Page 20 of Chasing the Sun

“Okay,” Molly said happily, and then she ran off with her friend.

Once Chloe sat down, she looked to her left and noticed a woman staring at her. Ignoring her, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text to Bryce.

During the interview, he’d requested that she text or send pictures occasionally to let him know how Molly was doing.

She typed: Just got to the neighborhood playground. Molly’s having fun with a friend.

She didn’t expect an immediate response, figuring he might be up to his elbows in some patient’s mouth, but a minute later, her phone pinged.

Thanks for the update.

She’d just slipped her phone back into her pocket when the woman who’d been staring at her started walking over.

Chloe took a quick look around and spotted Molly and her friend on the slide. She watched them take turns going down and then scramble back up the steps again.

“Hello. Are you Molly’s new nanny?” the woman asked, stopping right in front of Chloe.

She seemed friendly enough. “Yes. I’m Chloe. And you are?”

“I’m Rita, Sadie’s mom.” She turned and pointed to the girl Molly was playing with.

“Nice to meet you,” Chloe said. She was about to offer her a seat, but Rita had already plopped down.

“When did you start?” Rita asked, eyeing her closely.

“Today’s my first day, but I arrived on Saturday.”

“Arrived?”

“From Michigan.”

“Ohhh. An out-of-towner.”

“Um-hmm,” Chloe mumbled, not sure she liked Rita’s tone.

“Well, I hope everything works out this time.”

Chloe stiffened, having some idea of what she was referring to.

“Poor Molly has been through so many nannies…”

“Watch, Miss Chloe!” Molly was getting ready to climb up the jungle gym, and Chloe immediately jumped to her feet.

“Wait,” she shouted and hurried over to her.

Molly halted on the first step and looked confused. “Daddy lets me climb on this all the time.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll just watch you from here.”

“Okay,” Molly said and proceeded to climb the metal rungs to the top.

Seeing the contraption up close, Chloe realized she might have overreacted. It wasn’t that high off the ground, and the steps were close enough together to accommodate little legs. Now who was being overprotective?

After Molly had climbed back down, she said, “Good job,” and returned to the bench.

She’d hoped Rita had left, but there she sat, seemingly in no hurry to move.

Rita started speaking again without missing a beat. “We live a few houses up the street from Bryce, so if you ever need anything, feel free to call. My name is probably on his list.”