Chapter 6
NINA
Nina slipped beneath the covers of the enormous king-sized bed.
Everything felt strange. When Jack had complained earlier about the weird smells and the too big bed in his room, she’d joked with him about how this was all just a big adventure in a superhero’s house.
Eventually, he’d started grinning, and by the time she’d read the next chapter of the book they were reading together, his eyes were heavy.
She’d kissed him goodnight and promised that everything would feel better in the morning.
Nina wasn’t so sure she’d told the truth about things getting better, though.
Jack was right. The house did smell different, and it was big and impersonal.
It looked more like a hotel than a home, with pressed white sheets on the beds, huge brand-new towels, and clean, modern furniture without a hint of clutter.
Even the kitchen seemed barely used — Theo had produced the filet mignon and risotto from the fridge, and had just reheated them.
Theo. Nina sighed and shifted beneath the covers, trying to find a comfortable position.
He clearly had no idea how to act around Jack.
This was probably the first time he’d been around a child for this long.
If he was going to have problems with Jack playing and singing and refusing to eat needlessly fancy food, they were going to have a lot of problems. Nina had tried all day to keep Jack out of Theo’s hair, but she wasn’t going to stop him from being a kid entirely.
It was Theo’s problem that he was so fussy about his house and so easily annoyed, not Jack’s.
Nina sighed and reached for her phone. There were a few messages from friends and family, which she quickly replied to without saying anything about Theo or her new living arrangements.
He’d said she needed to tell everyone that they were a real couple, but she didn’t feel like upholding her end of the bargain right now.
She was tempted to just pack Jack up and move back to their apartment the next day.
But she couldn’t. They needed the money Theo was going to give them to keep the apartment and give Jack the education he deserved.
Nina sighed and rolled over again. It was going to be a long, sleepless night. She could already feel it.
Nina woke early the next day to her alarm.
She did a little yoga by the foot of the bed before showering and getting dressed for the day.
Next door, Jack was just stirring when she came in, and she woke him with a hug and got him up and dressed.
Then she took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for another awkward and tiring day.
It was Saturday. Nina didn’t know what that meant for Theo — maybe he’d still work all day, or maybe he’d be at home.
In the worst case, he’d be trying to work from home, and he’d be annoyed by every little noise, like yesterday.
In that case, Nina would take Jack for a picnic and day at the park or something. There was no way she’d spend another awkward day in this impersonal house with Theo hovering around the corner.
When Nina came downstairs, she was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and something sweet. Before she could stop him, Jack ran ahead excitedly, skidding around the corner.
“Hey, mister!” she heard him call to Theo. She winced.
“Good morning, Jack,” Theo said. Nina came into the dining room, where Theo was unloading coffee in paper cups and clamshells of pancakes, sausages, bacon, and fruit. She blinked.
“Did you order all this?”
“Good morning, Nina,” Theo said. “Yes, I did. Kids like pancakes, right?”
“Yeah!” Jack said enthusiastically. Nina smiled slightly.
“We both do. Um, thank you.” She took a seat across from Theo and gratefully accepted the paper cup of coffee he slid across to her.
“I didn’t know how you take it, so there’s cream and sugar on the table,” he said. Nina took a sip and added a little of both. Then she drew one of the clamshells towards herself while Jack began taking eager bites of his own pancake, his legs kicking with happiness.
“This is really thoughtful of you,” Nina said. “I’m just wondering a little — why order? Pancakes are just about the easiest food to make.”
“I can’t cook,” Theo looked a little sheepish.
“Practically at all. I can do pasta and sauce from a jar, or rice and frozen vegetables, but since I mostly don’t want to eat that, I have a personal chef who makes and delivers my meals each week; it’s worked well with my schedule so far.
I’ll let her know I have a child staying with me now and ask her to start making more kid-friendly things, but that’ll only start on Monday. Until then, we can order food.”
Nina blinked. It was hard to imagine hiring a personal chef to make all one’s meals, but she supposed it was normal for people as wealthy as Theo. And it was nice of him to be willing to at least order food for Jack.
“That sounds very… convenient. You know, I’m also happy to cook a few meals a week while we’re here. I’m no personal chef, but I’m not bad, either.”
“Mom makes really good rice and beans,” Jack piped up.
