“It got Mary to shut up,” Willa replied.
“Willa, how about this?” asked April. “Why don’t you finish your milk and we can go for a walk. It’s a really nice day out, maybe we can go by the natural history museum?”
Now this was a surprise.
“Wait, you want to reward her?” asked Shauna.
April gave Willa’s shoulder a squeeze before stepping away and approaching me and Shauna.
“April,” said Shauna. “I know you’re trying to make a good first impression, but I’m not sure this is a good idea.” She spoke low enough that Willa couldn’t hear her.
I kept my eyes on Willa. Shauna was good at her job, but Willa was now April’s responsibility. I wanted to see what she had in mind.
“It’s not rewarding her,” April said. “I…know what it’s like to be a girl her age, having trouble fitting in. And believe me, I got punished more than a few times for acting out like that. But there’s something more going on, and looking back with me, all I really wanted was someone to talk to.”
“Go on,” I said.
“And we could use the chance to get to know each other a little better. I can take her out for a while, hear what’s going on in her life.”
I considered the idea. It was true that I hadn’t been able to spend as much time with Willa, especially in the years since taking over the business. My first inclination was to punish, but maybe April was on the right track.
Either way, it would be a good chance to see what the two of them were like one-on-one.
“All right,” I said. “You’re not off the hook for this just yet, but you can go out with April.”
“Really?” asked Willa. “To the museum?”
“Sure. But you need to be back by five for dinner. And we’re going to discuss this issue when you’re home.”
“Yes!” Willa hopped out of her chair.
“Come on,” said April. “Let’s get washed up and ready to go. First one ready gets to decide where we eat.”
“Pizza!” said Willa as she hurried from the room.
April followed, glancing over at me as she did. Without so much as a single conscious thought on my part, my eyes tracked down her body as she left, moving from her hips to her ass. She was dressed in a pair of professional but tight slacks, her curves enough to make my cock twitch.
Not the thing I needed to be thinking about at that moment.
“You think that’s a good idea?” asked Shauna once the two of them were gone.
“It’s not what I would’ve gone with. But then again, everything I do with Willa tends to make things worse.”
Shauna’s expression turned serious. “And the other thing…about…you know.”
“I know. The kids I’m not so concerned about—there’ve been rumors about the Ryder family since I was her age. And I dealt with them in a similar fashion. I’m not too worried about it.”
“Right. But what about April? If she’s going to be living here…I mean, we don’t know if she’s the, ah, curious type or not.”
“Keeping my affairs a secret is no problem. And I might have to enlist you to help.”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Throw her off the scent if the issue comes up. But don’t be too obvious about it.”
“Right.” A curious expression appeared on Shauna’s face. “Maybe if you want to talk about it a little more, we could do it over drinks in a bit. Maybe a cocktail or two before dinner while Willa and April are out?”
I winced internally. Shauna and I had never been a thing—much to her chagrin. Sure, she was a very attractive woman, not to mention as sharp as they come. But she’d never appealed to me in that way. Few women did.