“Alright. Let’s take her on a test run.” He turned to Shaw. “What do you say we go to the zoo and we’ll see how things go?”
“I guess I could manage in these sandals,” Veronica said, inspecting her shoes. “But they are very expensive Jiminies.”
“You don’t have to come, Veronica. I know how you feel about places like the zoo. Let me spend some time with the kids and Shaw and see how we do together.”
Shaw recognized the pinched, painful look on Veronica’s face. “Of course, Jeremy. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“That’s okay. I know you’re busy, and now that Shaw’s here, I won’t need your help as much. You’ve been such a great friend the last year. I’m so lucky you got in touch after Dina died. I didn’t realize you two had been such good friends in college.”
“Yes, I miss her terribly. I’m sure she’d be pleased I was here with you now.”
Shaw tried to not to roll her eyes. Veronica had taken one class with Jeremy’s wife and had spotted her name in the obituary column. But clearly, Veronica wouldn’t be deterred by his declaration of their friendship. “I’ll give Shaw time to get settled in and then I’ll give you a call. It’s time we got to know each other better.”
Jeremy didn’t answer. While he dashed off to search for sweaters and shoes, Veronica gathered her things and gripped Shaw’s arm. “Ruin this for me, and I’ll kill you.”
Shaw blinked at her. “I’m just here for the kids.” Then she yanked her arm away. “And you were the one who insisted I take this job. But now that I’m going to be living here, I guess I don’t need to pitch in with the rent.”
You couldn’t actually see steam blowing out of a person’s ears, could you?
Jeremy approached them. “Ready, Shaw?”
Veronica’s fake sun-shiney smile was back and she leaned into him, so that he could plant a kiss on her lips if he wanted. But he patted her on the back, instead. “Thanks, again, Veronica.”
***
“Okay, kids. Let’s leave the polar bears alone. There are other things to see,” Jeremy said.
“No! I want to see them belly flop. I saw them do that once and I’m waiting till they do it again,” six-year-old Maddie said, her hands on her hips and bottom lip protruding.
“We’ve been watching them for half an hour,” Lizzie complained.
Jeremy looked up at the sky. “It’s times like this I especially miss their mother.”
They had to get this question out of the way; she might as well do it now. “What happened?” Veronica had told her his wife had died and that she had hideous hair in college, but didn’t bother with the specifics. Of the death, not the hair. Veronica had gone into great detail about the bad hair.
He sighed, and gripped the railing in front of them. “She was in a car accident. She’d just dropped the triplets off at day care and was on her way to work. We think she fell asleep at the wheel. We weren’t getting much sleep back then.”
She touched his arm. “I’m so sorry. For all of you.”
He nodded. “I try my best for them, but I just can’t do it myself.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help.” She didn’t even have to fake sounding sincere; she meant it. Although, when she turned to round up the kids, nerves bubbled through her. There were so many of them. And they didn’t stand still. And they were never quiet.
Desperate times.
She stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.
The giggling and wriggling stopped.
“Whoa,” John said. “You’re just like Thomas the Tank Engine.”
“You’re right. I am. So get behind me and let’s move this James family train to the giraffe exhibit.” She marched in place and bent her arms, rotating them like the axles on a train.
The kids laughed and hurried to line up behind her.
Jeremy nodded in approval. “Line up like a train. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“You probably didn’t star in your third grade production of
The Little Engine That Could
, did you?”
“Nope. You got me there. See, you’re more qualified than you thought.”
With hands on the hips of the person in front of them, the conga line of kids shuffled their way to the giraffes.
Of course, then they wanted to travel like that the rest of their trip. So they waddled like penguins. They strutted like ducks, and marched like soldiers.
When they got back to Jeremy’s apartment, they didn’t want her to leave. “You’ve got the job if you want it, Shaw.”
And surprisingly, she wanted it. She really did. “Great.”
“I’ll send the movers to pick up your things tomorrow.”
***
Veronica ground her teeth the entire cab ride home. It would probably be the subway from here on out, now that she couldn’t count on any rent help from Shawna. Ugh. How had this blown up in her face? She dug her nails into her Prada bag, the last real one she owned. The rest were fakes. Shawna working as a nanny was supposed to mean more time for Jeremy to get to know Veronica. Not loads of time for him to spend with Shawna.
