“Everybody ready?” Blake turned the key in the ignition while Olive shut the car door.
“I’ve heard that the Englisch have play groups where their children can interact with other children,” Olive said.
Blake glanced at Olive. “I suppose my mother mentioned that?”
Olive nodded.
“You can enroll him if you wish,” Blake said.
“It’s just that I notice that he keeps to himself even when we go to the park with other children. He doesn’t speak to them.”
Blake raised his eyebrows, which caused Olive to add, “I’m used to children playing well together and I notice that Leo likes to be by himself. Your mother mentioned something about it too.”
“Sure, good idea.”
Olive frowned at Blake. Was he listening to her at all?
After a few attempts to make a conversation, Olive had run out of things to say and Blake wasn’t helping. It was now awkward. It wouldn’t be as bad if he’d been unattractive. A handsome and wealthy, successful man like Blake would not even consider her as a suitable match even if she were Englisch. Men like him weren’t likely to be attracted to a nanny, much less an Amish nanny who swam in clothing and closed her eyes to thank Gott before every meal. She wondered what the two of them would have in common or talk about if a marriage between them was ever allowed.
The more Olive thought about Blake, the faster her heart beat. Blake, in contrast, seemed comfortable and quiet in the driver’s seat intently listening to a business radio show pouring through the speakers. His lack of small talk in the car made Olive unusually uncomfortable.
“Yay! We here!” Leo shouted with glee, once the car stopped.
Olive was relieved that the tension in the car had broken. Before Olive could open her door, Leo had nearly peeled himself from his five-point harness. Olive released the clips and pulled Leo from his car seat, while trying to balance the picnic basket and tote bag on her other arm. Blake must have noticed because he took Leo from her arms.
Blake and Leo chose a grassy spot on the bank to spread out the picnic blanket. The area they chose was not too close to the water, and had some pleasant shade from an old oak tree. Olive giggled when she saw Blake’s fancy business shoes with traces of sand beading up on them. “You should change. I mean your shoes.”
“I guess I should.” Blake stood up, walked a little distance, took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his trousers slightly. When he came closer, he said, “I was going to go for a swim, but since it doesn’t appear you will go in, then neither will I.”
Olive smiled with relief. She did not know what she would do if she saw him half dressed.
“So, what kind of things did Leo’s mom do with him?” she asked trying to understand their situation better and learn something of Mona.
Blake looked away from her and shrugged. “The usual things.”
“Leo needs to spend time with you. Maybe you can do something with him again tomorrow but by yourselves.”
“I’m going to be busy tomorrow. Besides, I hire you to take care of Leo’s needs.”
Olive guessed that Blake would have his mother watch Leo tomorrow since it would be Saturday and she was only employed Monday through Friday. Maybe, he had to work tomorrow to make up for having today off.
The two of them sat in silence for a time and watched Leo run around. To get away from Blake, Olive took Leo into the water’s edge to splash around. Her head hurt from trying to think of nice things to say to Blake, so she put him out of her mind and enjoyed playing with Leo.
“We should have gotten something to eat somewhere,” Blake muttered under his breath.
Olive laughed. “I’ve made all these sandwiches. It is a picnic and there wasn’t much in the fridge today.”
He scratched his head. “I’ve just started trying to stay away from gluten.”
“Oh, I didn’t know. How about we stop for ice-cream on the way home?”
“Very well,” Blake agreed.
It was no surprise to Olive that their trip to the ice-cream shop was much the same as their picnic had been. As they sat at a table in the ice-creamery, Blake occasionally corrected Leo about something and didn’t say much else. Blake checked either his cell phone or his watch, as if he had somewhere more important to be.
The drive home was filled with even more painful silence. Leo fell asleep in the back seat, the result of hours of fresh air and a belly full of ice cream. The boring business podcast droned over the car’s speakers, nearly lulling Olive to sleep.
Olive had a lot of time to think while she was in the car. She was tired from the day and grateful it was nearly over. If it weren’t for sweet little Leo, she would surely turn down this job and Blake’s money. What was the point of staying at the job with the crush she had on Blake when he didn’t return that interest? But then again, if he did like her, that would be even more problematic.
Chapter 10
It wasn’t even dinnertime when they got home from their day out, but Leo was fast asleep. While Olive unpacked everything they had taken with them, Blake carried Leo to bed.
When Olive came inside to put the extra food into the refrigerator, she heard Blake’s cell phone beep and he went into his den and came out ten minutes later.
Olive looked up to see a much happier Blake coming into the kitchen. “Good news?” she asked.
“Yes, that phone call was about a deal that I’ve just pulled off. I’ve been worried about it all day. A company was going to sign one of our contracts and balked at the last minute, but they’ve just signed it.” Blake heaved a sigh.
She knew nothing of his business, nor did she desire to know about it, if it affected his moods so powerfully. “Leo didn’t wake up when you put him down?”
Blake shook his head and smiled. “He’s fast asleep.”
Blake sat down in the kitchen instead of making phone calls in his den. “Are you happy here, Olive?”
