Right. I find my purse and then my set of keys. We walk out of my office while I am in the process of removing my house key from the ring. As we come around to the storefront, we see a young woman rushing over to a toddler as he was about to follow a woman out of the store. She carries the little boy over to an elderly lady who just started to turn this way and that, as if in search of him.
“He was trying to escape,” the young woman tells her.
“Oh, thank you.” She takes the boy and holds him close, checking him over as if he could’ve been injured on his short walk on his apparent escape.
“Who wants to see me?” I ask Stina, the employee who knocked on my door. Brayden is apparently sticking around for a moment longer because he takes my key, but also sticks a hand in my back pocket as he stands next to me.
She points to the young woman who rescued the little boy, and who is now walking over to me. She looks a little disheveled, frazzled, as if her day has not gone as planned and it’s showing through her appearance. She holds out her hand, which I shake. “Hello, my name is Raelynn Woods. I’m sorry if I bothered you while you were busy,” her gaze keeps flicking to Brayden, “but I wanted to make sure I talked to the person in charge.” The woman reaches into her purse and hands over a résumé. “I don’t know if you have any positions open, but I’m in desperate need of a job, so if one opens up, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep me in mind.”
“I will,” I promise. “I don’t have anything right now.”
Her shoulders droop as she nods.
“Are you open to any kind of job?” Brayden asks her, causing us both to look at him with surprised eyes. What is he doing?
“Yes,” Raelynn quickly answers.
“What about as a nanny?”
“I can do that,” she rushes to say. “I have references, experience, and I’m CPR-certified.”
“Stay here for a second.”
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“EJ,” is all he says as he steps away with his phone in hand. Raelynn and I watch him, though we can’t hear as he makes sure to talk quietly enough that we can’t. When he returns, he says, “Here’s the deal. I have a friend who is a single parent and he needs a nanny to help with his little girl, Bree. She’s almost nine months old. He can explain everything to you during the interview, which he’d like to do as soon as you can make it to his house because he’s in between interviews right now. Deanna, where’s a pen and paper?” I walk around the counter to find him what he needs while he continues, “Can you go now?”
“To this man’s house?” she asks and I hear the hesitation in her voice.
“He’s a good guy,” I tell her. “I can go with you if you’re uncomfortable going alone; that’s totally understandable.”
Meanwhile, Brayden writes down EJ’s phone number and address. Raelynn gives another wary glance to him, mostly his injured face.
“Can you read that?” He holds out the piece of paper with his handwriting and she nods. “Are you going? He doesn’t have all day.” I reach across the counter and slap his arm. “What?” he asks.
“Don’t pressure her. She doesn’t know us and you’re trying to send her to a man’s house and she doesn’t know him either. And you got beat up at work, so you look a little sketchy.”
He frowns. “I’m not pressuring her.” He glances at her. “I look sketchy?”
“Intimidating,” she corrects him.
He smiles at me when she says that. “That’s a better answer.” He looks at Raelynn again. “We’re all good people, but Deanna can go with you if you want. Here.” He pulls his phone back out and after a moment, he turns it toward her. “That’s his daughter. How dangerous does she look?”
“EJ is pretty cute too,” I add, which earns me a glare from Brayden.
“Watch your mouth, darlin’.”
I grin. “He’s smokin’ hot, Raelynn, and he’s sweet with his daughter. Anyway, would you like me to ride out there with you?”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“His mom is probably there too,” Brayden tells he
r in another effort to reassure her.
Once I make sure the shop will be covered, we all walk outside. Brayden kisses me on the forehead with a grin, muttering something about payback, and reminding me to come straight to his house once I get off work. Then, I enter the address he wrote down into my phone’s GPS because I’ve never been to EJ’s house. I’m parked in the back of the lot and it turns out, Raelynn isn’t parked too far away from me.