Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
“Thank God.” I dropped my head back and sighed in relief.
Jenna laughed from the hallway. “Not ready for a big-girl bed yet?”
“No. Never.” Not if it meant Marley getting around at night. She’d leave me for sure. I stood up and headed out of the room. “Let me grab an Allen wrench and take care of this before I go.”
“She hasn’t eaten yet, has she?”
“No, not yet.”
“Okay. I’ll take her downstairs while you do that.”
“Great.”
Jenna went one way and I went the other.
I grabbed the small toolbox I kept under the sink in the master bath. After lowering the mattress and fixing the bedding, which Marley had pulled out of the crib and spread out around the room, I finished getting ready. Tie on, I slid my glasses into place and headed back downstairs.
The kids were seated at the kitchen table. Oliver and Olivia had their bags in front of them, rifling through each other’s while they carried on conversation. Marley was in her booster seat. She was watching the other two, completely engrossed in what they were doing, while Jenna stood beside the chair, feeding her bites of waffle.
I finished rolling up my sleeve to match the other one as I moved around the island, stopping at the Keurig and powering it on. I grabbed the travel mug out of the cabinet and loaded up a K-Cup. The smell of coffee permeated the air.
“You wear glasses too?” Olivia asked, her voice pitching higher.
I turned my head and watched as she flipped that notepad open again.
She whispered, “Oh my gosh,” not waiting for a response and obviously not needing one before she clicked her pen and scribbled something down.
What the hell is she always taking notes about?
Jenna set the plate on the table after feeding Marley another bite and walked to the end of the island, where she had a spiral notebook open to a blank page. “Is there anything I need to know? Medications she takes or a nap schedule she follows?”
I shook my head and blew across the mug. “No medications. A nap schedule? Like, she’s going down every day at the same time?” I chuckled. “That’s hilarious. I usually just let her go until she drops. It’s easier than fighting with her.”
Jenna’s brows lifted. She appeared to be holding in a laugh. “Oh, well, you know, kids like routines. They actually thrive on them. Plus, it’ll just make your life easier. So, if it’s okay with you, I’ll probably get her on some sort of schedule.”
“Works for me. Honestly, whatever you want to do. You’re basically saving my life here.”
She smiled and shrugged off the comment, as if everything she was doing for me was nothing, and God, it wasn’t. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“We haven’t talked about compensation yet,” I said. “If it’s fair to you, and please be honest with me, I’m willing to pay you two hundred to two-fifty a day for this, depending on how long you’re here.”
Her lips slowly parted. “That’s…more than fair. You don’t need to pay me that much.”
“I priced daycare in this area. I know how much it costs.”
“It doesn’t cost two hundred dollars a day. I’ve priced it too.”
“No, but you’re doing more for me than a daycare would. They wouldn’t keep her on weekends.”
She tilted her head, thinking on this. “Okay, but still, that’s a lot of money…”
“I wouldn’t feel right paying anything less,” I told her, hoping to shut down any further argument. “She’s a lot of work, Jenna. It isn’t like she’s just going to sit still for you. Not to mention how last minute this is. Please, let me do this the right way. I won’t be able to sleep at night if I feel like I’m cheating you.”
Her smile came on softly. “Okay.”
“And anything you buy for her—food or whatever—just save the receipts and I’ll pay you back.”
“I’ll do that.” She picked up the pen lying across the notebook and held it out to me. “Do you want to write your number down? In case I have any questions or need to get in touch with you.”
I stuck the lid on the mug and set it aside, then took the pen from her and stepped closer.
“I haven’t given my number to a woman in eleven years,” I confessed without any fucking thought at all. My hand froze inches from the paper.
Why the hell did I share that information? Maybe she didn’t hear it…
I looked up. Green eyes stared back at me, widened with full awareness.
I cleared my throat and wrote my number down so fast, it was barely legible. “Can you read that?”
“Yep.”
“Great.” I dropped the pen and pushed the notebook away, exchanging it for the mug and stepping back. “I should get going.” Before I revealed anything else completely irrelevant.