I needed to remind myself that not everyone was Stan; that not everyone was going to tempt women with promises of marriage and romance and a dependable, stable relationship, and then never fulfill those promises. Mo seemed genuinely happy. Who was I to take that away from her with all of my questions?

“Nothing has been decided, you know,” Will murmured as he pushed his food around with his fork. He didn’t look me in the eyes as he said the words, almost like he was ashamed that he said them at all. “We still need to run a background check, call your employers for the past five years, that kind of thing.”

Mo rolled her eyes. “What do you think I did all day while Thea was at school and you were off working?” she asked. “I gave you a folder with all of that information. Did you even read it?”

“I’m not very fond of reading,” he said slowly.

“Hence, the need to employ someone to read Thea books every night,” she mumbled and then leaned over in my direction conspiratorially. “This is what you have to deal with, unfortunately. I know I told you it would only be one child you had to take care of; the truth of the matter is, it’s two. You have a mature, intelligent young girl over there who stays active and loves to read, and you have a big baby over there who avoids all of his problems by working long hours.”

I smiled, but my eyes remained on Will. “I actually understand that, Will,” I told him, hoping my small smile was sincere enough to convey what I couldn’t say.

Will locked eyes with me. I felt my breath leave me. He had the most beautiful eyes. There was understanding in the pale green depths, but he didn’t say anything, which I actually appreciated. Ever since I left Stan, I had been getting lots of different advice from everyone who thought to share their opinions and offer advice, like Marlene and the other women I worked with at the school. I understood this was a small town, but I barely knew these people who made comments about Stan’s history and how the fact that he actually moved me out here was a big deal, truly.

“Will’s bitterness has left me craving something sweet,” Mo announced, standing. “Who’s ready for some dessert?”

“I am, I am!” Thea bellowed, raising her hand like an eager child yearning to answer a question in class. She turned to me, her bright eyes shining with happiness. “Auntie Mo makes the best chocolate cake in the whole world. She adds extra chocolate chips.”

“Hey!” Mo called from the kitchen, her tone good-natured. “That’s my secret ingredient! Don’t be giving away all my secrets!”

“She has to learn how to cook it when you leave,” Thea replied as if it was an obvious concept to understand.

“Let’s not bring up Auntie Mo leaving right now, Thea,” Will murmured in a low voice before taking a long sip of his water.

I knew he was still mourning the loss of his wife. Mo had talked to me about it briefly during our earlier meeting the day before without going into too much detail. I couldn’t imagine what that was like, losing a spouse to cancer and not being able to stop it, despite having money and insurance. I didn’t take his dismissal of me personally. I knew that being a widower and then having someone else so closely related to his wife leave two years later was almost akin to being abandoned twice by the same person. He might push me away because he thought I would leave eventually since everyone else did. I wondered if that was why he threw himself into work. If that was why he avoided Thea as well, afraid something would happen to her and he couldn’t prevent her from leaving him as well. Or worse - she chose to leave him.

I didn’t quite think of this as a permanent position. Thea would be able to take care of herself in roughly six years. She wouldn’t need me, but this might be the best job I could get in order to save up quickly and go home.

Mo interrupted my thoughts by depositing a slab of cake in front of me. After one forkful, I knew Thea was right. The cake was perfect. Not too rich, but just enough to be sweet. We washed it down with milk and after she was done, Thea excused herself to brush her teeth. Mo went with her to help.

“Listen,” Will began when it was just the two of us. His tone was firm but warm and his eyes were no-nonsense. “Forgive me if this comes across as dickish, but I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. Thea and I are looking for someone who can commit to our family. After her mother...” His voice choked on the words and I swallowed hard. The last thing he needed right now was pity. “Mo is irreplaceable. Megyn was...” He shook his head. “I don’t want you to feel the pressure of living up to what they’ve given us, what they’ve done for us, because you will never match up. And that’s okay. But before I allow you into my home, before I allow you to develop a close relationship with my daughter, I need to be able to look you in the eye and believe you when you tell me that this job is something serious to you. If you’re planning on leaving in the next six months, hell, even a year, then this job isn’t for you. I’m not saying you won’t get sick days or vacation time, but I just - we just - need someone we can count on for the long haul.” He paused, giving me a long look. I wouldn’t necessarily consider it hard, but it was certainly serious. “Is that person you?”

I should’ve been honest with him. I should’ve told him that I had no idea what I was going to do tomorrow, let alone in a few weeks, let alone in a year. But there was something about him, something about this family, I wanted to be close to. And being needed after everything that happened with Stan was something I craved, something I yearned for.

“Yes,” I told him. “You can depend on me. Like I said, job security.”