Page 80 of Nanny for the Athletes

“You didn’t, but I’m telling you. It smellsgreat. I think you might actually know what you’re doing.”

“Logan’s never cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu for you?” I asked.

Braden frowned. “Chicken what now? Logan, I didn’t know you spoke French.”

“I don’t.”

“He’s never cooked for me,” Braden told me. “I’m kind of offended.”

“I only cooked for myself and Emily,” Logan said curtly. “She took care of me growing up, so I tried to take care of her by cooking. We didn’t trust anyone else.”

“Let me get this straight. We’re the first people you’ve ever cooked for, other than your sister?”

Logan’s back was to us while he washed his hands at the sink. He paused for a moment, the faucet running loudly.

“I’ve cooked for one other person,” he said softly.

I started to ask who, but it immediately became obvious to me.Their ex.Suddenly I felt honored that he was cooking for me.

Does he really like me that much?

We heard a pattering of footsteps on the staircase, and then a pajama-clad Claire appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Logan, I want you to read me a bedtime story.”

“I already read you one!” Braden said.

“Yes,” Claire said. “But now I wantLoganto do it.”

Braden rolled his eyes. “Wow. I was just foreplay for the main event, huh?”

Claire tilted her head back to look up at Braden. “What’s foreplay?”

“Yeah, Uncle Braden,” Logan said. “What’s foreplay?”

Braden gave me a panicked look, then said, “It’s… uh… it’s when you play with four different people. First you played with Auntie Em, then you played with me, now Logan…” He trailed off as he realized his explanation was falling apart.

“I also played with the dogs,” Claire said. “That’s four.”

“Right! Exactly. Four-play.” Braden sighed with relief and leaned in to whisper to me: “I stuck the landing.”

“Barely.”

Logan dried his hands and glanced at his watch. “All right, I can read you a bedtime story. Beth, can you prep the salad? It’s in a bag in the fridge. There’s a serving bowl in the cabinet next to the stove.”

While I prepared the salad, Braden went outside to make a phone call. The salad only took a minute to prepare, so I wasn’t sure what to do with myself next. Wondering if Logan wanted help with Claire, I decided to go upstairs. The steps creaked loudly, even when I walked as slowly as possible. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, and Logan and his daughter were in the first room on the right.

The room was full of all the things he had bought for Claire: a Disney Princess bed with matching bedsheets and pillows; a bookcase filled with at least a hundred books; backpacks, and a painting station, and a little desk covered with colored pencils and construction paper. Logan was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from me while reading from a book.

I paused in the doorway and watched him for several minutes. He was so good with Claire, even though he didn’t know he had a daughter until two weeks ago. His normally-abrasive voice was gentle, and he stroked her hair tenderly with one hand while reading the book held in the other.

This is true masculinity, I thought while watching.It’s not about being strong, and getting into fights, and proving your manliness. It’s being able to show a softer side for the people you care about.

Claire’s eyes were sagging heavily; she would be asleep soon. Logan kissed her forehead and closed the book, then stared down at her for a while.

Before I could be seen eavesdropping on the precious moment, I went back downstairs, making sure to put my weight on the very outside of each step so that it didn’t creak.

“That was my agent,” Braden said to me when I returned to the kitchen. “PepsiCo is offering me a sponsorship to do a bunch of commercials for Lays. You know, the potato chips.”

“Oh cool!”

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