It’d be delightful, if his pearly blues didn’t twist knots inside me. “I want you full time for a few days next month, if you can swing it.” He gnaws his candy cane halfway down, helping Mia open hers, never taking his eyes off me. “And if you can’t, how does overtime sound? I need the extra hours.”
“We’ll see,” I say, backing away slowly, trying to hide how stunned I am. He’s already asking for more? I averaged over thirty hours this week, every day but Sunday. I’m not sure how much leeway I’ll get from home, knowing dad can’t look after mom constantly.
“What’s holding you back?” he asks, pulling Mia closer. Her smile is gone. She’s less than a minute from dozing in his arms by the looks of it, and his voice drops to a rough whisper. “School? Home? Already planning to jump ship?”
Now, he’s just being an asshole. My fingers go taught against my skin. “I told you, I’m flexible, as long as I’m being paid and treated fairly. But as you know, I have a situation at home –“
“Yeah, your mom. Tell you what, how much would it take to get your family a real nurse to look after her part-time? Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”
Red flags beat me in the face. I’m not even shocked by what he’s said because it doesn’t compute on any level.
He wants to pay out oodles of extra money why, exactly?
It’s not even the mystery of how he thinks he can afford it on a freelance machinist’s salary that’s bugging me. He clearly makes good money doing what he does, but nothing justifies what he’s offering.
“Talk to me, Red. Before I dole out your pay and put her down for a nap. You look like you just got run over.” He stands, bouncing the lazy little girl gently on his shoulder. She’s sleepy, lazily sucking her candy. “Why are you passing up real help?”
“Because it’s completely ludicrous, Marshal!” It comes out louder than I intend, making Mia shift in his arms. “You want me to work for you full time? After a single week? Jesus. Look, I like spending time with her but…I do have a life. I’m after a career. Every day is a struggle to get on the right track.”
“Then you weren’t listening. Your problem is your sick mother, yeah?” He steps closer, silent, blue eyes blazing through me until I finally nod. But he doesn’t understand. Lord, not even close. “I just said I’d help take care of it. I want you to move in.”
“Move. In?” I mouth the words slowly, searching for their meaning and failing to find it.
Okay, so he isn’t just insane in the eccentric fringe weirdo sense. He’s delusional. Decoupled from reality. Full on hallucinating if this isn’t some kind of sick joke.
“Right. You, me, Mia, here.” There’s no humor in his eyes. They shift around the room, landing on his daughter, and me again last. It’s a look that tells me to just shut up and accept this madness. “You follow? I’m talking the whole nine yards. Lodging. Better pay. Family benefits. Just for a few weeks, so I’m able to take on a special job I’ve had on the back burner forever.”
“Oh. You didn’t say temporary…” Does that even make it better? In theory, sure. “I’ll have to think about this. Get back to you after Christmas?”
He isn’t happy. He wanted an answer today.
The blank, sour disappointment on his face tells me I might be jeopardizing this whole arrangement. Too bad. I can’t agree to move into the Castoff’s house without even talking to my family first!
Not without breaking the news as gently as I possibly can. Jackson’s disgust alone will be a hurricane.
“I’ll give you till New Year’s. Won’t be needing the full time gig for a few weeks, anyway. I’ll be busy traveling for awhile next month, and I really need someone to hold down everything here full time.”
“You want to leave Mia here? With me?” That surprises me more than anything else.
They’re inseparable. He hates to even let her out of his sight when she isn’t asleep or playing next to me.
He’s just silent. I don’t have a clue what that means.
Then his eyes break, signaling a whole new level of what the hell is going on here? I’ve never seen him look away before. “This isn’t easy for me to ask. If it weren’t so damn important, I wouldn’t think about it twice. Truth be told, I loathe the thought of leaving her alone anywhere. She’s been by my side since the day she was born. But I don’t think she’d handle the trip well, and I need to get this done.”
“Daddy? You’re…going? Away?” Mia looks up, concerned by the darkness entering his tone.
He kisses her forehead. “Not for long, honeybee. Nothing to worry over right now. Promise.” His eyes are small, pained, reluctant.