Chapter 3 #2
When I email her back to let her know her references checked out and to ask a few more questions, she replies within the hour.
The promptness is nice, and she seems quite genuine.
Usually, I’d suggest an in-person meeting, but we’re down to the wire.
In a week, my new job begins, and I need someone in place.
If we meet, and there’s something about her that bugs me, I’ll veto her, and I can’t really afford to start this process all over again.
Instead, I ask for proof that she doesn’t have a criminal record of any sort.
Assuming she can provide that, she’s hired.
The one last major anxiety-inducing decision will be checked off my list. Joey will have a nanny.
Six days later, the local cab companies have been getting a workout, and I’m no closer to figuring out how to drive a manual car.
Tomorrow I start my new job, and I’ve already booked a cab to take me into Bedford.
It’s not a long-term solution, but I’m not taking Joey in the vehicle until I’m confident I know what I’m doing.
I’ve started it and stalled the car a thousand times this week while I tried to figure out how to put it in reverse.
For once, I couldn’t YouTube my way out of it since I couldn’t concentrate on the pedals and watch at the same time.
When the doorbell sounds late in the afternoon, my heart skips a beat. I spent extra time on my appearance this morning, keen to make a good first impression, to make it seem like I have my shit together.
I’ve never hired a nanny without meeting them or talking to them on the phone before.
We exchanged a few logistical text messages, but otherwise, I’ve been avoiding this moment for fear I’d discover some tiny annoyance.
Ashley was my last and only hope, and it seems as though I was hers too, even if she was a little abrupt in some of the messages we exchanged.
I can handle someone who’s straightforward.
Much better than someone who skirts around the point.
But if she’s someone who takes the long way around to making a decision, I can handle that too.
Whatever she’s like, I’ll just be happy to have someone.
No matter what, I’m determined to make this situation work.
The itineraries, memes, and videos about Kenya have been arriving fast and furious from Gwen since she found out I hired someone.
Most of them I’ve ignored, but sometimes I write back telling her I hope she’s saving up her own cash for these expensive adventures.
She’s paying me so little rent, she should be able to afford it herself.
Joey follows me to the entrance, eating a banana, and I stand in front of the thick wood door with my fingers on the handle for a beat, gathering my best self.
As much as I don’t want to fire Ashley at any point, I also don’t want her to quit.
My track record there is spotty, and I take a steadying breath.
With a smile that I hope seems welcoming, I open the door, and immediately my smile slips.
In front of me is a tall, broad-shouldered man in a heather-gray T-shirt, worn jeans, and boots that have seen better days.
His dark-brown hair is barely an inch long, and his light-brown eyes have a wary tint, as though he’s already decided he’s not sure about me.
Attached to him is a sleeping infant, and around him are suitcases and baby items.
“Can I…” I stare, dumbfounded. “Help you?”
“I’m Ashley, but my mates call me Ash.” His brow is furrowed, and he extends his hand.
Instinctively, I slide my palm against his, and I’m surprised by the rough texture. Calloused, as though he’s spent more time outside with tools than in a house with food, bottles, and laundry. A spike of panic shoots through me. There must be some mistake.
Somehow I have invited a very tall, very muscular stranger-man to live with me. This can’t be right. Perhaps his girlfriend is behind him somewhere. I peer around his shoulder, but there’s no one else.
“I’ve got my DBS check. All clear.” He digs a paper out of his back pocket and passes it to me. “I reckon that makes me your new nanny.”
Joey clutches my leg, and my hand falls to the top of his blond head, whether it’s to reassure him or myself, I’m not sure. In the doorway, I unfold the paper and stare at it blindly. I’m torn between inviting Ash in and telling him there’s been some horrible mistake.
Assuming everything he told me is true, he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. I’m it. He had to give up his apartment to take this job. With work starting tomorrow, I’m out of options as well. How did I not realize Ashley was Ash—not a single mother, but a single father?
“Nanny?” Joey points at Ash.
“That’s right, mate.” Ash crouches to get eye level with him, and he’s careful not to disturb the sleeping baby strapped to his front. “Nanny Ash.” A hint of a smile tugs at one edge of his lips, as though even he thinks it’s a ridiculous claim.
Swallowing hard, I resist the urge to drag my phone out of my pocket to start investigating just how cheaply I can send my sister and her boyfriend to Kenya. We agreed on a trip, not an expensive one. I mentally shake my head.
One year. That’s all. When I’m ninety-four, I’ll barely remember this year. A blip. The tiniest bump in my life. What’s one year in an entire lifetime? Nothing. I can handle living with a strange British man for a year. My heart pounds.
At least he’s never been convicted of a crime.