Chapter 4

"Okay, do you have everything you might need?" Kinsley looks around my very tiny apartment. I don't own much, and the place is quite small, but it's been a reliable home for me since I got here. A couple boxes are packed and stacked by the door and I have all my clothes packed in two suitcases and my shoes in a large duffle bag.

"Yeah. I think so. This is enough to get me started anyway. If I need to come back here on an evening or day off to grab something, I can do that."

"It's very nice of Zeke to continue paying your rent so you have a place to hang out if you need it."

I nod. "He paid it out through the end of the contract. He told me he would've felt terrible if I had left here and moved in with him and Elsie and then hated it but had nowhere to go back to. Though he also promised me if I end up not liking the job and I want to leave, he's happy to rent me out a new place up town. In a safer area, I think is how he put it."

"I am not the least bit surprised by this," Kinsley tells me. "That man is a class act. Super nice guy." She looks around the apartment and gestures out the window. "And he's not wrong. I would not want to be a single woman living here at night."

I shrug and open the door, hoisting my duffle bag over my shoulder and grabbing one of my suitcases. "Meh. That's why my door has five different locks on it and I set booby traps at night, so I'm relatively safe."

A curious grin spreads across Kinsley's face and she spits out a laugh. "Booby traps?"

"Yeah. You know…a chair against the door. That kind of thing. But I put empty bottles on the chair so if the chair falls, the glass breaks. With any luck, I'll hear that and maybe have a minute to jump out my window or hide or call 9-1-1."

She shakes her head in disbelief. "Good Lord, Ada. I'm really glad Zeke hired you. At least I know I'll never need to worry about your wellbeing ever again."

"I'm glad you feel better." I snicker. "So, you're certain I'm not moving in with an axe murderer?"

"Positive. In fact, I'd be surprised if he even owned an axe. Now let's get your stuff into the car."

Kinsley spends the next five minutes helping me load my car and then gives me a big hug. "I really am so happy for you. I think you're going to love this job. At least, I really hope you do."

I shake out my excited nerves and give my friend a smile. "I'm cautiously excited. Just have to get through the awkwardness of tonight, you know?"

"Elsie is a darling. She's going to looooove you. Honestly, I think once you settle into a routine you guys will be just fine."

"What do you think I should do once Elsie goes to bed? Is he going to expect that we'll just…I don't know…sit on the couch and watch television or what?"

"Is making out, out of the question? Because I'm just sayin' if Zeke Miller wanted to make out…"

I laugh. "Kinsley! Let's not start that now. I haven't even been with the man a whole hour yet."

"Okay, okay, you're right." Kinsley shrugs. "I don't really know what Zeke does when Elsie goes to bed so you'll have to sort of take his lead and just go with the flow. Maybe he'll just want to talk and get to know you a little. But definitely text me later tonight and tell me everything. And you know I'm here any time for whatever you need."

"Thanks, Kinsley."

"Sure thing. Do you want me to follow you to Zeke's and help get your stuff in?"

I shake my head. "Nah. I should probably do this part on my own. Show him I'm capable and all that."

"Right." She smiles and waits while I lock my apartment door. "Well, be safe and text me later?"

I cross my heart with my finger. "I promise."

___

I pull up to the address Zeke gave me trying to keep my jaw from falling completely off my face when I take in my surroundings.

"Holy shit. He lives here?"

I didn't realize his address was this close to the country club but here I am pulling into the gated community like I live here.

"Holy shit…I live here?"

The light brick house sprawled out in front of me when I turn into the drive looks like a castle. There are two turrets along the front of the house boasting long windows that clearly let in an abundance of natural light.

I bet it's gorgeous inside.

There are four different garages attached to the right wing of the house, the left wing extended by decorative fencing. There's no doubt the house looks inviting, but wow.

Just wow.

From my apartment to this?

What is this life?

I swallow back my nerves, throw my purse across my body, and make my way to the front door. I don't even have to knock because the Ring Doorbell has already alerted Zeke to my presence. He opens the door before I step up to the landing and greets me with a killer smile.

"Ada." His smile is contagious.

