Peeking into the bedroom, I confirmed Ana and Isa were asleep and closed the door. Today wasn’t a bad day, after all. They were still shy and responded reluctantly, but they didn’t argue when I informed them it was time for bed and didn’t make a fuss when I established it was time to put away the tablets they were now fascinated with and have dinner.

As I strolled to my bedroom down the hall from the room the girls shared, I tried not to judge Jarrod for his approach to his children, but I couldn’t help it. Having spent most of the afternoon with the children, it wasn’t hard to see they were neglected. They had people around them, and I noticed the housekeeper looked out for their wellbeing, coming to check on them even though I was with them, but they were connected to no one except each other.

Although Jarrod had hired me to take care of the kids, I’d be damned if I exonerated him from his fatherly duties. They were his children, and if I was going to do my job properly, I would ensure father and daughters spent ample time together and built a relationship. How aloof he was with them made sense when he explained he hadn’t known about them until recently.

He provided them with whatever they needed financially, but his demeanor showed he wasn’t interested in kids before the children arrived on his doorstep. And I believed the children could sense that. If he wanted a better relationship with his daughters, he would have to make an effort to show them he might not have planned for their arrival in his life, but he loved and cared for them.

As I walked into the bedroom, I heard my phone ringing. Thinking it was Mom, I rushed to get it because I’d completely forgotten to call her to let her know I’d reached the house safely. My finger hovered over the button to answer the call because it wasn’t my mother but Jarrod. Before I could swipe it, the call rang off to a missed call.

“Stupid, why are you so flustered?” I asked myself and almost dropped the phone when it rang again. I stood there with the small device in my hand before I realized it would ring off a second time if I didn’t answer. “Hello, Jarrod.”

“Laurel, sorry for calling so late,” he responded. “I meant to call you after dinner, but I got caught up with some colleagues I ran into.”

“That’s fine. I’m not in bed yet.”

An awkward silence followed my statement before he cleared his throat. “Ah…well, I was calling to check on the kids. How was the day?”

“It was fine,” I replied.

He sighed. “That means they aren’t responding, doesn’t it?”

“No, it means they’re fine, Jarrod,” I told him and sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t expect miracles my first day. They’re both shy kids, but we’ll get there eventually.”

“There’s something I forgot to mention,” he stated. “The girls are homeschooled. Their last tutor quit and it would be good if you could find one for the rest of the term. In the meantime, do you think you could ensure their education is not being neglected?”

“They don’t go to school with other kids?” I asked in surprise. No wonder they were this shy and didn’t socialize well, but I wasn’t about to lecture him about his choices.

“No, I’d rather they stay at home.”

“Actually, I thought of taking them out tomorrow,” I told him. “Am I allowed to do that?”

“Umm, I’m not sure they’re ready for that,” he responded, doubt coating his words.

“I wouldn’t do anything to harm your girls, Jarrod,” I said plainly. “And if you believed I would, you wouldn’t have hired me for this position. Also, could we do a bit of redecorating?”

“Well, that’s—”

“Jarrod, the shower is all yours.”

My breath hitched at the familiar feminine voice that had interrupted him. Though a bit muffled and stated from a distance, I couldn’t mistake Pearl’s voice. So they were together? In the same room, from the sound of it. Had he really gone to a conference or had he merely wanted the time to spend with his lover? I shouldn’t be shocked because I had long since determined they were lovers. I was appalled, though, that he’d left his kids the first night with a complete stranger so he could have sex with a woman he could have any time since they worked in the same building together, her desk across from his office.

“I- I’ve got to go,” Jarrod said to me, a bit distracted. “Umm. I’m glad you’re there with the girls. Do whatever makes them happy. Even if that means redecorating the whole house. Just leave somewhere for me to sleep when I get home. If not for you, Laurel, I wouldn’t be here and have the opportunity to do this.”

This? Sleeping with his employee? “Good night, Jarrod,” I told him on a confused sigh and hung up before he could respond. I didn’t like the way I was bothered about him and Pearl.

Maybe I had taken to calling him Jarrod way too soon. Maybe I should think of him as Mr. Simpson, my boss. How else would I get my crazy brain and heart in sync and realize he was just the boss? Nothing else.

It didn’t matter to me what he wanted to do with Pearl and where they did it. Didn’t matter if he peeled her clothes off, revealing her perfect body. Pearl was a beautiful woman, and I understood why he was taken with her. They suited each other.

Pushing Jarrod from my mind, I settled in my favorite sleeping position, on my tummy. After counting about fifty sheep, I fell into a fitful sleep. When I woke up, feeling groggy, I convinced myself it had to do with sleeping in a new bed and nothing to do with my boss. First on the agenda was to call my mom and let her know I was fine. I listened to her scolding that she had been about to call the police and report me missing before she calmed down enough to ask me about my new home.

We chatted for several minutes, then I told her I had to go check on the kids and hung up. I showered quickly and plaited my hair into a French braid down my back. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, I searched for Ana and Isa. They were eating breakfast the housekeeper had prepared.

“Ana, Isa, good morning,” I greeted them.

“Our mom used to call us that,” Isabelle stated with a bleak look on her face before bowing her head sadly.

“Oh, girls, I’m so sorry,” I apologized, fretting that I’d done something wrong. “I should have asked you if I could shorten your names. I won’t use it again if you don’t want me to.”

“No, we like it,” Anabelle replied, spooning her cereal but not eating it.

