Chapter One #2
“It’s a temporary position. From now until January fifth, but it’s full-time until then. I need a live-in nanny for the girls. The position requires some meals and light housekeeping, and the girls’ laundry. I handle my own.”
“Where do you live in London?”
“We’re away for the girls’ winter break, spending the holidays at a cottage in Derbyshire. We’re here now. To get here you’d take a train from London to Chesterfield, and then a bus to Bakewell. I’d pick you up from there.”
“Is that for an interview?”
“We’re interviewing now.”
She said nothing, quite sure this wasn’t the right position for her but at the same time, she couldn’t afford to be terribly choosy, not when she was down to her last two hundred pounds and that wouldn’t go far in London.
Instead of taking those extra classes this fall, she should have gotten a job or returned to the States.
With her degrees from University College London, she could have been teaching at any US community college, and with the teaching component, she could also apply to high schools, although she preferred older students.
The older the better, actually. Cat found it difficult to relate to children, probably because she’d had an abnormal childhood herself.
“How old are your daughters?” she asked, praying they weren’t toddlers.
School age children might be okay, but babies? Impossible. She’d never changed a diaper in her life.
“Nine and twelve. Although the twelve-year-old acts as if she’s twelve going on seventeen. She’s very independent and opinionated.”
From what Cat could remember of her own childhood, that sounded about right. “And the nine-year-old?”
“She’s a sweet girl, on the quiet side, usually easygoing.”
Usually, Cat repeated to herself. Which seemed to be another way of saying that lately things within the family had been rather dramatic.
“Has there been a big change in their lives? A divorce or separation?” Or death, she silently added, having far too much experience with that one.
“The divorce was four years ago, but until now we’ve always managed a family Christmas.
However, this year their mum is gone for the holidays, and their nanny asked for time off, so I’ve been left in a pinch.
If it were any other time, we’d be fine.
The girls and I do well together, but I have a big deadline, and I can’t be as hands-on as I’d like. ”
“Does that mean you won’t be in Derbyshire for the holidays?”
“I’ll be in Derbyshire but as I’m completing a paper, which if all goes well, becomes a book. I need to work in the mornings with the expectation that I’ll be free early to midafternoon.”
“Your daughters know this?”
“They know my schedule.”
Her silence must have provoked him because he suddenly added, “My children are familiar with the demands of my job.”
“I’m not criticizing, Dr. Harmon. I was just … processing. My father was a doctor. He was busy as well.” And just like that, Cat realized she could do this job.
That she should do this job. Holidays were a hard time to be alone—never mind feeling abandoned by one’s parents—whether it was their choice or not.
“Christmas is not an easy time to bring a stranger into your home,” she said. “But seeing as you need help—”
“I do.”
“And they need someone to keep them busy—in a good way—maybe it could work, me being there, taking care of things so you can meet your deadline, and the girls could have a happy winter break.”
He hesitated. “I need the help, I do, but I don’t want to mislead you. Jillian is going to challenge you right and left, at least the first few days. It’s not going to be easy, not initially, which is why I’m offering the compensation I am. You can tell yourself it’s hazard pay.”
Cat’s brows shot up. Hazard pay? “I take it I’m not the first temporary nanny you’ve tried?”
“Yes. I hired a woman from a reputable agency, but she walked out two days ago, and I refuse to jump through all those agency hoops again.”
“Why did she leave so abruptly?”
She heard him inhale and silence stretched before he answered. “She made some disparaging remarks about my ex-wife, and I told her that she’d been hired to mind the girls, not my former marriage, and she didn’t like that.”
“Or maybe she didn’t like your tone when you said it.”
“What does that mean?”
“You have a way of speaking that comes across…” She crossed her fingers, knowing full well she was making herself an impossible hire, but he might as well know the truth. “Rather highhanded.”
“Highhanded?”
“Um, pompous, and I’m sure you know the meaning.”
“I do, and it’s not flattering. You make me sound like Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice.”
“Would you prefer Mr. Darcy?”
“He was at least successful,” he answered dryly.
