Page 27 of Denial
“You haven’t asked me,” I mutter, looking over her head and running my fingers over my hair, stalling for time.
“Asked you what?”
I hollow my cheeks as I look down. “How much I’m paying you.”
Her audible exhale marks her surprise. “Oh. I, um, I knew we’d eventually get around to discussing it?—”
“Twenty-five.”
“I’m sorry?”
“An hour. Five dollars an hour differential after ten p.m.”
“Sutton, that’s way more than I need.”
“Overnight, I’ll tack on an additional one-hundred-and-fifty-dollar flat fee.”
“That’s not necessary. She’d be sleeping. We both would be,” she stammers.
My ego inflates just a little at finally gaining the upper hand.
“I’ll pay you on Friday for your first week, then bi-monthly after that.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. The baggy sleeves have been pushed up to her elbows somewhere between me leaving to shower and now. “Don’t you need to get to work?”
I do. I fucking do.
“You call me if she gets so much as a hangnail.”
“We’re going to be fine. You know that, or else you wouldn’t be halfway out that door.”
I blow out a forceful breath. “Take care of my little girl.”
“You can count on it.”
I don’t know how I do it. But somehow, I walk out that fucking door, leaving my heart in the hands of someone I’m not entirely convinced is capable of protecting it.
7
Alice
“Miss Alice, watch this!”
“I’m watching,” I call back, giving Nellie my undivided attention.
Her big smile showcases the tooth missing beside her front top teeth. Once she confirms she has my attention, her eyebrows furrow and her lips tighten into a thin line as she spins herself across the lacquered gym floor in pink ballet shoes. The high ponytail we put in that morning swishes against the back of her neck, and the mesh skirt covering her athletic shorts twirls neatly around her waist.
“Ta-da!” She throws her arms up and poses on the other side of the gym.
I stand and clap as if she just completed her final bow on Broadway. Not that I have a clue what level of skill her trick required. I never took a dance class. Not until Archie got me into line dancing. Tapping my heels and toes have nothing on her practiced moves.
“You’re a star!”
She curtsies at me before doing a shuffle walk back over to her teacher. The woman leading the class gives her a stern admonishment. Nellie tucks her hands behind her back as her cheeks lose the battle with a grin.
Nellie is strong-willed and highly intelligent. A lethal combination once she hits her teen years. I wonder if Sutton knows what kind of trouble he has on his hands.
The thought makes me smile.
