Chapter Seven
TALLY
Y ou’re going the wrong way,” Nora said as I drove into the school parking lot.
“These are the directions your Dad gave me,” I told her.
“This isn’t the way Dad goes.”
“The drop-off lane is right there, where the other cars are, right?” I drove across the lot in that direction.
“Pull into that parking spot. I can walk.” She pointed to a spot at the far edge of the lot.
I looked over at her. “Why would I make you walk all the way across the parking lot when I could take you right to the door?”
“I want to walk.”
“Well, your dad told me to drop each of you at the door in the drop-off lane, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
I noticed Nora slouch down and lift her scarf up to cover her face a little .
“Why are you hiding?”
“Because I don’t want people to see me.”
“Why not?”
“Never mind.”
I pulled up behind another car to wait, and she sank down further.
“I’m here to help you, Nora. You can talk to me about anything. I want you to know that.”
She didn’t reply.
I didn’t know what else to say, so I stayed quiet. I didn’t want to push too soon. I needed to build trust with her so she would open up with me. I only hoped we would get past this attitude she had toward me and be able to be friends. I wanted to help her through whatever she was feeling. Being away from her mother couldn’t be easy. That was surely the reason for her attitude. It wasn’t about me. That’s what I kept telling myself anyway.
When we finally stopped in front of the entrance, she whipped the door open.
“Have a good—”
She slammed the door shut and raced for the school entrance.
“Day.” I shook my head as I finished my sentence.
I glanced back at Piper in her car seat as I drove out of the lot. “Are you ready to go to school?”
She clapped her hands. “I like school. I get cookies.”
I grinned. Life was so simple as a child. Some days, I longed for that simplicity again, when your day consisted of playing, coloring, and eating cookies.
When we arrived at the preschool, I got Piper and her bag out of the van and walked her inside. A lovely woman around my age met us at the door .
“Good morning, Piper,” she said.
Piper smiled up at her. “Good morning, Miss Mewinda.”
“Go on in.”
Piper took off without saying goodbye, and I laughed.
“Hi, I’m Melinda, one of Piper’s teachers.” She held her hand out, and I shook it.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Tally. I’m Piper’s nanny.”
“Oh, how nice for Jake to finally have some help,” she said. “I know it’s been hard for him since Kate left.”
“Yeah.” This woman obviously knew more about how Jake was dealing with the situation than I did.
“I think we went to school together,” she said. “Were you friends with Penny Warner and Ellie Sweet?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“I thought so. I graduated the year after you.”
I didn’t know what to say after that. I was so bad at small talk.
“Lucky you, getting to work for Jake.” She fanned her face with her hands. “Although, I’m a little disappointed I won’t get to see him dropping Piper off anymore. That was a nice way to start the day.”
“Uh …”
Hearing her talk about him like that made me extremely uncomfortable. But she wasn’t wrong. I still had the vision of him bare-chested with his towel tied low around his hips to deal with.
“I’ll see you at pick up.” I headed for the van. I wasn’t going to stick around and listen to more of that .
I made myself drive straight to the grocery store to pick up a few things, followed by the craft store to get the supplies to make Piper a sleeping bag for Joe. I was relieved not to run into anyone I knew and got in and out of both stores in no time.
I stopped by my parents’ house to sew the sleeping bag before heading back to the house to figure out what to make for dinner. Jake’s schedule usually didn’t have him getting home until six or seven at night, so he had asked if I would make sure to prepare evening meals for the girls, and he would join if he was able.
I wondered if the girls would be sad about that or if that was what they were used to. My family met at the dinner table every evening when we all still lived at home. All of us together, sharing about our days, talking, laughing, sometimes arguing. I tried to put myself in the girls’ shoes and imagine what it would’ve been like if my dad hadn’t been at the table with us. I would’ve been sad. But maybe this was what they’d always known. I felt disappointed for them, not having their dad there as often as mine was.
It was strange being in the house by myself all day. I was used to caring for babies and children whose parents didn’t choose preschool, so this was new to me. After I put away groceries and planned out dinner, I straightened up and did some light cleaning around the house before heading to my guest house to do some tasks of my own. I still had unpacking and organizing to do, so I worked on that for a couple hours. Having my things where I wanted them, the place started to feel more like home.
The pick-up line for Ava’s school was all the way out into the road, and it took forever to get through. She was happy and bubbly when she climbed into the van, telling me all about her day and her friends and recess. Nora was still scowling when I picked her up. At least she wasn’t hiding behind her scarf, though.
