Chapter 1 – Balloon Hot Dogs with Eyes
Rosalie
I don’t believe in mythical creatures, but Liam Campbell comes pretty close. He’s the only man I know who can put on a superhero mask at his son’s birthday party and look the part. He’s currently manning the balloon-animal station, and let’s just say, his talents lie elsewhere. However, he’s so serious that none of the kids have mentioned this to him while they hold their balloon hotdogs with eyes.
Meanwhile, I’m busy cutting the cake into perfectly equal squares so no one will fight over them. I don’t look intimidating in a mask. Not that I’m still wearing mine. I ditched it about five minutes in. It’s too hot for makeup and masks to coexist in an Arizona backyard in July, even with the misters going strong up above us. Maybe I will get in the pool later, even if it means being splashed in the face by kids. If someone hit me in the back with a water balloon right now, I’d thank them.
I’m concentrating so much on my task that Esther startles me when she appears out of nowhere to keep my superhero cape from falling into the frosting. She tucks the cape behind me and ruffles my ponytail. My hair is at that weird length where I need to either grow it out again or cut it all off.
“Watch yourself there, Rosie.”
“Thanks. Want to start plating?”
“Yeah, sure.” Esther is not precise or careful, and I smile to myself when she starts dumping cake pieces onto the bright blue plates that say “Boom!” and “Pow!” Half of the pieces land on their sides, marring their perfectly frosted tops.
She glances over at a boy staring expectantly at her and hands him one. “Have at it.” I can see he wants to ask for a different piece, probably a corner one with more frosting, but Esther is the queen of ignoring things she doesn’t care about, and he finally walks off with a sigh.
When I like to torture myself, I picture what it must have been like when Esther and Liam were married. They must have been a force. I bet she brought out his fun side. I bet she was messy and he was organized, and he didn’t care because he was so in love with her. After all, he eloped with someone who “came from nobody” and was “wild” (according to his parents). They might have been right about the wild part.
“Have you and Liam talked about this fall?” Esther asks, interrupting my reverie.
“What about this fall?” I usually decorate the house for him with yellow and gold leaf garlands, pumpkins everywhere, and a few Harry Potter touches like lanterns and owls. He tries to act like it’s not a big deal to him, but the budget he gives me says otherwise.
“Well, Callie is going off to full-day kindergarten in September, and Wyatt just turned eight.” She blinks at me like I should know where she’s going with this, and then I feel dumb for not seeing the obvious conclusion she’s reached. I won’t be as needed. I can start teaching school again. They might not even want a nanny at all.
But this isn’t just a job to me. These are my people now. EvenEsther with her bluntness and way of crash-landing through life. Callie and Wyatt have my heart. And then there’s Liam.
I glance over at him and our eyes meet. It’s not even weird that he’s in a mask.
He gives me a small nod. It’s our signal that a team meeting is in order. We’ll discuss whatever’s bothering me, and it will be professional (at least on his end), because that’s what he does. Liam is the most responsible and respectful man I’ve ever met. He holds to his boundaries, and he’s rarely swayed by the emotions of a moment.
It’s why he can co-parent with an ex-wife who once left him with a young son and a baby girl for a dream job in Europe. He handled things when she left, and he handled things when she came back a little bit broken.
It’s how he can work with me. I’m not all buttoned up like Liam. I cry when I watch sad movies, and I probably look at him with too much tenderness. He’s just so beautiful and good, and he thinks he’s not. His kids inherited his unruly dark hair and soulful brown eyes. They get their endless energy from Esther.
Aware of my admiration or not, Liam’s never so much as hugged me. And thank goodness, because I would totally take advantage of him if he did.
Kidding. I would not. But I’d think about it.
The last time Liam and I touched was when Callie’s goldfish died last year and she made us join hands around the toilet before flushing him down. We sang “Let It Go,” fromFrozenand took turns telling special memories of him.
That was when I knew. I knew my plan to be a wife and mom someday was getting kicked down the road a little farther. Because who could measure up to him? Certainly not the guy I was dating at the time. There’s got to be someone, though. Liam does not need a nanny with an unrequited crush on him. Perhaps, after this, he won’t need a nanny at all.
Chapter 2 – Stay Close to People Who Feel Like Sunlight
Liam – Four Years Ago
I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in months. The divorce finalized two weeks ago, and even when that’s not on my mind, Callie’s waking up in the night multiple times. If it wasn’t for my alarm and the daylight seeping through the blinds, I wouldn’t believe it’s time to get up.
I throw my legs over the side of the bed and groan, cracking my neck to each side.
I have to leave this bed and go be a parent, a business owner, and a functioning human who runs on coffee and sheer grit. Oh, and today I have to be a mind reader, so when I hire a nanny, she actually helps me instead of making my life more complicated.
I’m Captain von Trapp level of serious this time, only I won’t be falling for anyone I hire. I won’t be swayed by nuns, nazis, or heaven help us, harmonized singing.
Not that the applicants so far haven’t tried everything under the sun. It’s like the job description for nanny read “must attempt to seduce me during the interview” and “try for an upgrade from nanny to wife.”
I know there are better candidates out there. I just made the mistake of letting my mother send the first ones. I think deep down I knew she had ulterior motives when she sent her friends’ daughters to “be there for me during this difficult time.” But my relationship with my mother is tenuous, and I was hoping to give her a win.