Eleanor & Grey(47)

Then, he was off to work.

“I’m sorry about Karla. I won’t lie, she’s going to be the hard one,” Claire remarked. “I can’t blame her for her hardness, though. She’s been through more than most, though, for the most part, she’s physically handling her changes well. She’s adapted to moving around quite quickly and is pretty self-sufficient. Now, on the emotional front, there’s a bit of struggle. Don’t let her exterior throw you, though. She may act tough, but our Karla has the gentlest heart. She just gets hurt easily. Don’t take her moods personally. She’s working through a lot.”

I smiled. “Aren’t we all?”

Out of nowhere, Lorelai looked up from her breakfast and turned my way. “Hey, Ellie?”

“Yes?”

“Are you sure I can’t wear my pajamas to school today? I’m really comfortable, and I think I’ll learn better with them on.”

I laughed. “Probably not, but I can help you pick out an outfit if you want. And then while we’re in your room, maybe you can show me some of your best artwork.”

Her eyes lit up and the biggest smile in the world filled her face.

That smile Greyson was missing?

The one I’d once known?

It lived on the lips of his daughter.

“Okay! Come on!” Lorelai said, leaping up from her seat. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off to her bedroom to pick out an outfit.

Well, at least not all of Greyson’s children were completely underwhelmed by my existence. One out of two was good enough odds for me.





When it was time to get the girls off to school, I was thankful that Lorelai was so chatty, otherwise the car ride would’ve been extremely silent and awkward. Faithful Lorelai talked and talked and talked about everything and nothing at all while Karla’s head was down and in her phone. Her hair was no longer wet, but she’d straightened it and it hung directly in front of her eyes, blocking her face. A pair of shockingly huge Beats by Dre headphones sat over her ears, and the nosey part of me wondered what she was listening to. The logical part of me thought I should never ask, because I knew she would never tell me.

Unfortunately, my first drop-off was Lorelai, which left me in a car alone with Karla and her grimaces.

When we were about three blocks away from the high school, Karla hollered. “No! Stop here!”

I glanced back at her and raised an eyebrow. “What? Why?”

“No nanny has ever pulled up to the school and dropped me off in the past ten months.”

I laughed. “What? That can’t be true.”

“It is true. The last thing I need is to be embarrassed by having an adult drop me off in an expensive-ass car like a freaking ugly diva and then have everybody watch me limp into the building. It’s high school—everyone’s an asshole, even to the crippled girl. So, if you could please just stop the car,” she ordered, her tone filled with nothing but attitude and sass.

I pulled over to the side of the road and placed the car in park.

I felt bad for her, even though she would’ve hated my pity, but she was just so young and so…angry. I didn’t know much about her because she seemed to mainly keep to herself, and whoever it was she’d been typing nonstop to online. Even when I cleaned her room, there wasn’t much to tell me about the girl who lived in that space. She didn’t have any posters, no books on her shelves, no personality. The room was as cold and distant as the girl who lay her head there.

I wasn’t one to give up easily, though. I’d break through to Karla somehow, some way, even if it took forever and a day to do so.

As she began to climb out of the car, I turned to face her. “Listen, I know people in high school can be jerks, and if there’s anyone who is bothering you, you can talk to me. I can be your safety net,” I offered. “Or I can talk to the principal. Whatever you need, Karla, I’m here.”

She rolled her eyes so hard, I wasn’t sure if she’d ever see correctly again. “Can you not do that?”

“Do what?”

“Act like the ‘cool’ nanny. Listen, just because you work for my father, it doesn’t mean you get to act like you know me. We’ve known each other for like, two hours. You’re nothing to me, and I’m sure it won’t take long for my father to find a reason to fire you, too. So, don’t get comfortable. You’re just another temporary thing.”

Without even another breath, she got out of the car and started off in the direction of school, leaving me sitting there completely dumbfounded.

Being a nanny might turn out to be harder than I’d expected with Karla East as one of the children. Being cutthroat was in her nature, and bruising easily was in mine.

We were in for quite a ride, that was for sure.





29





Eleanor





“What do you mean she growled?” Shay laughed on the other end of our call as I prepped for dinner. I’d been quick to call my cousin, who was nice enough to take her lunch break early to listen to my crazy life.

“I mean exactly that. She growled at me, over and over again.”

“No, no, no. Wait, like a literal growl?”

“Shay, she went grrr! Grrrr!” I attempted to recreate Karla’s beautiful sounds. “Grrrr! Like a freaking lion.”