Page 10 of Nanny for the Damaged Ex-SEAL

I nod. "Everything looks good. I need someone I can trust with my son. Someone who'll take as good of care of him when I'm not around as I would if I were. You understand that?"

She bobs her head. "I understand, Mr. Brunt. And I promise to do my job with diligence."

"I’d like to do a three-week trial run to see how well we work together. Then we can take it from there."

"Thank you, Mr. Brunt."

"You can start tomorrow, right?"

"I can start today. I can come this evening so I can take him to school tomorrow."

"Perfect. Great."

“Nooo, I don’t want to wear those shoes. No, no, no!" I hear Ethan scream from his room.

I sigh and make my way across the hall. He's been like this since Marie got here yesterday. He made a fuss when she tried to bathe him, saying he didn't want her to see his twinky. Then he fussed about which pajamas to put on. Now it's a shoe causing this ruckus.

"What's the matter?" I ask with my hand on the doorpost.

Marie turns. "He doesn't want to wear the shoes you laid out last night."

"What's the problem with the shoes, Ethan?"

He raises his head from where I imagine he'd been kicking up his feet. "Nothing. I just don't want them."

"You asked to wear those ones yesterday, so what's changed?" I ask him in a tired voice.

"I want Dani!" he shouts, instead of answering the question.

"You know Dani can’t be with us anymore. Marie is here to take care of you now."

He starts to cry.

I continue, "If you don't allow her to help you, you'll show up late to school and people will laugh at you for coming late.”

He stops crying and rubs his eyes.

"Are you ready to put on your shoes now?"

He nods, but when Marie picks up one of the shoes, he starts to cry again. “I don't want her, Daddy."

I know he just needs time to get adjusted to her. I can't just send her away, it's only been one night. I walk in and take the shoe from her.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Brunt," she says gently.

"It's okay. He’ll warm up to you soon."

But Ethan doesn't warm up to her. It's been a week now, and he still cries like hell whenever she has to bathe him, dress him, comb his hair or take him to school. I'm stressed. I can't quit my job, because if I do then I'll go stir crazy and be left to my thoughts while Ethan is in school. But this is worse than doing it all on my own was. I can't handle it.

I call Amy up to discuss it with her. She insists he'll get used to her soon. So, I let her stay.

Ethan bounces in his booster seat as I get in the driver's seat. He stares out of the window as I drive down to Amy's. It's Friday evening and we've been invited over for dinner.

"Why're you so excited?" I ask, looking at him through the mirror.

"Because I get to see Aria."

I swallow and look back at the road. "What makes you so sure you’ll see her?"

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