We picked up Piper, who I could tell was tired after a long day, and headed home.
“Look what I made for Joe.” I handed her the sleeping bag I’d made, and her eyes got big.
“Joe’s sweeping bag.”
“You made that?” Ava’s eyes were almost as wide as Piper’s.
“Tell her thank you, Piper,” Nora said.
“Thank you.” Piper hugged it tightly, and with heavy eyes, she laid her head back against her seat. She was out like a light before we were three minutes away. I hated to wake her when we arrived home, but Ava did that for me by smacking her arm and yelling, “Piper, wake up! We’re home!” And that just made Piper cry.
She curled into my body when I got her out. This was what I was used to. Holding kids. Caring for kids. This was the part of the job I loved. When they needed me.
We went inside, and I let the girls have a snack.
“Can we go play?” Ava asked when she had finished.
“Can I put Joe in his sweeping bag?” Piper asked.
“Go ahead.”
They rushed off to the playroom, and Nora headed upstairs to her room.
I got out the pans I needed to make pork chops and my mom’s homemade baked macaroni and cheese and started working on that. Once the dishes were in the oven, I checked on the girls. Ava was playing quietly with her dolls and making them talk to each other. Piper was lying on the couch, fast asleep, holding Joe in his sleeping bag. I was as quiet as I could be when I entered, not wanting to interrupt the adventure Ava’s dolls were having, and lifted Piper from the couch to carry her up to her bed. Thankfully, she stayed asleep. I laid her down and tucked a blanket around her to let her sleep for an hour before dinner.
I walked down the hallway and peeked into Nora’s room. She was lying on her stomach on her bed, scribbling in what looked like a diary, and the moment she saw me, she shoved it under her pillow.
“What?” she asked.
“Just putting Piper down for a nap and checking on you.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s my job.”
She rolled her eyes, flipped onto her back, grabbed the iPad from her nightstand, and put earbuds in her ears.
“One hour of screen time,” I told her, which was what Jake told me he let her have before dinner.
She pulled one earbud out. “Huh?”
“One hour of screen time.”
She put the earbud back in and continued what she was doing.
I left her alone, but I felt exasperated. How was I going to break through this wall she had built? Preteen girls were not my specialty. That was a difficult age with my younger siblings too. Maybe I was more suited to babies and toddlers.
Dinner was ready by six, and I set the table with a small vase of flowers in the center and gathered the girls at the dining room table.
“We never eat in here,” Nora informed me. “We eat at the kitchen table. ”
“Well, we’re eating in here tonight,” I said as I put Piper’s booster seat on one of the chairs and helped her into it.
“It’s so pretty.” Ava looked in awe at the flowers. “We never have flowers.”
“I love flowers,” I told her. “My mom always put them on our table at home.”
I placed a serving of food onto Piper and Ava’s plates, then passed the dishes to Nora, who only took a little.
Just as we were about to eat, the sound of the garage door opening interrupted.
“Daddy!” Ava cried, which made Piper do the same.
Ava and Nora jumped up, and Piper nearly threw herself out of the booster chair, trying to get down.
“Girls!” I called as I grabbed hold of Piper to save her from falling. “We’re eating.”
Piper was a wiggle worm, so I put her down, and she took off on her little legs across the house. I followed after and was glad I did. Seeing Jake smother his girls in hugs and kisses was a wonderful thing to witness.
He noticed me standing there and smiled. “Hi.”
“We were just about to eat. I didn’t think you’d be home in time.”
“It’s your first day. I wanted to get home and hear how everything went.”
“It went fine. Are you hungry?”
“Starved.” He dropped his things next to the door and tossed his coat over the nearby hook. “What are we having?”
“Pork chops … and homemade baked mac and cheese.” I smirked when I said it.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Mac and cheese?”
“Not from a box,” I teased, which earned me a grin .
I corralled the girls back to the dining room, and Jake went to clean up, so I waited in the kitchen, unsure if I should join them or turn in for the night.
He came into the kitchen and peeked through to the dining room, looking surprised. “We hardly ever use the dining room.”
“I didn’t know.”
“It’s fine. We should use it more often.” He glanced at the flowers. “It looks nice in there. Thanks for going to all the trouble.”
“No trouble at all. I should …” I pointed toward the back door.
“Don’t be silly. You already started eating. You’re welcome to stay.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your family time.”
