Chapter 3 Lawson
LAWSON
I shoved the pads and some of Drew’s workout clothes into the machine. The smell that wafted from it had me fighting a gag. I knew I shouldn’t try to fit everything into one load, but I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t have time to wait for two.
The three nanny candidates I planned to interview today wouldn’t take more than an hour and a half—two, tops. Then I had to get to the station to catch up on a mountain of paperwork. Pouring detergent on top of the rank gear, I slammed the lid closed and hit start.
“What’d that washer ever do to you?”
I spun at the sound of Grae’s voice.
“Charlie—”
“Is brushing his teeth, and his outfit is already laid out. It won’t be the end of the world if they’re five minutes late to school.”
Except they’d been late more often than on time this year, and I knew the teachers and schools noticed.
Worry lined Grae’s face. “Are you okay?”
An invisible fist ground into my gut. “I’m fine. Just a lot going on right now.”
“Then let me help. You know Caden and I will take the boys if you need a break. My schedule is flexible now that I’m working at The Peaks. I can play chauffeur anytime you need.”
Guilt pricked at my skin. My sister didn’t need to be helping me. She was newly engaged and pregnant, working a new job with her fiancé at his family’s resort. She should be enjoying that, not taking on my responsibilities.
“I’m fine. Really. And once I get a nanny in place, that’ll help.”
Grae sent me a skeptical look. “That means actually hiring someone.”
I scowled at her. “This person will be taking care of my kids. It needs to be the right fit.”
She leaned against the doorjamb. “And the last ten candidates were all atrocious?”
“One of them had a record,” I growled. That was when I’d changed my strategy from simply placing an ad in the paper to using an agency. At least now, I wouldn’t end up with someone convicted of possession with intent to distribute in my living room.
Grae winced. “Okay, that’s fair. But every single one was awful?”
“There was no one I’d trust with my kids.” Because those three terrors were my whole world. I’d almost lost them once and would never let them be at risk again.
Grae moved closer to me. “Then let us help. We’re your family. That’s what we do.”
Except, all my younger brothers and Grae were moving on with their lives.
Holt would welcome a baby any day with his fiancée, Wren.
Grae was newly engaged and expecting, also.
Nash was planning a wedding with Maddie.
And Roan was marrying Aspen tomorrow. They didn’t need my responsibilities weighing them down.
“The candidates today should be better. They’re the ones from the agency,” I assured her.
Grae’s lips pursed. “Okay.”
I pulled her in for a quick hug. “Thanks for taking the kids to school.”
“I love doing it,” she said, hugging me back hard. “I get to hear all about the soap opera that is middle school.”
I chuckled as I released her. “See if you can turn Drew into a one-woman man.”
She snorted. “That boy falls in love every other week.”
I groaned as visions danced in my head. “I’m going to end up shot by some father.”
Grae grinned as she patted me on the shoulder. “No one would come after the chief of police.”
“I wish I had your confidence.”
“Come on, munchkins,” Grae called down the hall. “This bus is leaving the station.”
Charlie ran down the hall, his backpack slapping against his back. “Don’t leave me.”
She bent and kissed the top of his head. “Never. I need to hear more about the golden dart frog.”
Glee filled Charlie’s face as he took Grae’s hand. “If you just touch it, you could die. It lives in the and…”
Charlie continued listing the amphibian’s many traits as Drew hurried down the hall.
“Gear is in the wash. I’ll drop it at the school office. Sorry about that, D-man.”
Drew nodded. “No big.”
But it was. I was forgetting things left and right, dropping the ball. One of these days, those balls were going to shatter. I needed help, and I needed it now.
I pulled him in for a quick hug. “Love you. You know that, right?”
Drew reared back. “Do you have cancer or something?”
I made a face. “No. Can’t your old man just tell you he loves you?”
“Sure…but you don’t usually do it before I leave for school.”
“Well, I should.” Yet another ball I’d dropped.
“Dad,” Drew said, his voice getting a little quieter, “I know you love me. You don’t have to make a big thing about it.”
“But it is a big thing. The biggest,” I argued. “And I should make a point of telling you all the time.”
“Okay,” Drew gave in. “Just not in front of my babes, okay?”
I barked out a laugh. “Fair enough.”
I followed Grae, Charlie, and Drew out of the house. As I stepped onto the front porch, the view stole my breath, even after all these years.
Cedar Ridge had something I’d never found anywhere else. A peaceful energy that grounded. The tiny mountain town hours east of Seattle had a beauty so pristine it almost hurt to look at.
My house was nestled in the foothills with a view of the lake surrounded by snow-covered mountains. And I never took it for granted.
The boys and Grae hurried to her SUV and climbed inside to join a scowling Luke. With a honk of the horn, they were off.
Just as I was about to turn back to the house, I caught sight of a truck heading up my gravel drive with two SUVs following it. I frowned as I recognized my brothers’ vehicles.
They all parked and climbed out.
“What are you doing here?”
Holt grinned up at me as he beeped the locks on his fancy-ass Mercedes SUV. “You think we’re gonna miss the show this time?”
I sent a glare in my youngest brother’s direction.
Nash shrugged, pushing his dark blond hair out of his eyes. “You really think I could sit on the fact that someone you arrest on a regular basis applied to be your nanny?”
I groaned. “I really don’t need an audience for this.”
Roan’s lips twitched. He was smiling a lot more now that he had Aspen in his life. It was still unnerving. I was used to seeing my brother with a perpetual scowl on his face.
“Well, you’re getting an audience. This way, you can’t cut perfectly good candidates,” he muttered.
“And we get a couple of hours of amusement,” Holt echoed, heading up my steps.
Nash followed him. “You got any snacks?”
