Senator Brandt still stood in the doorway, hands clasped in front of her, expression unreadable.
June waved once through the windshield as she pulled away from the curb. In the rearview mirror, she caught a glimpse of Lila watching from the living room window, one small hand pressed against the glass.
The house disappeared around the corner, and June let out a long breath. Her hands were trembling on the steering wheel. Nerves. The interview, the job offer, the reality of what she’d just agreed to.
Not the way Senator Brandt’s eyes had held hers for a beat too long.
Not that at all.
Chapter 3
First Dinner
Melissa
Wednesday, June 10th
The house sounded different.
Melissa paused in the doorway of her home office, pen still in hand, trying to identify what had changed. It took her a moment to realize: music. Soft, acoustic, drifting from the kitchen.
June had been here for six hours, and already the silence had been replaced by… something else.
Melissa set down her pen and moved to the top of the stairs, telling herself she was just checking on things. Making sure everything was running smoothly. That was what a responsible employer did, wasn’t it? Verify that the new hire was settling in appropriately?
She descended quietly, stopping at the bottom where she could see into the kitchen without being seen.
June stood at the island, her blonde curls escaping their ponytail as she chopped vegetables with easy motions. She wore a soft green sundress, and she moved through the kitchen likeshe belonged there—reaching for a pan, adjusting the flame, her hips swaying to the music playing from her phone propped against the fruit bowl.
There were fresh herbs on the windowsill that Melissa knew she hadn’t bought.
“You’ve made yourself at home,” she said.
June startled and spun around, nearly dropping the wooden spoon in her hand. “Oh. Senator Brandt. Hi. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come down.” A flush crept up her cheeks as she fumbled for her phone and silenced the music. “I hope the noise wasn’t bothering you. I can keep it down, or off entirely if you prefer—”
“It’s fine.” Melissa stepped into the kitchen, watching June’s posture shift from relaxed to uncertain in the space of a breath. Interesting. “You didn’t have to cook. I was planning to order something.”
“I know. I just… cooking helps me settle into a new place, and I thought maybe Lila might like something homemade after her last day of school, and you said I could use the kitchen, but if you’d rather I didn’t—”
“Miss Hollis.” Melissa kept her voice even, the same tone she used to quiet a rambling constituent. “It’s fine. The kitchen is available to you. That is part of the arrangement; you are in charge of Lila eating.”
June nodded, some of the tension easing from her shoulders. “Right. Yes. Thank you.” She turned back to the stove, stirring the vegetables with perhaps more attention than they required. “It’s just pasta primavera. Nothing fancy. It’ll be ready in about twenty minutes.”
“Where’s Lila?”
“In her room. She said she wanted to read before dinner.” June glanced back, her expression careful. “She was very well-behaved at pickup. Her teacher said she had a good last day.”
Melissa noted the shift—June recalibrating, remembering her role. Employee. Caregiver. Not… whatever she’d been before, swaying to music while cooking.
“I’ll let her know dinner is almost ready,” Melissa said. “We eat at six-thirty.”
“Of course. I’ll have everything ready by then.”
Melissa turned to leave, then paused. “The herbs.”
June’s flush returned as she glanced toward the greens on the windowsill. “I brought them from home. I should have asked first. I can move them if—”
“They’re fine where they are.”