“You’re not.” He motioned toward the dining room, and I returned to my chair.
Jake took the seat at the head of the table with Nora to his left and Piper to his right. I passed him the casserole dish, and he took a couple healthy scoops.
“Did you say grace?” he asked as he handed the dish back to me.
I shook my head no.
“It’s something I’m trying to teach the girls.” He lowered the fork to his plate. “Bow your heads, girls.”
“But we already ate some.”
“I don’t think God will mind if you tasted it first.”
I held in a laugh.
They bowed their heads, and he took a few moments to thank God for their food, then added, “Thank you for bringing Natalia into our lives and bless her for preparing this meal for us. Amen.”
I blushed, and he gave me a wink .
“So, the day went well?” he asked.
“Without a hitch,” I replied.
“Good.” He looked at his girls. “How was school?”
They all started talking at once, which felt like dinner with my family.
He turned his attention to Piper first. “Did you have a good day at school, sweetie?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “I stacked bwocks this high.” She raised her arms up over her head.
“Wow! That’s awesome, Pipes. What else did you do?”
“Colored a cookie. And ate a puppy.”
“You ate a puppy?” Ava started giggling.
“You said it backwards, Piper,” Nora said.
Piper giggled. “I ate a cookie, not a puppy.”
More giggles filled the room until we were all laughing. Their giggles were the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.
“How ‘bout you, Ava?” Jake asked when the laughter had died down.
“Miss Knight helped us write letters to Santa.”
“Fun,” he said. “What did you ask for?”
“Pop fidget toys. Lots of them.”
I noticed Piper shoveling mac and cheese into her mouth, and I leaned closer and whispered, “Little bites so it doesn’t get stuck.”
She bobbed her head up and down as she chomped. “S’good.”
Jake looked to his eldest daughter next. “How was your day, Nora?”
“Fine.” She poked at her dinner.
“Only fine?” he asked. “Wasn’t the spelling bee today?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“How’d you do? ”
“Second place.”
“What? Nora! That’s amazing!” Jake reached over and grabbed her arm, shaking her gently back and forth. “I’m so proud of you.”
She gave him a little smile.
“Why aren’t you more excited?” he asked.
“I don’t want to say.”
His brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”
“I can’t tell you with her in the room.” Her gaze landed on me.
“Nora,” he said sternly. “Manners.”
“If you’d like me to give you some family time,” I said, “I can take my food to the guest house.”
“Yeah, do that,” Nora answered.
“That’s not necessary.” Jake gave her a look.
“I don’t mind. Really.”
“She doesn’t mind, Dad,” Nora echoed me.
His eyes narrowed at Nora. “Nora and I will talk after dinner.” He looked over at me. “You made this wonderful meal for us, Natalia. Stay and enjoy it.”
I didn’t say anything more, and neither did anyone else. We ate in silence, which was super awkward. What a departure from the lively start to this meal.
When I finished eating, I got up and started gathering plates.
Jake touched my hand when I reached for his, and goosebumps traveled up my arm. “Hey, you don’t have to do dishes. We can handle that.”
“Are you sure? Because it’s no trouble.”
“We’ve got it. You’re off the clock.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I carried my own plate to the kitchen, and Jake followed with his and the girls’ plates moments later .
“Good night,” I said as I headed for the door.
“Good night,” he replied.
I made my way across the yard to my little home. It was dark and chilly, but I loved winter nights. Everything was so quiet and still, with a dusting of snow on the ground. I had a sudden craving for hot chocolate, so when I got inside, I made a cup and snuggled up under a blanket in the living room chair. I could see the kitchen window of the main house out my window, and I watched Jake moving to and fro as I sipped my cocoa.
A part of me wished I was inside, helping him put his girls to bed. Then, we’d snuggle up on the couch in front of the fireplace and get lost in each other for a while.
I shook my head. Maybe I would take Penny up on her offer to set me up. She’d offered on more than one occasion. There was a guy at work she thought I would get along with. He was an extrovert, which would help with my introverted ways. The opposites attract thing, perhaps.
I almost reached for my phone, but I was hesitant. There was so much to be concerned about. Was he a good guy? Would he understand my shyness? A lot of people mistook it for me being a snob when I was the furthest thing from that.
My cup of cocoa was empty by the time I finished thinking about it, and I opted to go to bed instead. I’d think about it more another day. Tomorrow, I had to get up and do this all over again.