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose. “F my life.”
Roan slapped me on the back. “Is that what the kids are saying these days?”
No, it was what I was saying. Because my interfering brothers were going to make this interview process hell.
The woman sitting across from me kept looking into the kitchen and frowning. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, highlighting the gray streaks running through it. “What do the children have for breakfast?”
She kept calling them that: the children.
“Depends on the day. But on school days, it’s usually cereal,” I answered.
Her frown deepened. “Sugary cereal?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nash freeze, his spoonful of Cap’n Crunch halfway to his mouth.
“That’s no way to start the day,” Mrs. Archibald continued. “They need a mix of protein, long-lasting carbs, and fruits.”
I shifted in my seat. “I’m sure a warm breakfast would be welcome.” I started to ask Mrs. Archibald about her previous placement when she cut me off.
“What about schedules? Children need strict schedules.”
The word strict had my skin prickling. I mean, it was better than the first candidate, who had only asked what kind of cable package I had, if she could buy snacks with a company credit card, and whether I minded if she had an occasional beer while on the job.
But I didn’t want my kids with a drill sergeant either.
“Charlie, Drew, and Luke all have very different schedules.” I stressed their names, annoyed that Mrs. Archibald hadn’t used them once. “Drew is on several sports teams. Charlie has quite a few playdates. And Luke is sixteen, so he goes more his own way.”
“It sounds like the children run the show around here,” Mrs. Archibald said, her tone dripping with disdain.
Holt hid a laugh with a cough.
“They don’t run anything, but they are my number-one priority, and I’ll do anything to make sure they’re happy, healthy, and safe.” Annoyance began bleeding into my tone.
“They sound quite spoiled. We’ll have to change that.
I recommend waking them two hours before they must leave for school.
They will help with chores around the house, make a healthy breakfast—there will be no more processed sugar in this home—and do calisthenics before we depart.
Homework must be done as soon as they get home, and I will check it before they are permitted to do anything else. ”
The room went silent. I simply stared at the woman opposite me.
Roan grunted to my right. “Is this lady for real?”
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Archibald said, clearly affronted.
“On the upside, from the sound of things, you’d be building your own army of foot soldiers,” Holt offered.
Nash frowned. “If there’s no sugar in this house, I’ll riot.”
I let my head fall, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“If this is the influence you bring into the children’s lives, I can see why you’re having issues,” Mrs. Archibald said with a huff.
My head snapped up at that. “Charlie, Drew, and Luke.”
She looked puzzled at my words.
“My children have names. Charlie, Drew, and Luke. And I would rather they riot on a daily basis and be surrounded by family who loves them than be turned into robots at the hands of someone who can’t even bother to use their names.”
Mrs. Archibald’s spine stiffened, and she gripped her purse tighter. “You’re going to ruin your children.”
I’d had enough. I might not be the perfect father, but I loved my kids. And I’d never leave them in the hands of a woman like this. “We clearly aren’t a match. I’ll show you out.”
It was all I could do to keep a tight rein on my temper.
Mrs. Archibald’s mouth went slack. “You’re not hiring me?”
Nash’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Lady, you’re about as cuddly as a porcupine. I wouldn’t let you take care of my pet fish.”
Holt glanced at Nash. “You got a fish?”
“No.” Nash shook his head. “It’s hard enough keeping up with the dog who’s always stealing my shoes.”
“A fish might be nice,” Roan cut in. “As long as this one,”—he motioned to the woman on my couch—“isn’t feeding it.”
“Not helping,” I muttered.
Mrs. Archibald shot to her feet. “I have never had such an atrocious interview in all my days.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” I agreed.
“And he interviewed an ex-con last week,” Nash added.
Mrs. Archibald’s eyes went wide. “I should’ve guessed that’s who you’d be consorting with.”
“They were definitely nicer than you,” Holt called as I ushered Mrs. Archibald toward the door.
“Don’t follow me,” she snapped.
My jaw clenched with a vicious snap. “I’m not,” I gritted. “I’m showing you out.”
“I know the way, thank goodness.”
She hurried toward the door and continued out it.
I stood on the front porch, watching her drive off.
A hand clamped down on my shoulder, squeezing. I glanced up at the brother closest to me in age. Roan shook his head. “I wouldn’t let her watch Cady if she were the last person on Earth.”
Just a few months ago, Roan had been the brother we could barely get to attend family gatherings. And when he did attend, he was stoic and surly. But meeting Aspen and her daughter, Cady, had changed all of that.
I let out a long breath. “I’ve got two other interviews. One in a few minutes, and then one first thing tomorrow morning.”
Roan’s brows rose. “My wedding’s tomorrow.”
I grinned at him. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss your big day for anything. The interview’s at ten.”
He nodded. “Maybe the next candidate will be better.”
Nash stepped up beside us, shoveling another bite of cereal into his mouth. “We should ask her first thing how she feels about sugar.”
Holt choked on a laugh. “It’s good to have priorities.”
Tires crunching gravel sounded before we caught sight of any vehicle. A second later, a cherry-red sportscar rounded my drive.
Holt let out a low whistle. “Nice car. But not all that practical for winters in Cedar Ridge.”
It pulled to a stop in front of my steps. The driver’s side door opened, and a woman stepped out. She wore boots with high, pointy heels, and a skirt that barely covered her ass. As she glanced up at the four of us on the front porch, her eyes lit up.
“Well, it’s my lucky day. Four handsome interviewers. Don’t worry, boys. I work for sexual favors.”
Holt released a strangled laugh. Roan let out some sort of growl. And Nash started choking on his cereal.
“I know which one Drew would hire,” Holt mumbled.
There was only one thing I could say. “F my life.”