“Hey.” She put up both hands. “I only promised to keep him alive and happy for the day. I didn’t say anything about keeping himclean.”
Teo patted Akoni’s head. It was probably the only place he dared touch him. “We’re good. I’d rather have him happy thanclean.”
“Oh.” Little sparks of delight tickled Cedar all over. She leaned back and took a sip of her peppermint tea. “Good,then.”
“But that brings up an interestingidea.”
“It does?” She set her cupdown.
Teo dropped his gaze to the table as he tugged on his ear. “I, uh, I wondered if you were looking for ajob.”
“I am,” she saidslowly.
“How about working for me? As ananny?”
Cedar was shaking her head before he finished. “Thanks,but—”
“It’s not like I don’t think you have other things to do, but you said today was your last day at the internship. And I know you aren’t here to do my bidding—I think that’s how you put it. And I know you’re not into me, like,into me. I think I kind of annoy you.” He quirked one cheek, waiting for her todisagree.
He didn’t annoy her. What annoyed her was the way her body kept reacting to him without checking with her first. She folded her arms and nodded for him tocontinue.
“Anyway, it’s good you’re not, because I wouldn’t want someone who was interested in more than ajob.”
Cedar lifted both eyebrows. An awkward silence descended as every heart-pounding thought she’d had about Teo played through her mind. She prayed they didn’t show up on her face. He didn’t need to know how cute she thought those dimples reallywere.
Teo cleared his throat. The tops of his ears turned pink—no, red—no, coral. They were definitely coral. How sweet was that? “But you like Akoni—or at least you treat him really well, and that’s whatimportant.”
Cedar shook her head again. “I’m finishing up my MBA. I have things todo.”
“That’s fine. I’m somewhat flexible until the season startsagain.”
“No.”
“Whynot?”
“Because I didn’t go through six years of school so I could be ananny.”
Akoni pounded his palm on the table to get his dad’s attention. Teo handed Akoni another cracker. “What did you want todo?”
“I—” Cedar stopped. The loss of her dream job was still an open wound. “I wanted to run the Tiny Titans Sports Camp. But that didn’t exactly workout.”
“So you’re unemployed?” Teo said, with much too much hope in hisvoice.
“Don’t look so happy about it.” She threw an animal cracker at him. It bounced off his chest onto the table, leaving a hundredcrumbs.
“I’m not. I just think maybe there’s a little miracle here—if we’re willing to make itwork.”
“A miracle?” sheasked.
“Don’t you believe inmiracles?”
“Yeah—but in my experience, they don’t happen tome.”
“I’m sure that’s nottrue.”
She shrugged in reply, unwilling to go the rounds over her faith. She was good with God and didn’t need to defend her beliefs to proveit.
“Well, I don’t believe that there are coincidences. I think meeting you was a miracle—it certainly felt that way when you offered to take Akonitoday.”
