Page 28 of Secrets, Lies and Love
“Have you seen Cecily?”
“She was here just now, but maybe she went for a walk in the garden. I think she misses the outdoors.”
“How is she doing at work?”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
I like my cousin’s wife as if she were my own blood, but she doesn’t make anyone’s life easier.
“I just want to know if she has everything she needs.”
“Yes, she has. An apartment, a job . . .” She pauses. “Look there. Even an admirer,” she says, gesturing behind me with her head. “I don’t doubt she’ll be dating soon.”
When I turn around, I see Cage, one of my bank executives, talking to her.
“What are you talking about? They know each other?”
“I don’t think so, or Cici would have told me, but I have no doubt that that will soon change. Cage seems very interested. But what man wouldn’t be? She is beautiful and so different from the women here . . .”
“Can you stay with Joseph for a moment?”
“I can, but why?”
“I need to talk to Cecily.”
“Don’t disturb her life, Dionysus. As you said to Odin, your problem with her is over. Cici is my employee but also my friend. I’m trying to help her take her first steps in New York.”
“How would I disturb her life?”
“We both know why you tease the girl so much.”
“We do?”I say sardonically, but Elina being who she is, she goes straight for the jugular.
“You are attracted to her. I saw the way you were looking at her in the hospital. That’s why you didn’t hire her to babysit Joseph. It has nothing to do with her being clumsy. I’ve been working with her for weeks, and I can assure you that Cici is a good girl. Intelligent, responsible, and polite. If my children were still young, I would leave them in her care without thinking twice.”
“I thought she was happy with the job you gave her.”
“She was happy to have a chance when all the doors seemed closed, but Cecily really loves children, even more than books,” she says, and I remember Odin commenting that Cecily was taking care of the Association’s library.
“Joseph seemed . . . huh . . . he liked her.”
“Have you got the night nanny yet?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you give Cici a chance? But look, I’m telling you to test her as a babysitter, not to break her heart.”
I don’t answer because anything I say would make me a liar. “Can you stay with him for a minute?” I repeat. “I’ll be right back.”
“I can, yes. Maybe it would be better to wait for her to finish her conversation with Cage.”
“Waiting is a word I don’t know, Elina.” I kiss my boy on the forehead. “Daddy’s just going to be there for a moment, son.”
I start walking towards where she is talking to her admirer, and my irritation increases when I notice Cecily’s smile and Cage’s apparent enchantment with her.
I know she notices my approach, but still, she doesn’t look at me.
I can’t even blame her. I acted like a jerk after not seeing her for several weeks, but I couldn’t believe it when I watched my son run into the redhead’s arms. Joseph is aloof and suspicious, so what kind of enchantment did she cast to make him trust her right away?
