“Thank you.”
“Where did you hear about this job?”
“In town. One of the women I see frequently at my local laundromat mentioned you were looking for a nanny. I guess she’s a friend of a friend of your housekeeper.”
He nodded, confident Decker had already confirmed her story.
“Tell me about you,” Everly said, her smile polite. She seemed to be holding a little too tight to the “I’m cool, no sweat” attitude. “This is the most gorgeous house I’ve seen since I’ve been in the country. I hear you were in the military? That you own and run your own business?”
No. He didn’t want to go there. Not yet. “What brought you to Costa Rica?”
“I’ve never been here, and there aren’t very many countries I haven’t seen.” She shifted topics easily enough. “I’ve stayed because most Costa Ricans are ridiculously friendly, your food is amazing, and the weather is even better.”
Her dig about his temperament amused him. And after seeing him in warrior mode earlier, the fact that she felt secure enough to tease him reflected her self-confidence.
“What interests you in this job? You’re awfully young for the role as a nanny.”
“I’m easily old enough to have a child Mirabella’s age.”
“Why don’t you?”
She grinned. “Are you Costa Rican? Or American living in Costa Rica?”
“Both.” He refocused on her résumé. “English is your first language, but you know several others. You’ve worked with children in one way or another for most of your life.” He shrugged. “I keep coming back to the question—why us? Why this job?”
“My life has been dedicated to caring for others. I learned early on that it suits me. Your housekeeper’s acquaintance said you’re raising Mirabella alone and that your nanny left to care for a family member recently.”
Austin leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk. He’d be finding out exactly who gave a stranger this much information and make sure one of his guys plugged that leak.
“She also said,” Everly continued, “that Mirabella is a little behind the curve—in size and cognitive abilities.”
Austin’s hackles flared. “Bella is incredibly smart. She’s also clever, with a free spirit that—”
“I wasn’t putting her down,” Everly said, her tone compassionate, her gaze direct and honest. “I was going to make the point that I’ve spent two decades nurturing children with similar challenges into happy, successful, compassionate teens and young adults.”
“Two decades? That would have made you a child yourself.”
“As you mentioned, I’ve spent most of my life working with children. My mother and I first moved overseas when I was eight. I was often cast as a caretaker for village children. You must have spent significant time overseas. You’ve seen how quickly children are tasked with responsibility. How quickly they grow up.”
He nodded and glanced over her résumé again.
“My goal is always to teach people how to play on their strengths and minimize their limitations,” she went on. “To teach them how to push through the hard times to realize their full potential.”
She sounded a little like a “Be All That You Can Be” ad for the US Army. He would have taunted her with it if he didn’t—at the core of his being—live and breathe those very values. If they weren’t things he worried Bella would never find because she was small, because her speech was behind, because she didn’t have a mother. Because of one of a dozen other drawbacks Bella had in her life that made Austin worry deep in the night.
He dropped back in his chair, threaded his fingers together, and rested them on the top of his head as he thought. She was by far the most passionate about Bella’s care of all the women he’d interviewed. His gut told him not to let her in, that an unknown American within his fortress could hinder the security he worked so hard to maintain. But Decker was right about needing a nanny, and he’d give Austin hell if he didn’t give her a chance.
“There is a very real risk to Bella’s safety outside this property,” he told the woman. If she lost interest in the job on her own, it technically wouldn’t be his fault. “She must be accompanied by two security guards anywhere she goes.”
Confusion clouded her expression. “Why? This is one of the safest countries I’ve ever lived in.”
“Because we’re bordered by countries with strife and conflict. Countries I’ve refused to work with because of unstable factions of government.” It was only a half lie. Bella wasn’t at risk because he refused work, but he wasn’t about to get into the custody issue. “And because I have more money than the average Costa Rican, she’s at high risk for kidnapping.”
“I see.” She seemed to be thinking about that.
“I travel quite a bit for work,” he added, “and I always take Bella with me. You would have to travel with us.”
Her brows shot up. “Really.”