“The girls?” she asked the maid. She searched her mind for the right words. “
Dove le ragazze sono
?” Where are they? Where should they be? And where should she be? The maid said a few words in Italian and gestured toward the lower level of the villa. After a glance at the clock Sabrina took only a few sips of the coffee on her tray and a bite of a fresh flaky pastry before dressing quickly in Capri pants, a T-shirt and sandals. No more borrowed finery, no need to try to dress like she belonged here. She didn’t even want to. Thank God the traditional nanny outfit of a long skirt and high-buttoned blouse seen in the movies was obsolete and good riddance to it.
She took the snake who was doubtless glad to get out of her bathtub and holding it carefully by the neck, she descended the grand staircase. It was almost a repeat of the last time she’d come down the stairs, only this time the prince was at the door ready to depart for his office if his suit and tie were any indication and the girls came running from the kitchen as if they’d been waiting for her to appear.
It was another grand entrance, she realized as the three of them stopped as if they’d been freeze-framed at the sight of their new nanny appearing with a snake wrapped around her arm.
For a moment there was total silence, then they all spoke at once.
“Where did that snake come from?” the prince demanded.
“Oh, no,” Gianna said.
“It wasn’t our fault,” Caterina said.
“Look what I found,” Sabrina said brightly. “On my balcony. I love snakes, don’t you?” she asked the girls. “This one is a beauty.”
“We have to leave now,” Gianna said and they grabbed their backpacks from the coat rack by the door and ran outside to the waiting car.
“We will discuss this later,” the prince said with a glance out the window.
“If you wish, but there’s nothing to discuss,” Sabrina said. “I feel very fortunate to have a subject for our science class later today. Snakes are so fascinating. When the girls come home this afternoon, we will have a lesson on wildlife, particularly reptiles. How extremely lucky to have some on the grounds as they eat rats and mice and keep the rodent population in check.”
“Yes,” he said with a strange look on his face. “I’m glad you think so.
Addio,
Ms West, I am late for work. Good luck.
Buona fortuna
. You’ll need it,” he muttered under his breath.
Then he too walked out the front door to a waiting car and chauffeur. Of course the prince was glad to leave his girls in her care and they in turn were happy to go off and have fun. But were they also disappointed at her reaction? She hoped so. She asked herself when would they ever want to study for an exam they didn’t want to take to go to a school they didn’t want to attend? It was a challenge Sabrina had never faced before.
Despite pride in the handling of the snake affair, Sabrina otherwise felt like a failure. As she walked to the garden and gave the poor snake its freedom, she realized she’d overslept and missed having breakfast with the twins, missed discussing with them about the schedule she’d planned and obviously missed a chance to speak to their father before he went to work. She had put on a good face about the snake but now what?
The house was quiet except for the servants she caught only glimpses of. This was not the way she pictured her job - preparing lessons all day by herself, but she was determined to put the time to good advantage. To her dismay when she met the girls at the door at three o’clock they claimed to be too tired to study. She did convince them to follow her to the garden where she gave a short lecture on snakes.
“The green snake sheds its skin once a year. Some people are afraid of snakes. But you’re not, are you?”
The twins looked at each other but said nothing. “I didn’t think so. There is nothing to be afraid of. There is only one poisonous snake in Italy, the viper. Otherwise they are quite harmless. In fact, they perform useful jobs in the garden by eating mice and rats which is why I let the snake go out here this morning.”
She had their attention for a while, but when she suggested playing a math game she’d brought with her, they shook their heads.
“We’re tired,” Caterina said.
“And sun-burned,” said Gianna, rubbing her shoulder. “We learned basic knots today.”
“And jiffy riffing,” Caterina added.
Sabrina gave up. It would be counter-productive to push them at this point. She’d count the snake lesson as her one accomplishment today.
At six o’clock she and the girls ate a simple but delicious dinner of butternut squash ravioli and a crisp green salad with lettuce from their garden in the kitchen with the cook and two of the maids and the gardener. It was a huge room with brass pots and pans hanging from the ceiling and well-worn counters made of thick hardwood. A large, surprisingly homey kitchen for such a grand villa.
The air was filled with the aromas of rich tomato sauce simmering on the stove and the yeasty smell of bread rising. The conversation was all in Italian which made Sabrina feel less necessary or useful than ever. The girls went to bed early or at least went to their room and closed the door behind them. When she knocked, and suggested a board game they said, “We are too tired, dear Ms. West. Good-night. Nanny Chisholm always went to bed early.”
Sabrina stood there staring at the closed door. How could she compete with their other nanny unless she left them alone? She hadn’t come all this way to do that. She was at a loss. If she thought they’d be impressed by her handling of the snake or her willingness to keep it a secret from their father, she’d say her first day had been a success, but who knew? She couldn’t talk to the prince. He didn’t want to be bothered. And he knew less than she did about how to manage his daughters. Besides, he wasn’t there. She had no idea what time he normally came home. So she went to her room and sent an e-mail message to Bettina.
