3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
LOGAN
I gripped the steering wheel of the rig tightly as I maneuvered it down the street and back toward the firehouse. The fire was out, and other than wait for word from the investigators if this was arson or not, there wasn't anything else we could do.
We were pretty sure the result would come back as an intentionally set blaze. Secluded, uninhabited buildings, early morning hours, and no obvious cause were the hallmarks of our arsonist lately. If anything, at least he was predictable. The thing that worried us was the moment he decided he needed more of a thrill. When old barns and run-down buildings weren't enough.
Jesus. I flinched and prayed they’d catch him before that happened.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I bit back a groan. I needed to deal with my ex-wife and our current childcare problem once I was back at the station.
Betty, our previous nanny, finally called it quits. Her increasing unreliability had been a constant frustration factor for us, but quitting on us last minute went way beyond our expectations. Alice and Nikki, our five-year-old twin girls, would probably throw a party once we told them the news, though. They were just as done with the older woman as we were. Guess this was the push we needed to find someone new.
In the seat next to me, Jay looked down at his phone. “Sarah says she can bring the girls home with her after school today. Then you can pick them up after your shift.”
I nodded. “Thanks, man. That would be a huge help.”
Jay's wife, Sarah, worked at the local elementary where my daughters went to school. On a couple of occasions when our childcare fell through, she was kind enough to bring them home and drop them off at the fire station. But those were times I was close to the end of my shift, and tonight I still had five more hours. By the time I would pick them up from Jay’s house and get them home, it would be well after eight, and it was a school night. I would have little to no quality time with them, and they would be getting to sleep way past their bedtime.
It wasn't like I could leave my shift early. And although Maggie would take them if needed, I didn't want to give up the little time I had with them. It was the last night of my five-day stretch with them before they would go back to Maggie’s after school tomorrow, so I had to make it work.
“What are you going to do about tomorrow morning?” Jay's voice cut through my thoughts.
I shrugged. “Not really sure. I can ask Dylan and Hattie.”
For the umpteenth time, I attempted to brush away the worry about my current child care situation. Dylan, my neighbor and a detective with the Half Moon Lake Police Department, had been giving me crap for months about the multiple unreliable old ladies we’d hired over the last couple of years. Betty was just one of many, and a few weren’t even unreliable—they just weren’t good fits for a slew of reasons.
But Dylan was always willing to help if he could, and his girlfriend Hattie adored the twins too. Now that she was living there, I was hopeful between the two of them, one of them could watch my girls and then drop them at school. If I absolutely had to, I could come in late. But we were already short-staffed, so leaving the guys one man down didn’t sit right with me if I could avoid it.
All of it was only a temporary fix. My mom and stepfather lived three hours north in Virginia, but they still worked. Asking them to come visit at the last minute was a dick move. We really needed to find a full-time, reliable nanny, and soon.
“I told you, you should ask Izzy.”
That was definitely not happening. But I couldn't tell him that.
“She said something about looking for another part-time job.”
Well, it wasn't going to be as my new nanny, that was for sure. My plan to avoid her had gone well over the last two weeks, and I hadn’t run into her since that night at the bar. Seeing her every day wouldn't help diminish my growing attraction to her.
Luckily, I pulled up in front of the firehouse, and he jumped out before my lack of a response made things awkward. Jay stopped traffic, and I pulled the rig hard to the left before backing it up into the bay. Once I had it parked, we all climbed out and gathered our gear, checking it and getting it all set up for the next call.
My phone vibrated two more times in my pocket. I hadn't checked it since wrapping up at the fire we'd just dealt with. Pulling it out, I saw a string of texts from Maggie. When we’d talked this morning, she was hell-bent on finding a dependable nanny who wasn't seventy. At this point, I had to agree with her. Originally, the idea of a young nanny didn’t sit well with me. My dad had cheated on my mom with someone almost twenty years younger than him. A woman who had, on occasion, babysat me when she was a teenager.
But I needed to remind myself our situations were totally different. I was only about to turn thirty-three, and I was no longer married. Not to mention, I would never get involved with the nanny anyway. You don't shit where you eat. Anyone with any sense knew that.
I clicked on the text notifications, pulling up my thread with Maggie.
Maggie: I found the perfect nanny.
Maggie: She’s starting tonight.
Whoa. That was quick. How the hell did she find someone in only a day?
Maggie: And you already know her, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Unease settled in my gut as I racked my brain for anybody I knew who might fit the bill as a nanny.
Me: Who is it??
Maggie: Izzy Mitchell
Fuck my life.
Maggie: Perfect right? Money's tight and she could really use a part-time job. And she's good with kids. Perfect driving record and doesn't mind nights and weekends.
Maggie: I can't believe Jay didn't suggest her to you.
I scrubbed a hand down my face. He did. Plenty of times. But each time, I brushed it off. Because my fucking dick liked the chick way too much to be my nanny.
But what the hell could I say now? No, we can't hire her because I get a hard-on every time she's around? That would go over great. And then I'd have Jay up my ass asking why we didn't hire her. I wanted to have that conversation even less.
I wondered if I could turn this new development into an advantage. Maybe this was what I needed to squash my attraction to her. Seeing her with my girls would surely be the thing that would stop me from getting hard every time I was around her. If I thought Jay's little sister was off-limits, that title had nothing on my kids’ nanny.