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Feeling both a little turned on, but mostly irritated by his response, I push further. “And you couldn’t get a straight answer?”
“He said he thought it would be fun.”
“Did you stress how dangerous it could be? What if someone had gotten hurt?”
“Well, thankfully, no one did. He put it out himself with a fire extinguisher, once it got out of hand.”
“He knows how to use a fire extinguisher?”
“He’s too smart for his own good, unfortunately.”He rolls his eyes followed by a smile that makes a flash of heat move through me.
“Have you explored the thought that maybe he’s not being challenged enough and should go up a grade?”
“Thoroughly.”
“And?”
He sighs again, this time in frustration like he’s tired of the line of questioning. “He’s not ready for middle school.”
“I see.” I think about how much help this family really needs and as much as I want to, I’m not sure I’m the answer. “Mr. Kincaid—”
“Rowan,” he interrupts and when I meet his eyes, they look exhausted.
I remember River’s comment about him drowning and I opt for a question instead. “How many people have you seen before me?”
“Twelve,” he says quietly.
“In how many days?”
“Two.”
Yikes.“And none of them were a good fit?”
“In their eyes, no.”
“Three kids are tough.” I think about all the women who probably heard this exact spiel and couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.
“Yeah,” he says, his eyes not meeting mine.
“Were they close with their mother?”
“I’d like to think they were equally close with us both. We had joint custody.”
I’m silent for a moment as I think about how difficult this transition has probably been on all of them. “Who would you say is taking it the hardest?”
“My oldest, I think. They were close.” Just my brief interaction with Isla and hearing about Sawyer’s very obvious acting out makes me want to refute this immediately, but I’ll reserve judgment until I spend more time with all of them.
“My mom died when I was a little younger than Margot, so I probably get her a little bit. I have two younger sisters that I helped raise. We struggled a lot and I wish I’d had help. My dad was busy working and a lot of things fell on me. He was a great dad, just…not always present.” I’m already regretting the words that are preparing to leave my lips but I know I won’t be able to get this family out of my head if I walk away. “I want to help you.”
“You. PROMISED,” my best friend, Jacqueline, says as she lifts the shot of tequila to her lips. “You said no nannying this semester so you could have a life and we could actually hang out more than once a month!” she whines as she lets her head drop to the hightop table where we are seated at our favorite bar. “This is so unfair. You’re going to live there too?”
“They need a live-in nanny. It’s two young kids and he works late a lot and he worries that the sixteen-year-old is on the precipice of starting to sneak out of the house and the middle child will cover for her.” I haven’t met the oldest yet and I couldn’t quite get a read on her based on what her father told me.
“You’re going to nanny for a sixteen-year-old? God, can I watch?” She snorts. “Girl or boy?”
“Girl,” I say before taking a healthy sip of my spicy margarita because the thought of nannying for a girl at that age is definitely something new for me.
“Oooh, she’s going to haaate you,” Jacqueline sings as she tucks a sleek black strand behind her ear. “You meet her yet?”