“Things are going well. The prince and I are in agreement about how to prepare the girls for private school. I shall begin the lessons tomorrow. The Lake Country is delightful and the accommodations are pleasant."
She didn’t want to rave about the house or the lake or the view or Bettina would decide it was too good for the likes of her step-daughter. But she did want to reassure her.
The second day Sabrina got up early, jet lag not withstanding. She dressed quickly and once again descended the wide stairway. This time the prince was once again standing at the foot of the stairs alone as if he’d been waiting for her. She clenched her hands into tight fists, anticipating the worst. Was this how he’d fired the past nannies? Waited for them to arise on the second or third day and sent them packing?
Despite her fears, she couldn’t help noticing he was wearing a dark suit and a blue shirt and tie and looked impossibly, indescribably handsome. Yesterday she’d been too worried about sleeping late to notice. Today she noticed. She shouldn’t be surprised, but she found it difficult to catch her breath. She couldn’t even move her feet for several long moments. Maybe it was fear or continual jet lag or maybe it was the prince looking like he’d stepped out of the pages of
GQ
. Other nannies had mentioned this phenomenon of the to-die-for-good-looking prince, even though they’d barely lasted twenty-four hours. If she was still here tomorrow Sabrina made a mental note to congratulate herself on her longevity.
“There you are,” he said, glancing at his watch which probably cost as much as Sabrina’s compact car back in California. “No snakes today?”
Sabrina smiled brightly and shook her head as if another snake would be just fine.
“Good. Well, I must leave for Milan now. The chauffeur will be tied up for a few hours and they don’t have another ride today. You will take the girls to their sailing lesson. You do drive?”
“Yes of course, but…”
“They know the way to direct you. The Alfa is in the garage.” He held out his hand with keys in it and pressed them into Sabrina’s palm. She closed her fingers around the keys, warm from his touch. “I believe the activity begins at nine,” he said. “And ends some time in the afternoon.”
“Very well.”
“Don’t let the girls talk you into any deviations. They go to their class, you pick them up afterward and… they return and do whatever you have planned for them.”
“We could have an English lesson and a snack or tea, if that’s what they’re used to. I mean isn’t that what they did with Nanny Chisholm? Children need routine.” As if she’d have any better luck talking them into an activity today than yesterday.
“If you say so. After all, you’re the nanny. They also need…what is it you learned at your institute - health, nutrition and interpersonal relationships, am I right?” His gaze moved from her face to her casual outfit, his eyes lingering on her T-shirt and on down to her bare legs. She felt self-conscious. Was she wrong about the obsolete nanny outfit? Had he expected her to resemble Nanny Chisholm? “Oh, and power point too. We must not forget that.”
“Is there something wrong?” she asked, realizing his gaze was fixed on the outfit she wore. The contrast between his clothes and hers was striking. But she didn’t work in a bank in Milan. She was the nanny, she reminded herself, and she would never cross over that line again, though today it would be hard for a casual observer to know what she was or what she did.
“No,” he said brusquely. “Not yet.”
Not yet? Her heart sank as she realized he fully expected something to go wrong as it had with every other nanny so far. Sabrina was a little dazed by the way he kept staring at her, and the way he’d recounted the items on her resume in his deep voice. She managed to give him what she hoped was a confident smile.
She had to admit the sight of his crisp shirt and well-cut suit that fit his tall, well-muscled body as if it had been made for him which it most probably had – had an effect on her mind. Surely it was only the groggy feeling she had from lying awake into the small hours of the morning, then waking up with a jolt. Surely today she’d have more perspective on him and this whole Italian fairy-tale setting. Today she’d get to work with the twins, practice being interviewed, and hopefully avoid their father which was why she was there, so he could avoid them.
“Then I leave them in your hands, and you in theirs,” he added with a brief twist of his lips in what might have been an attempt at a smile. “Here is my card with my cell phone number where I can always be reached. Since I will be in meetings all day, crucial to the merger I’m working on, I trust you will not need to interrupt them.”
“Certainly not,” Sabrina said. It would take a massive disaster like an earthquake or flood to get her to phone the prince.
“That goes for the girls as well,” he said. “They are strictly forbidden to call me at work unless it is an emergency.”
“I will see that they don’t,” Sabrina said.
“If you do, you will be the first to accomplish it.”
As the chauffeur pulled the Lamborghini Sports Sedan in front of the house, she watched her employer grab a briefcase and get into the back seat of the car. He didn’t give her a glance. While she watched, he opened his briefcase and she assumed was already at work.
Had he even said good-bye to the twins? How different from her last boss who shared breakfast with his daughter, then said a fond farewell after telling her to call him anytime during the day. His assistant knew to put her through no matter when or where or what he was doing. That’s how important she was to him. She felt sorry for the prince not having that kind of relationship with his daughters.
She found the girls in the kitchen eating bread and jam and big cups of café au lait. She wondered if the caffeine was too much stimulation for their small bodies, but hesitated to make suggestions before she felt more secure in the job.