Page 1 of Night of the Living Manny
Chapter One
THEagency called Brenden Torrance bright and early at 8:00 a.m., which was embarrassing because he was still asleep. Like deeply asleep and drooling on his own arm. When the phone woke him, Brenden planted his hand on the mattress to push up, but the hairy, also drooly mattress moved under him. Oops.
“Sorry, Moose.” He grabbed up the phone even as he leaped out of bed to let Moose the Newfoundland out into his tiny backyard. “Hello?”
“Brenden! It’s Lydia. From Hopscotch Childcare?”
“Yes, Lydia. Hi. How are you?” He liked Lyds a lot, though he would never call her Lyds to her face.
“Good. Good. Look, I have a prospective job for you.”
“O-oh.” He hated how obvious the double-syllableohwas, but she’d caught him flat-footed. “I’m on sabbatical, ma’am.” His last family had been exhausting, so he wanted a few months off.
“Oh, I know. I know. This is right up your alley, though. Three kids: eight, eleven, and sixteen. They were doing the latchkey thing, but their single dad says they’ve started acting out. He’s spending more time at work for a bit. The job is probably not long-term….”
“You’re trying to tempt me, but that sounds pretty intense.” Not that Brenden wasn’t interested. He loved kids, and he was a sucker for the parents who really needed help, not just another barrier between them and their kids.
“I am. The position needs filling, and my only other option is a twenty-one-year-old with a brand-new early education degree.”
“Oh man. You think it’s really short-term? And is it live-in? I just got my condo back from the renter.”
“It is live-in, but the father assures me you can bring your dog, and that as soon as this project he’s working on is done, the job will end.”
“When would I interview?” He needed to shower and shave, to make sure he had clean clothes.
“Tonight at six.”
“No wonder you called so early! Okay. I’ll go talk to the dad, at least.” Thank goodness she’d given him time to get his stuff together. His folders were all stuffed in the storage closet out in the breezeway, where the renter had no access.
“You’re a lifesaver, Brenden.” Lydia sounded genuinely grateful.
“I am.” He chuckled. “Email me all the specs?”
“Absolutely. There’s a salary offer, the home address, and all the other pertinent information in your inbox already.”
“Thanks. I’ll holler and let you know if I’m up for it tomorrow.”
“Good luck!” She sounded completely unworried and horrifyingly cheerful.
“Bye.” He hung up, shaking his head. He was such a sap, thinking of pushing back his sabbatical, no matter how part-time this gig might be.
Moose nudged his hand, so he bent to rub those silky black ears. “We got an interview, buddy.” He always took Moose to interviews. Not every family could take on a Newfoundland who weighed almost as much as Brenden, but he refused to leave his buddy at a kennel or something. He didn’t have any family to look after Moose when he was on a job.
Wagging, Moose pushed him toward the big empty food bowl sitting on the kitchen floor.
“Right. Food. Then panic.” Brenden laughed, glancing around at his spotless—because it had just been deep-cleaned—condo. “Then the interview. We both know I won’t leave those folks in the lurch. I am so definitely a sap.”
“GODDAMMIT!Susanna! Get down here! Brittany, put those scissors down! Peter! I swear to God, if you set that homework on fire, I will lock you in the closet!”
Somehow, somewhere Liam had lost control of… well, everything.
Not just one thing.
Every fucking thing in the world.
He needed to order pizza or something. Soon. Pizza and a six-pack of beer and an entire case of downers for his children. That way he could eat in peace and maybe get through this interview with the nanny. Man nanny. Manny. Whatever.
Peter did drop the lighter, at least, but Brittany continued to brandish the scissors. “I need a haircut, Daddy!”
