Chapter 3 Ledger
THREE
LEDGER
I moved in three days after my meeting with Theron.
My landlord was kind enough to let me out of my lease, but I suspected he was going to raise the rent for the next tenant, so he was pleased I was leaving.
Theron helped me carry my stuff in. He needn’t have bothered because I only had two suitcases and a box of books. Other than what remained in my childhood home, my belongings fit into the trunk of my car.
“Dinner’s at six,” he said from the doorway. “The kids eat early.” He paused. “And Ledger? If you need a fan, there's one in the hall closet.”
Meara had already told me I wasn’t required to cook the evening meal. Breakfast, snacks, and weekend sandwiches? Yes, those were my responsibility.
I tried to concentrate on the box I was holding, but I had an urge to keep glancing at my new boss.
My breathing sped up, catching sight of those dark eyes, fringed with even darker lashes.
I shivered despite the cloying heat, but the spiky goosebumps prancing over my skin were trying to keep me warm.
I don’t need that, you guys. I need a bucket of ice water.
When Theron left, I sat on the bed that didn't squeak or sag and studied my new home. The guest suite was on the third floor, and it was bigger than my previous apartment. Also on this level was a spare bedroom and bathroom and a storeroom.
My en-suite bathroom had a huge tub and a window that overlooked the front garden. I lay on the bed and swished my hand over the luxurious sheets that must have had a high thread count.
I set up my laptop on the large desk, though the addition of the electrical tape made it feel out of place.
As I made my way down the stairs to the second floor, I studied the five doorways. Each child had their own bedroom and bathroom, and there was a playroom opposite their rooms. At the end of the hallway was Theron’s master bedroom.
An image of my new employer popped into my head, and I forced it out because I was here to work, study in my spare time, and hopefully save money. The tall guy with three kids was my employer, nothing more.
Theron introduced me to Rory, Fraser, and Skye as he set the food on the table. The kids said hello, but their attention was taken up by the steak Theron had made. It was so rare, I kinda expected it to bound off the plate and demand its own dinner.
Roast potatoes and salad accompanied the meat, though the kids favored the steak, and they demolished it in minutes.
Their father prodded them to eat the salad, and Fraser said the tomatoes would taste better if they were singed.
Everyone froze and glanced at me. I ate a tomato, saying I liked them both raw and cooked, and the children started talking again.
“Do you want more?” Fraser pointed at my plate with his fork after he’d finished eating.
“No, this is enough, thanks.”
“You eat slow.”
“Fraser.” Theron’s voice rose a tad as he glanced at his middle child.
“He does, Daddy.” He looked at my remaining steak and shrugged. Maybe he’d been hoping I wouldn’t finish and he could have it.
By Sunday evening, I’d learned things about the Gibson household.
The kids were not what I expected. Rory was mature beyond his years, maybe thinking he had to set a good example for his siblings to follow.
We’d been watching TV, and he paused the kids’ show. “She said shed-yool. That’s not right. It’s sked-yool.” He was pointing at the TV, and his brow furrowed.
“People from around the world pronounce words differently. Not everyone is the same.”
He studied me, and I wondered what was going on behind those dark eyes that resembled his father’s.
“Okay. I get that.”
Fraser followed me from room to room, asked hundreds of questions a day, and had a habit of taking my hand and leading me to something interesting. Like his father, his hands were way hotter than mine.
The heat in the house took some getting used to, and I’d decided to buy more 100% cotton shirts come payday. But I’d taken to having three showers a day and using a lot of deodorant. Fraser informed me he’d tell me if I stank after he caught me sniffing under my arm.
“Your hands are cold. Why?” he asked as he dragged me into the garden to show me his garden bed.
“I don’t know.”
I could have asked why his were so hot, but he was six. It could be a medical condition, and I didn’t want to embarrass him.
Skye didn’t say much in the first few days. Maybe she was biding her time and she’d put marbles up my nose during the night.
On my third day, when I was making the kids’ snacks, she padded into the kitchen.
“Ledger, you smell nice.”
“Thank you.”
“Daddy thinks so too.”
I couldn’t move. What was that about? Did Theron talk to the kids about my smell? She didn’t elaborate, but as I’d already passed the sniff test with Fraser, maybe this was the family’s way of saying, “Keep up the good work.”
While I'd accepted the temperature in the house, there were other oddities.
