Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Cole opens the door with Emmett in his arms and a look of exhaustion on his face. But he’s smiling, which is a good sign. Behind him, my daughter is standing on the coffee table, getting ready to launch herself over the couch. “Peanut Butter! Give me that back!”
“What the—”
“Fudge,” Cole snaps, harshly correcting me before I even curse, and I give him an odd look. Is he seriously worried about foul language when my child is…
“Grace Marie!” I shout, “Get down!”
She freezes for a split second and then simply jumps the other way, not over the couch, but beside it, and immediately begins chasing my other brother, Kyle’s, wayward mutt of a dog. The brown, fluffy beast has a solid case of the zoomies, making fast laps around the living room with a piece of white paper in his mouth. I thought dogs were supposed to age out of this, but in PB’s case, apparently not.
“Give it back!” Grace yells at Peanut Butter. To me, she adds, “It’s my math homework, and if he eats it, I’m not doing it again.”
Fair enough, I think. Honestly, Grace is great at math, thanks to yours truly, so one zero on one homework assignment isn’t the end of the world. As long as she understands the material, it’s good enough for me as long as it’s a one-off, not a usual thing. But given her recent bombing of a test, I’m not sure her grade can withstand a zero, so I make a fast grab for the dog and manage to carefully untangle the paper from his mouth. “Here,” I tell Grace brusquely, pushing the wrinkled—and slobbery—homework her way.
She gives the smiling dog a dirty look. Yeah, Kyle’s dog actually knows how to smile. He can roll his eyes too. He’s weird like that, but it’s not surprising given my brother is a piece of work too.
“Chill evening at home?” I taunt Cole wryly, and he shrugs, his attention never leaving the adorable bundle of his baby.
Emmett Nash Harrington is the latest addition to our large family, coming not too long after Cole and Janey got married, and as the second grandchild, he’s got a lifetime of being spoiled rotten ahead of him. Not only by his parents and grandparents, but by all of us Harrington brothers who’ll battle for ranking as the favorite uncle. My sister, Kayla, who got off easy as the guaranteed favorite aunt when Grace was born, now has competition with my sisters-in-law, so that’ll be entertaining to watch. Though, let’s be real. Kayla’s going to win. She always does.
“Not too bad, actually,” Cole answers. “Janey and I got to take a shower, a nap, and eat today since Riley was here, so we’re ready for tonight’s no-sleep rave. Boots and cats, and boots and cats.” He bounces Emmett like they’re dancing even though the baby is fast asleep.
“Riley?” I echo, though I’m mostly picturing my isolationist brother at a literal rave. It’d be his worst nightmare come to life, which while extremely entertaining to witness, his attempt at beatboxing is pretty amusing too. My lips almost twitch, a rarity.
Cole drags his eyes away from Emmett. “Yeah, I was gonna talk to you about her, actually. She’s a nanny.”
I can’t help but snort at the irony. “You hired a nanny before I did? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Cole isn’t a people person. He’s the opposite of whatever a people person is. He’s gruff, grumpy, and rude, which is enough to put most people off, and then, when you add in that he’s obsessively protective of Janey, and now Emmett, there’s not a lot of room for people to get close to them. Literally or metaphorically speaking. So the idea that he let some stranger into his house, handed over his baby, and then took a little nappy-nap is downright ridiculous.
“I didn’t hire her. Well, not exactly. She asked me for a favor, so in return, she’s doing one for me—helping with Emmett for a few days. But she’s an experienced nanny whose job just ended, and she might be looking for a new one. I thought you might like to meet her.”
Is he being… nice? The very idea makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up because it’s such an odd thing for Cole to be. I have exacting standards, ridiculously high ones, I’ve been told by more than a few, but I’m currently not in the position to be a choosy beggar. At some point, my family’s patience with me—not Grace, never her—will reach its limit and I’ll have to, I don’t know, take a leave of absence from work while I get this nanny situation sorted. That’s something I don’t want to do, unless there’s no other option, so I’m inclined to take the gift Cole is offering thankfully. But not without question.