Page 24 of Yours to Catch
“It’s nice to meet you, Bradley.” She thrusts her hand toward him. “I’m Sydney Grace Evans. You can call me Syd.”
He stares at her outstretched palm for a second before jumping into action to accept the gesture. “Nice to meet you too.”
Her attention pivots to the toddler at our table. “Oh. My. Gosh. Is this your baby? She’s adorable! Her pigtails are perfect. How’d you get ‘em so straight? Daddy always makes mine crooked. Eeeeep, I wanna squish her chubby cheeks.” The energetic word flow pauses. “But maybe later. She looks sticky.”
My brain snags on one portion of her excitement. “Violet and Bradley aren’t my children. I’m their nanny.”
Sydney gasps. “Really? I told my dad I needed one of those once, but I really just wanted him to fall in love with Harpy.”
“Totally worked.” The blonde remarks while flashing the bling on her ring finger.
Sydney snuggles against her. “Uh-huh. She’s my real mom now.”
“You’ll have to tell me more about that story when there’s more time. I have to get these troublemakers home soon.” A thought occurs to me as I glance at the thinning afternoon crowd. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school, Syd?”
“Nope. The teachers needed the day to be students.” She shrugs.
“Staff development,” Harper explains.
Sydney skips to the empty chair next to Bradley and plops down. “Do you go to Knox Creek Elementary too?”
His throat works with a thick swallow. “Um, no. Not yet.”
Syd’s eyes go wide. “Oh. My. Gosh. You’re younger than me?”
“I guess?”
“Bradley starts kindergarten in the fall.” I sniffle in exaggeration purely for his benefit. The little turkey loves to tease me about how fast he’s growing.
“Uh-huh, I’m getting really super big.” He wiggles his brows in my direction.
“That means you’re ready for school,” Sydney says. “I’m in kindergarten now. Miss Tiffany is the best. Make sure you’re in her class. Oh, oh! On Tuesday afternoons, we get free time. But only if we’re good listeners. And then…”
She proceeds to tell him everything he needs to know to survive. From the tastiest lunch options to shortcuts in the hallway. Even Violet is captivated by the animated intel. The siblings gobble every crumb Syd is willing to drop.
With the kiddos distracted, I point to the remaining chair for Harper to occupy. “Take a load off.”
“Aren’t you leaving?” But she accepts the offer to sit.
“In a few. I’d hate to cut off Sydney while she’s on a roll.”
Harper laughs. “If you don’t, she’ll just keep going.”
“Five more minutes won’t hurt.” I check the time on my phone.
It’s only then that I remember Garrett’s text from earlier. The unread message notification dominates the screen. Curiosity gets the best of me. A quick swipe and tap exposes his latest phony find. My eyes roll at the image. Harper catches my reaction and raises her brows.
“It’s from your boss. He’s been sending me pictures of guys.”
“As potential dates?” Disbelief shades her voice to a muted gray.
“Apparently.”
“Why do you sound skeptical?”
“See for yourself.” I show her the most recent decoy that Garrett expects me to believe is a legitimate candidate.
Harper glances at the photo. A snort is her initial reaction. “Isn’t he a model?”