“That’s fair,” she agreed, and laughed. Cat couldn’t believe she laughed. She also couldn’t believe she wanted the job. “When would I start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“That’s soon.”
“Things are desperate around here. But we haven’t even discussed compensation.”
“You said it was generous.”
He named a figure that made her eyes widen and her lips part. Wow. Yes, generous indeed.
“It will help you get home and on your feet, as I imagine two years of graduate school drained your savings. I know from firsthand experience that being an international student is expensive.”
She suddenly felt stupidly close to tears. Money was an issue. She hadn’t been a spendthrift, but she hadn’t needed to earn that second degree, either. “You studied overseas?”
“I did a residency at John Hopkins in neurosurgery. It was a great experience and I considered staying, as there was an opportunity at the hospital, but then I was offered a position in London and returned.
“I’ll phone Eloisa now and get back to you after I speak with her. Is the number you’re calling from the best number to reach you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be in touch soon.”
*
Rhys Harmon hung up and placed his cell phone on the cottage dining table that had become his desk until he found a new caregiver for his girls.
He’d been optimistic that he’d be able to get some work done from the dining room table, but Jilly and Olivia’s constant squabbles, and even more worrying silences, kept him from focusing.
He’d come to Derbyshire with a caregiver.
He’d done the whole exhausting application and interview with the agency and followed up on those references before he’d hired someone the agency had assured him was professional, experienced, and flexible.
But after four days she’d left, and now he was buried in the English countryside with his two young daughters, his paper, the book, and the deadlines.
Oh, and Christmas, but at the moment, Christmas was the least of his concerns.
Rhys picked up his phone and called Eloisa Graham, who’d been his neighbor for nearly six years. He wasn’t sure she’d be available to take his call, but she did.
“Rhys,” she said. “How are things in the Peaks District? I didn’t expect to hear from you until you and the girls returned.”
“We’ve had some bumps along the way, and I’m in need of a new caregiver. One of your former students applied for the position and gave you as a reference.”
“Did she? Who was that?”
Rhys’s mind went blank. What was her name?
Had she even given him her name? He pushed aside his papers and looked to see if he’d made any notes during the call, but he hadn’t.
“Eloisa, I’m embarrassed to say I don’t remember her name.
I think her name was Kate or Kat.” He rubbed at his temple, frustrated.
“I have her number, let me call her back and—”
“No need. I just received an email from Catriona Blake, one of my former graduate students, letting me know she’d given you my name as a reference.”
Catriona. That was it. Definitely not a very American name.
“Was she a good student? Responsible, that sort of thing?”
“Yes. She’s a lovely girl. I very much enjoyed having her in my program the last few years.”
“Can you think of any reason I shouldn’t hire her? Anything that might make her unsuitable as a minder for my daughters?”
“I can’t think of anything objectionable about her, Rhys. Catriona is as dependable and reliable as they come. Several times I had her teach a section for me and everyone always had good things to say about her. I will miss her when she returns home, which is soon, I believe.”
“Early January she said.”
“That sounds right. I don’t think you could go wrong hiring her for the girls’ break. She’s smart, fun, and hard working. Jilly and Olivia would enjoy her, I’d think.”
“Jilly’s been a tyrant since we arrived. Catriona won’t have an easy time of it.”
“Catriona isn’t a pushover. I think she’ll be able to manage both girls just fine.”
Call ended, Rhys considered whether he should phone or text Catriona back, and decided a call was required. “Eloisa gave you a glowing reference,” he said when Catriona answered. “She thought you’d do well with my girls. Can you travel tomorrow?”
“I can.”
“Great. I’ll send you the train schedule and times. Essentially, you’ll take one of the mid-morning trains from London to Derby, where you’ll change trains and travel to Matlock. I’ll pick you up from the station in Matlock. From there it is a twenty-minute drive from our house in Bakewell.”
“I thought I was to take a bus to Bakewell?”
He was impressed that she remembered. “Picking you up will be faster, and it means I can maybe get work done tomorrow afternoon, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Thank you. I’m not able to get anything done with the girls unchaperoned, but once you’re here, I will be able to unplug and bury myself in the library.”
*