Eleanor & Grey(75)

It was the complete opposite of what I’d thought he was going to say to me. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure how to react.

I sat back in my chair, so thrown off. “Oh, well…okay. You’re welcome.”

“Just keep me in the loop a little next time. If you’re going to take Karla out of school or cuss out a woman in front of the whole elementary school, just give me a heads-up.”

“Yes, of course. It won’t be a normal thing, and I am really sorry for it all, especially for snapping at Lorelai’s school.”

“Don’t be. Mrs. Robertson is a bitch.”

I smiled. He smiled back.

Greyson smiled at me.

It was the kind of smile I remembered, the kind of smile that had made me look at him time and time again in wonderment when we were younger, the kind I hadn’t known I’d missed until I saw it on his lips.

My lips parted, and I spoke softly. “More of that, Grey.”

More of that.





42





Greyson





After Eleanor left that evening, I continued working in my office for a while, and when Landon’s call came through, I actually answered. “Hey, Landon. What’s up?”

“For the love of all good things, is that what you sound like nowadays? I swear your voice got deeper,” he joked.

“I just saw you at Lorelai’s party.”

“Still, it feels weird having you pick up my calls. For some reason, I didn’t expect you to answer.”

“Yeah, sorry about the missed calls—you know, all five hundred of them.”

“Meh, I figured you’d answer when you were ready.”

“Yeah. How’s being back in California treating you?”

He updated me about how filming for his next movie was going, how crazy the paparazzi was, how he’d slept with half of Hollywood. You know, the basics.

It was crazy how different we’d become, but still, in many ways, we were the same—like how Landon couldn’t keep himself from sleeping with any woman who looked his way.

“But can we talk about Eleanor for a minute? That was kind of amazing what she did for Lorelai’s birthday.” Landon mentioned.

“Yeah, she’s been pretty amazing. Better than I deserve, actually. She’s really helped the girls more than I could say.”

“Yeah. So, have you seen Shay since Eleanor—” Landon started, but before he could finish, there was a knock on my door. Then it opened, and Karla was standing there.

I was somewhat stunned.

Karla never came to my office.

“Hey, Dad,” she said, clearing her throat. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d said Dad without anger in her voice. This was beyond strange. I was definitely going to proceed with caution. “Can I talk to you real quick?”

“Yeah, of course.” I went back to the phone call. “Landon, I’ll have to call you back.”

“Okay! And now that I know your phone works, don’t ignore my calls anymore. Otherwise, I’ll start calling more. Tell the girls I said hi. Bye!”

I hung up and looked back to Karla. She seemed nervous for some reason, which in turn, made me nervous. “What’s going on?”

“Listen, I know Eleanor screwed up today, and I’m pretty sure you’re going to fire her or whatever because you’ve fired nannies for a lot less than what she did today, but…well, I just thought you should know she was just looking out for me and Lorelai. She’s a bit weird and stuff, and way too nosey and interested in my life, but for the most part, I think she’s pretty okay at her job. She’s pretty good with Lorelai, too. So, if you could not fire her, that would be great.”

I brushed the palm of my hand against the back of my neck. “You like her.”

She did; I could tell. Karla didn’t stand up for things or people she didn’t like.

She shrugged. “She’s fine, I guess.”

“I’ll keep her on if you tell me where you went during the school days at the beginning of the year.”

Her whole energy shifted and her face dropped. I saw a flash of worry wash over her and then she composed herself and sighed. “Just forget it, alright?”

I had to try. My mind hadn’t stopped thinking about the possibilities and the danger Karla could’ve been involved with. Each day I wondered where she had gone. Each day I wondered about the battles she faced with herself.

She turned to walk away, and I called after her.

“Yeah?” she huffed.

“I think you’re right—I think Eleanor is good for our family. So, I’m going to keep her on as the nanny.”

A weight lifted from her shoulders as she released a sigh. “Oh, okay, cool. Because like I said, she’s okay.” Karla shrugged. “You know, for a Hufflepuff.”





I made my nightly stops to the girls’ rooms, and when I passed Karla’s, her bedroom light was still on, but she was in bed, reading a Harry Potter book. I couldn’t think of the last time I’d seen her read. She used to do it all the time. It had been almost impossible to find her without a book in her hands, but after her mother passed away, Karla had kind of tossed aside all the things she loved.