“Good, then I won’t stop,” I told them with a smile. “Now, what would you like to do today?”

“Ms. Snow,” the housekeeper interrupted, entering the dining room. “I’m preparing eggs for your breakfast, which I hope is fine. How do you take your eggs?”

“Oh, you don’t have to make me breakfast,” I started to protest, getting to my feet. “I can make it myself.”

“Nice of you to volunteer, but it’s my job to do the cooking,” Mrs. Philpott said with a pleasant smile, then frowned at the children. “Anabelle and Isabelle usually take cereal in the mornings unless I can talk them into trying something else.”

“In that case, I prefer my eggs lightly scrambled with parmesan, if that’s okay,” I informed her, assuming my seat once more. “Thanks, Mrs. Philpott.”

“No problem.”

She left and I noticed Isabelle making a disgruntled face. “What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“We’re not babies,” she replied in an offended manner that made me grin.

“I’m sure Mrs. Philpott didn’t literally mean babies,” I told her gently.

“But they treat us like babies,” Isabelle insisted.

“Yes.” Anabelle picked up where her sister left off. “Like we don’t know what’s going on.”

“What’s going on?” I pried, my tone even so as not to alarm them. Their faces were so serious; what they wanted to say was obviously big.

“That he never wanted us,” Anabelle answered, her eyes downcast and her tone somber.

“Who never wanted you?” I asked for clarification although I had a pretty good idea who they were talking about. My heart ached for these two children.

“Mr. Simpson,” Isabelle replied, her tone so pitiful that I wanted to cry.

“You mean your father,” I clarified, using his title. “That’s not true. Your father cares about you very much. Look at the way he provides you with everything you need. And didn’t he get me, the most awesome nanny, to be here with you when he’s at work?”

They didn’t reply, but I knew they were thinking about what I had said. Their faces were somber and reflected an expression too weary to belong to children.

“And your dad said we could go out today,” I informed them. “We have a lot to do. How’d you like to visit the Children’s Aquarium? We could stop for ice cream after, then return and start working on your rec room.”

“What are we going to do to the rec room?” Anabelle asked. Both were staring at me curiously, and I was glad I had piqued their interest.

“I thought you could create artwork on the walls,” I informed them. “We can stop by Target and get some supplies so we can get to work.”

“Won’t Mr. Simpson be mad?” Isabelle asked.

I thought of what Jarrod had told me when he called last night. He’d said I should do whatever made his children happy, and if they had input in the rec room’s decor, they would be more comfortable there. We could also stop by Best Buy and look at a television more suitable for their age.

After breakfast, I followed the girls to their room to supervise them while they dressed. I was relieved I didn’t leave their outfits up to them. They had a double-door, walk-in closet full of clothes and shoes and clearly didn’t know where to start. I snagged pairs of jeans for them and helped them to decide what they wanted to wear. When they chose different shirts, I smiled inwardly because it showed me they could make choices independent of each other.

“Can you braid my hair like yours?” Isabelle asked me when they were finished dressing.

“Sure thing, sweetheart. I’ll do yours too, Ana.”

Their hair braided, I asked the girls to meet me in the hall and collected my purse from my room. Jarrod had advised me not to use my personal money on the girls, but I wanted them to have a good time and the credit card he was having set up wouldn’t be available until during the week, and these kids deserved some fun.

I searched for Henry and asked where I could find my car, but he instead called me a driver, insisting the children had their own personal chauffeur. I would have preferred to drive, but the butler didn’t seem inclined to give in, so we piled into the backseat of the Cadillac Escalade.

The day turned out to be great, and I gave myself a pat on the back for a job well done. As reserved as Anabelle and Isabelle were, they couldn’t contain their excitement at the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park. I was just as fascinated as they were since I’d never been there before either. We trekked through all six exhibit areas, me snapping pictures of them, their eyes round in amazement as they took in all the aquarium had to offer.

We spent two hours there before I took them to an ice cream shop as I’d promised them I would. I bought three cups for us and we made our ice cream. I teased them about their toppings of gummy worms, sprinkles, wafers, skittles, and other sweets they had to choose from. Our ice creams were weighed, and I paid for them before we sat down. While we ate, I showed them the pics I’d taken of them at the aquarium and was pleased at the way they giggled at their appearance.

We washed our sticky hands before piling in the Escalade again to go to Best Buy. I allowed them to point out the one they wanted for the rec room, ensuring it wasn’t too difficult for them, and used my credit card to buy it, confident Jarrod would pay for it. They also dug into the container of DVDs and selected some cartoons and kids’ shows they wanted to watch.

On our way to Target, my phone buzzed, a text message from Jarrod.

Good day, Laurel. How are you and the girls? I trust everyone is fine.

I sensed worry in the tone of the message and smiled. The girls were wrong. He did care about them or he wouldn’t be worried about me taking them out and getting them upset for one reason or another.

I quickly typed a response. We’re all fine. We went to the aquarium and they enjoyed it. Also bought an age-appropriate TV for them.

On second thought, I sent several of the photos I’d snapped of them and one of all three of us that I’d asked a lady to take.

“That was your dad wanting to know how you’re enjoying your day,” I informed them, and they became shy again. But their eyes seemed more hopeful and less doubtful. And that was when I vowed that whatever happened, these girls would bond with their father if it took me the whole ten years for them to do it. They’d lost their mother, and Jarrod was the only one in their lives. They all needed each other.

As soon as he returned from his trip, I would set the plan in motion for a father to begin bonding with his daughters.