“Yes, I love it here.” She studied his face and noticed he looked serious. Olive hoped that he would not say he had no more need for her services. “Would you like some coffee?”
He nodded. “Please. I was shocked when you first came here and I saw that you were Amish. My mother told me how good you were with Leo, but she said nothing about you being Amish.” He cleared his throat then added, “I wouldn’t have thought you could take a job such as this. I thought you Amish kept to yourselves.”
“Many people work outside the community. We don’t socialize with Englischers, though.”
Blake chuckled.
Olive spun around from scooping the coffee into the stainless-steel compartment of the coffee maker. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m sorry, it just sounds funny to call people who aren’t Amish Englischers. I have heard it before though. It’s a funny word; I wonder where it came from.”
Olive shrugged her shoulders; she knew, but was too tired to tell him. Olive had noticed that the phone call marked his change of demeanor.
“Tell me something about your family, Olive. You know more about me than I know about you.”
“I’m the second youngest. I have one younger sister and five older brothers. Three are married and only two of my brothers live at home.”
“That’s quite a crew.”
“It’s not big compared to some families in the community. We had a lot of fun together growing up, playing with all the animals. Mind you, it wasn’t all fun; we had a lot of chores to do as well.” Olive giggled. “Well, doing the chores was fun too, I guess. There was always something to laugh about. I’m closest with my sister. She’s three years younger and mostly annoying, but we’re close for some reason.”
“Did your parents have a working farm?”
Olive nodded. “Still do. My father has a dairy farm, and we children raised pigs and chickens. There were so many animals around when we were growing up.”
“Since Leo has no brother or sisters and isn’t likely to ever have any, I’ve been thi
nking of getting him a pet, maybe a dog. But, I’ll wait until he’s older.”
Olive felt sad for Blake that he had so many years ahead of him and, from the sound of things, never wanted to get married again. He must have loved his wife so much that he could not contemplate the thought of loving another. “That would be a wonderful idea. He’d love to have a dog to take care of. It’ll teach him responsibility and he’ll have someone to care for. But I will look into that play group idea.”
“Well, Olive, it sounds like you had the ideal childhood; no wonder you’re so good with Leo.”
“Ah, you think I’m good with Leo?”
Blake threw back his head and laughed, but he did not answer her.
“You really do think I’m good with Leo?” Olive asked once more; she had to know.
“Of course, he adores you.”
Olive smiled and knew that he was satisfied that he could trust her to look after his young son.
“Does that surprise you?” Blake asked.
Olive laughed a little. “You weren’t too happy about me coming to work for you to begin with, were you?”
Blake smiled. “I was a little apprehensive since you had no experience.”
“Your mother was insistent that I would be good for the job. I told her that I had no experience and told her about my friend, Amy; she’s the one who’s got the experience with children. Your mother didn’t want to know about anyone else.”
“I suppose mother might know best after all.” Blake chuckled. “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time when you first arrived here. I guess I was being protective of Leo. It was all too sudden since my mother insisted she be the only one to look after Leo. I wasn’t expecting her to go out shopping one day and hire a nanny.”
“Mothers can be like that sometimes.” Olive stared at the floor while she thought of her mudder who did things her own way. The coffee machine churned signaling that the coffee was ready. She pressed the button for his black coffee then placed the mug in front of him.
“Thanks.” He nodded and took a sip. When he placed the mug back down on the table, he said, “You might as well finish early today, Olive. Leo won’t wake up until much later.”
“Are you sure? I could fix you some dinner.” It was a couple of hours before the time he usually came home.
“No, you deserve a little time off. I’d drive you home if Leo weren’t asleep.”
“I don’t mind riding the bike; it’s kind of peaceful.”
Olive pulled her coat up around her neck and set off toward home. By the time she was a little way up the road, her mind kept drifting toward Blake. Sometimes she’d caught him looking at her differently, and had done so for days. Is he starting to like me? She hoped so.
Chapter 11
The next Monday, Olive arrived at Blake’s house to find Sonia there. In the early days, Sonia had called in nearly every day to check on her, but now her visits were less frequent—most likely thanks to all those video cameras Blake had installed around the house. He still hadn’t admitted to Olive that they were there. Leo rushed toward Olive when Sonia met her at the door; a few minutes later, he settled down and played with some blocks in the living room.
When Olive noticed that Blake was not frantically rushing about, she asked Sonia, “Has Blake left already?”
“Yes, he left about five minutes ago. It’s so much quieter without him, isn’t it?”
Olive knew at that moment she was in trouble. She had a burning crush on her boss. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so disappointed she wouldn’t see him until the evening. “Yes, it is a lot quieter. Can I get you tea or coffee, Sonia?”
“Tea, please.”
“Mom, mom,” Leo muttered while he was playing.
“Leo, you must never say that.” Leo looked up at Sonia with a look of confusion.
Olive was about to head to the kitchen when she saw and heard their exchange. Be quiet, Olive. It’s none of your business, she told herself. She was sure Leo was just mumbling things. He didn’t know anyone as Mom and couldn’t have known what the word meant, so what was so terrible?
