“Don’t you do dishes at home?”Cat asked.
“We have a housekeeper.She does the dishes, and the cleaning, and here you do the dishes and the cleaning.We’re children, not staff.”
Olivia giggled nervously, before clamping a hand over her mouth.Jillian’s arms folded over her chest, clearly empowered.
Cat was more intrigued than offended.Jillian was a bit of a princess, and out of touch with the way most of the world lived, but Cat wouldn’t punish her for that.
She’d just ease her into the real world, little by little.“Well, while I’m here, we’re all going to do chores together.You’ll make your own beds and tidy your own rooms, and we’ll set the table as a family, and then clean up as a family.”
“But you’re not part of our family.You’re not part of us.”Jillian’s voice rose, her cheeks stained a mottled red.“And you can’t make us cook and clean everything.We’re children.”
“But how will you ever run a home of your own if you don’t know how to do basic things?”Cat kept her tone mild.“Don’t you want to be self-sufficient one day?”
“Someday,” Jillian flashed.“Not today.”
“I think today is a great day to start learning.Olivia, will you please scrape the plates into the rubbish bin?Jillian, will you fill the dish pan with hot water and soap—”
“No.” Jillian practically screamed the word at Cat.“No, and no, and no.We are not going to do the dishes.”She put her hand out on her sister’s arm, keeping her from moving into the kitchen.“We are not going to do anything you tell us—”
“Then you’ll spend the day in your room, alone.Without your phone, or your laptop, or any of the electronics you love.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I don’t want to do that, but if you’re going to challenge me right and left, then you leave me no recourse.”
“You are horrible,” Jillian thundered.“Horrible and hateful.Where did my father find you?”
Cat held her breath, counted to five, and then exhaled.
She would be calm if it killed her.“I found him actually,” she said, smiling pleasantly.“Well, my friend Sarah did, on a bulletin board at your father’s hospital.He was advertising for a childminder there.”
“Did you work at the hospital?”
“No.I’ve been studying the past couple of years at UCL.”
“Have you any experience as a nanny?”Jillian demanded.
Cat shook her head.“No.”
The girl’s jaw dropped.“None at all?”
“Zero.”
“Does he know that?”
Cat’s lips twitched.She shouldn’t be amused.This wasn’t funny.But if she didn’t find some humor in the situation, she’d be back at the train station racing to London this afternoon.“I’m fairly certain Dr.Harmon understood my qualifications.”
“Which are?”
“Two graduate degrees in medieval history and literature, the second with a teaching component.”
“That’s your qualifications?”
“I love the humanities.”
“What about the other things nannies do?Sew, cook, bandage wounds and things.”
“I did make eggs this morning.”
