The Kid, the Boss, and the Incorrigible Nanny

Part Eight

Same place, different Friday.

Except that this time, the victory would be Kid's.

The coffee had been poured and the table had been set for Scrabble before she had gotten there. Scrabble was a serious business in the Shelley family. It was around age eight when Kid had started getting bored with word search puzzles, and so her grandmother trained her in the family way of playing scrabble. It didn't take long before her love of reading (not to mention her love of winning) gave her the edge she needed to start winning every game they played together. Losses were rare, and when they happened, she always came back with a vengeance. Right now, they were halfway through a grueling battle of wits — and tiles — and there was no way Kid was going to let herself lose two weeks in a row. She had a reputation to uphold.

"So," her grandmother began as she sat down with a fresh mug of coffee. "Tell me about the work drama. How did everything turn out?"

Kid barely heard her. She was this close to laying down a game-changer of a word if only she could figure out how to strategize it.

"Hello?" Her grandmother laughed, knocking on the table. "Are you listening to me?"

Kid shot her a playful glare. "This is serious stuff, Gramma. Don't think you can distract me from winning with your small talk."

Her grandmother raised her eyebrows at her. "Well then. Ignore your grandmother. Never mind that I was worried sick about you all day after that frightening phone call from the daycare." She sat back, holding her coffee in both hands with a theatrically dejected look on her face.

Oops. She had forgotten about that. "I'm sorry, Gramma. You're right, I shouldn't have put you through that." She decided to abandon the game for now and reached for her coffee. "Well, you remember that father that is always running late to pick his son up in the evenings?"

Her grandmother smiled. Was that a look of expectation on her face? "Oh, the one with the eyes?"

"Whoever said anything about his eyes?" Kid shook her head. "And anyway, he had me fired."

"Fired?"

"Yes. Fired. But. Before you get too upset, you should know that everything is okay, because I have a new job already."

Her grandmother let out a sigh of relief. "Thank the Lord for that. I mean, fired. Really." She sipped from her coffee. "Well, what's this new job? How did you manage such a quick turnaround?"

Kid cleared her throat. "I'm a nanny now."

"Oh? A nanny?" Her grandmother rose, making her way from the table and disappearing briefly into the kitchen. Kid heard the fridge door open. "What's the family's name? Anyone I know?"

Kid cleared her throat again. "Um. It's Lawson."

The refrigerator door shut with a loud snap. In an instant her grandmother's head was peeking around the corner, her eyes gleaming with a mischevious light. "Lawson?"

"Yes."

A small smile grew on the older woman's face. "So you're telling me he had you fired, so he could hire you as his own, personal, nanny?"

Oh no. "It's not like that, Gramma."

But it was too late. Her grandmother was already giggling uncontrollably. "He just had to have you for himself."

Kid rolled her eyes. "No, he didn't. And when you say it like that, it sounds creepy. Adrian Lawson is nothing but a privileged jerk."

Her words were lost, drowned in a sea of giggles.