“No.My roommate does, Sarah McCarthy.She’s a nurse on the oncology floor.”
“I don’t know her, but it’s a big hospital, so I’m not surprised.”He hesitated.“You’re American?”
“Yes, but we have kids in America too.”She’d said it lightly, teasingly, but from his silence Cat suspected he didn’t appreciate the joke.
“What do you do?”Dr.Harmon asked.
“I’ve spent the last two and a half years at University College London earning graduate degrees.First my master’s in medieval and renaissance studies, and most recently I’ve just completed a master’s in medieval literature.”
“You must have taken Latin.”
Cat blinked, caught off guard.“I did, both years.Is that helpful for the job?”
“No.But a good friend of mine teaches upper division Latin at UCL.Did you take any classes from Eloisa Graham?”
“She was my graduate advisor.Dr.Eloisa Graham is a gem.I think the world of her, and she’s offered to be a reference for me.I can give you her number—”
“I have her number, thank you.She’s my neighbor.”
For a moment there was just silence not because Cat didn’t know what to say, not because she’d run out of words, but because she didn’t particularly like how he interrupted her, or his tone.His brusqueness and arrogance immediately put her back up.
“So, what are you doing now?”he asked crisply.“Where are you working?”
She fought her temper, and the desire to hang up on the doctor.“I’m phoning you.I was planning on applying for the position of childminder but it seems that I’m not right—”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Do you always interrupt people, or is it just me?”
For a moment, there was just silence on the line, a terribly uncomfortable silence, and Cat knew she’d probably shot herself in the foot but there was nothing to be done now but hold her own.
“I was looking for a temporary position, as I return home to the States in January.I thought this could be a good fit but I’m not feeling optimistic anymore.I appreciate your time.”
“Do you always give up so easily?”he challenged her.
She bristled inwardly.What a pompous ass.“The ad described a live-in situation, but I don’t want to live somewhere that is unpleasant, and if I’m uneasy now, I can’t even imagine how it would be to live under your roof.”
“Perhaps you’re the prickly one.”Dr.Harmon sounded almost amused.“Have you considered that?”
“I can see why you haven’t been able to fill the childminder position.”
“I can also see why you haven’t been hired for anything else.”
Cat ground her teeth together.“So, it’s okay for you to be sharp, but not me?”
“You are job seeking.”
“And you are trying to fill a position.”
Silence stretched across the line and then Dr.Harmon spoke again, his tone a touch more gentle, but the amusement remained.“We might not see eye to eye, but you might be good for the girls.My oldest daughter is a bit of a handful.It’s a stage, and it will pass, but at least she won’t bowl you over.”
“I thought we agreed I wasn’t a good fit,” Cat protested, caught off guard yet again.
“It’s a temporary position.From now until January fifth, but it’s full-time until then.I need a live-in nanny for the girls.The position requires some meals and light housekeeping, and the girls’ laundry.I handle my own.”
“Where do you live in London?”
“We’re away for the girls’ winter break, spending the holidays at a cottage in Derbyshire.We’re here now.To get here you’d take a train from London to Chesterfield, and then a bus to Bakewell.I’d pick you up from there.”
