The moment that last sentence left my mouth, Mrs. Vanderbilt’s eyes narrowed slightly.
And I immediately wanted to crawl under the island and disappear.
Becauseof courseI was staying in the guest room.
Where else would I be staying?
But the fact that I’d even felt the need to clarify that suddenly made it seem like there was another possibility—like there was some sort of monkey business happening while Charlotte was out for the weekend.
Which there absolutely was not.
I sighed softly and decided it might be safest to stop talking now.
Charlotte, however, had clearly picked up on the important part of the conversation because a second later, her head popped up from my shoulder and she asked, “You’re having a sleepover with me and Daddy?” her eyes lighting up.
“Kind of, I guess.” I laughed nervously.
“Yay!” Charlotte said, bouncing in my lap.
Just then, Theo stepped into the kitchen. His eyes moved quickly from Charlotte to me, then to his mother-in-law.
For the briefest moment, something that resembled panic crossed his face.
Well… at least I wasn’t the only one intimidated by his mother-in-law.
Mrs. Vanderbilt turned toward the hallway where her husband had just stepped inside behind Theo.
“John, you should come meet Charlotte’s nanny,” she said. Then, with just the faintest hint of emphasis, she added, “The poor girl’s house burned down over the weekend, and Theo was kind enough to offer her his guest room.”
My gaze slid toward Mr. Vanderbilt who, while looking momentarily surprised by the news, was able to smooth his expression quickly.
“It’s great to officially meet you, Nora,” he said, offering me his hand. “I’m Charlotte’s grandpa, John.”
I shifted Charlotte slightly on my lap so I could reach out and shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, John.”
“Theo mentioned that you were friends with his sister. How long have you known Lucy?” Mrs. Vanderbilt asked me next, seeming to decide that it was time to move into the interview portion of the evening.
“About four years,” I said. “Lucy and I met our freshman year through the gymnastics program.”
“Oh, so you’re a gymnast, too.” She lifted her brows slightly, looking mildly impressed. “That’s such a demanding sport.”
“It is,” I said with a small nod. “I loved it, though.”
“So, if you met Lucy four years ago,” she continued, “does that mean you just graduated?”
“I did.”
“And what made you interested in nannying?” she asked. “Is that something you’ve always wanted to do?”
“Not exactly,” I said honestly. “My degree was in exercisescience, so I initially expected to find a job in that field. But my minor was in early childhood development. And since I especially loved my rotations in the preschool program, nannying for Charlotte just seemed like the perfect fit when Theo had the job open up.”
“How serendipitous,” Mrs. Vanderbilt said. And while her smile looked pleasant enough, something about it felt calculated. Like she had already reached some sort of conclusion about me.
“So…” she continued, tilting her head slightly. “If you just graduated from college, what does that make you? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?”
“I’m twenty-two,” I said.
“How nice,” she said, though the thinness of her smile made it pretty clear my age had not done her opinion of me any favors.