Page 12 of Watching Henry

Then the doorbell rang.

She rushed off to get it, almost colliding with the blonde woman who was sprinting down the stairs and skidding on the tiled hall floor. Florence grabbed the front door handle and yanked it open, just as Hadley, whoever she was, came to a stop behind her.

“Those damn kids are tearing up the back of my car and I won't spend another second with them,” said the man at the door, his driver's cap skewed and one button of his jacket undone at the neck. “And this is the last damn time I'm driving them and I don't care if Mr. Allan does fire me for it, they're not getting in my car again.”

He turned to go then, realizing no one was following him, turned back.

“Come on then,” he said. “Which one of you's the new nanny?”

Florence finally found her tongue. “I am,” she said at exactly the same time as Hadley said exactly the same words.

“I am,” she said again louder.

“No,” Hadley said, turning green eyes on her. “I am.”

“Well, one of you had better get those kids out of my car or I'm taking the parking brake off and pushing it into the lake,” the driver said.

But Florence and Hadley were staring at each other, their mouths open, as it began to dawn on them that this job might not be what either of them had expected.

Chapter Six

Hadley stared into deep blue eyes and felt a shifting in her stomach that she couldn't quite recognize. And then there was a scream and a bang and suddenly, children were everywhere.

“What...” she started.

“Not in front of the children,” Florence hissed.

A boy appeared, stomping up to the door, his face a mask of sulkiness. He shouldered Hadley aside before she could say a thing, and then two more children were coming, one of them in tears, the other close to it.

Hadley bent down and opened her arms to the crying little girl, but her small brother clutched at her, not letting her go. Was she supposed to introduce herself as their nanny? A minute ago she wouldn't have thought twice, but now everything was upside down and the driver of the car was tearing off, leaving a boat-load of luggage in his wake, the older boy was yelling something, and Hadley's brain was about to explode.

She looked helplessly at the chaos around her, wondering what the hell to handle first, when a loud clap of the hands stopped everything in its tracks.

“Enough noise, please,” Florence barked. “All three of you over here. Introductions are both polite and necessary. Chip-chop, please, over here.”

All three children were stunned into silence and Hadley didn't blame them. She found herself shuffling into line beside them. There was something about Florence that brooked no argument at all.

“Name?” Florence said.

“Henry McLeod-Allan,” said the sulky boy.

“Pleased to meet you,” said Florence. “Name?”

“I'm Charlie and this is Emily,” offered the younger boy.

“We're twins,” added the girl, helpfully, her tears dried up.

“Pleased to meet you both. I'm Florence, I'm your new nanny.” She paused for a second, then added: “And this is Hadley.”

Hadley bit her tongue. Not in front of the children. Florence was right about one thing. Not that she was about to let this go. But she would keep grown-up things away from the kids.

“First things first,” Florence continued. “You will each pick up your own bags and take them to your rooms, please.”

“But—” Henry started.

“But nothing,” said Florence. “I'm your nanny, not your maid. And a strong young man like yourself should be more than capable of carrying his own suitcase. Perhaps even helping his younger sister.”

Henry's face turned red with anger and Hadley felt trouble brewing in the air.