by Anthology
“Because you need someone to talk to or you’ll go out of your mind. I understand.” He glanced over at Renee again. Judging the situation by what he’d seen, it could have been much, much worse. Sure, the little girl was in tears, but she was clean and fed if the plate in front of her was any indication.
However, she’d just lost her parents and the only life she’d known. There was bound to be a rough transition period. Well, rough may be an understatement.
He turned to Olympia again and studied her for any signs of shock. “Please, Mrs.—Olympia, let me take care of this. I know my way around babies. I just need your signature.”
With something very much like defeat, she turned around and searched for a pen before finding one in a drawer. “I suppose I have no choice. You’d think I’d be a little more apprehensive about letting a grown man take charge of her. I’m going to go with my gut and trust you.”
“Thank you.” He tried to smile at her.
“Yeah, sure.”
He took the bitten-off words in stride as he placed the newly signed papers in a folder, tucking it away in his bag. Her face, hard and tight with stress, at last began to relax.
The deep breaths she’d been taking must have gone a long way toward steadying her.
“Look, we can talk about logistics later. How you want me to work my schedule around yours, what days you need help, et cetera. I live about fifteen minutes away so I won’t need to move in here. That has to make you feel better. Right now, I want you to go into the living room, take a seat on the couch, and maybe close your eyes. If only for a little bit. And yes, I know what you’re going to say before you say it.” He had his hands on her shoulders before he realized what he was doing, pushing her back toward the hall and the cozy room he’d seen from a glance when he first walked in. “You’re going to say you have a lot of things to do. Not at the moment, you don’t. Take a second to center yourself. I’ll handle Renee.”
“She won’t like you,” Olympia insisted. “She doesn’t like anyone. Why won’t she stop screaming?”
Frowning, Harlan turned the corner and pushed her down the hallway, onto the couch. The sun was shining orange and gold with twilight and the street outside was quiet. At once he felt like he was in a different world, if he ignored Renee’s screaming. Which his gut was telling him needed to be addressed now.
“The best I can do is try to talk to her,” he said.
“Well, good luck with that.” There was a smidgen of graciousness in her tone and nothing more. It was a good thing he hadn’t expected any out of her. If Olympia was frustrated and impatient and sleep-deprived on top of it, she was entitled to her attitude.
And Harlan knew how to handle parents.
“I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes,” he said, watching her get comfortable and dig into the cushions like a mole.
“Whatever.” She moved her shoulders, and he could see she was fully aware of being rude.
It didn’t bother him. Much.
Making his way back into the kitchen, Harlan thought about the intricacies of this job. From this point on, he would have to feel his way, based on the child and her individual needs. It helped that he considered himself extremely empathetic.
Beside him on the kitchen counter, an electronic device was doling out melodies designed to keep toddlers interested. He promptly switched it off. It always amazed him that people could handle meetings, luncheons, and a daily barrage of business-related…well, business, but a kid throwing a temper tantrum sent them over the edge.
Maybe it was human nature, he mused. Always running away from strife and hiding their insecurities in a different, more manageable kind of conflict.
He preferred children, at least in terms of conflict, if one had to have it in one’s life. Children were innocent, their desires and requirements simple. If he had to go to work every day and handle a nine to five then he would want to bury his head in the sand for at least six months and not come out.“Hey there, little miss.” He bent down, balancing on the balls of his feet until he was eye to eye with her. “How are you doing today? My name is Harlan and I’m going to take care of you for a little bit.”
It might have been the change from a female caretaker to a male. It might have been the tone. He wasn’t sure. Her screaming ended on a hiccup and she raised little fists to wipe her eyes. “No.” Her voice held the hint of a French accent.
He blinked at her. “No, you don’t want me to take care of you?”
“No!”
“Are you still hungry?”
She took her plate and threw it at him.
Harlan took this in stride too, reaching toward the table and the tea towel Olympia had dropped there. His cheek stung. “As I thought. We have a lot of work to do.”
CHAPTER THREE
He was the cheapest option she could find, Olympia told herself again, indulging in a long hot shower where there wasn’t a four-year-old screeching into her ear about how much she was hated.
She’d thought she had wanted children. She’d thought she had wanted a huge family with at least two or three of the little buggers and had often pictured herself and Dan and their children seated around the dining room table she never used, having large dinners with everyone invited and lots of laughter and food and fun. It was the perfect Normal Rockwell scene. At least in her head. Reality was way different.
Running her hands through her hair, she remembered the first few days after she’d brought Renee home. Not only did the little girl not want to speak to her in anything but monosyllabic howls, but she was incorrigible and refused to sleep throughout the night, which meant Olympia’s sleep was disturbed and not restful.
Which also meant she was able to gracefully handle less and less when she was running on fumes.
She was no stranger to stress, but this was something altogether new and threatened to burn a hole beneath her sternum. Under the heat of the spray from the showerhead, Olympia forced herself to relax. The poor baby had just lost her parents. She deserved a little slack. After all, a week was hardly long enough to adjust to a new life with a person she’d never met and in completely new surroundings.
