Live In Position (3 page)

We headed back to the house and Miranda ran me through things I needed to do during the day; though I would have a few hours in the afternoon to myself.
Writing would definitely be possible with this free time.

The rest of the week went about in the same fashion, with minor changes. Mira
nda showed me around the house; bedrooms, spare rooms, Dr. Bishop’s office, kitchen, laundry room, library, and so forth. I took time to get familiar in the kitchen and the rest of the house.

Miranda introduced me to Mrs. Baker, the housekeeper. She didn't live in the house, but arrived every morning and left just before dinner most days.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I put my hand out after our introduction.

"And a pleasure to meet you as well, if you need anything
, you just let me know." She smiled warmly at me and then turned to Rand. "I’m going to miss you, sweetheart." She pulled Rand into a large hug.

"I promise to call you and try to visit as much as I can." Rand bargained.

"You better." Mrs. Baker patted her back and released her.

W
e left Mrs. Baker downstairs and spent a couple of hours going over items in the binder. Then we left to pick up Victoria together for the last time. I had one question, which had been eating away at me during the week.

"Rand, why haven't we seen Dr. Bishop
at all
this week? Wouldn't he want to check in on –"

"
When I said he won't be much of a bother, I meant it. There really isn’t any interaction on his part. He works insane hours, travels, and your form of communication is the slot I showed you on his study door or cell phone." She sighed. "It's sad, I know, but just think, you’ll be able to handle things without his interruptions."

"You knew it would bother me the way he ignores her." She cringe
d away from me. "Why did you put the request in at the service for me to replace you?"

Shock spread on her face once I admitted my knowledge of her 'personal' request. She pulled over to the side of the road and turned to me.

"Sophia, you are the most loving, care free, yet responsible person I’ve ever met. I think Victoria needs someone like you in her life." She dropped her head and knotted her fingers together in her lap.

"Miranda…"

"Sophia, she needs to live like a child once in awhile, but I'm just…I'm not the one who can do it now." She brought her eyes up to my face. "Remember Violet?" I nodded and smiled. "She was so quiet and withdrawn when you first starting caring for her at the beginning of the summer, but by the end she was so full of life." She released a longing sigh. "I was so jealous of the effect you had on her and wished I could do that for Victoria, but –"

"Miranda Murphy! You are damn good with her and at being a care giver and you shouldn't doubt
–"

"I don't doubt it." She smiled warmly. "I just wish I could sometimes bring Victoria out of the shell she lives in."

Not sure what else to say, I opened my mouth, but closed it. Miranda put the car back into gear, returning to the stream of traffic which seemed to be headed in the same direction.

That evening, after Victoria's Spanish lesson, we said goodbye to Miranda. Victoria's tears continued and I s
tayed in bed with her until she’d finally cried herself to sleep. After tucking her in, I picked up her clothes, dropping them in her hamper on the way out of her room.

"Miss Ashwood?" His cold voice startled me.

Turning slowly, Dr. Bishop stood just at the top of the stairs.

"Yes sir?"

"I take it Ms. Murphy has gotten you up to speed on everything?" He raised his eyebrow.

I nodded. "Yes, sir, she has."

"Good." He paused and looked at his watch. "Is she well?"

I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"Victoria," he explained "It's quite late, is she feeling well?"

"Oh, um…yes sir she's fine, just upset at Rand…Ms. Murphy's departure this evening." I smiled, but as his eyes bore into mine the smile faltered. A chill began to form in the space between us.

"I see." His eyes didn't leave my face.

I was starting to fidget
and fidgeting wasn't something I’d done since I was a kid. Needing to get away from the discomfort, I blurted, "Is there anything else?"

He looked at me stunned for a moment and then his fists clenched
tightly at his sides.

"No, good night." He stiffened and headed toward his
bedroom.

Once I was in my room
, I released a loud nervous breath.

"Jesus, he's intense" I groaned, contemplating
painting some lamb’s blood over my door.

Chapter Three

Victoria's schedule was extreme. I woke at five and Victoria at six
, just to prepare for the day. Of course my first week with Victoria alone was a challenge. I tried to keep to the routine Miranda had set up, but I wasn't Miranda. There were certain things I did differently and Victoria definitely let me know she wasn’t pleased.

"I don't get dressed in the bathroom." She argued when I walked in with her clothes for school. "Miranda always lays them on the bed." She marched out and stood next to her bed with her arms crossed over her chest. I followed her and laid her items onto her bed.

"I know Miranda did things a certain way and you are used to that, but things will be a little different. Okay?"

All I got was a shrug as she pulled her clothes on over her head.

"Alright, well meet me in the kitchen while I go get –" She spun around with wide eyes.

