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“No problem.”
For the next few minutes, Banks and I fell into a comfortable silence as we watched Rhys play and explore everything around him. I was surprised—and relieved—to feel so at ease so quickly. I had anticipated a bit of awkwardness, but there was none to be had in those moments, something I was especially grateful for.
“Alright, well, I think we should probably discuss salary,” Banks finally said, ending the silence.
“Sure.”
Truth be told, the longer I was there, the more I was finding myself ready to admit I’d come and watch Rhys for free. It was nice to be somewhere other than my apartment around people who didn’t look at me like they couldn’t imagine living a day in my shoes after all the loss I’d suffered.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell Banks about my noble thoughts, because I did need to have an actual job, so I could continue to support myself.
On the bright side, Banks offered a reasonable and fair salary for the position, and by the time I walked out of his house just before lunch, I did it with a smile on my face.
It was nice to feel like I was finally making progress on getting my life back on the right track.
I didn’t suspect everything would turn aroundovernight, but I was on the right path, and I was looking forward to seeing how taking care of Rhys changed my life.
SIX
Banks
“Are you sure you checked her out?”
Holding my son in my arms for those last few minutes every morning before I had to leave to head into work, I sent a reassuring smile my mom’s way and promised, “Yes, Mom, I did. I’m going to do a little extra digging into her references this week, just to be on the safe side, but I’m confident about her.”
Eyeing me curiously as she nodded her head slowly, my mom returned, “I’m just worried. I feel so guilty, and I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
It was Monday, one week before my mom was set to have her knee replacement surgery, and I’d called her last night to ask her to come over just a bit earlier this morning, so I could tell her about Lamise.
I’d just explained how I happened to be there when Lamise handed in an application and resume for a position at Harper Security, and how an idea popped into my head.
While I could appreciate her concerns, since I’d hadmany of the same ones, I didn’t think she needed them in this case. “I get it, but I think this is going to be great. In fact, I think it’s going to be far better for him and for my own peace of mind to know he’s going to be here at home with someone looking after him instead of him being in daycare. I was struggling to choose one, and it wasn’t like I didn’t try. I visited the three I kept seeing pop up during my searching. I knew from the minute I walked into each of them that they weren’t going to be the place for him.”
I watched as some of the tension left my mom’s body, and her shoulders relaxed slightly. “I know you would never do something to put him in danger, but I can’t help worrying about him. I really just think it’s my guilt that’s taking over and making me feel like I’m letting the both of you down.”
“Don’t,” I ordered gently. “We both love you, and neither one of us wants to see you in pain. Plus, I think you’ll agree with me on Lamise, because you’ll have an opportunity to meet her.”
There was no missing the surprise in my mom’s tone when she jerked back slightly and replied, “I am?”
I nodded. “I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to have a smooth transition into this new arrangement, so I worked it out to have Lamise come here twice this week. She’ll be here today and Friday.”
“I’m going to get to meet her?” my mom asked.
“Yes. She’ll spend the day here with you, getting the lay of the land and learning more about Rhys’s schedule, where we keep things, and how a typical day here goes. At the same time, it’ll give Rhys the opportunity to get more familiar and comfortable with her, and it’ll probably give you some of the same peace of mind that I feel now abouthaving her be the one to look after him once you go in for your surgery,” I answered.
My mom didn’t immediately respond as she pondered all that I’d just shared. I used her silence as an opportunity to think about all that had happened over the last few days and the relief I felt.
I’d wholeheartedly believed I was going to be in a situation where I was going to have to do something that made me feel particularly uneasy, and when I was feeling the absolute worst about it, Lamise showed up.
Granted, the whole thing happened by chance, and for a brief period of time after I’d stopped her outside the Harper Security Ops building to propose the job to her, I’d wondered if I’d made a big mistake.
I’d acted on impulse and a strange feeling I had in my chest over the sight of her. As a father—one whose only concern was his son—I couldn’t go around making irrational decisions based on feelings.
Rhys deserved better from me.
Fortunately, any of the concerns I’d had vanished when Lamise showed up on Saturday morning to meet my son in an unofficial interview of sorts. While she’d made it clear she liked kids, I hadn’t expected she’d be such a natural around him.
Within just a few minutes of having her there with us, I knew she was going to be perfect. She was completely comfortable with Rhys and didn’t seem to care that I was sitting right there watching as she had a full-blown conversation with him, pretending she could understand all of the gibberish that came out of his mouth.
