Page 8 of The Single Dad

Archie tiptoes into the room shyly, waving a tiny hand at the stranger. She waves back, though I notice that she doesn’t crack a smile upon seeing him, which is a little strange.

“Hello,” she says, somewhat stiffly. “Come closer. Let me get a good look at you.”

Archie shuffles farther into the room, clutching his teddy to his chest. He glances at me, and I give him an encouraging nod.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the older woman says, holding out a hand.

Archie looks at her hand, confused. His gaze drops to the floor.

Impatience spreads across her expression, and she snaps, “Look at me when I’m talking to you. Eye contact is very important.”

The tone of her voice takes me aback—he’s just a shy little kid. There’s no need to yell at him like that.

Archie seems startled, as well. He looks up at her, clearly reluctant, and sees the stern frown on her face. His wide brown eyes well up with tears, and he begins to sniffle.

“Why are you crying?” The nanny folds her arms, frowning down at him. “There’s no need to cry. I’m just trying to teach you manners. We can’t have you being a rude little boy.”

Of course, that does nothing to make Archie’s tears stop. If anything, it seems to get worse. A surge of protectiveness flares in me, and suddenly, I want nothing more than to snatch Archie away from this woman.

I want her out of my house and nowhere near my nephew. This isn’t someone who can be kind or understanding with him, and I don’t want to give her the chance to damage him.

“Alright,” I say, standing up from my desk. “I’ve seen enough. We’re done here.”

The nanny blinks as if surprised, glancing back over at me. “Done?”

“We won’t be needing your services,” I tell her. I walk over to the door, and Archie moves to stand behind my legs as I hold it open, gesturing to the hall outside. “Thank you for coming in today.”

The nanny’s scowl, already pronounced from her interaction with Archie, deepens. She doesn’t question it, though. She must know exactly what the problem was.

She gets up to leave. Halfway through the door, she turns to sneer at me. “If you spoil that child, you’re only going to make your problem worse.”

“Thank you for your time,” I repeat icily, “but as I will not be needing your services, I also have no need of your advice.”

The woman huffs, shouldering her purse, and marches down the hallway toward the exit.

I watch her go, then glance down at Archie. The tears have dried from his eyes, and he no longer seems nervous now that she’s gone.

“Hey, buddy,” I say, scooping him up into my arms.

“Who was that?” he asks.

“Nobody. I thought she might be able to help us out around here, but she’s not the right person for the job, so she won’t be back anymore, okay?”

“Okay,” he says, like we’re making some kind of arrangement.

“That was my last meeting for today,” I tell him. “What do you say you and I go out for a walk? We can get some ice cream. How does that sound?”

“Cupcake?” Archie blinks at me. There’s a new cupcake shop that opened up around the corner, and Archie is absolutely crazy about it.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll get a cupcake.” I set him down, and he reaches up a small hand to take one of mine. “Sound good?”

He nods firmly, and we head out.

It’s a lovely day as we emerge from the front door. Archie leads me through the garden and toward the sidewalk.

As we turn down the street, a jogger with a dog breezes past us. The dog, a huge, wolf-like creature with sharp teeth, flattens its ears at Archie as it goes by. It starts to bark, and strains at its lead as the jogger pulls it onward.

The loud sound of the barking rattles Archie. His hands fly up to cover his ears, and he starts to cry.

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