Chapter Three
***Autumn***
Thelive-inchefshowed me around the house. I counted ten bedrooms and more bathrooms. There were more rooms than I could count for extra space, including a strange space made up of what could maybe be considered toys for kids, if those kids were as modern as the designers of them. They looked complicated. The woman was nice but reserved. She didn’t say anything more than she had to, and I had the feeling she didn’t care to leave the kitchen.
Greta vanished back to her space as soon as we finished the tour. She left me standing outside the library doors, a pitying smile and a wave her final goodbye.
I knocked before pushing open the door and walking into the same space I’d been in the day before. Griffin was there, the scowl on his face directed at his brother sitting across from him.
I paused, unable to make myself walk farther into the room if Con was the one sitting in the chair, but when the man turned to face me, I saw it wasn’t Con, but his twin. While both Con and Zeke looked identical, there were more than enough clues to set them apart. Like the scar that cut through Zeke’s eyebrow and the way his lips dipped into a charming smile when he saw me.
“Come in.” Griffin stood up from his desk and walked around to greet me. “Greta showed you around?”
I inched closer. “She did. She also helped me put my things in my room.”
Zeke rolled his eyes. “Someone could’ve done that for her, Griff.”
“The kids are in the playroom upstairs. I had Greta hold off on showing you that room. Come.” And just like that, Griffin strolled past me and all but snapped his fingers for me to trail behind him like a dog.
I bit my tongue and silently followed him, reminding myself that I’d signed the contract and that it was a lot of money. I had a feeling that was going to become my mantra.
Before we got to the room, the sound of screaming pierced the air. I winced but rushed forward, used to it. There was hardly a day at school without the sound. Griffin had hurried through a door at the onset of the scream, but when I got inside, he was standing still, looking down on the kid screaming on the floor.
Unsure of how to proceed, I looked at him and found him looking back at me. He seemed unsure himself, so I pushed my shoulders back and went to work.
Kneeling on the floor next to the screaming girl, I gently touched her back. “What’s wrong, honey?”
An older boy stepped forward, a matching scowl to his Daddy’s on his face. “She’s just a baby. Only babies cry like that.”
When Griffin didn’t step in to correct his son, I just shook my head at the boy. “I’ve known grown men who cry sometimes. It’s not a bad thing.”
His scowl deepened. “That’s dumb.”
Choosing to ignore him, I focused on the girl. “Caroline? That’s you, right? I’m Autumn. Can you talk to me?”
She flopped over onto her back and stared up at me with big green eyes and the cutest pout. “Jones pushed me.”
I looked over at the boy and saw his cheeks redden. “Jones? Is that true?”
“What do you care?”
“As your dad can tell you, I’m going to be here with you for the summer. So, I care. I care that your sister isn’t getting pushed around and I care that you’re not a boy who pushes people down.”
Jones looked up at his father and crossed his arms over his little chest. When Griffin nodded, the boy’s cheeks darkened even more, and then he stomped out of the room.
I looked up at Griffin, expecting him to follow Jones to talk to him, but he just stood there, watching me. It was almost like watching another clueless boy, ignorant to what he should or shouldn’t do. I’d seen plenty of parents like him, but it never annoyed me any less. Kids were just smaller people. They deserved conversation and communication, just as much as adults.
“Caroline, are you okay? Is anything hurt?” I smiled gently. “Besides your feelings? Sometimes, those are the most painful things people hurt, aren’t they?”
She sat up and nodded. “I’m okay.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, okay.”
She giggled at my silly joke and stood up, tears forgotten. “Can I show you my room? Are you my nanny? My friend, Katie, has a nanny. Her name is Margaret. Do you know Margaret?”
I stood up and scratched my head like I was thinking. “I’m not sure. Is she the Margaret with the tall pink hat who only walks backwards? Or the Margaret with the pack of cats that she walks every day?”
Laughing, Caroline took my hand and pulled at me. “Come on, silly; I have so many things to show you!”