"Miranda always walked me down to the kitchen." Her words were a little harsh demanding.

Now, I wanted to be sensitive to her situation, knowing she was acting out because of Miranda being gone. However, I wasn't about to become a doormat for a six year old girl either.

"If you would like for me to walk down with you, then you could
ask me nicely. If not, then I’m going to go start getting breakfast started so you aren't late for school." I gave a couple of minutes to respond, but all I got was her back.

I was in the kitchen for about five minutes when she trudged in, clearly still unhappy with me. Biting back my smile at her acting out, I slid a bowl of cereal in front of her and a banana.

"Miranda always made me a warm breakfast." There was a hint of whine in her voice, but mostly it was more of a 'Miranda is better than you are' tone.

Leaning my forearms down to the cool marble countertop, I stared at her until she finally met my gaze.

"Well, if someone hadn't argued with my time saving ideas this morning then we would have time for a nice warm breakfast, but…" I let my sentence die and turned to load the dishwasher. When I turned back around she was still staring at the bowl. "You're going to be awfully hungry."

With a huff and a drop of her shoulders she leaned over her bowl and picked up the spoon. The moment the bite went into her mouth her face crinkled up.

"It's all soggy," she whined.

"You shouldn't have been so stubborn." I turned back to the dishwasher
and turned it on.

That was the last we spoke until I dropped her off at her school. When I offered her my hand to help her from the backseat of the car she snubbed me and 'accidentally' stepped on my toe when she landed. Without looking back she scurried off toward the school.

We would go through almost the same morning routine; dressing, disagreeing, and practicing words or math, being told how Miranda did things, eating breakfast, and then the drop off at school. One thing I noticed during the first week was that not one morning did we see Doctor Bishop.

In the afternoons I worked on my writing; making notes, outlining, and researching. After a couple of hours I would straighten up my room, Victoria's room, do my laundry, talk with Mrs. Baker for a bit, eat lunch, and if I had errands to run I would do those before picking Victoria up.

Once Victoria was picked up would try to discuss her day and homework on our way back to the house. She was still reluctant to cooperate with me and wouldn't tell me about her day, only what homework she needed help with.

Homework was completed first while she ate a snack. Then it was on to her assigned activity for the day. There was so much scheduled for her; Piano, Ballet, Riding, Spanish, and Karate lessons outlined her week. The poor girl really had a whirlwind of a day.

The craziness of her constant schedule and being without a mother were the main reasons I tried really hard to give her the time she needed to adjust to Miranda's absence. She was used to her regimented life and the way Miranda had done things. My approaches to things were different and she had a hard time with it. It had become too frustrating for both of us and the tension was out of control. Something had to be done and without her father to discuss the situation with, I was left to resolve it.

It was over ice cream at a local
, neutral territory, shop where we hashed out the constant push and pull. We agreed that I was indeed a different person, which meant I wouldn't always do things the way she did. However, we also agreed to keep some of Miranda's ways in place. During the conversation, I realized this was a 'trying not to forget Miranda' deal for her. With one more scoop of ice cream and a verbal promise to make plans with Miranda, I was sure progress had been made.

The weeks following had been much easier going. We would lay out Victoria's clothes on her bed, as Miranda had done with her and she didn't complain if I put the peanut butter on top of the jelly instead of the other way around.

After receiving a phone call from Roberto stating he would not be able to make it for Victoria's Spanish lesson, due to illness, I made mental plans. Once I’d made them, I hoped our recent 'truce' was still being upheld.

I was standing at the gate waiting for them to release the bundles of energy locked up behind those doors. My excitement was up so high I was almost dancing around in the spot I stood. I couldn't wait to tell Victoria my plans for the afternoon.

"You must be the new Bishop Nanny?" I turned and looked into beautiful dark as night eyes set against dark skin and framed with long straight black hair. I would guess she was Hawaiian. Her skin was so beautiful and the only flaw was a four inch scar on her chin; however, it was so light I couldn't truly call it a flaw. It was more like character.

"Yes," I smiled brightly and put my hand out. "I'm Sophia."

"Hi, my name is Ella. I am the nanny for the Wright's, Albert and Rebecca." She smiled warmly, but definitely noticed how my eyes had been drawn to her scar for a moment. She gave me a warm smile, "Car accident."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's no big deal. So, how is it so far?"

"Pretty good," I shrugged. "I mean, it's really just Victoria and me every day, and I don't have any issues between the two of us."

"Yeah, sometimes I envied Miranda for not having the parents around like I do." She snorted. "But then again, Mr. and Mrs. Wright are so nice I really couldn't have gotten luckier." There was a short pause in the conversation. "How's Victoria handling Miranda being gone?"

