Page 10 of Give & Take
“What about those summer day camp things?” Deanie asks.
“You have to apply to those months in advance,” Shelby answers for me. This isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation.
“The summer before, unfortunately,” I say. “There’s only one up here.”
“But I keep telling you I’d be happy to pitch in,” Shelby continues. “It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
“Not a chance.” I set the bubbly water down. “You’re supposed to be resting up.”
Shelby runs her own company, and her doctor told her she had to stop work earlier than planned. Something about blood pressure. Shelby rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t argue.
“Besides, your husband has been very accommodating,” I remind her. Mac flat out said “No,” when I told him I’d understand if he wanted to let me go since I’ve had to take a leave since school let out.
I sigh, taking my hat off and running my hand over my hair. “I just really thought I’d have this sorted before school was over.”
“Raph could do it,” Deanie says.
Shelby and I both laugh.
Deanie doesn’t. “I’m serious. Look at him!”
I follow Deanie’s gaze to her brother and my girls. The three of them have now shifted to building somekind of sloppy wet sandcastle. He says something that makes both girls howl with laughter.
“He does have the experience,” Shelby says.
I gape. “Shelby!”
“Oh my God, Lana, it’s perfect!” Deanie says. “He’s completely insufferable, but that’s only because I’m his sister. You get a babysitter, I get him out of my hair for the rest of the summer. Win-win!”
I’ve stopped laughing. “Deanie, that’s so kind of you to think of someone for me, but it’s a long-term position.”
Shelby pinches her lips between her teeth. She’s heard me say I’d be thrilled to have someone just for the summer. That with Aurora going to Kindergarten in the fall, I could manage without a full-time nanny by September.
I throw her a death glare.
“So he’ll buy you some time,” Deanie says.
“It’s live-in.”
“Perfect. He’s homeless!”
I widen my eyes.
She holds up her hands. “I just mean he gave up his apartment in California to spend the summer with me. And he’d have to find a place to stay up here for the summer if he stayed anyway.” She frowns. “Is there a problem with him being a guy? Because I get it, if that’s the case. But I’m fully going to sic my baby on him when he’s born. He’s trustworthy. An idiot, but trustworthy.”
“He’s also…” I hesitate, not wanting to slander her brother in front of her. “A young man. Who probably has a very active social life.” I picture seeing her brother parading through the house—myhouse—with a string of beautiful young women? No thank you.
“He’s not like that,” Deanie says. She sounds mildly upset I’d think that.
I badly want to tell her that he absolutely is like that—I saw it with my own eyes.
But as if reading my mind, Deanie concedes, “He’s charming, yes, but he’s respectful. To a fault. Please, Lana. Just consider hiring Raphael. That’s all I ask.”
I want to laugh with how ridiculous this is. But the way she’s pushing this, like this is actually something I’d consider, is too much. How do I say this delicately? I clear my throat. I was a lawyer, in my past life. I’ve said plenty of difficult things. I say them all the time at work when I need to get drunk people to behave themselves.
In the end, I settle on a firm but gentle, “No.”
“What?” Deanie looks crestfallen. “Why?”
