When she pulled into her driveway, she noticed the bus coming up the street. Wow, she’d only just made it. She was used to being at home and if she lost track of time, it was no big deal to just jump up and go get the kids. Now she was going to have to really watch the time and plan accordingly. It would be a huge adjustment to have to work around Bennett's schedule but this was the best job offer she'd had in ages. Good money, flexible hours so she could be there for the kids and all she had to do was pick up after a nutty professor.
Easy as cake.
She stood at the end of the sidewalk and watched as a stream of little bodies piled off the bus. Matthew’s blue backpack stood out from the rest so she saw him first. Then Hunter appeared behind him, talking a mile a minute. When they saw her on the sidewalk, they both ran to reach her. Matthew threw himself at her, almost knocking her off her feet. Katie squeezed him just as hard. It was hard to believe her little man was five now. This was Matthew’s first year going to school and kindergarten hadn’t been the easiest adjustment for him after being at home with just her for years. Hunter was seven and in second grade. So far his enthusiasm for school had rubbed off on his younger brother.
“Mom! You forgot my snack today so I had to eat pretzels.” Hunter made a face.
Katie winced. Her son’s teacher kept extra snacks for the kids who forgot to bring their own but the only options she had were pretzels and gluten-free crackers. Neither of which were Hunter’s favorite things.
“Sorry buddy. I think it’s time you start helping me get your backpack prepared every night. You’re old enough now to take care of a few things on your own.”
She ran an affectionate hand over his coarse dark curls, which were mussed and carried speckles of what looked like sand. There was no telling what he’d gotten in his hair on the playground.
“I can do it, Mom. Can I pack my lunch, too?” he asked excitedly as they entered the house.
Katie already knew why he was asking. Hunter was crafty and probably thought he could fill his lunch bag with as many snacks as he wanted if he packed it himself.
“You can assist, how’s that?”
He grinned and threw his stuff on the floor. Katie sighed and pointed to the front closet. With mumbles and grumbles, both boys put their backpacks away along with their coats and shoes. They didn’t hang the coats on the nails she’d hammered into the wall for just that purpose, instead throwing them on top of everything else.
Katie bit her tongue. She didn’t bother asking them to pick them up. At this point she’d learned to pick her battles.
“Who wants a snack?”
After getting them settled with apple slices and peanut butter, Katie retreated to her room to change her clothes. Luckily, the boys were too young to notice details such as when their mom was dressed up out of the blue. She’d been careful to keep them in the dark about their precarious financial state. They deserved to just be kids and not worry about things like bills or whether their parents hated each
other.
Stripped to her underwear, Katie sat on the edge of her bed and closed her eyes. She wasn’t tired exactly but the strain of the past twenty-four hours was finally catching up to her. She wasn’t going to be able to relax until she was sure that Bennett wasn’t going to fire her. Although, he’d seemed pleased with her so far. Despite his awkwardness and blunt style of speaking, she liked him. There was no guessing with Bennett. If he didn’t like something she did, she had no doubt that he’d just blurt it out.
Thinking of his strange way of speaking, she contemplating calling Ri and asking her about him. Although what would she even say?
Your brother-in-law is a little weird.
Gorgeous but weird.
And I kind of think I'm attracted to him?
No, she knew how Ridley's mind worked. If she even planted the thought, Ri would do everything in her power to throw her at Bennett, the poor man's wishes be damned.
After spending just one afternoon together, she already felt protective of him. There was something special about him, like he was untouched by the usual cynicism and ulterior motives that drove everyone else. He was blunt, sure, but at least he was honest. Katie would take harsh honesty over pretty lies any day. She'd seen the aftermath that pretty lies could leave behind.
The sounds of laughter and screeching filtered in from behind her closed door. It was time to get started on dinner before the kids started eating anything that wasn’t nailed down. After pulling on her usual uniform of jeans and a T-shirt, her eyes landed on the manila folder Bennett had given her at the end of the day. It was copies of all her employment paperwork and his company policies. It seemed strange that he had policies when he was a one-man show but it was probably for legal reasons.
She opened the envelope and pulled out all the papers. To her surprise, the top sheet was a Job Summary and when her eyes landed on the number next to “salary” they almost bugged out of her head.
Was this some kind of mistake?
Katie wondered if Bennett had even bothered to update the paperwork after his last assistant left. This kind of salary went to people with education and experience, not pity-hires who only had experience making peanut butter sandwiches and wiping noses.
She mentally cut off that line of thinking. That was Don’s voice in her head telling her that she wasn’t cut out for much else and one of her New Year’s resolutions was to get that critical voice out of her head. Child care was a skill and she did have years of hands-on experience, just not in the field Bennett needed it in.
Damn, he really did need her help, didn’t he? If he couldn’t even update his employee paperwork before hiring someone new, then he hadn’t been kidding about saying his office was a mess. Just metaphorically.
She would have to tell him, she decided as she shoved the paperwork back in the envelope. Katie wasn’t the type who could sleep at night while taking advantage of someone. Although it was hard to believe he’d paid that kind of salary to his prior assistant. He’d described him as a graduate student so it seemed a little unbelievable that a student could command that kind of salary.
Maybe there’s a reason the salary is so high, she thought. He’s probably the boss from hell. Maybe the reason his prior assistant left was because he wanted to escape.