"Oh, well, she had a really rough first week. She was pretty sad about it, but she has started to get used to me. Plus we call Rand at least once a week."

"That's great. Next time you talk with her tell her I said hello and she had better not have forgotten about me all ready." She winked at me.

"I will pass along the message."

Then the sounds of tennis shoe stampede filled the air. I turned and saw the daily chaos of bows, hair, skirts, and backpacks everywhere. I spotted my little red head and smiled with a happy sigh.

"I see Victoria." I turned to Ella. "It was nice to meet you. I'm sure we will see each other around."

"Definitely," she smiled and waved.

On my way toward Victoria I spotted a dark haired boy looking around on his tip toes.

"Can I help you find someone?"

He got really shy for a second and then peeked up at me.

"I can't find my mom."

"Oh, well let's try to fix that. Who is your mom?" I smiled at him and leaned down to hear his answer.

"Lindsey Wright," he whispered.

I smiled at him. "You know what I think Ella is over there waiting for you today."

"Ella is here?" his face lit up and then a taller dark haired girl ran up behind him.

"Come on Al! Ella is over there." She eyed me curiously before she grabbed his arm and pulled him toward Ella. I turned my attention back to Victoria who was looking at me with a large smile.

"Come on girlie. It's time to go home!" I gave her a big wave over and she ran toward me. I saw the mischievous little smile on her face and knew what she was up to immediately. I put my arms out as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I got you." She laughed.

"Yes you do." I carried her to the car, putting her down when we got next to it. "So, how much homework do you have tonight?"

She shrugged.

"Not too much, just some math practice." She groaned. Victoria had trouble with math which we had been working on each day. "I should have it done before Roberto arrives." She sighed.

"There will be no Roberto for you today." I closed the door behind her after she was buckled into the back seat. I climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door.

"What do you mean?"

"Roberto is sick, so he can't make it tonight." I smirked. "But I have other plans."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the apprehension on her face.

About twenty minutes later I parked the car and opened her door.

"Come on." I urged her.

She climbed out hesitantly and looked around the large open area covered with twisted colorful metal and plastic. Kids were hanging from bright yellow monkey bars and sliding down neon orange slides that came out of bright blue plastic towers. I knelt down in front of her and zipped her jacket up a little more and then pulled her face to look at me.

"We are going to have some fun." I smiled large and put my hand out for her. She took it slowly and I ran us to the large playground at the center of the park. "What do you want to do first?" I turned and looked down at her. She shrugged.

"Come on, let's slide!" I pulled her toward the bright red steps leading to the blue tower. The slide had to be almost ten feet high. We got to the top and I pulled her in front of me in the line of kids waiting to go down.

"I don't think I can do this." She wrapped her arms around my waist tightly, burying her face in my stomach.

"We'll do it together." I stepped us to the edge and sat down with her between my legs.

"Ready, set, GO!" I laughed as I shoved us down the spiral slide. I could hear her giggle all the way down.

Hopping off the slide to make room for the next kid she turned to me.

"That was…that was sooo cool!" She bounced with excitement.

"Let's do it again!" I grabbed her arm, but this time she pulled me up the steps. After four more times down the slide she finally went on her own. I stood at the bottom and smiled at her face as she came down.

"Can we swing?" She looked at me as she ran over from the slide. I was happy she finally loosened up.

"Of course we can." I grabbed her hand and we ran over to the red and yellow swings. We took two free swings and jumped on. "I bet I can swing higher than you." I teased.

"Nuh-uh!" She laughed as she pumped her legs harder and harder. We laughed and swung for awhile.

"Watch this!" I prepared myself and leapt from the moving swing, flying in the air and onto my feet. I spun around. "Ta Dah!" I put my hands in the air and she laughed loudly. "Don't you do that!" I laughed and pointed at her.

She slowed her swing and then hopped off, but her footing wasn't good and she slipped. I ran over. Her little body was now on its hands and knees against the ground.

"Are you okay?" Her eyes were wide and worried as she stood up. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." She said.

"What for?"

"I'm gonna get us in trouble now." She put her head down and brushed furiously at her skirt.

"Huh? Wait…trouble for what?" I pulled her face to look at mine.

"Look" she motioned to the dirt mark on her skirt. "Daddy will be so mad I ruined my uniform." She started to sniff.

"None of that now," She looked at me curiously. "That," I pointed to her skirt, "is nothing. I'll have it washed before you get into bed tonight." I smiled at her as the corners of her mouth started to turn up.

"You will?" She blushed slightly.

"Yep," I grinned, "No one will know, but you and me." I put my hand over my heart. "Nanny swear!"

"What's a Nanny swear?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.