The fridge was stocked with enough raw meat to feed a family of twenty, including steaks, roasts, whole chickens, and venison.
The vegetable drawer contained vegetables, and there was plenty of fruit on the table, but the kids always reached for the meat first.
Theron had explained the children were on a high-protein diet based on their doctor's recommendation.
There were scorch marks on the baseboard by the stairs and a dark patch on the kitchen ceiling that resembled the mark made by a blowtorch. There was a section of the garden wall that was black and crumbling close to where Fraser had his plants.
Theron explained away the kitchen ceiling by saying it was an electrical issue, and he blamed the kids’ bonfire for the damage to the garden, not that I’d asked.
Three young children and fire wasn’t a great combination, and I’d made sure there were no matches or lighters on the first floor or in the kids’ rooms.
That evening after the children were in bed, Theron said he was going to his office to finish work. His working hours were irregular and that was one of the reasons why he needed me.
His office was surrounded by trees and set back from the house. I grabbed the baby monitor for Skye’s room and sat on the porch, leaving the door open in case any of the kids got up.
I was reading one of my research papers by the solar porch lamps when a rhythmic flapping above me made me look up. It reminded me of wings, but it was dark and I couldn't see much. I squinted and shivered when a shadow overhead blocked the moonlight. What was that?
I picked up a smoky aroma and stuck my head in the house, making sure nothing was burning. Whatever it was above me had moved on, and the moonlight and lamps illuminated only the porch and my paper. But no way was I staying out here with a huge something overhead.
After grabbing my belongings, I scuttled back inside and locked the door, but unlocked it again, as Theron was in his office.
He probably didn’t have a key because he didn’t expect his manny to be freaked out by a huge something overhead and to batten down the hatches.
I peered through the glass but it was so dark, I couldn’t make out anything unusual.
Perhaps this was why the other mannies left ‘cause there was something creepy in the woods.
The children were all sleeping, so I climbed the stairs to my suite and started a note on my phone. I titled it “Weird Stuff.”
The temperature, so much meat, scorch marks, bonfires, hot hands, something flying over the house.
I almost added they wore bracelets but that wasn’t odd. It was probably just a family tradition and may have been something to do with their late omega father.
My list read like the opening of a true crime podcast and I kept the lamp on all night, not that the light would help if something landed outside my window.
I considered mentioning it to my boss, but in the light of day, I resisted the temptation.
He might think I was scared of the dark, which I was last night.
Monday morning I got up early to get the kids fed and ready for school. It was my job to drive them, but Theron would accompany me today, as it was my first time. Like the house, the school was impressive, and as we let the kids out in the drop-off area, I noted the “fire-free zone” sign.
“The school takes fire safety seriously, huh.”
He nodded, but as he drove out the gates, I looked over my shoulder and smoke curled from behind the huge building. Were bonfires legal at any school? I’d have to add that to my list.
As my boss drove, he leaned away from me on the door, and he pulled his collar up.
When he got home, he shot out the car and said over his shoulder that he was headed to his office.
If I was reading this right, he couldn’t wait to get away from me, and I did the sniff test again.
I watched him scurry off and went inside to do the kids’ laundry and tidy up.
Maybe it was a good thing Theron didn’t want to be around me. Being close to him had me noticing his hands and the stubble on his very fine jaw. So instead of picturing him and certain parts of his anatomy, I thought of how he was with his children.
He was patient but firm and very affectionate. Fraser climbed all over him, and he sat with the older two while they did their homework. He didn’t flinch when one of them knocked over a coffee cup, and he read to all three every night. From my observations, the kids trusted him.
But watching him with his children stirred up feelings I shoved to the back of my mind. Nope, that was a no-go area.
I called my mom after I finished the laundry.
“How's the new job?” she asked.
“Great. The kids are sweet, and the house is amazing.” Both were true.
“And your boss?”
“He’s interesting.”
“Ah-huh.”
I sensed there was a lot behind her response. “Don’t get any ideas, Mom. Ours is a professional relationship.”
“Okay.”
That’s what it was. Theron looking at me when he thought I wasn't paying attention was nothing more than him checking I was doing things right. I was taking care of his children, so it made sense he was cautious.
And when his hand brushed over mine as we reached for the same cup and he reared away, that was because I was so “cold” to the touch.
What I couldn’t explain was how him saying my name made me giddy.