"She's rubbing her eyes, see? That's a tired cue. And she's yawning, starting to get fussy. Time to start the bedtime routine before she gets overtired and can't settle."
"How do I know if she's overtired?"
"She'll fight sleep even though she's exhausted. Crying that won't stop, arching her back, and refusing the bottle. It's miserable for everyone." I take Harper from him. "Better to catch the early cues and get her down before we get there."
Emma, Diane, and Maya move through the house around us all day. Emma labels things, Diane folds laundry, and Maya runs to the shops for things they forgot. They're staying tonight before the drive back to Hartford tomorrow. Diane has commandeered the sectional with the confidence of someone who has earned it. Emma and Maya have inflated an air mattress near the TV and are currently arguing about whose pillow is whose.
"It's like a slumber party," Emma announces at dinner. "But with more screaming and less sleep."
"Sounds exactly like the slumber parties I remember," Maya says dryly.
Tyler catches my eye across the table, something flickering across his expression, quick and gone, and I look back at myfood.
Harper goes down, and Tyler marks it on the purple chart. His handwriting is unexpectedly neat, careful in a way that doesn't match the rest of him.
"How long should she sleep?"
"Three to four hours. Maybe longer. Rest while you can. She'll be up again later."
He pushes a hand through his hair, which has the effect of rearranging rather than improving it. The stubble on his jaw has filled in more today, going from five o'clock shadow to something that looks deliberate even though I'm fairly sure it isn't.
I'm noting this for absolutely no reason.
"Nora," he says, quietly, like he's been holding onto the moment. "I don't know what I'd be doing without you here. Genuinely."
"You'd figure it out. You're doing better than you think."
"I'm doing better because you're teaching me." He holds my gaze, and there's something in it I'm not going to look at directly. "So. Thank you."
“You’re welcome, West.” I nod and head upstairs before the conversation can get any more personal.
My room is quiet. I can hear Emma and Maya laughing downstairs, and Diane telling them to keep it down. The house settles around me, full of people, noise, and life.
West.
I don’t know why I said that. Tyler would have been fine. Using his last name shows that I’m trying to keep him at arm’s length, which I guess is why I said it, yet it still came out sounding strange.
It keeps things professional, though, and that’s the whole point.
I change into pajamas and sit on the edge of the bed with my parents' photo.
They're looking at each other again. They're always looking at each other.
This is just another job. A few months, maybe a year. I'll teachTyler what he needs to know and move on to the next family, the way I always do. I will not let myself get comfortable. I will not let these people become anything more than clients.
I hear Tyler's footsteps in the hallway, one last check on Harper before bed. Two days in, and he has a routine already.
I turn off the light.
It’s just a job. It’s just temporary. Just one more house that isn't mine.
I listen to its sounds and tell myself that that's what it is, but I'm not sure I'm convinced.
7
TYLER
Maya corners me at breakfast on Friday morning with that look that means I'm not going to like what comes next.