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A fit of giggles grows from behind me.Thank God.
With a firm grip on the railing, I jog back down the steps and listen for another giggle. One of them cracks under pressure within thirty seconds of me standing between their bedroom doors in the hallway. I find them huddled in Madden’s closet beneath her hanging dresses and behind a shoe rack.
“Boo!” they both shout.
My heart quakes and my stomach muscles unfurl from the knot it was in. I want to tell them how rude their behavior is, but they aren’t my children to scold. “That wasn’t very nice. You worried me and I thought we agreed not to play hide-and-seek tonight?”
Blakely crawls out of the closet from behind the shoe rack and groans. “Yup, she’s just like all the others,” she says.
I cross my arms and let out a sigh to warn them that I’m not pleased. “I think it’s time for bed,” I tell them, looking down at my watch again.
“No, you said we could watch the rest of the movie!” Madden whines.
“I’m sorry, but you broke the rules, and it just took me too long to find you. I’m afraid you’ll have to finish the movie tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Madden mutters.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Never mind,” she says, crawling out of the closet before trudging to her bed.
TEN
FRIDAY, JUNE 9TH 9:15 PM
I’m surprised the twins went to bed without putting up more of a fight. I’m sure they don’t like me very much since I didn’t let them finish the movie. Still, if I’m about to spend my summer taking care of them, I can’t let them take advantage and ignore the rules.
I still have about an hour before Mr. and Mrs. Smith return as they said something about being home before eleven. With time to fill, I meander around the first floor, admiring the professional décor. There are a couple of rooms that make me wonder if they’re ever used, like the library of sorts with its strangely bare shelves. Then there’s the room in the far corner, opposite the great room. I flip the light switch, finding a built-in desk framing a widescreen monitor and matching filing drawers on each side. The two sets of French windows have upholstered benches over more drawers. I bet this room gets a lot of sun during the day, especially looking out over the ocean. The neutral and pastel colors between the walls, throw rug, and furniture have a feminine feel. I wonder if this is Lara’s office. She did mention that she does a lot of charity work for her husband’s business.
My mind is spinning with assumptions about this family and yet I can’t pinpoint any one answer to my questions. I’m still trying to figure out what Mr. Smith does for a living. I should have followed Willa’s style and done a couple of online searches about them. These are things I should know before taking a long-term position. Walking into situations with blinders on can lead to a poor ending. I know that better than anyone.
I pull my phone out of my back pocket before pulling out the tufted cream-colored desk chair. My display flashes with a time and restaurant name from Liam. I chuckle, finding the irony that it would be the restaurant where Willa works. She has never missed the Saturday night rush so I’m sure she’s on the schedule. Since Newport isn’t a large town and only a handful of popular restaurants are typical dinner date spots, the chances of him choosing this one isn’t too surprising. Now Willa can meet him before I even consider bringing him back to the apartment. She’ll be thrilled.
Disregarding what would be normal behavior—sitting in someone’s living room and keeping my hands to myself while I wait for the parents to return home from their night out—I take the opportunity to wake up their sleeping computer. It’s surprising they don’t have this password protected, but I’m guilty of removing mine since it’s a pain when I’m trying to log-in quickly. I open a browser and wait for the search bar to appear.
Who are you, Corbin and Lara Smith?
I click inside the search bar and watch the list of recent searches populate in the dropdown. A person can learn a lot from someone’s search history.
Child psychologists, specialty with twins, Newport, RI…
Child psychologists, Newport, RI…
Child therapists, Newport, RI…
