Jessie’s jaw dropped, and from the way her eyes burned, I wondered briefly if fire might come out as well. “I am perfectly capable of strapping her in!”
“But this is my car.” I took Jade from her arms. “And I’m used to her car seat. It’s a five-point harness, you know.”
She stared at me like I had a third arm growing out of my head. “They’re all five-point harnesses. They don’t even make anything else anymore.”
I had to give it to her. She was dedicated. And the way she stuck her chin out when she got mad was actually kind of cute. Still, I opened the back door and plopped Jade inside. “No offense, Miss Nickleby, but you spend what, six hours with her a day? In a single room?”
“Seven and a half, actually. Your point?”
I shrugged. “The classroom’s great, and I’m sure you’ve done a fine job with her there. But this is real life, and no offense, I don’t think they trained you for dealing with the parts of Jade’s life that happen in the real world.”
She stared at me for a long moment before she finally crossed her arms and whirled around. “Fine. You know what? Fine.” She stomped over to the truck’s passenger seat and slammed the door shut so hard the truck rocked.
Maybe there was hope. Jessie Nickleby had looked more than a little determined the first time I’d met her, but maybe I had misjudged her. Maybe she’d give up and leave us be after all. The thought made my heart a little lighter.
* * *
When I was done buckling my sister into her car seat, I joined Jessie in the front. She glowered out the window, which was fine by me. I would turn up the radio and talk to Jade as if Jessie weren’t even there.
“Hey, Jade,” I called into the backseat. “You wanna hear the eighties rock or seventies classics?”
“Eighties.”
“Okay.” I found the Bon Jovi album on my phone then pulled out of the drive. The day was unusually cool for early summer, and despite my frustration with the nanny situation, the spring-like air made my muscles relax, and I breathed just a little easier. Oak and hickory trees waved at us from on each side of the highway as we hopped on and headed north.
Just as I was beginning to enjoy myself, however, the steel guitar disappeared. I looked over to see Jessie pulling the jack out of my phone and putting it into hers instead.
“Hey, since when is it okay to mess with the driver’s music?” I reached for her phone, but she yanked it back.
“Since he kidnapped me. Now watch the road.” A smug little smile crossed her face as she tapped her phone screen and the sound of violins filled the cab.
“Oh no. What is that?”
“Your mother asked me to prepare her for school,” Jessie said, her smile only growing smugger by the second.
“So you’re turning her into a classical violinist?” It was my turn to glare.
“Studies show that children who listen regularly to classical music can better focus than their peers.”
I shook my head.
“It also,” she continued, “significantly lowers anxiety and reduces physical tension.” She flipped me a wicked, flirty smile. “Does Bon Jovi do that?”
“Jade?” I glanced in the rearview mirror, far less amused with the situation than I’d been five minutes earlier. “Do you want Bon Jovi or classical?”
“Classical.” Jade didn’t even bother looking away from the window.
“Traitor,” I muttered under my breath.
Jessie snickered, and I gripped my steering wheel harder, praying that God would give me strength for the days when I had to do this after working a full shift. Because I got the feeling the week wouldn’t be getting any better.
* * *
To put it mildly, the rest of the week didn’t get any better. Every time I thought I’d won the upper hand, she came back with some below-the-belt blow. I got back at her for the music intrusion by giving Jade a whole bag of gummy worms right before Jessie came over the next day, which meant Jessie arrived to find my sister somewhat akin to a pinball…a pinball she had to get ready for speech therapy.
That was fun to watch until Jade crashed into my mother’s side table and broke a vase. Even less fun was explaining the incident to my mother.
Wednesday, Jessie struck back with a shiny new CD of Jade’s favorite learning songs, including, “The Cow Says Moo, Moo, Moo, Moo, Moo”, “The Green Cat Likes P-I-N-K”, and “The Shape Shark Song”. By the end of the ride, I was an inch away from pleading for Jessie to go back to Beethoven.