As she made the tea, Olive knew she had to find out more about Leo’s mother. Should she dare to ask Sonia when Sonia'd had such a reaction to Leo mentioning her? Why wouldn’t Blake and his mother encourage Leo to talk about Mona? Something felt wrong.
When Leo's grandmother joined her in the kitchen, leaving Leo playing in the living room, Olive saw that as an opportunity to ask some questions.
It was Sonia who spoke first. “Olive, I saw the look on your face just now when I scolded Leo for what he was saying.” Olive opened her mouth slightly, and then Sonia flung up her hand. “Don’t even try to deny it; I can read you like a book.” Sonia sat down at the kitchen table. “You see it would upset Blake to hear Leo mention the word.”
“But don’t you think that’s a little unrealistic? Leo should be able to speak about his mother and should learn of the great love that his parents once shared. The love that brought him into the world.”
“Humph. Great love? Well, yes. I mean…” Sonia stammered, her kind eyes closing for a second. Sonia opened her eyes and said, “Heavens. I guess it won’t hurt to tell you. There’s not much to the story really. We don’t share the details because we don’t want Leo to be hurt when he’s older and finds out the truth about his mother.” Sonia leaned forward and spoke in a low voice so Leo wouldn’t be able to hear. “I suppose it’s time you found out. Blake’s wife was killed when she was running off with Blake’s good friend. They were driving off together, had an accident and she was killed instantly.”
Olive gasped and held her stomach.
“The first Blake knew of things was two minutes after he arrived home one night and police officers knocked on the door and gave him the news. He’s never been the same. She ran off with no word. All her things were gone, money had been cleaned out of their joint account and everything. Her lover had been driving, and he was badly injured. I’m not sure what happened to him afterward. Blake has never mentioned his name and I’m not about to ask.”
“Where was Leo at the time?”
“Mona brought him over to my house saying she had a doctor’s appointment and would pick him up later that day.” Sonia looked into the distance. “I remember thinking at the time that she seemed overdressed to be going to the doctor.”
“Thank you for telling me, Sonia. It all makes sense now. I mean Blake’s anger.”
Sonia nodded. “He’s a broken man.”
“I wondered why there was no sign of her anywhere in the house.” Olive wondered what they would tell Leo about his mother when he got older. Would he ever learn what his mother was like. She must have had good qualities; would he ever learn of those? It is none of my business, Olive reminded herself.
“Left behind was a little note and her little boy. What kind of woman would choose another man over her own son?” She sighed. “I guess we should’ve seen it coming. Leo’s mother was always so very needy of Blake’s attention, like she was still a child. When he couldn’t give her one hundred and ten percent of his time, she went looking elsewhere.”
“My mother always says that there are two sides to everything.”
Sonia scoffed. “What that woman did was unforgivable. Nothing in the world could justify what she did, running away like that and leaving Leo.”
“I can imagine how this has been hard on Blake, but even harder on Leo. A little boy needs his mother,” Olive agreed as she poured the tea into Sonia’s cup.
“I don’t blame him for taking down those pictures. What man wouldn’t? They were just painful reminders of Mona’s infidelity.”
Olive finally understood what Blake and Leo had been through.
“There were photos up somewhere?” She’d been right about that.
“Yes, there were photos in the living room. I’ll show you a picture of the three of them. They made such a beautiful family. I’ve got one in my handbag.” Sonia trotted over to the ot
her side of the kitchen to get her bag and retrieved a small photo from inside.
Olive took the picture and studied it. The woman was fair and small, not unlike herself, yet this woman was most attractive. Blake looked years younger even though the photo was taken just over a year ago. “Leo had his curls even at that age.” Olive smiled.
Sonia snatched it back. “Mona looks a little like you.”
“I suppose; we’ve both got light brown hair and fair skin.”
“And you’ve got the same slight build. Hmm.” Sonia tossed the photo onto the kitchen counter beside her handbag. Sonia didn’t stay long after her cup of tea.
In the late afternoon, Olive noticed that the small photo was still where Sonia had tossed it. Leo was drawing at his small table in the living room. She picked up the photo to hide it so Blake wouldn’t see it. As she picked it up, she studied Leo’s mother’s face.
“What have you got there?”
Olive clutched the photo and spun around. “Blake, you startled me. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I came in the front way. What has you so interested?”
Frowning, she placed the photo down on the counter. How would she explain this?
Blake’s eyes fell to the image of his late wife and his face flushed red. He bellowed, “What in tarnation are you doing with that?”
She could feel tears well in her eyes; no one had ever yelled at her like that. Her breathing grew heavy as she tried to talk herself out of crying. She could not speak.
“Well? Answer me.”
Tears flowed down Olive’s cheeks. She’d been holding it in for weeks; he’d been so horrible to her at times and she’d done her best, but this was too much. She covered her face with both her hands as tears streamed from her eyes.
“I’m so sorry.” Blake stepped close and wrapped his warm arms around her.
She leaned into the hardness of his chest and cried some more. When her tears subsided, she stepped away from him. He reached for the box of tissues behind him and handed her some.
His Amish Nanny Page 9
