day, says over the music, a rousing rendition of “The Wild Rover.”
“Thanks,” I call, pulling out my notepad and pen, adjusting the strap on my wrist brace. I’ve found that my wrist does perfectly fine as long as I baby it at work, so that’s what I’m doing. I look to table six—and do a double-take. “Carly?”
A young woman with purple hair so vibrant she nearly matches Finn’s car is sitting with her profile to me. At the sound of her name, she looks up—and surprise is chased over her face by delight. “Mrs. Bennet!”
She stands, I meet her at the table, and she throws her arms around my shoulders. “I miss your family!” she cries.
I squeeze her before pulling back. “It’s Ms. Taylor now. I’m divorced. And man have we missed you too! You ruined us for all normal babysitters, no joke.”
Carly turns to the man seated across from her. He’s smiling at us, holding out a toy to a toddler in a height chair. “Hon, you remember Ms. Taylor from when I was babysitting.”
He smiles at me. “I do. Nice to see you again, ma’am.”
I bite my lip, trying to recall his name. “Antonio?”
He’s just opening his mouth to provide his introduction, but he stops, brightening. “That’s me.”
I slap my hand over my heart, looking between them. “You two were the cutest couple, and you still are!” I look down at their baby. “And who is this?”
“This is our Emiliano,” Carly says proudly. “And it is so nice that we’re getting to see you! I still talk about you guys all the time.”
I pull her into another fast hug and let her go. “It is nice.” I’m grinning ear to ear. “All right. Let’s get you guys fed.” I take their order, and I’m about to head for the kitchen to put it in, but before I do, I share, “And really, I’m just Susan to you. You know, since you don’t work for me anymore.”
Carly’s smile is rueful. “I wish I did. Man, that was a great job. Charlotte has to be all grown up now.” Her eyes bug out. “And Maggie! She was like… eleven months?”
“She’s six now. And Charlotte, some days, seems all grown up all right. She’s fourteen.” I tap my order pad on the corner of their table and smile at their son before looking between the couple. “Carly, if you ever want to get into babysitting again, let me know.”
“I actually still babysit,” she says. “We’ve been talking about setting up a daycare, but for now I go to whoever asks for me. Most kids though,” she grimaces and looks at me, bewildered. “People do not raise their kids right. Your girls spoiled me for everyone else,” she claims, laughing.
I just look at her. “Are you serious? You’re still taking jobs?”
Finn murmurs, “Gabh mo leithscéal,” as he moves past me, his version of excuse me as he leads a big group to their table. That he’s on the floor means we’re filling up, so I need to hustle.
Carly folds her hands together like she’s praying and leans forward. “After Christmas, I’ve got nobody lined up. I would babysit for you in a heartbeat. Name the time and the day.”
I rip off a sheet of order paper and flip it over, writing down my number. I meet her eyes. “Consider yourself hired. We’ll see you after Christmas.”
CHAPTER 39
LUCAN
“Welcome home, Susan,” I call out in greeting as I bound up the basement stairs.
She’s shucking her sneakers by the front door, looking work-weary. At the sight of me or the sound of my voice, she smiles. “Hey, you, I have to talk to you. Were you working?”
I nod. “Next week’s notes. But this time for Sunday school. I’m long overdue to switch places with our Youth Pastor.”
“Ah. I’d almost pay to see you teaching them. You light up when you’re around kids.” She rubs at her ankle absently, which makes me want to tend to the spot for her. Just walk up to her, have her wrap her arms around my shoulders to brace herself, and I’d raise her leg and rub her ankle (and probably think really unvirtuous thoughts the moment my skin met hers). More and more, I’m experiencing drives to take care of her, and it’s slowly driving me nuts to clamp down on my instincts. “Anyway, I have some good news,” she says with a tired grin. “In a few weeks, you’ll be able to go back to devoting all your