“Thanks, buddy.” Nina ruffled his hair. “I can do other stuff, too.”
“If you’d like to, you’re welcome to cook anytime,” Theo said. “I don’t know how well stocked the kitchen is, but if you need something I don’t have, just let me know.”
“Thanks,” Nina said again. Theo really seemed to be making an effort to welcome her and Jack, which was very sweet and made her feel a little better about the whole situation.
Plus, the pancakes were fluffy and delicious, the fruit was fresh, and the bacon was crispy.
She couldn’t complain about that. Maybe yesterday had been a fluke, and they could all start over today.
“I thought we could discuss some plans over breakfast,” Theo continued. Nina nodded, recognizing the shift to business.
“Sure.”
“I’ve scheduled an interview with Holyoke Academy on Monday at two p.m.,” Theo began. “It’s a family interview, of course, for this age. They’ll want to talk to Jack, but also to us, which means it’s our first big hurdle for our fake family.”
Nina nodded. “Sounds like it. Is the interview at the school?”
“No, they’ll come here.”
Nina’s eyes widened. “Here?”
“Is that a problem?”
“It’s just…” She looked around at the austere décor. “No one’s going to believe that a woman and child live here. No offense, but your style is very modern-bachelor, not very family-man. If an interviewer comes here, the house will sabotage our ruse before she asks a single question.”
Theo looked like he wanted to protest, but then he sighed. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked around. “I suppose you’re right. I just… It doesn’t matter. Fine. What do we need to change?”
“I think just adding a few homey touches would do it,” Nina said. “A lamp here or there, maybe, or some different curtains. Maybe a few pictures.”
“I give you full artistic license to do what you need to,” Theo said. “But please don’t do anything that can’t be undone.”
“Maybe you’ll like the changes,” Nina suggested.
“I doubt it. No offense, but I designed my house this way for a reason. I know we need to change it for the interview, and we can keep it while you live here, but eventually, I’ll be back to this style.”
Nina was annoyed. It seemed like he was imagining some over-the-top explosion of kiddy décor and pink walls, when all she wanted to do was soften things a little.
Theo Hillman didn’t seem particularly accepting of change.
That was going to make things difficult.
Still, she had free rein to fix things up, so she would.
“Fine,” she sighed, and speared a berry.
“After breakfast, we can go get some things,” Theo continued.
“You’re coming?” Nina didn’t know why she was surprised. It made sense that Theo would want to be involved, though part of her had imagined he’d be too busy for this kind of thing. After all, he’d spent most of the previous evening working — when he wasn’t hovering.
“Unless that’s a problem.”
“Of course not.” Nina took a bite of her pancake. “I’m sure it’ll be fun. Right, Jack?”
“Yeah!” Jack said, though he probably hadn’t been listening. He quickly got bored of grown-up talk.
They finished eating, and Nina got herself and Jack ready to go.
The first stop was her and Jack’s apartment, so she gave the directions to Theo, who was driving.
She lived only twenty minutes away, but it felt like a whole different world.
As they left Theo’s affluent neighborhood and approached the more run-down area where she lived, Nina began to worry that Theo was going to judge her.
He didn’t say anything, though. He just followed her upstairs and helped her gather up a few things, including more of Jack’s toys, bed linen, and some posters.
He didn’t comment on the small but tidy apartment or ask where Nina slept, given that there was only one bedroom.
(The answer was on the fold-out couch, though she wasn’t eager to tell him that; a guy as rich as him would never understand.)
The next stop was a large furniture store on the outskirts of town. Jack begged to play in the kids’ area, which Nina agreed to, so it was just her and Theo shopping.
“I’ve never been here before,” Theo said as they grabbed a cart and got started. The store was laid out in different sections for different areas of the house, including small “apartments” with full furnishings.
“Really? Most of my furniture comes from here,” Nina told him.
“I didn’t buy any of my furniture myself,” Theo said. “I had an interior designer do that.”
Nina stopped and turned to him, leaning against the cart. “Do you hire someone for everything?”
As soon as she spoke, she realized that she might have offended him. But Theo just chuckled.
“Yes. I do.”
“But… why?” Nina shook her head. “I like cooking and buying furniture and all that. You must enjoy some of those things too.”