Page 9 of Sew Matcha in Love
She tipped her chin up. “About that—I’ll require a pair of your best-fitting dress pants for that task.”
I wondered how she’d planned to handle that. I wasn’t about to let Isla takethatmeasurement.
“So,” she continued, smoothing out invisible wrinkles in her dress, “about the nanny job … Can we talk somewhere private?”
“Yeah.” She hadn’t said no. I tried not to look too eager as I moved to lean against the fireplace mantel. I addressed the girls. “I think it’s almost time to decorate those cookies. Get started, and I’ll join you after Wynnie and I talk, okay?”
They hurried off, and I directed Arwyn to the small room off the living area. It had been their playroom until I’d had a contractor combine their bedrooms into one big everything room upstairs. I’d bought a desk and love seat to make it look like an office, but I didn’t really need one. There was plenty of space for my laptop and anything else business-related in my bedroom.
I gestured for Arwyn to sit on the love seat and pulled out the rolling office chair for myself. I sank into it and leaned my forearms on my thighs. “What’re you thinking?”
“I’m thinking it’s a lot to ask,” she said bluntly. “Your daughters are lovely and smart, and I know we’d get along wonderfully, but you want me to move uphere,in the middle of winter, away from town and my business for an unspecified span of time, and … It’s not exactly… practical. And you have two dogs!”
I nodded, expecting this. Tasha had warned me she’d be a tough sell. “I get it. It’s a big ask. But I really think this could work for both of us. The dogs are puppy-pad trained—they won’t go outside if it’s too cold or snowing. You’d still have time to sew while the girls are at school, and I’d make sure that you’re compensated fairly.”
Her arms crossed, and she tilted her head. “Define ‘fairly.’”
“How about a five thousand dollar advance?” I offered.
That got her attention. Her brows shot up, and for the first time, she actually looked surprised. “Five thousand dollars?”
“Yep. To help with your house repairs,” I said, keeping my tone casual, “and for extras. The girls have ballet on Saturday mornings in Denver. They missed their dance friends last fall.”
Her lips parted, and for a second, I saw something in her expression that wasn’t guarded or skeptical. Vulnerability, maybe. Gratitude. And then her expression shifted. I detected anger and pride.
“Tasha told you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Don’t blame her,” I said quickly. “I just… She explained how much that house means to you. And I know what it’s like to need help but not want to ask for it. So let me help. We can help each other.”
She tucked an auburn tendril behind her ear as she hesitated. “You promise no pranks?”
I saluted her. “Scout’s honor.”
That one eyebrow raised again. “I doubt you were ever a scout,” she observed dryly. “They don’t salute. They do that three-finger thing.”
“Fair point,” I said, raising a hand like I was swearing an oath. “But I promise. No pranks on Arwyn.” She had reason to be concerned. I’d been the recipient of multiple pranks during my first season playing in Quebec, but I’d turned that around the following year, and since then, I’d been the one pulling the best pranks on my teammates—and our mascot. But last summer, when the girls moved to Canada, I hadn’t had it in me. But now that they were back … Monty had a lot of payback coming to him, and my idea factory was back in business. I’d ease myself back in, starting small, then get him good when he least expected it.
She exhaled slowly, then looked up at me, her green eyes steady. “Okay. But I have another condition, besides the no pranks, and it’s a big one.”
“Name it.”
“It’s probably a deal-breaker.”
“Then it’s important. Go ahead.”
“It took me over an hour to drive here. Driving up and down that mountain road every day, in the winter, four times a day, is a no-go,” she said. “If I’m doing this, the girls are staying at my house. It’s walking distance to Palmer City Academy, which has an extended winter break—you could register them tomorrow, and they could start with the other mid-year transfers on Monday. I have the space. You can stay in my father’s old room when you’re in town if you don’t have the time to trek them up here in between games, if you like.”
That was not what I’d expected. But it made sense. And the idea of my girls staying in a cozy Victorian house, in a small town with plenty of people that I knew nearby to support them, should they need it, complete with a resident seamstress-slash-nanny, wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
“And,” she continued before I could reply, “I need to know about their mother—where she is, how she is, her level of involvement, how often to call her, et cetera. Otherwise, no deal.”
“Okay,” I said. “Deal.” I lowered my head to gather my thoughts.Just the facts, Zak. Stick to what she needs to know, not the rest of the stuff. When I looked back up, Arwyn was staring at me intently. “Viki is in rehab—physical therapy. Earlier this week, she underwent the first of several surgeries. She’s had chronic pain from a dance injury for a long time. During childbirth, her pelvic bone fractured. And a year ago, she tore her labrum. That’s the muscle on the hip?—”
“I know. Former ballerina here.” She smiled sadly, her big green eyes wrought with concern. “Goodness, the poor woman.”
“Yeah. And she hid it well for a long time. She became a pro at managing her pain. She didn’t abuse painkillers or anything like that, but her quality of life has suffered. We have the resources to get her the best help in the world, but she refused to go to therapy or have surgery. When she and the girls moved back in with her parents last summer, they saw the extent of it, and her mom and dad and I confronted her at Thanksgiving.” I grimaced, remembering the look of betrayal on her face. She’d thought it was all my idea as an attempt to get full custody of the girls. “If they were in Montreal, Viki would continue to put them first and not get the surgeries or focus on getting better. So, Isla and Amelie are here with me until the end of the season, or when Viki is fully recovered, whichever comes first.”
“Wow.” Arwyn swallowed visibly. “Okay. Thanks for filling me in. Can they talk to her if she calls?”