"Hello!"

"You made it."

"I did." My brows shoot up as I take a deep breath. "It's beautiful out here. I've never been this far out of the city."

His smile falters. "Oh, I'm sorry. I hope you didn't have trouble finding us."

"Oh no." I shake my head. "No trouble at all. Your directions were perfect."

"Great." He nods. "Good. Well, come in, please." He moves out of the way and gestures for me to come inside. When I step past him into the foyer I get a whiff of his scent. A mild cologne or aftershave. Whatever it is, it's pleasant and I notice.

Not that I should be noticing how good my new boss smells.

I hear the pitter patter of little bare feet running down the hallway.

"Please stop running, Elsie Jane," Zeke calls out to her as she gets closer, her light brown hair bouncing behind her. She slows and comes to a stop right as she gets to her dad. Her little arm wraps around his leg and her chocolate brown eyes peer up at me.

"Hi," she says with a shy smile.

I return her smile and crouch down so I'm at her level. "Hi Elsie. I'm Ada. We met yesterday."

Zeke bends down, his hand on Elsie's back. "El, remember when I said Ada was going to be living here with us so she can help take care of you when Daddy's playing hockey?"

Her eyes light up a little more and she turns to me, hopeful. "Do you like to play mermaids?"

My eyes grow wide to match hers. "Oh, my goodness did you know playing mermaids is one of my very favorite things in the whole wide world?"

She jumps up and down. "It is?"

"Mmhmm." I nod happily.

She grabs my hand without fear and squeals, "Come on, Ada! Let's go play mermaids!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up, Els." Zeke stops her. "We should probably show Ada around the house first and let her know about our schedules before you play mermaids."

Her shoulders fall. "Is that grown-up stuff, Daddy?"

Zeke huffs a soft laugh. "Yeah it's grown-up stuff. But I promise I won't take long, okay? Why don't you finish your show while Ada and I finish talking and then you can play mermaids before bed."

I raise my hand up to get a high-five from her which she gives me excitedly. "Can't wait!"

"Yay! Yay! Yay!" Elsie exclaims as she skips back to wherever she came from. Zeke and I watch her, both of us smiling.

"Well, I'm going to go ahead and say that went perfectly fine." Zeke laughs. "Do you have stuff you want to bring in? I could help you."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I mean yes, I do. Just a few bags and a couple boxes but I can grab them after Elsie's in bed. No hurry."

Zeke nods. "Alright. Can I show you around then?"

"Please."

We spend the next several minutes going through the downstairs portion of Zeke's palatial home. I've seen the kitchen, the dining room, an office of sorts, the library, Elsie's playroom, the gym, two bathrooms, two living rooms, an enclosed sunporch, several garage spaces, and what I'll label Zeke's pride room as it's filled with all of his hockey awards, mounted team jerseys, and other memorabilia.

"Bedrooms are upstairs." Zeke gestures and starts up the oversized staircase. "All of our rooms are on the same floor. Elsie's room is this one here in the corner," he says, opening her bedroom door and revealing a beautiful space decorated in soft shades of blue, pink, and white. Her white toddler bed sits along one wall, the others holding a dresser, a bookshelf, and numerous pictures of her and Zeke or her and the guys I recognize from the team.

"Is she close with the guys on the team?"

"Oh yeah," Zeke says, smiling. "They're all fun uncles to Elsie. To be honest I don't know where I would be without them."

"That's so sweet."

There's a closet door on another smaller wall and in the corner of the room near the oversized windows stands a white teepee on a pink shaggy rug covered in white sparkly lights.

"Oh my gosh, Zeke, this is so beautiful."

"Thanks," he says behind me when I walk in to look around.

"Did you do all this yourself?"

"I had some help from Rory, Dex's sister, when Elsie's mom left. I wanted to give her something new to be happy about. Not that she has any memory of her mom really. She was only about a year old at the time."

I want so badly to ask him about his ex-wife and what happened between them. Part of me wants to justify knowing since I'm working here so closely with his child, but then again, I don't always love having to rehash my memories of Luke for mere strangers so I get it. Maybe he'll tell me when he's more comfortable.

