“Didn’t think so.” She pulls the paper from between my outstretched fingers, and I let go.
“See you later!” Throwing a leg over the rusty death trap, Ms. Thompson honks the horn three times as she pedals off.
“At the emergency room, maybe,” I gripe, squeezing the remainder of my water bottle into my mouth, attempting to wash our verbal sparring match from my tongue.
For the remainder of the day, I throw myself into my booth, handing out a damn coupon to just about anyone who asks for one. Fuck the rules. I even tracked down Maddie and Rylee just to give myself something to do.
Anything other than think about Ms. Thompson and her smart mouth, and that feeling snaking through my dick that tells me I haven’t been laid in way too long.
For fuck’s sake, I can’t bed the damn nanny.
And this woman?
With how wild and carefree and unfiltered she is? She’d probably spread my business across the damn town.
12
Sutton
Hours later,with my booth torn down, Nellie and I watch the fire safety demonstration. To her, the display is as exciting as a firework show. For me, the terror of a house fire winds up compartmentalized in the box with the accidents, falls down the stairs, drowning possibilities, severe animal bites, and all the other bad shit parents do their best not to imagine. My career has given me a unique vantage point. Anything one can imagine can and does happen. I’ve seen it. And if I let my mind run wild with possibilities, I’d be sleepless and sick with worry.
That means I carefully plan, practice safety, and use security alarms and a retired K-9 to keep my house safe. I force Nellie to participate in demonstrations to drill into her head how to stay calm in an emergency, hoping she’ll keep herself out of harm’s way, and I’ll never again find myself the first responder to a 911 call from someone who means something to me.
“Ready to go home, Buttercup?”
The setting sun glints off the top of her purple helmet. Nellie climbs onto her bicycle with a yawn. “Re-Re-Ready.”
“I’ll say. You’d better pedal fast so you don’t fall asleep before we get there.”
“That’d be silly.” She giggles. “I’m glad we came here today, Daddy.”
I trek along the cracked pavement beside her slow roll. “What was your favorite part?”
“Well, Jeremiah said I couldn’t beat him in a race, but I went super fast. He tried to stick his foot out to knock me over, but I raced right past him, and I won.”
“He did what?” My face pinches into a scowl. Pulse roaring in my ears. I’m going to have to talk to this Jeremiah.
“It’s okay, though, because after I crossed the finish line, Jeremiah ran into a street sign and fell on his butt.”
“Kid probably wouldn’t have lost his balance if he wasn’t trying to knock you down.”
“That’s what Miss Alice said.”
Tension flickers to life in my palms. “She was there?”
“Uh-huh. She made sure he was okay of course, but then she told him if she saw him try to kick me down again, she’d beat up his mom.”
My eyes nearly bulge out of my head. “She did not say that.”
“She did! It was so cool. Jeremiah even said sorry without her makin’ him.”
Cool. Right. Just my nanny making threats of bodily harm in front of children.
There’s about a 75 percent chance I’ll get a call at the station tomorrow.
“I’m glad he apologized.”
Nellie swerves around a clump of weeds on the sidewalk. “She’s the best, isn’t she?” The amusement evaporates, leaving her tone gloomy. “I wish Miss Alice could be around all the time.”