2. Erissa Jackson
As I waited for him to respond, I took him in.
He looked familiar, but I had no idea where I could have seen a man like him.
I could tell he was tall by the way he filled up the booth.
The waves in his hair looked fresh, like he’d recently gotten a haircut, and his beard was lined and trimmed perfectly.
He was very handsome, with deep brown skin, thick eyebrows, low, almond-shaped eyes, and a dimple on his left cheek.
The tattoos that covered his arms had me imagining how much of his chest was covered in artwork, if at all.
His lips were smooth and looked perfectly kissable, and when his tongue made an appearance to wet his bottom lip, I shivered.
“Do you want me to come back?” I asked when he didn’t respond, forcing myself to focus on the task at hand.
“My bad, but you’re pretty as hell. It’s nice to meet you, Erissa. I’m River, and this is my daughter, Riverlynn.”
He extended his hand for me to shake, and I did, although I thought it was weird. Customers didn’t usually introduce themselves or their children.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too, and she’s a cutie. I love how her name is a spinoff of yours.”
“Thank you. That was all her mother’s doing. I’m actually ready to order,” he said.
“Okay. Let’s start with your drink.”
I wrote down his order as he rambled it off. He was very familiar with the menu, and I figured he was a regular, but I’d never seen him. I’d definitely remember serving him if I had.
“All right. I got you down for a strawberry lemonade, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, and two biscuits,” I said, repeating his order back to him.
“That’s right. Thank you.”
“I’ll put your order in and be right back with your drink.”
I walked away and could feel his eyes on me as I did so. I paused, casually looking back, and sure enough, he was watching. I smiled uncomfortably and continued making my way behind the counter.
After putting his order in, I poured him a glass of strawberry lemonade and a glass of water. On my way back to his table, I noticed he’d taken his daughter out of the car seat. She was a chunky little one and absolutely adorable.
“Here you go. Your food should be out shortly.”
I placed both glasses and two straws on the table. As I moved my hand away from the straws, he reached for them, and our hands grazed each other’s. The spark that zipped through my body had me snatching my hand away.
“My bad. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.
“No. I’m fine.”
I scurried away like a scared squirrel. A few orders were up, so I delivered food to a few tables, glancing at River whenever he was in my line of sight. Every time, he was already looking at me.
At some point, his daughter cried, and by the time his food was ready, his baby girl was cutting up. I felt bad for him when I saw the look of defeat in his eyes. I wasn’t sure what he’d already tried, but it didn’t look like he had any idea of how to calm her.
I placed his food on the table and reached for his daughter. He was hesitant to hand her over, but when her cries became louder, he placed her in my hands. I turned her around, putting her over my shoulder, and almost immediately, her cries softened.
After I patted her back for a minute, her soft cries became sniffles until she eventually fell asleep. Her breath hitched a few times, and it was the cutest thing ever. River hadn’t touched his food because he was too busy watching us.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
“I didn’t do anything special. Sometimes, it’s about your energy. When she cries, do you feel anxious?”
“Hell yeah.”
I handed her back to him, and he placed her in her car seat.
“She can feel your anxiousness.”
“You think so?”
“I’m pretty sure. I took a few childcare classes in high school, and that was one of the things we learned.”
“That’s good to know. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Enjoy your dinner.”
I got back to work, checking on him every so often to see if he needed anything. When he was ready to pay the bill, he asked me if he could talk to me for a moment. I looked around for my boss, and when I didn’t see him, I sat on the other side of the booth.
“If I get caught, my boss will give me a hard time, so please hurry,” I told him.
“I guess I’ll cut to the chase. I need a nanny.”
“Excuse me?”
“I need a nanny, like yesterday.”
“And you’re telling me because . . .”
“I think you’d be perfect,” he responded with confidence.
“You don’t even know me.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty.”
“Do you have a criminal record?”
I frowned. “What? No.”
“I already saw that you're good with kids. Do you love this job?”
I looked around to see if any of my coworkers or my boss were within earshot.
“I hate it, but it pays the bills.”
“Erissa! This isn’t social hour! We got customers waiting!” my boss, Aaron, shouted.
I knew he’d be looking for me sooner rather than later. This job wouldn’t be so bad if Aaron wasn’t such an asshole. The food was good, the customers rarely caused any problems, and although my coworkers weren’t the friendliest, they weren’t mean.
