“Before Owen started his long drive up from Corpus Christi,” he drawled, “he contacted the church to ask about candidates for live-in nannies.”
Her gaze flew back to Owen. Was he divorced, then? Widowed? Or married to someone whose career required a lot of travel?
Owen picked up the thread of conversation and ran with it. “Just hear us out if you will, Miss Garrett.” He sounded serious.
She was too stunned to do anything but comply. Her knees felt like jelly, so she walked unsteadily to the raised hearth and took a seat on the brick.
Ryder and Cooper followed her and dropped to the heavily scratched hardwood floor at her feet, clearly delighted to have her around. Though their father was speaking, they hissed at her to watch them while they performed a few somersaults. They were as limber as little monkeys.
“I just accepted a position as a private investigator at Lonestar Security,” he explained. “They wanted someone with my background in dealing with corporate and financialfraud.”
His words made her insides contort with envy. “If I had the money, I’d hire you to investigate my ex.”
“About that…” He spread his hands. “I was hoping you might consider trading favors.”
“What sort of favors?” She wasn’t following him one bit.
“You need the services of a detective, and I need the services of a nanny.” He spoke in a hushed voice, angling his head suggestively at his sons. “My older sister has been living with us since losing my wife. We wouldn’t have made it this far without her.” Ryder and Cooper were still tumbling on the floor, getting noisier by the second. They didn’t hear his reference to their motherless state, and he hadn’t wanted them to.
But Halle heard it, and it made her heart go out to the Tolliver family. Being a single parent was never easy. During her six-year tenure as a kindergarten teacher, she’d watched her share of single moms and single dads struggle to hold down multiple jobs and make it back to school on time to pick up their kids.
On top of Owen’s demanding career, his twins were like frisky kittens—oblivious to everything but the moment they were living in. His life was one big juggling act. He was fortunate to have a sister who’d stepped in and lent a hand.
“Unfortunately…” Owen Tolliver was still talking. He let out a long-suffering whoosh of air. “My sister’s best friend received some bad news right before we hit the road for Heart Lake. She’s about to undergo surgery for a brain tumor. Naturally, my sister wants to be there, so she remained in Corpus Christi.” His expression grew pleading. “Though she’s where she needs to be right now, her absence leaves my children without their primary caregiver.”
He stopped to let the gravity of his situation sink in.
“So, when you said you wanted to trade favors,” Halle repeated his words in a wondering voice, “you were serious?” Her startled gaze flew to Pastor Joe.
“Exactly!” He was leaning forward on the window seat with his forearms balanced on his knees. “As tough as your collective circumstances are, it puts the two of you in the perfect position to help each other. Like he pointed out, you need his detective skills, and he needs your childcare skills. Even if he had months to scout for nannies, he wouldn’t run across a finer candidate than you. So, if you’re both willing to give it a shake, this could work.”
Her jaw dropped, making him add hastily, “It would be a temporary situation. An arrangement designed to get you both through the summer. We know you’ll be teaching school in the fall. By then, Owen’s sister will hopefully be in town, and…” His voice dwindled while he waited for her to find her voice.
She raised a hand to her forehead, feeling lightheaded. Too much was happening too quickly. However, unless she was misunderstanding something, Owen Tolliver was offering to let her temporarily move back into the farmhouse she’d grown up in, which was far better than calling around in search of a place to sleep tonight. Or sleeping in her car, which would’ve been her last resort. One thing was certain. Springing for a hotel room was out of the question.
While her prospective employer waited for her to respond, he strode to the kitchen cabinet to open a red Igloo cooler sitting there. Taking out a bottle of water, he moved across the room with it to press the chilled bottle into her hand.
Her fingers convulsed around it, welcoming the feel of icy condensation against her feverish skin. “I need amoment to think.” She shakily uncapped the bottle and took a sip. She hadn’t arrived in town intending to hunt for a side job. Her savings, along with the income from the chicken farm she’d always been able to count on, would’ve been enough to tide her over until she started her new job with the Heart Lake School District. But her ex had short-circuited her access to both funding sources.
This is what rock bottom feels like.
“Take all the time you need,” Owen Tolliver urged, taking a knee in front of her.
She took another sip of water, choked on it, and coughed.
He eyed her worriedly. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you…a lot to throw at you after everything else that’s been thrown at you today.”
“Yes,” she panted, feeling like she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. “It is.” However, she had no home, no money, and no plan for where she would spend the next two months before the school year began; and he was offering to let her stay in the only place in town she’d ever called home. As crazy as his off-the-cuff proposition was, it was tempting.
Pastor Joe’s presence in the room certainly lent credibility to it, along with the familiar way the sheriff had treated Owen. Plus, Owen was about to begin work at a highly reputable company in town. She knew two of the owners personally. They were good men.
Pastor Joe stood and walked their way. “Like Owen said, you don’t have to decide right this second.”
She pinned him with an incredulous look. “Youdorealize I have nowhere else to go?”
A wrinkle formed in the middle of his forehead. “That’s not true, Halle. Everyone in town adores you. My wife and Iwould be happy to let you stay in our guest room for as long as?—”
“That won’t be necessary, sir.” She might’ve hit rock bottom, but she wasn’t a charity case. Yet. “I’ll, um…I’ll take the job.” As soon as the words left her mouth, the enormity of what she’d done hit her. She’d just agreed to become the live-in nanny of the two scuffling, wrestling boys on the living room floor—two boys she’d never laid eyes on before today. On the other hand, she could stop worrying about where she would sleep tonight or where her next meal would come from.
