Page 5 of Mountain Men’s Nanny

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Brie

I had tossed and turned through the long night. It was quiet, too quiet out here. No doors opening and closing in neighboring apartments or the sounds of cars zooming past all night. Just dead stillness. It was exactly what I had wanted, one of the reasons I had come out here at all. But now that I had the tranquility, it was wasted on my first sleepless night.

I convinced myself I would get used to it, and that my time here would still be great. I just had to figure out when the day actually started around here. I sat up in bed to catch the sunrise through my window, soft rays filtering through the woods, and listened carefully for any signs that anyone else was awake. Nothing. I got up, took a shower, got dressed, and still there were no signs that anyone else was awake. It was almost 8 o’clock, and I always thought people who lived out in the country, the type of people who chose to live in a wooden cabin, would also be the type who chose to get an early start.

I sat on the edge of my bed and waited. I checked my phone, refreshed my emails, and still nothing. I was nervous, and sitting in complete silence only made it worse. All the possibilities ran through my head, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I marched out of my suite and headed into the common area of the cabin.

Everyone was already awake. Gunner stood at the sink, washing the breakfast dishes while Tobias packed a backpack. They looked like something out of a Backcountry catalog, all rugged, determined, dressed up in well-worn jeans and plaid, complete with scuffed leather work boots.

“A late riser city girl?” Gunner smirked.

My face grew warm, and I forced a smile. “I... I just wasn’t sure how mornings worked around here.”

Tobias’s face was set in a cool, unreadable expression. Not angry or disappointed, just oddly neutral. “Well, Gunner and I are out for the day. There’s coffee in the pot, and Gideon and Lexi will be down in a minute. Lexi can’t find her purple headband.”

The words ‘purple headband’ sounded out of place here in this cabin, especially coming out of Tobias’s mouth, and in the same sentence that mentioned Gideon.

I nodded and poured myself a cup of coffee. Being prepared was something I’d always prided myself on. As a nurse working long hours and often unpredictable schedules, there was no choice but to have painstaking organization skills. I had always known exactly what to expect and exactly what was expected of me, and then did it. But here I was, a fish out of water. Flailing on my first day.

“Good morning!” Lexi squealed, running down the stairs.

She was dressed in what was looking like the uniform around here: jeans and a plaid shirt. The only thing setting her apart from the three men was the glittering purple headband peeking out from her unruly curls.

There was an unspoken system out here and I was beginning to latch onto that fact. Everyone knew what to do and when, but I. The men moved like a well-oiled machine around Lexi, their faces softening in her presence; the mood genuinely lifting every time she bounced into a room. Gunner produced a handkerchief just as Lexi needed a smudge of jam wiped off her chin. Tobias poured a glass of milk before she asked for one, and Gideon, well, it felt like every time I even looked in Lexi’s direction, Gideon was just a few steps away from her. Ready to dote as needed. He pulled out her chair, moved the butter knife out of her reach for safety, and rolled up her sleeves when she washed her hands in the sink. Everything and everyone had a place, except me.

“Princess,” Tobias said gently. The room was suddenly still. The machine’s moving parts were frozen in place. “Today you’re going to stay home with Lexi and Gideon.”

He crouched down to her level, bracing for her reaction. In fact, we were all waiting for her reaction.

Lexi tilted her head to the side thoughtfully and smiled. “And I get to show Brie around?”

Tobias nodded, relief settling on his face. “Exactly. Keep her out of trouble.”

It was settled. Tobias and Gunner grabbed their backpacks and headed out with little fuss or as much as a goodbye to me. I stood for a moment, looking over the quiet room, Gideon standing at the bottom of the stairs as if on guard, and Lexi sitting in quiet expectation on the leather couch that made her look even smaller than she actually was.

“So, what do you usually do during the day?” I asked, trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing.

Gideon stood unmoving as if I hadn’t spoken at all.

“Is there a specific curriculum Lexi uses?” I asked more directly.

Gideon blinked, his face creased with confusion. “A curriculum? As in school?”

I nodded and walked to the living room to sit next to Lexi. I hoped she would engage more and let me in.

“Well, she reads a lot, you know she’s into Narnia and magic and stuff. So she reads that and asks a lot of questions,” he said, flustered for the first time since I’d met him. “She’s smarter than most kids her age.”

Gideon sounded a little defensive on that last bit, but I didn’t dwell. Raising a little girl in such isolation came with a myriad of challenges, and I’d be the last person to judge them on how they did things.

Lexi looked healthy, well-cared for, and from what I’d seen, she really was a bright kid. I sure as hell wasn’t reading Narnia at six years old.

Besides, I was stuck with him and eager to impress, eager to fit in and belong here, even though I knew I didn’t. I didn’t have many of the conveniences I had left behind in my apartment. The comfort of noise from the street, a television, the radio in my car, a constant stream of sounds that were so glaringly absent here.

“Of course she is,” I smiled, touching Lexi’s arm.

She didn’t flinch or pull away, but she didn’t lean into my touch either. She was curious, but she didn’t need me, not in the way the children in the hospital did. There was a fierce independence in her that felt strange in a child as young as she was. Probably came with the mountain.