“Since when did you become my favorite brother?”
He smirked. “Haven’t I always been?”
I checked the time on my laptop. “Sorry. Can’t. I have to get home so I can meet the new nanny.”
“New nanny? William doesn’t need a nanny.”
“Yes,” I said. “He does. Now that I’m CEO of Becker Technologies, I have a lot more
responsibilities. There are going to be a lot more late nights, a lot more early morning board meetings, and dinners that I have to attend. I need someone around to take care of him when I’m at work, so I’m getting a full-time nanny.”
My older brother, David, had very recently stepped down from his title of CEO so that he could spend more time with his new fiancé, Lily, who was going to give birth to their first child in the coming month or two. The job had been handed down to me, and I was actually pretty excited for all the new responsibility, even though it meant I had to be away from home a lot more than I would’ve liked. My dad, the founder of the company, promised me things would calm down after the first few months of my being the navigator of the ship, and I trusted him. He and I had a troubled relationship, but he had always been a straight shooter when it came to matters of his business.
“Alright,” Adam said. “Whatever you say. He’s your kid, after all. Where’d you find the new nanny?”
“Lily actually recommended her.”
He nodded. “Good. Because I saw this headline the other day about one of those nanny sites, I guess they were having a lot of problems with nannies coming in and stealing stuff, ignoring the children, and reporting hours that they never worked.”
“This Stephanie woman comes very highly recommended,” I said. “Lily has been going on about her for days now, so as long as she lives up to all the hype, I think both William and I will be just fine. Although, I know he’ll have a hard time letting go of Mrs. Mecham.”
“Mrs. Mecham!” Adam laughed. “Now that’s a blast from the past. I haven’t thought about her in years. You’re telling me that’s who has been watching William up until now?”
“The one and only.” I started to pack up my things. “I was in a pinch when we all decided to go to Hawaii last year, and thankfully Dad still had her number. I gave her a call, and she was more than happy to watch William for me. They had a great time, and she’s been my go-to babysitter ever since.”
“How old is she?” he asked. “I mean, I know she was young when she used to nanny for us when we were kids, but that was thirty odd years ago now. Doesn’t she have kids of her own?”
“Never did,” I said. “I don’t think she could. But I don’t know for sure. It seemed rude to ask. But yeah, she’s in her sixties now, but she’s still one hell of a nanny.”
“Why not just keep her on then?”
“I don’t think she has the energy to be on call as much as I would need someone to be available. Plus, I want someone who can move into the house.” I smiled and threw my coat over my shoulder. “I have all that extra space, so it just makes the most sense to get someone who can live there with us, you know?”
“So this woman you are meeting today,” Adam said, walking me to the elevators. “She’s going to be moving in with you… as in, she’ll be living with you and William… all the time.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, what’s so weird about that?”
“Is she pretty?”
I balked. “I don’t know! I’ve never met her. But it doesn’t matter if she’s pretty or not. I’m hiring her to watch my son, not to be my date to the next big Becker Tech fundraiser.”
“Why can’t she do both?”
I gave him a look. “I’m not having this conversation with you.” The elevator doors opened and I went inside. “Don’t you have work to do anyway?”
He shrugged. “Work, schmerk. I don’t think I’ll get in trouble if I’m caught away from my desk for a little while.” He winked at me. “I’m pretty good friends with the CEO.”
“Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean I’m above firing you. Remember that.”
“You wouldn’t dare fire yourfavoritebrother!”
I shook my head and the doors closed.
I rode all the way down to the parking garage, got in my dark blue SUV, and drove to my townhouse in the suburbs just outside of downtown San Francisco.
ChapterThree
STEPHANIE