Page 20 of Maple Mountain
“I can do that.”
He reached into his pocket and extracted his wallet.He opened it and then pulled out a credit card and placed it on the counter.
“What’s this?”I asked.
“My credit card.”
“Yeah, I know that.Why are you giving it to me?”
“Groceries, house stuff, clothes for Lenni.Whatever you need.”
I made no move to take the card.
“We haven’t talked about your salary either.”
“Nope.”
“Or your duties ...”
I raised my brows and waited.
“Got any ideas?”he suggested.“I’m flying blind here.You could basically ask for the moon and I’ll saysure, no problem.”
“Will you lasso the moon for me, George Bailey?”I quipped.
“What?”
“Never mind.”I sighed.“Well, for my last job, I moved into the penthouse with them so I could take care of their kid.I comforted him in the middle of the night if he had nightmares.I took him to school, the park, playdates.I rarely did laundry or cooked because they had a housekeeper and a chef.That was nice.”
“Yeah, I bet it was,” he said with a chuckle.“What do I have to do to get you to do the laundry and cook?”
“Put a ring on it,” I stated.
He rubbed his jaw.“There’s an idea.”
“I think I’d rather have the money.”I rolled my eyes.“I’ll do the laundry and cook.For a price.”
I threw out a weekly salary number.He agreed immediately.
“I need a car, though,” I said.“For chauffeuring Lenni around.”
“You can drive my truck.I’ll hitch a ride with Brooks in the mornings.You good with a truck?”
“I can handle a truck,” I assured him.
His smile was slow.
My gaze narrowed.“None of that.”
“None of what?”
“Don’t play innocent.You know what you’re doing.”
“Smiling?”
“Yeah, but it’s thewayyou smile,” I pointed out.“I’m immune.I’ve been inoculated against charming grins and mustaches.”
“You sure about that?”
