Page 104 of Suddenly Entwined

“I couldn’t bring myself to do it! You’d already warned me about Emilio.”

“I’d ask, ‘who is Emilio?’, but nobody would answer me, would they?”

“I’ll catch you up in a sec, Mom.” I lean over to pat her knee.

“And you thought I’d say I told you so?”

I shrug. “Something like that.”

“I thought you’d been careless with your spending.”

“I probably was careless, to be honest. But it wasn’t serious until everything happened.”

“He used you, Caro.”

I focus on the blades of grass tickling my feet and the warmth of the fire on my thighs. It’s all in the past.

“I blamed myself and figured I wasn’t a very responsible person.”

Mom gasps like I insulted her.

“You are very responsible, thank you very much. I raised both of you to be that way.” She points at Chris and I. “You always had chores and were in charge of managing your own homework. You both had part-time jobs by the time you were sixteen.”

“Do you need money for school?” Dad asks.

“I–um, I’ve been saving up again. I think I’ll be okay as long as I can keep nannying part time for Berg.”

“Honey,” Mom gets up from her spot and shoos my brother out of his chair so she can be next to me. She pauses before waving at Chris and Dad. “Go away. Girl talk.”

When they’ve scurried off toward the fence line, mom takes my hand in hers.

“You can’t keep working as his nanny, honey.”

I smile, realising I’ve been calling Natalie and Louisa the same thing lately.

“Why? We wouldn’t be the first couple to work together while dating.”

She applies gentle pressure to my hand as she pauses, selecting her words. “Because this isn’t a conventional workplace. And you too aren’t simply dating, you’re in love.”

Mom’s eyes are shiny.

“You know we still have money set aside for your education, right?”

I splutter, “W-what? No, I didn’t know that!”

Why didn’t I know that?

“It’s not a lot. But it should pay for a year of tuition.”

I could cry, actually, I am crying. A hot tear rolls along my nose, but my mom swipes it away.

“I think you’re going to be taking on a very important role in those girls' lives, Carolina, but it won’t be as a nanny.”

“I really love them, Mom. All three of them.”

“I know you do.”

I think of Natalie earlier and how she didn’t want to talk to me, and it shakes my confidence for a second.

---