Page 20 of Sweet Surrender
“I happen to like vanilla. It’s an underrated classic,” Eliza said as she caught Rowyn eyeing her dessert.
“Could’ve fooled me,” Rowyn said before her eyes closed in exasperation with herself.
“You just say whatever comes into your head, don’t you?” Eliza asked.
Her tone was more curious than annoyed, thankfully.
“Sort of, yeah. I have ADHD, and it can be a sometimes fortunate and sometimes unfortunate side effect. See, there I go again. Oversharing.”
Rowyn took a deep breath and tried to quell the immediate shame that washed through her. She wasn’t ashamed of having ADHD, which was something she had worked through a longtime ago. However, a lifetime of oversharing with people who didn’t deserve to know so much about her and having it used against her had left its mark.
“Thank you for telling me. I appreciate you trusting me with that information.”
Rowyn was taken aback by the words and the sincerity in the look Eliza gave her. In all the times she had shared that part of herself with someone, not once had they ever thanked her. As if knowing was a privilege and not a burden she had set upon them.
“You’re…welcome. I know you might have concerns or questions and I’m happy to answer them, but it won’t affect the job I do with the kids. Not in the ways you might think anyway,” Rowyn said quickly.
Often, she had had employers worry that she’d forget to feed or collect the children, or that she would spend her time distracted and wandering away from them. It took time to educate people about what ADHD looked like in reality, and the many tools Rowyn had in place to ensure she was able to do her job to the best of her ability. As well as the many ways it made her the best at what she did.
“I’m not worried about that. You’ve only been here a week, and you already have Elliot understanding some maths and Amelia tying her hair up for school without massive tantrums. From where I stand, I’m more curious about the magic powers you possess. Plus, my brother is autistic and has ADHD, and he’s the only other person either of them will listen to.”
Rowyn smiled and warmed at the compliment. Her interest was piqued hearing about Eliza’s brother, and it further added to the growing inkling that Rowyn had. Suspicions that explained why other nannies had found Elliot and Amelia so difficult to support, and why Rowyn understood them so well in such a short space of time. Those suspicions weren’t a topic ofconversation for tonight, though, so she placed them to the back of her mind.
“Thank you for the food, and the ice cream. I better get to bed before the chaos starts again,” Rowyn said as she placed her bowl in the sink.
“You’re welcome. Sweet dreams, Wyn.”
The nickname seemed unintentional, and Rowyn wasn’t sure if Eliza had even realized she had said it.
“Sweet dreams, Elle.”
Eliza had heard that, and the word sparked something in her eyes that was unmistakable. Rowyn turned and left the room, knowing that those lust-filled eyes would be the stars of her sweet dreams once more.
Chapter Seven
Eliza couldn’t believe that Rowyn had only been there for less than two weeks. At the same time, the past week had flown by so quickly Eliza had just about enough time to breathe. It had been another late Friday evening at the office, and she just about made it through the door as it was time to read the kids their bedtime story.
“Rowyn does better voices. I want Rowyn to read it.”
Stress buzzed through Eliza’s pores, and she inhaled deeply before responding to Amelia.
“Well, I’m home tonight, so I’m going to read it. I’m glad you didn’t miss me too much the past few nights when Rowyn did it, though.”
Eliza tried to keep her voice light and ignored the sting of Amelia’s words. She was used to this, the jealousy that often came from her children’s attachment to their nannies, although neither of them had ever gotten so attached so quickly before. Eliza was grateful for the bond that had already formed which allowed her more time to focus on work without worry, but she hated feeling like she played second fiddle.
“Imissed you, Mom.” Elliot piped up.
The children liked to play good cop, bad cop. If one acted up, the other often used that time to act like sweetness and light. Which was at least preferable to when they were both one-upping each other on mayhem.
“I missed you too. Both of you. But we’ve got the entire day together tomorrow. I’m giving Rowyn the weekend off, and sinceyou don’t have a match this week, tomorrow we’re going to do something just the three of us.”
Eliza mentally moved her workload around at the impromptu idea, which came about solely from Elliot’s batting eyelashes and the green-eyed monster in her gut. It would be worth the extra work the following week, though. She smiled brightly at them and waited for the excitement that usually came.
“That’s. Not. Fair.”
Amelia pronounced each word with anger and huffed for good measure.
“What’s not fair?” Eliza asked in a far more measured tone than she wanted to.