"Well, it's spectacular." I take a quick peek into the teepee and note the pile of throw pillows and blankets inside.

"She loves to sit in there and read," Zeke tells me. "Ooor you know, just lay in there and talk to herself or whatever imaginary friend she might have in there with her at any given moment."

"So cute." I smile.

He points out the bathroom that Elsie uses next to her room and explains that she's usually pretty good at using the bathroom. Understandably, he had left this task up to his mother since Elsie was with them most of the time…until now.

"I'm so sorry she's not uh…" He scratches his head. "Well, sometimes she still…"

I nod knowingly. "She has accidents."

"Yeah."

"Totally get it," I assure him. "And I would be surprised if she didn't. It's no big deal and I'm happy to help out."

He stops for a moment and gives me a look. His maple-colored eyes staring at me with…what is that? Relief? I wish I knew what he was thinking and just as I'm about to ask he says, "I might forget to say this a lot, or I might say it way too much for your liking as we go forward, but I am so grateful you came in for an interview." He smiles, shaking his head and sliding his hand through his tussled ginger hair. "I was losing any hope of finding someone…uh…normal. A nice person, I mean. You know? Ugh. Good nannies are harder to find than I thought."

"Were you expecting Mary Poppins?"

"Perfect in every way?" He smirks.

"Yeah."

"Maybe not perfect and certainly not with a never-ending bag of furniture like she had, but you know…the spoonful of sugar and all would be nice." I catch his eyes as they trail down my body and back up. "You certainly come across as a spoonful of sugar and a big ray of sunshine so that is a relief."

I laugh. "Well, I'm usually a pretty sun-shiny kind of person. I like to see the glass half full and all that, so I think I can guarantee a spoonful of sugar. But I should probably tell you now, I can't fly or jump inside sidewalk paintings."

"No chimney sweep friends either?" he muses as we leave the room.

"Nope. Don't even know one."

He turns back around, stopping in front of the next door. "Really though, thank you, Ada. I'm really glad you're here."

"It's my pleasure. I get that it's hard to find someone you can trust with your kid so for what it's worth thank you for hiring me."

"That room there is mine," he says, pointing to a room next to the laundry room with a closed door. "And this one here is yours." He opens the last door, holding it open as I walk inside. "I'm sorry it's kind of plain." He stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I've never really done much of anything with this space so please, feel free to make it your own. I want you to be comfortable."

The room may be stark white from ceiling to wall, but the room itself is gorgeous. My entire apartment could fit in here. Soft gray furniture lines the walls and a tall white and silver lamp stands in the corner near the balcony doors.

Holy hell I have a balcony!

"Wow! Zeke this is…" I walk over to the balcony and open the door, admiring the view of the lake. "It's breathtaking." I glance over to the balcony next to mine and notice one of Zeke's shirts hanging from a chair.

Our rooms are pretty close.

"That's your balcony, I presume?"

"Mhmm. I like to sit out here sometimes and just…breathe," he says. "The view takes the stress of the day away, you know?"

"Yeah. I'll have to remember that."

We take some time downstairs to go over Elsie's daily routine and how things have been in the past when Zeke has games or late-night commitments. After he's shown me where everything is written down, Elsie interrupts once again to pull me away for some mermaid time. This time I don't say no.

"Can we talk more after bedtime?"

"Yeah, of course," Zeke says, watching me being pulled away by an excited four-year-old. "Have fun."

I turn back to Elsie and squeal with her. "It's mermaid time!"

___

I lay my phone down on my nightstand and pull the covers up around me. I don't know what kind of heaven he got it from but this mattress is to die for. Firm but so soft I melt into it. Closing my eyes, I inhale a deep breath and play back my day, smiling at the memory of playing mermaids with Elsie, listening to her giggle at the dinner table, and reading with her before bed. Talking to Zeke tonight was nice too. He's amazingly easy to chat with and if I'm being honest, it's a refreshing change to have someone—anyone—to talk to in person rather than just me, myself, and I all the time.

And yeah, Kinsley is right. He's not bad to look at. Not at all.