My boss was the only person who made working here insufferable most days. I thought when he promoted me to assistant manager, he would treat me with a little more respect, but nothing had changed. In fact, his attitude might have gotten worse.
“I gotta get back to work. Are you ready to pay?”
He gave me his card for payment, and as I went to the register, I looked at the name on the front.
River Westmore. It didn’t ring a bell, but I filed his name in the back of my mind to look up later.
When I returned, he took his card and placed something in my hand.
I looked down and saw a huge wad of cash.
“Umm, River—”
“Take it. There’s a napkin in the middle with my number on it. Please think about it and give me a call either way.”
“When do you need to know by?”
“Tonight, if possible.”
“Erissa! You’re really pushing it tonight! Get to work!” Aaron barked.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was the assistant manager, but only one of our servers showed up today, so I had to pick up the slack.
“I gotta go.”
I busied myself by wiping down tables and setting them up for future customers. Before River left, he got my attention and mouthed, “Call me.” I nodded but wasn’t sure I would.
I knew nothing about being a nanny, and his offer came out of nowhere.
I didn’t pay attention to his ring finger, so I had no idea if he was married or not.
If he weren’t married, was his child’s mother around?
He must not have family around to help him; otherwise, I couldn’t see him asking a stranger to take care of his child.
When I finally got a break, I went to the bathroom and counted the cash he’d given me. It was a thousand dollars, and my mouth was on the floor. Was the money his way of convincing me to take the job?
I finished my workday a few hours later, hopped in my old Camry, and headed home. On the ride, I thought about River’s offer, but was concerned that if I ended up being a horrible nanny, I wouldn’t have a job to go back to. It wasn’t the greatest job, but it was a job.
When I made it home, I showered, dressed in my pajamas, and called my best friend, Shakira. She lived across town with her older brother, and she’d been my one and only friend since high school.
“Hey, sis! How was work?” she answered.
“Hey! Today was interesting, to say the least.”
“Oh shit! What happened?”
“This tall, fine-ass man came in with his infant daughter. She was adorable, but very fussy. He had a hard time getting her to quiet down. I felt bad for him, so I took her, and she stopped crying almost instantly. Next thing I know, this man asked me to be her nanny.”
“Nanny? Are you serious?”
“Yep. Oh, and he left me a thousand-dollar tip.”
“Shut up! Who the hell is this man?”
“I have no idea, but I glanced at his card when he paid, and his name is River Westmore. Oh, and his daughter’s name is Riverlynn. Isn’t that cute?”
“Hold on, sis! Did you say River Westmore?”
“Yeah. He looks familiar, but I’m not sure where I might have seen him.”
“Girl! He plays for the Scorpions!” she exclaimed.
“The who?”
“The Black Elm Scorpions.”
“You know I don’t follow sports. Is that basketball, football, or baseball?”
“Oh my God! It’s basketball. He’s a small forward. Wait until I tell Sammie.”
Sammie was her older brother, and he was a huge basketball fan.
“He looks like a basketball player because his limbs are long as hell.”
She laughed. “I bet his dick is too. You should take the job.”
“Kira, if I take the job, I will be there to take care of his daughter when he’s not around, not to have sex with the man.”
“Maybe not initially, but you fine as shit. Once he sees you outside of that food-covered uniform, he won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”
I shook my head and rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see me.
“You’re ridiculous. I probably won’t take the job. I don’t know anything about taking care of babies.”
“Didn’t you tell me your therapist said that taking care of others is your superpower? Did we not also take the same childcare classes in high school? We learned a lot, and you had the highest grade in that class.”
“Hell, they were the only classes I was passing at one point.”
“Exactly! Plus, whatever you don’t know, you can find videos online. From what it sounds like, you probably know more than him.”
“Yeah, but that’s not saying much. I wonder what the deal is with the baby's mom. Maybe he splits custody with her and needs a nanny when he has her.”
“That’s possible. You should at least inquire. Did he leave you a way to contact him?”
“Yeah. He gave me his number.”
“Wow! You literally have River Westmore’s number. This is not what I was expecting to hear from you today. If I wasn’t a good friend, I’d use that number my damn self.”
“I’m sure you would. I don’t—Hold on. Somebody is banging on my damn door.”
“Stay on the phone because you know it ain’t nobody but Jeremiah’s raggedy ass.”