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“I can spare a minute.”
She’s already marching up the concrete driveway to her front door. I follow hot on her heels.
Reentering the house I just spent all day cleaning, it irks me to find she doesn’t remove her shoes. Knowing how much effort I put into these fucking floors, I take mine off with less patience than I had thirty seconds ago. Whatever. It’s her house, and I’m paid for the work I do.
She doesn’t stop or speak until she’s in her office. I haven’t entered this room since that first day as it’s not on her list for me to clean. My keen eye can’t help but notice the shelves in need of a dusting. Maybe that’s what she wants to discuss.
“Nora?” I call when she still hasn’t told me what we’re doing.
Her back faces me. Papers rustle, and drawers glide open and shut. She retrieves a manila envelope in one hand while grasping the squirming toddler on her hip in the other. As she turns back around, a manic look glints in her eye.
“Can you take him?”
“Oh, s-sure.” The twenty-five pounds of toddler settles happily in my arms. I give him a little bounce and embrace the babbling coo he gives in response. Even though my heart cracks, I smile at the little boy.
With her hands now free, Nora plunges one into the envelope. Only to withdraw it seconds later clutching a wad of cash.
“Today’s wages,” she mutters. Her concentration is on the twenty-dollar bills she’s counting and not on my stunned expression. She pushes a haphazard stack across the desk and starts counting to herself again. An equally large stack emerges, and she presses it against the first. “Doubled if you can stay a few hours and watch Tommy.”
I quickly shut my gaping jaw. “I-I’m sorry, what?”
“Can you watch him? Something important has come up, and I’m in desperate need of help. I’ll double your pay for the day if you can stay.”
Double my pay? Is she crazy?
“Nora, that’s way too much.”
Her head snaps up. “Not to me. Your time is worth exactly what I say it is,” she snips.
“I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sure you can afford what you’re offering, but I can’t accept. It’s too much.”
“What is it with poor people thinking they know the worth of anything?” She mumbles to herself, but I hear her just fine.
“Excuse me?”
She releases a heavy sigh that fills the room with more tension than an overblown balloon. “I’m sorry. I’m in a real jam here. Can you help or not?”
I should say no. My brother and Caiti are leaving tomorrow. It’s already been way too long since I saw them last. Then again
, I’m supposed to fly out next month to celebrate Eric’s promotion, and this owed favor may go a long way toward taking the time off. There’s also the pay to consider. I’ll be able to secure a place now, as soon as I can find one, which means getting out of my car a heck of a lot faster than I thought.
This would mean not just canceling on my family but on Rhett too. The four of us won’t have a chance like this for a long while, if ever again.
I’m about to open my mouth to say no when Tommy grabs a loose curl in his chubby fist and lays his head on my shoulder. The little boy nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck. Before I can reconsider, the words, “I’ll do it,” are out of my mouth and into the open.
Nora’s posture deflates. “Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She gathers the piles of cash. “Where’s your purse?”
Discomfort prickles beneath my skin. “It’s by the door.”
I follow hot on her trail to the front door. She stuffs the money into the opening on the top of my purse.
“Anything I need to know about taking care of him?” I give him a gentle bounce and rub his back.
Nora leans her torso back inside on her mad dash out the door. “There are leftovers in the fridge. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Without further instruction, she’s fully out of the house.
I twist the lock behind her. I haven’t cared for a baby since high school. My nerves are on high alert, and she’s barely just left.
“I guess I should officially cancel my plans, huh?”
