Untouchable (Untouchables, 1)

“Sure, I could probably do that,” I tell her.

“Wonderful. I’m so happy to hear that. I was afraid you might hold a grudge for the way Kevin behaved when you were here before.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I merely offer a half-hearted, “Oh, no.”

“He’s a bit of a grump sometimes and he doesn’t always approve of Carter’s promiscuous ways, but I think my husband will be much nicer to you now that he realizes you’re not one of those girls. That Carter trusts you to watch Chloe speaks volumes. Carter doesn’t trust anybody, but he clearly trusts you. I’m so sorry your first impression of us was what it was. I hope you’ll give us a chance to make a better one.”

I don’t have the heart to tell her that Carter and I broke up, so my impression of them no longer matters. Instead I finish the conversation as politely as possible, go over the details of the babysitting job, and tell her my lunch is nearly over so I have to go, but I’ll see her then.

Chloe is already eating dinner when I arrive at the palatial residence Carter calls home. Angela gives me a tour of the house, showing me Chloe’s bedroom and going over her routine. She assures me I don’t need to give Chloe a bath tonight, just help her change into her pajamas and read her a story before she goes to sleep. She shows me to the media room, in case we want to watch a movie. Apparently Chloe is on a Sing kick right now. If we want to play video games, she redirects me to the living room. I get acquainted with the board game closet and Chloe’s designated playroom.

As we head back into the kitchen, Angela tells me, “We pretty much let her eat whatever she wants for snacks. We have plenty of stuff in the refrigerator and cupboards. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could bake some cookies or cupcakes.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Chloe says, bouncing in her seat. “I wanna make cookies!”

Angela smiles at her, then looks back at me. “She has crackers and fruit snacks and all sorts of things in the cupboard. She likes to snack on pretzel sticks. Whatever she wants, she’ll tell you. She’s far from shy about expressing her desires.”

I crack a smile, thinking she must get that from Carter. Since I obviously can’t say that to his mother, I nod my head and say, “Yeah, I’ve noticed that.”

Clasping her hands together, she looks around and says, “I guess that’s it. You girls have fun. Can we get a good luck cheer from Carter’s favorite cheerleader?”

Chloe throws her hands in the air and calls out, “Go Longhorns!”

Angela smiles. “There we go. I’ll pass it along. I’m sure they’ll win now.”

Chloe nods, looking at me seriously. “My brother’s really good at football. He wins a lot.”

I offer a smile back. “I know he is. I went to one of his games.”

“There’s too many of them,” she informs me.

“That’s a true story. There are an awful lot of them. You can take a break tonight and hang out with me.”

Nodding her head, Chloe grabs her juice box and takes a drink. “We can make Carter cookies for when he gets home. And I’ll eat some of them, too.”

“Naturally. Gotta give ‘em a taste test and make sure they’re delicious.”

“Exactly. See, she knows,” Chloe says.

Angela walks over to the counter and grabs her purse. “I do believe you ladies will fare just fine.” To me, she adds, “Thanks so much for watching her.”

“No problem,” I assure her, heading over to the table to keep Chloe company while she finishes eating.

After a long night of playing and baking cookies, it’s time to read Chloe a story and put her to bed. She informs me no one but her family has ever put her to bed before and I’m doing it “weird,” and I don’t know what that means.

Sitting on the edge of her bed with the finished storybook in my lap, I inquire, “How am I supposed to do it? I’m new to this. I don’t know the drill.”

“Don’t you have a little brother or sister?”

I nod my head. “I do. I have a younger brother, but I don’t put him to bed. I did a couple times when my mom was sick, but usually older siblings don’t do that. Not in my house, anyway. Maybe you do things differently at your house.”

Chloe nods. “Carter puts me to bed a lot. Our mom gets sleepy sometimes and she stays in bed a long time.”

Absently reaching out and smoothing a long, dark strand of hair out of her face, I murmur, “That must be kind of tough, huh?”

“Yeah. I don’t like when she’s sad. I like when Carter puts me to bed though, he does funny voices when he reads stories.”