EMMA
HIS PARENTS
The doorbell rang as I made my way toward the stairs. “I’ll get it, Aiden!” I called out.
Opening the door, I saw an older couple and knew immediately this was Aiden’s parents. I’d stopped by their store earlier today, but they’d been out, so I didn’t get a chance to meet them.
“Emma?” Mrs. Bishop asked as she waltzed in and immediately hugged me.
“Yes. I’m guessing you’re Aiden’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop.”
Mr. Bishop shook my hand and we all made our way into the living room.
“Please, call us Lance and Patty,” Aiden’s mom said with a huge smile on her face. “I can’t even begin to tell you how glad we are that Aiden listened to Rose’s advice about a nanny.”
With a smile, I nodded. “I’m glad as well.”
They were both looking at me with wide grins. My goodness, these people really must have been stressed out to look so relieved to have me working here.
“Aiden said that Hadley’s really taken to you, and he also mentioned that you’re going to jump right in full time instead of the three-days arrangement you’d previously discussed.”
I nodded. “Yes, Hadley seems to be okay with me here, so I figured why not. We’ve had a lot of fun together the last couple days.”
Patty looked at her husband, then back to me. “I think the one youreallyhave to win over is Aiden.”
Tilting my head with a questioning look, I asked, “What do you mean?” I totally knew what they meant. Aiden was obviously struggling with my presence in the house. But I couldn’t help fishing for information.
Lance brushed his wife off. “He’s going to be fine. It’s a bit weird for him to have you here, that’s all. He’ll get used to it.”
“From the sound of the laughing in the kitchen, I’d say they were both adjusting just fine. What’s going on?” Patty asked.
“Oh, Aiden and Hadley are making pizzas. I’ll let y’all head on in and join them. If you’ll excuse me, I was heading up to my place. Enjoy the evening.”
The moment I said pizza, Lance made a beeline for the kitchen. As I turned to leave, Patty reached for my arm and stopped me.
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
My stomach knotted at the serious look on her face. “Yes, of course.”
“In private. May I go up to your apartment with you?”
Swallowing hard, I felt like I was about to be put through another interview, one I wasn’t prepared for. “Sure.”
Patty followed me as I made my way upstairs, out to the balcony and into my personal space. She shut the door and looked around. “Do you need anything? I tried to make sure you had everything to get you started, but Rose gave me short notice on Saturday that you’d be joining us.”
“Everything is amazing, thank you so much.”
We sat down on the sofa, and I instantly wrung my hands together nervously.
“So, Aiden tells me you’ll be joining us for service on Sundays.”
I nodded. “Yes, I will.”
She grinned. “Wonderful. Rose also mentioned you might like our ladies’ group that we have at the church.”
My brows lifted. Oh no. I never was one to get involved with the ladies of church. They were well-meaning women, but terribly nosey from my experience.
“Now, before you go off thinking it’s one of those uptight conservative groups, let me put your mind at ease. We’re not. We’re a group of women from all walks of life who like to meet once a week and let our hair down. We’re all friends. We support each other, we counsel one another on occasion, and we’re really there to simply listen. Sometimes it’s nice to have a friendly ear when you want to just…b-i-t-c-h…about something.”
