room.

  As she opened the door, I realized she hadn’t decorated her room at all yet. She still had her luggage bags all around and looked like she was getting ready to leave at any moment. That made me really nervous. I hoped she hadn’t felt like leaving because she was so overstressed, but more than that, I hoped she was feeling better now and didn’t want to leave if she once had wanted that.

  “Okay, tell me about your night,” I said playfully as I plopped down on the big bed and she sat in the fluffy chair across the way.

  “Oh, my gosh. First of all, I loved wearing these shoes instead of heels. Big props for me on wearing those.” She laughed as she unhooked the buckles and took the shoes off. “Second of all, I really like this job, and you made me feel so much better when you told me I wasn’t as horrible as I thought I was. Thank you for that, even if you were lying.”

  “You are doing a great job. So did you guys go dancing?”

  “Yeah, but mainly we just hung out and drank. It was nice to have a life to talk about besides just shopping. And I gave Patrick his rent money that I was behind on, so he was really happy about that.”