Still, the sleepless nights were starting to take a toll on Olympia. She was a zombie, forcing herself to get through the day without a bit of rest. Thankfully, she had taken a few days off from work, although that presented a whole new mess of problems. She was on the phone with Ashleigh for three, four hours at a time, trying to juggle Renee and hear what Ashleigh was saying through the screams. Carl was not happy with her absence and delivered an ultimatum. A full day of work…or else. She didn’t want to think about what “or else” meant.
She could ask Mrs. Nunez to come over for a couple of hours a day, just to give her time to cook, but the woman was old. She couldn’t handle the upset any more than Olympia could.
Thank God for Harlan. He’d arrived right in the nick of time, saving her from getting in her car and driving away without looking back.
No, she thought vehemently. She wasn’t the type of person to abandon a baby in need. Not when it came down to the heart of the matter. But it was a nice thought when she was inches away from tearing her hair out.
Harlan had a good voice, she mused, resting her head on the cool shower tiles. Not loud by any means, but it was deep and rumbled in his chest. The kind of voice designed to put people at ease, yet it reverberated through her bones until her insides thrummed. Or it might have been the stress causing some kind of mini pulmonary episode.
With a sigh, she flipped the shower off and stood in the swirling mist, taking a breath and holding it deep in her lungs. The act was supposed to be calming. Lately, it just made her lightheaded.
Harlan had spent the last two hours with Renee, and Olympia was pleased beyond measure when the screaming finally stopped. Like a television switched off. She wasn’t used to the silence anymore.
Hopefully, now she could focus on her work for what felt like the first time this week. Not that sh
e wanted to work. She wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Maybe her dreams would have more insight as to what her future held. Because at the moment she could see only two possible choices: One, she could use most of her retirement money to keep Harlan on staff until Renee was old enough to go to school. Olympia would have the family she’d always wanted and contentment at following through on her cousin’s last wishes. Or—and the second choice made her feel sick to her stomach—she could give Renee up for adoption, call it quits, and have more time to focus on her career and potential promotion.
Even thinking about number two made her feel like a horrible person.
Olympia dressed hurriedly in a pair of slacks and a red button-up shirt with three-quarter-length sleeves. It was almost dinnertime, and although she hadn’t had time to discuss duties with Harlan, she was sure preparing dinner wasn’t among them. Which meant she’d have to scramble through the pantry for something suitable for a man and a child to eat. Her macaroni and cheese was surely an overcooked mess at this point. She’d left the pot on the stove too long.
She paused in the hallway, staring at herself in the mirror. The dark lushness of her hair was shot through with silver. Normal, she knew, as she chose to forgo dying her hair. But did she only imagine more gray than yesterday? The lines around her eyes and mouth were more pronounced than usual, brought on by lack of sleep no doubt, to which she might also attribute the bruise-like bags above her cheekbones.
Great, she thought. My youth is gone in a week.
She knew thirty-six wasn’t technically old. It was far from geriatric. Still, the moment she caught sight of herself, her tentative morale shot into the floor and there was a pain in her hips that hadn’t been there moments ago.
She hobbled her way downstairs and mentally steeled herself for another argument or something. Something, surely, because the couple of hours of quiet were like a gift and she wasn’t sure what she’d come down to find.
Fear clenching in her chest, she turned the corner into the kitchen…and found Harlan at the stove, stirring a pot of aromatic chicken soup.
He turned and shot her a smile over his shoulder. One of those lazy grins that took her by surprise because it was so genuine and unexpected. “Hey there. You look much better.”
“I was that bad before?” she replied testily.
“No, you weren’t. You are a beautiful woman. Surely you know that.”
Which took her by surprise. And the way he was grinning at her made her feel like an idiot. “Do you need a hand? Let me help you.”
“Thank you, but no,” he said. “I have everything under control for the moment. I set up a small area in the den, I hope you don’t mind, and I put Renee in there to take a nap.”
The words, simple words, went straight through her and settled in her heart. “You…got her to nap?”
“Yeah. Just a quickie, because I’m sure bedtime is coming soon, but from the looks of both of you, she needed it.”
Olympia didn’t know how to deal with children, that much was clear at this point. There must be a magic button you pressed that got kids to sleep without a fuss. Afraid the tentative peace would shatter at any moment, she took a firm grip on the table and settled herself on a chair to watch Harlan work.
“It just occurred to me,” she said as he continued to cook, “I know nothing about you. I mean, I checked your references of course, but other than that I’m not sure who you are or where you come from, and now I’ve let you into my house and signed my life away. How do I know you aren’t going to murder us in our sleep?” She clenched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “Sorry if I’m being terse. If I was in my right mind I would have asked before I hired you.”