Veronica tucked her long, blond hair behind her ears. Those highlights cost her two hundred fifty dollars a month. Plus tip. Botox was another three hundred. Eyelash extensions were two hundred a month. It wasn’t easy or cheap being beautiful. But it was important. Shawna did very little with herself. The girl didn’t even wax her eyebrows. Veronica curled her upper lip in disgust—her recently bleached upper lip.
True, Shawna was younger than Veronica, but Jeremy certainly couldn’t find her attractive, could he? Her skin was almost as white as milk. With the contrast of her dark black hair, she practically looked like a ghost. Or a corpse. It had never crossed Veronica’s mind to worry about Shawna as a competitor before.
But she hadn’t realized Shawna would be invited to live there. Or that Jeremy would go to the zoo with them. Why couldn’t Shawna have taken the kids by herself so Veronica could get to spend time with Jeremy? That was the whole point of this venture. To move things along and become Mrs. Jeremy James. True, he would be her third husband, but one didn’t need to count. Then she’d be living in the same apartment building as her mother, and she’d be welcomed back with open arms once she landed her man.
Her mother’s words tickled the edges of her memory. “Don’t worry about your school work, Veronica. The best thing you can do is find yourself a rich husband.”
And despite all her protests, all her work in college to be something more than a scheming harpy like her mother, here she was on the very same path. What do they say about the apple and the tree?
The cab stopped in front of her apartment building. “Twenty-one fifty-six,” said the cabbie.
Veronica panicked, and looked in her wallet. She had a twenty-dollar bill and two quarters. Taking a deep breath, she lifted one shoulder and curled her mouth into a smile. “Silly, silly me. I’m short about a dollar. Can you help a girl out? You seem like the sort who knows how to take care of a woman.”
And as he accepted her reduced payment with a smile, she stepped out into the cold, gray day realizing her mother had been right all along. Finding a rich man was Veronica’s best bet.
And her whiny little stepdaughter better not get in her way of this one.
***
Three weeks later, Shawna was in love with her job. Gah, and her boss, too. Jeremy was so funny and thoughtful and fun, she forgot how handsome he was. The James family train method of maintaining order was holding strong, and she’d even tricked the kids into helping her clean up by making it a race. “Who can pick up and put away ten toys the fastest?” she’d challenge them. “I bet Jenny can!” And oh, the race that ensued left the place spotless.
She even liked the darn animals. The parrot enjoyed perching on her shoulder and twining its beak in her hair, while the cats followed her around the apartment and curled up at her feet whenever she paused to sit down. Which wasn’t often.
She was so busy and so happy working for Jeremy and his kids, she’d skipped a few auditions. In fact, she hadn’t been on one since the day she first met the James family. And she wasn’t even upset that she didn’t get the part of the dancing clock in the sleep medication commercial she’d auditioned for a few weeks back. But she did find herself singing all the time; and she only sang when she was happy.
As she sat coloring with the kids, she realized the only thing keeping this job from being perfect was Veronica. She wasn’t giving up on Jeremy, so she was around a lot. Questioning Shaw’s decision to give the kids string cheese for a snack. “What about a nice brie?” she’d suggested. And now, criticizing her crayon drawings as rather juvenile for a twenty-three year old. Shaw pressed so hard on the crayon it broke.
Veronica snickered. “You must have skipped pastels in performing arts school.”
Shaw finished the purple and pink drawing of a unicorn Jenny had requested, and signed her name at the bottom. “No. I was so talented in crayons, they exempted me from the course.”
Maddie grabbed the picture from her and squinted at it. “Snow?”
Shaw rolled her eyes. “It says ‘Shaw.’ S-H-A-W.”
Jenny stood next to her sister shaking her head. “It looks like S-N-O-W. The bar on your H is too short. And the A is missing its tail.”
“You guys are tough,” Shaw said.
“Guess you didn’t take handwriting, either,” Veronica said.
“Snow!” Jake said. “Your name is Snow.”
“Your skin is as white as snow,” Veronica offered. “Haven’t you ever heard of spray tanning?”
