CHAPTER 20
Emma
Mom came with us to our new house. I had to admit, considering it was at the back of the main house, it was much larger than our old house. Larger than Mom’s three-bedroom bungalow. She laughed and asked if she could move in.
“Here we are,” Mom said as she cast her eyes around the living room.
“Here we are.” I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes. I inhaled her perfume, Chanel No. 5, her favorite, and I thought about how when I went to bed and I woke up in the morning, I wouldn’t see her face. For the first time, it dawned on me.
While the bungalow was great, the only problem was the distance—it was just under a hundred miles from Mom’s house. The nerves settled in when I got there, and I actually realized that this was it; Mia and I were officially moving on. Things were in boxes, everything felt new, and I was nervous as hell.
My mind had only been focused on one thing. Or rather on one man, Mason Johnson. He’d kissed me, and I had to think about the best way to move forward. After seeing where Mia and I would be living, I wasn’t willing to let my emotions get in the way and ruin everything. Besides, it wasn’t like anything could really develop with Mason anyway.
The Johnsons seemed to only marry inside their circle. And I was the help. For that fact alone, I would never be accepted into the family. I would always be the outcast, and I should keep my thoughts to business only and nothing else.
“You’re thinking about him again?” Mom questioned as she held my embrace. I was so lost in my thoughts that I forgot I was holding her still. I released her and we flopped on the brown leather sofa.
Dammit, I thought as I ran my hand over the top of the sofa. The quality felt like nothing I had ever touched. Then, as I cast my eyes on the cream-colored walls and matching carpet, it dawned on me that this was going to be my world. Modern, expensive, and totally different to the world I had been used to. I looked around and noticed everything I ever needed or could need had been provided: the cutlery, plates, sheets, towels, and even toilet paper was in the house.
I felt pathetic, like a child who had been spoon-fed. The boxes were filled with our belongings and I thought by bringing them here they would be emptied. I looked at them, puzzled about what to do with them. Everything of mine would clash with the beautiful furniture and ruin the carefully selected décor.
“Have you seen Mason since he came to dinner?”
“No.” I shook my head. I hadn’t seen him since. I wanted to keep it professional. For once in my life I was going to make sure that I put my daughter’s welfare first. I wasn’t going to let her down again.
“Elizabeth made it clear that I need to keep professionalism intact and I should remain in my job or try and seek a relationship with him outside of work. But no matter what, I should never think of mixing the two.”
“Now you listen to me,” she said as she grabbed my hand. I looked her deep into her eyes and all I could find was sincerity and kindness. “Your sister’s right. I will not deny that. You took up the role as a tutor. But I saw the way he looked at you. I saw the way he kissed you…”
“But…” Wait, how did she see how he kissed me? Did she know about last night too?
“Let me finish, take up this role. Do everything right, but keep your distance, for now. Take it one step at a time. You are still vulnerable. Only a few months ago, I couldn’t get you out of bed on the weekend. I want my little girl to be the woman she was once before. You are stronger than that and you can’t take any more disappointment, especially from men. Focus on yourself and become the woman you always were meant to be.”
I nodded, as I knew exactly what she meant. She knew how I felt, and her words meant so much to me that it all came home. I was smarter than I was giving myself credit for.
Being Liam’s tutor did not just involve his lesson plans. It also involved organizing all the schedules of the staff, ensuring the Johnsons were never disturbed by their presence. I had to create the schedules, I had to help take care of Liam, and foremost, I had to take care of my daughter, Mia. I had my training already and I had scored 100% on some of the tests. Most of them were based on common sense, though.
“If Liam has choir practice at five and his piano teacher is scheduled to come at six, what should be the protocol?”
Answer: Reschedule his piano lesson for the day and for future appointments.
That one was obvious!
The bulk of my training entailed finding out everyone’s schedule in the house, from the gardener right down to the carpet cleaners. The idea was to make sure most of the cleaning was done when they were not around, and to ensure that Liam participated in at least two activities a week and had his tutoring sessions with me every day. Jesus, the boy was only six years old and he was more advanced in foreign languages than I was at twenty-five.
I could tell easily that Liam was being groomed to be the next leader of the clan. But the problem was, it was by his aunt. Not by his father. His father seemed to take a back seat when it came to his son’s education, social circuit, and everything else, and I wanted to know why.
I grabbed Mom and hugged her again on the sofa. She whispered in my ear, “You have nothing to be scared about; you’re not going to fail.”