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“Tell me about it,” said Hadley. “Wanna grab a table?”

Maeve grinned and they found a small round table to sit at. “So, what's tying you to the ground, my girl?”

“Me?” asked Hadley. She blew out a breath. She didn't want to sound like a spoiled rich kid here. “Um, I need a job,” she said, finally. “But I don't know what kind of job.”

“Definitely a weighty matter,” agreed Maeve. “Hardly surprising that you lacked focus.”

“What about you?” Hadley asked, stirring her smoothie again.

“Ach, so many things. Yellow fever vaccinations, for one.”

“Yellow fever?”

“Yes,” Maeve sighed. “Do you think they'll give a five year old a yellow fever jab? I'm just not so sure. And I don't want the twins to go without.”

Hadley blinked then put her drink down. “I'm afraid I'm going to need a little more information than that. I'm not following you at all.”

Maeve laughed. “Yes, I don't mean to be mysterious. I have a strange feeling with you. Like I've known you all my life. We even order the same drinks. I suppose I assumed that you already knew what I was talking about, which is foolish of course.”

“Well, tell me now,” Hadley said, sipping through her straw. They'd ordered the same drinks because the woman had literally asked the smoothie guy for the same thing as she was having. Hardly fate intervening, she thought privately.

“I'm to spend two months at an Ashram in India,” Maeve said.

Somehow this didn't surprise Hadley. It was becoming obvious that Maeve was a lot more into yoga than Hadley was. Maybe doctor of yoga wasn't for her after all. “Sounds like fun.”

“Yes, except my idiot ex-husband has fired our nanny, which means I'm now taking three children along on the trip.” Maeve sucked down some smoothie. “Not that I mind. I adore my children. And I'm sure that they'll profit from a summer spent on the Ashram.”

“Mmm,” Hadley said, not so sure at all.

“But there's so much to deal with. Plus, of course, the lawyers say that I'm not to take the children out of the country. Not that they know what they're talking about. I'll do it, of course, and just have to suffer the consequences when we return.”

“Do the children want to go?”

“Oh gods, no,” Maeve said. “Ordinarily, I'd never force them to do something they don't want to do, but what choice do I have?”

The words hung in the air for a moment as both women began to think the same thing. Hadley was the first to speak.

“Maybe I could help you,” she blurted out.

A job. A job just sitting there right in front of her for the taking. And it was something she'd never tried before. How much better could things get?

“Let me ask you, do you have a first aid certificate?”

Hadley nodded. Two years ago she'd thought about becoming a paramedic, a dream that had been eaten up by a sudden desire to become a dive instructor. But she had a first aid certificate.

“Criminal record check?” Maeve asked.

Hadley nodded again. Three months ago she'd volunteered at a drug rehab facility and they'd required the background check.

Maeve narrowed her eyes. “Very well, the key question then. What do you believe is the most important thing for a child?”

Hadley didn't even think. “Happiness,” she said.

Slowly a smile spread across Maeve's face. “I do believe the fae have sent you to me, child. This moment was meant to be, don't you think?”

What could Hadley do but agree? Okay, she was hazy on details here, but as far as she could make out she would spend the next two months looking after three children. Which couldn't be that hard. It wasn't like she was going to work at an investment bank or anything.

And two months was definitely enough time to show her father that she could commit to something.