“I can take the time to assure you I’m not a murderer, but I know it won’t mean a thing to you.” He glanced back at her again. “I’m originally from Connecticut, but my dad moved the family here when I was very young. Not quite a straight A student, but I managed to make it through school with little fanfare. Got my teaching certificate. Tried to do high school classes for a while and found it wasn’t to my liking. I missed the personal connection that came from smaller classes. I wasn’t confident enough in my abilities to handle opening my own pre-school, so nannying and tutoring were natural choices. Although it’s been more difficult than I’d thought to get jobs here.”
She grunted a response as he poured rice into a pot. She wanted to argue with him about dinner—her pride, at least, wanted to argue and tell him to get out of her kitchen—but in reality, she had very little energy. The scent of the chicken broth was rich and invited her to eat, relax. Salivate a little.
Harlan continued, his voice sure and strong, working through her and unknotting kinks she hadn’t realized were there. “I’m a middle child, three older and two younger siblings. Most of us still live around here, but my oldest sister is in Toronto teaching at a medical school. You could say I know my way around kids because I have a huge family and we were always taking care of one another.”
“You don’t think it’s kind of…creepy?” she asked. “How you like kids so much?”
“No, I don’t.” He said nothing for a moment, then added, “I have a very good relationship with my parents. I’ve always been loyal, dedicated, sympathetic, and motivated to help others. Why not be the person I am and help others at the same time? Kids react well to me and I offer a steadying male presence, which can sometimes be hard to come by these days.”
She glanced up in shock when he placed his hand on hers, suddenly beside her when she hadn’t been aware of his approach.
“Don’t you agree?” he asked.
“I…yes, I suppose.”
It was a risk to trust him with her personal business. Although the way she saw it, it was necessary. He was going to see, sooner or later, the stuff she’d rather hide. She remembered the slight male helplessness in his eyes when she’d almost lost it earlier. But it had appeared to be more disappointment than panic. After only a couple of hours, she had to admit she believed she and Renee were safe around him.
He seemed to read her thoughts and released his hold on her hand. “I promise I’m not a maniac. I’ll work long hours and keep your house in order. I have an educational curriculum I developed for younger children in my care, so I’d be happy to go through some things with Renee while you’re at work, in addition to keeping her occupied and motivated. I don’t mind cooking, as you can see. I’m even handy with a mop and broom. I’ll be your knight in shining armor, fair maiden, if you but trust me. I’m here for you.”
His tone had deepened until it rumbled like two stones grinding together. When she glanced over, she saw him wet his lips with his tongue. Her gaze narrowed on the movement. “What are you, some kind of superhuman? Men don’t usually come equipped with those kinds of skills,” she said mildly.
“This one does.”
The heat of his gaze warmed her, and for a moment, Olympia found herself leaning closer to him. There was a definite air of attraction, and she might have been out of the game for a long time but she thought she could still recognize flirting.
She gripped her hands together tightly on her lap in response. There wasn’t time for attraction. Especially not to a man like Harlan. He wasn’t the type of guy she fell for. He was too calm and collected. Too willing. A little too feminine, perhaps?
Where was the fire? Where was the passion? This was no alpha male.
And yet there was no room in her life for fire and passion, so she should be grateful that her help came in a package like his. Otherwise, she’d be tempted to put one more thing on her already overloaded plate. Although, she admitted to herself, if he continued to flirt with her, they were going to have a serious problem. Could she do this without him? Maybe.
Probably not.
She cleared her throat and gestured toward the stove. “You learn to cook from your mom or did you throw something together without thinking?”
“I have a few skills in the kitchen. Not as
many as I would like,” he answered.
“I guess I’ll be the judge of that.”
He studied her with an amused expression, leaning against the counter with his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his jeans. “Do I worry you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You seem to be in a bad mood whenever we talk.”
She huffed. “As this is the only time we’ve talked to each other that didn’t involve either a phone or a screaming toddler between us, that’s hardly enough to go by. Likewise, I have no idea if you annoy me or not.” She turned away, her chin raised. “I’ll have to get back to you.”
He inclined his head. “Sure. You let me know.”
Renee chose that moment to walk around the corner, clutching a blanket in her hands. “Harlan?”
“Right here, angel. Making something special for you to eat.” His voice came out in a warm rush of syllables, sounding strange and foreign to Olympia’s ear. Not baby talk, but comforting in a way she hadn’t expected.
Not to be outdone, she plastered a smile on her face. “Hey there, sweet pea. Did you have a good nap?” she asked Renee.
Renee ignored her. That was no surprise. It was, however, a surprise when she walked straight up to Harlan with her arms outstretched for a hug.
He stifled a chuckle at Olympia’s thinned lips. The way her skin twitched like a horse’s hide. Speaking low, he bent to gather Renee against his chest. “I told you, we’ve been getting to know each other. Don’t be surprised if she clings to me a little at first. It’s a natural reaction.”
“Where did she get the blanket?” Olympia didn’t recognize it.
“It’s one of mine. I carry it with me because I find it helps some children to have something to hold on to. Something soft and warm. I can buy her a new one if you want.”
