Page 15 of Maple Mountain
Lenni moved a chair out from the table and sat down.She placed her folded hands onto the tabletop and waited.I retook my seat and tried to appear casual.Lenni and I waited for Archer to speak, but he was steadfastly silent.
“You know Poet’s Grampy?”I asked, taking pity on Archer.
Lenni nodded.
“Well, he’s been renting a house downtown.A couple of blocks from Poet.He offered it to us,” I explained.
“Us?”Lenni repeated.
“Yeah, so, Wyn’s going to move in with us,” Archer announced.
“Wyn’s moving in with us?”she asked in confusion.“Why?”
“You expecthimto fishtail your hair?”I teased.“Archer asked me to be your nanny, and I said yes.”
A hint of a smile crept across Lenni’s mouth.“Does that mean Mildred is coming too?”
“Yep,” I said.
Hope filled her eyes.“Can she sleep in my bed?”
“If you can lure her, absolutely.Put treats underneath your pillow, and you’ve got a chance.”
ChapterFour
The Ice CreamParlor
Hawthorne’s was an ice cream soda shop time-capsuled from the 1950s.Clean white walls with black and white photos of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry to name a few.The female counter attendants wore blue carhop dresses with white piping.The only thing missing from the get up was roller skates.
Hadley, Salem, Poet and I sat in a blue vinyl booth and were sharing two ice cream sundaes.Lenni was sitting with Archer, Muddy and Grampy in a booth across the room, laughing at something Muddy said.Archer kept sneaking glances at his daughter, like he still couldn’t believe he had offspring.
“He’s a bomb waiting to go off,” I said, chin nodding toward Archer.
Hadley subtly turned her head, pretending she was stretching to look.Salem wasn’t as discreet.
“Yeah, he looks completely terrified,” Salem said.
“You can hardly blame the guy,” Poet said.“He just found out he has a daughter and oh, by the way she’s already eleven.And now he has to raise her,alone.”
“He’s not alone.He has Wyn,” Hadley said, licking her spoon clean of hot fudge.
“For a few months, anyway,” I agreed.
“A few months?”Poet frowned.“Why only a few months?”
“Well, it’s not like they’re going to need a nanny forever,” I said.“She’s eleven.Not five.I was staying home alone at twelve.After school, I mean.”
“Oh.Oh, right.”Poet’s nod was slow.
“I like her,” Salem said.“Lenni.”
“Me too,” Hadley added.
Lenni looked up from her sundae and caught my gaze.She gave a little wave.I waved back.
“She really likes Wyn,” Poet stated.
“What’s not to like,” Hadley asked.
