Page 7 of One More Baby for the Boss

“That’s good,” Alex said. “But I think you scared your dad. You should stay with him next time. I bet he would have brought you out to say hi if you had asked him to.”

“We came for more pancakes, but they said you don’t work there anymore,” Jack said, clearly not ready to let the matter drop. “Why not?”

“You don’t need to answer that,” Elijah hastened to assure her.

“Yes she does,” Jack objected. “I want to know. She’s the best waitress we ever had!”

Alex pressed a hand to her mouth for a moment, and it looked to Elijah as though she was genuinely emotional. “Thank you, Jack,” she said. “That honestly means a lot to me to hear. I’ve had kind of a hard day. A lot of people don’t seem to think I was a very good waitress.”

“They sound silly,” Jack said.

“Well, maybe so,” Alex said. “I guess this world is full of some pretty silly people. But I’m glad you guys had a good time when I was your server. I was happy to meet you both.”

“We should let you go,” Elijah said.

“Go where?” Jack asked. “Where is she going to go?”

“She’s got her own life to live, Jack,” Elijah said. “It’s not for us to ask about.”

“But I want toknow,” Jack insisted.

“It’s all right,” Alex interjected. “I’m like you, Jack. I always want to know everything. It’s frustrating when people don’t want to tell you, isn’t it?”

“Very frustrating,” Jack agreed rather imperiously.

“The truth is that I don’t know where I’ll go,” Alex admitted. “I haven’t been in Hope’s Creek very long, and I don’t think I’ll try to stay here. It’s not my home. I’ll look for work somewhere else.”

“You mean we’ll never see you again?” Jack asked.

“Never say never.” Alex smiled. “The future is full of mysterious things! If you and I are meant to see each other again one day, we will. Until then, we can be happy that we got the chance to know one another at all. I’m glad we met. Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Jack said solemnly.

Elijah was deeply impressed. That was now the second time she had managed to talk his son down from an emotional outburst. It was something he always struggled with himself.

She’s good for Jack,he thought.

The idea took shape in his head so quickly that it was as if it had always been there. “If you’re not committed to leaving town,” he said, “I’m looking to hire a nanny for Jack here.”

“What’s a nanny?” Jack demanded. Elijah ignored him for the moment.

Alex looked dubious. “Nanny? I’ve never done that before.”

“I think you’d be great for it,” he said. “You and Jack have a great rapport already. He likes you.”

“How long are you hoping to hire for?” she asked. “I don’t intend to stay in Hope’s Creek for that long. If you’re looking for someone to, I don’t know, see him into his teenage years or something—”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he assured her. “I’m looking for someone for a few months, for right now. Someone to ease the transition as he starts first grade. We can see how it goes from there. Right now it’s just important to me to get someone into the position quickly, because as you can see, Jack can be a little bit of a handful.”

“I’m not ahandful,” Jack glowered.

“It’s okay, Jack,” Alex assured him. “I’m a handful too. All the most interesting people are.”

The boy brightened considerably. “Is that true?”

“Of course it is. I wouldn’t tell you something that wasn’t true.”

“Do you see what I mean,” Elijah said. “You’re good with him. You seem to know what to say to him, and sometimes I just… don’t. I think it would be a great fit, if you would be willing to give it a try.”

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