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be? Jeremy’s busy working and we’ve got things under control here.” The way Shaw saw it, Jeremy didn’t seem to be encouraging her. But he wasn’t discouraging her, either. He went to a lot of charity events, and Veronica was the perfect go-to date. And that was enough to keep her in the game.
“Don’t wait up for us!” she’d told Shaw last Friday when they went to some charity auction. But they were home by ten.
And since Jeremy worked from home, Veronica stopped by a lot. Shaw was seeing more of her now than when they lived in the same apartment.
As subtle as the scent of her heavily applied, insanely expensive perfume, Veronica picked up her bridal magazine and was leafing through it, when Jeremy came out of his office. “I’ve got to go to an event for the zoo this Saturday night. Are you busy?” he asked Veronica.
“Let me check my schedule.” She pulled out her phone, tapped the screen and shrugged. “Looks like I’m open.”
“Great. Can you watch the kids? I thought I’d take Shawna since you don’t really like animals. The event is being held among the zoo displays. I know you probably wouldn’t want to get your Jiminies dirty.”
Veronica’s jaw hung open. Then she snapped it shut and laughed in a high-pitched giggle. “Of course! You think I can’t handle the kids?”
He turned to Shaw. “Is that okay with you, Shaw? Would you like to come?”
“Of course. I love animals. And I’d hate for Veronica to suffer through it.” She looked at her. “Guess you owe me one.”
Veronica said nothing, but Shaw could see her hands gripping the edge of the couch, her knuckles white.
“Actually, could you keep an eye on them right now? I want Shaw’s opinion on the logo I just created for a new client.”
“Daddy, her name is Snow. Look at how she signed her drawing,” Jenny said, with her hand on her hip.
Jeremy looked at the picture and chuckled. “Kinda like Madonna, huh? A one-name wonder. Alright, Snow, let me show you what I’ve worked up.”
Shaw thought about ducking so the daggers from Veronica’s eyes had no chance of hitting her. Veronica hadn’t been given a nickname.
Leading her to his office, Jeremy sat down in front of his computer, and brought up the image. “It’s for the Naughty and Nice bakery.”
Identical twin cupcake girls, one dressed as a vixen, the other as a demure maiden smiled at her. She laughed, sitting next to him. “I like it.”
“Good. Ideas have been coming to me so much quicker now that you’re here.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
He stretched back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. “For the first time in a long time, I can relax and focus. I know you’ve got things under control. I can trust you. We’re lucky to have you here, Shaw.”
“I’m really happy to be here.”
“You know, you don’t have to do all the cooking. I’ve been meaning to hire a chef. We’ve been living on takeout since … since Dina died. She was a great cook.” He sat forward and looked over at her. “But you are too.”
She smoothed her hands down her thighs. “I didn’t even know I enjoyed cooking. I don’t mind. Really. Maddie and Jenny like helping me.”
They were shoulder to shoulder and her belly flipped hearing this praise from him. Oh, she was so cliché, feeling lust like this for her boss. Bad made-for-TV movies used this device as a plot starter. What would he do if he knew how she felt? Would he fire her? She’d grown to love the kids. She wouldn’t be chasing their daddy and mess things up.
Get over it, sister.
She stood up. “Did you want to go grab lunch with Veronica?” Boy, did it suck saying that. But if he were taken, she wouldn’t be dreaming about him, right?
“No, I’m not hungry.”
“I think she is.” She hoped the double entrendre was noticeable in her delivery.
He cocked his head. “What are you saying?”
She turned her hands up and shrugged. “She’s here a lot.”
“She was Dina’s friend. She’s here for her.”
Shaw raised an eyebrow. “It’s not exactly like you need her help now. But she keeps coming.”
“Hmm.” He rubbed his chin. “Maybe she feels put out.”
The man was clueless. But dating was probably the last thing on his mind. Maybe a night babysitting the kids would send Veronica packing. “What should I wear Saturday?”
“It’s formal. I’ll pay for a gown. My wife had an account at the shop down the street. Pick out something and have them bill me.” He turned back to his computer, then looked at her. “Oh, and Dina used to stop at the Diva salon beforehand. Feel free if you’d like. It’s on me. I really appreciate this.”
“No problem.”
I’ll just be worrying about it all week.