I looked up at Griffin and tried to keep the frown off my face. “Where’s Grace?”
He stared down at his daughter for a moment before shoving his hands in his pockets. “With Con. He took her to see her mom for the day. He’ll be back tomorrow.”
I scooped Caroline into my arms. “That means I get more time to get to know you and Jones, then, doesn’t it?”
Instantly wrapping her arms around my neck like I wasn’t a complete stranger, she cheered. “Just me. Jones is in timeout.”
“Hmmm…” I looked up as I pretended to think. “I don’t remember putting anyone in timeout.”
“You did. I saw it.” Grinning, she wiggled to get down and ran out of the room. “Jones, you’re in timeout!”
“You’re not the boss of me, idiot!”
“I’m telling!” Caroline sprinted back into the room where I was still standing next to her dad and looked at me. “Jones called me a bad word.”
I glanced over at Griffin to see if he was going to step in at all, but it was clear that he wasn’t. I couldn’t help the way my eyebrow went up when he met my eyes. Shaking my head slightly, I hurried into the hallway. “Okay, we’re not going to call each other names, but we’re also not going to try to get our siblings in trouble on purpose.”
And it just…went like that. Caroline screamed and threw tantrums the moment things didn’t go her way. Some were even directed at me, with her pushing me away when I tried to comfort her. Jones hated me and made sure I knew it. It was an exhausting day of playing referee in between bouts of trying to get to know the kids.
At dinner, Greta called us over the intercom to come to the dining room. Griffin sat at the head of the table, waiting for us to show up, an annoyed look on his face. “The kids are to be at dinner, promptly.”
I pushed both kids into the kitchen. “As soon as we wash our hands, we’ll be back.”
Greta looked on as the kids touched her sink and frowned. “There are many bathrooms in this house, Miss Autumn. My sink is not for germs.”
Forcing a smile, I nodded. “Got it.”
Jones stomped back to the table and settled in his seat, while Caroline dawdled and then pouted when I steered her to her chair and helped her into it.
“You can eat with the rest of the staff in the back dining room.” And just like that, I was dismissed by Griffin.
I was furious. To be treated like trash because I was doing a job that he needed done poured gasoline on my hatred of the uber-rich. I marched back into the kitchen and met Greta’s gaze. “Back dining room?”
She must have sensed that I was just another lowly staff member. Her gaze softened and she smiled. “We are but peasants here.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You said it, sister.”
She pointed me through the door at the far side of the kitchen. “Through there. Jeremiah and Helen should already be there. And as soon as I serve the family dinner, I’ll join you.”
I nodded and went through the door, finding a handsome middle-aged man sitting across from a woman who had to be older than Granny Lane. I smiled at both of them and took one of the two empty seats. “Hey. I’m Autumn. I’m the new nanny.”
“Jeremiah. Groundskeeper.”
The woman frowned. “Helen. I’m the housekeeper.”
I looked at the pot of stew on the table and my stomach growled loudly. I’d skipped breakfast because of my nerves, and the sandwich that Greta had brought to the playroom hadn’t been enough. “This smells amazing. Greta is quite the cook, huh?”
“She’s quite the woman, all right.” Jeremiah grinned. “We’ve been married for ten years.”
“That’s amazing. Do you like getting to work together?”
Helen made an unhappy noise. “I think I’ll take my dinner to my room.”
I watched the woman leave and frowned. “Did I say something?”
With a snort, Jeremiah shook his head. “If you were Mother Theresa, she’d still have a problem with you. You’d still be too young and dressed too sexy for her liking.”
I laughed. “Well, at least I know not to waste my time baking her friendship cookies.”
“Is that a thing? Because I love cookies.”
Greta walked in and sent a warm look to her husband. “The one thing I can’t give him. I’m not big on making sweets. There are too many rules and too much precision. I like the art of making food the way I want it.”
A shrill scream pierced the air, the same scream I’d heard all day long. Sighing, I looked longingly at the stew and groaned. “That’s my cue.”
It was going to be a long summer.