Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
D aniel wasn’t sure how he was going to make it work, because Hayden was totally against him driving down the mountain, but he had to go down and pick up the things they all needed.
His birthday was coming in December, and he didn’t know if there were Christmas lights or anything else he needed to get.
He needed toys and crayons, presents for Hayden. Condoms.
Lots of condoms.
One afternoon a few days after they’d made love the first time, when Jacks was sleeping with Hayden, he headed down the mountain, moving so careful.
Halloween was so close, and there was stuff that they all needed.
It was actually pretty easy.
He stopped at the first big box store that he found, only about two hours away. He bought Halloween candy, a turkey, Christmas lights, a tree, presents for everyone, crafts, books, literally everything he could find.
He had two completely full carts, plus a bunch of bigger stuff that was going to have to be delivered, which was apparently way more common than he’d have expected.
As they were checking out and working out all of the details, the cashier kind of grinned at him, then frowned, her gray hair curling wildly around her face making her look a little bit like a demented Mrs. Santa Claus.
“So you’re up there at that big old house near Leadville?”
“Yeah, I figure this is my last time to come down. I’m the nanny to the little boy who lives up there.”
Her eyes went wide. “There’s a child up there? I’ve heard there’s a wild old hermit that lives up there. Scary. I’m not sure that’s wise.”
Hayden?
His Hayden?
A wild old hermit.
Never.
Maybe a Versace-wearing hermit with a headset…
“I assure you there nobody up there is scary. A couple of housekeepers, a businessman, his baby son. That’s it.”
“Huh.” She shrugged. “I must be thinking of the wrong place. I’m talking about that great big red stone building, the huge house.”
Well, that was where he lived, but there wasn’t some scary old man.
“This may be somebody, his grandson or something…”
Hayden wasn’t old, he was young. He wasn’t a teenager but couldn’t be much more than thirty. There was no way.
“Oh, well maybe. I have…it’s been four or five years since I’ve been there. But you just be careful. You know everybody’s seen that movie The Shining . Folks get crazy up in the snow. Are you from here?”
He was fully aware of cabin fever. “The Front Range.”
“So you know, but you don’t know.”
“I’m going to be fine. There are a number of us. It’s one of the things I’m doing here, getting fun stuff. This is all bonus. All of the basics are taken care of.” He was getting a little worried now though. This woman seemed so sure that she knew what was what.
Maybe he ought to call Declan from the service. Just to make sure.
Of course, he wasn’t checking on Hayden. He just wanted to know who had been at this house before.
Perhaps this was a new place for Hayden, and if so, maybe he needed to buy more decorations and all.
Maybe he should put all of this stuff in the car and go back in and get a bunch of lube.
Lube.
Christmas cookie cutters.
More educational toys. They had some, but maybe he needed more.
He’d see what would fit in the car.
He paid, wincing at the number, knowing his credit card was going to be screaming, but then what else was he going to be spending money on?
He started loading, packing his baby car so full that it squeaked — kind of literally.
When he got in, he got the car going, warming it up before calling Declan at the service.
“Rocky Mountain Nannies. This is Scott, how can I help you?”
He grinned. “Yes, hi, Scott. This is Daniel. Daniel Pinkney. I’m working at the Sadler house?”
“Yeah, is everything okay?”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m actually, I just came down into town to get some stuff for the holidays.
I got the baby the cutest little dragon costume…
” Okay, Daniel. Focus. “It’s just, okay, this is going to sound silly, but the lady at the store seemed to think that an old scary hermit lived up there, and I have to tell you I haven’t seen any old men—scary or otherwise.
Now I’m worried Hayden doesn’t know who’s there. ”
“Oh, um, let me get Declan for you. I think maybe this is something he needs to field.”
Okay, that was a little worrisome in and of itself, if Scott didn’t think he could handle the question. What was going on?
He waited until Declan came on the line, and he could hear the smile in the service owner’s voice. “Hi, Daniel. How is it going?”
“Oh, you know I just came to town to buy stuff for Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and whatever, in order. But the people here in town keep talking about this old wild hermit that lives in Hayden’s house, and I haven’t seen anybody like that.
I’m worried that maybe there’s something going on Hayden doesn’t know about. ”
So he was babbling a little bit. What could he do? He really needed to know that everything was going to be okay, and this was really kind of worrisome.
It was easier not to be concerned when he was with Hayden.
“Look, Daniel, there is no situation where Hayden doesn’t know what’s going on in his house. So maybe it’s an urban legend around where you are or something. Or a rural legend, whatever you want to call it, in such a small town. But I wouldn’t worry about it, okay?”
“Are you sure? Because people here seem to be so certain that I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Right, but you’ve been living up there now for how long, and you haven’t seen anything weird, so I would say just go with it.” Declan sounded so calm and reassuring that he had to admit it helped a lot.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s like a different world up there, and I love it. But I came down here and got nervous.”
“I can see that,” Declan chuckled softly. “Either you’ve got a rhythm that’s completely outside of the norm, or…do you want me to look for another?—”
“No, no, I’m good. I love it there.” As if that would work. Not even a little. “I just was weirded out for Hayden and the baby.”
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“I am.”
“You’re a sweetheart. You call if you need me.”
He nodded and took a deep breath. “All right, I gotta get my little car up the mountain. It’s a long drive, so it’ll be dark after I get home.”
“You be careful, okay?”
“Absolutely. I have a reason to get home. And presents for a certain little boy.”
Now he just had to get them all up the mountain.