protect me from this. He can’t fight this battle for me.
And those are the only things he wants right now. He would give anything to be able to step in front of me and slay this monster. To be my hero.
He brushes his lips across my forehead and turns away to pack Nicholas’s lunch. I let him go.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen Dean on the verge of breaking. But this could be the thing that finally severs him right in half. And I need to be the one to hold us together.
I maintain control by taking a proactive approach to hiring a nanny, hoping the extra help will serve the purpose of making things easier. After interviewing and checking references, we hire Claire, a young energetic woman who has several years of nanny experience and an undergrad degree in Elementary Education.
We arrange to have her pick Bella and Nicholas up from school on the days I’m working and bring them to the café before their afternoon activities. The first week goes smoothly, and both children seem to take to her well enough.
“The nanny was Dean’s idea?” Kelsey asks me, as she sits at the front counter with her laptop and a cookie.
“You sound surprised,” I remark, pouring her a cup of coffee.
“Well, he bit my head off when I offered to take over his seat on a committee,” she says. “Told me to leave him the hell alone.”
“Oh, Kelsey, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She shakes her head, flicking her blue-streaked hair back over her shoulder. “I mean, I know him. Mr. Fix-It has his way of dealing with shit, and one of those ways is to attack. I can take it. I’m just surprised he’s the one who suggested you hire a nanny, considering how he wants to do everything.”
That’s part of the issue. Dean knows he can’t do everything this time. That’s exactly what he can’t stand.
The front door opens. Bella and Nicholas run in with shouts of greeting, and my cloudy mood falls away. Claire follows, lugging their backpacks and coats. She smiles ruefully at me as Nicholas and Bella clamber onto stools at the counter.
“In the last fifteen minutes, I’ve heard all of Nicholas’s Star Wars voices, and Bella sang me five songs she made up,” Claire says, sitting beside them. “You clearly have performers on your hands, Liv.”
I smile and set a plate of fruit salad and cookies on the counter. “Thanks for picking them up. By the way, this is our friend Kelsey. Kelsey, Claire Finney, our new nanny.”
They exchange greetings and pleasantries. I almost see Kelsey’s sharp brain clicking and whirring as she processes a first-impression evaluation of Claire, the young woman who is partly in charge of Kelsey’s beloved niece and nephew.
“What’s shakin’, bacon?” booms Archer’s voice, as he comes through the kitchen doors.
Nicholas and Bella both light up with delight—you’d think they only see Archer once a month the way they react to him—and he makes the rounds of fist-bumping and hugging as Kelsey packs up her laptop.
“We’re going to—” she starts to tell me.
“Omigod,” Claire says suddenly.
I glance at her, to find her staring at Archer. She swings her gaze from Archer to Kelsey and back again.
“I totally didn’t get…I mean, are you Archer West?” she asks.
“Of course he’s Archer West,” Nicholas says, as if that should be obvious.
“And you’re Kelsey March.” Claire shakes her head, as if she can’t believe this is just dawning on her. “I totally didn’t realize it, but of course it’s you! You’re the Storm Hunters. I watch the show all the time. That dog rescue was amazing.”
“Yes, it was,” Kelsey agrees, slanting Archer a glance.
“So are you…what, like, friends of Liv and Dean?” Claire asks.
“Archer is Dean’s brother,” I explain.
“Dean’s brother?” Claire blinks. “You’re Dean’s brother?”
Archer nods. Claire looks as if she can’t quite make the connection between suit-and-tie Professor West and rugged, storm chaser Archer with motorcycle oil staining his hands.
“I got the better one,” Kelsey tells her.
Claire cracks a smile and glances at me. “Did she?”
I shake my head and say, “I let her think so.”
Because as much as I love Archer, I know differently.
“Mommy, potty,” Bella announces.
“I can take her.” Claire climbs off the stool and holds her hand out for Bella’s. “Is the restroom at the back?”
“Yes, just down the hall to the right,” I say. “Thanks.”
Bella tucks her hand into Claire’s as they head down the corridor. Archer steps away from Nicholas and closer