Risqué Business (Club Risqué #8)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

I n the following days, Jake took charge of finding potential nanny candidates and refused to let Charlotte back out of their tentative agreement, no matter how hard she tried.

Every evening after dinner, they would sit together, reviewing profiles and discussing possibilities. It was a process that made Charlotte uncomfortable, yet she had to admit there was something appealing about the idea of having some help. Someone who could take over for an hour or two when she was at her wits' end, allowing her to recharge and be a better mother rather than the frustrated and exhausted shell she'd become.

One such evening, Jake handed her a profile with a hopeful smile. "I think you'll like this one."

The woman's name was Rachel. A trained nurse with ten years of experience as a nanny. She had glowing recommendations from every family she'd worked for. However, looking at her photo made Charlotte feel uneasy. She looked too good, too perfect.

"They all say that she's kind and patient," Jake continued, his fingers tapping the paper where the compliments lay. "She seems just like what we need."

With hesitation heavy in her chest, Charlotte agreed to meet Rachel.

The day of the interview arrived. Standing at the door was a woman who looked straight out of a storybook - with kind eyes, a warm smile, and an air of calmness that seemed infectious. Charlotte had the overwhelming desire to call her Mary Poppins.

As they sat down to talk, Charlotte listened to Rachel speak passionately about her work, her love for children and her commitment to nurturing and educating them in a loving environment. The warmth in her eyes was genuine as she spoke about past families she’d worked with, the bonds she had formed, and the joy it brought her to see children grow and thrive under her care.

But words were all well and good. The men who lured her mother into the Disciples of Modesty had all the right words in the beginning, too. So, Charlotte still struggled to relinquish control. But Rachel seemed to understand exactly what Charlotte was going through.

“I can see you’re cautious, my dear,” she told Charlotte with a very British accent. “And so you should be. Your children are precious to you. If I’m honest, I like to see that more than when someone wants to hire me with no questions asked because all they care about is having someone else to mind their children. That’s not you though, is it? I can tell this is hard for you.”

She patted Charlotte’s hand in a very motherly gesture. “But so is having three little ones. And it’s just as important for mothers to take care of themselves too, so they can give their best to their family.”

The words resonated with her. Because Charlotte knew damn well she wasn’t giving her best to her family right now. Not the children, and not Jake, either. She was just too exhausted always to do anything but the essentials. And sometimes she was too tired for that, too.

Charlotte looked at Jake, saw his face alight with hope and relief as he watched her interact with Rachel. There was a sense of peace settling over the room, an assurance that things would get better. Could she ignore that? Children were sensitive to their environment, Charlotte knew. Were her own children acting and reacting to the vibes Charlotte was unwittingly giving off? Goddesses! Was all this her fault?

For the first time since their conversation about getting a nanny, Charlotte allowed herself to believe that this could indeed be their solution.

There were still reservations; lingering doubts born from her past experiences that made it difficult for her to completely let go. They weren’t going to go away overnight. But looking at Jake, looking at Rachel, and thinking about their children – imagining them laughing and playing without a cloud of tension hanging overhead – made Charlotte want to try.

With a deep breath, she nodded at Jake. “Okay, let’s… introduce Rachel to the children.”

She could give that much.

An hour later, Charlotte wasn’t quite sure how she felt.

Jacob and Daniel were like different children. Both of them were sitting quietly, enthralled by the craft selection Rachel had pulled from her huge tote bag. Yeah, the woman was definitely Mary Poppins.

Even Evie, who was too young to know any different, seemed to have picked up on the aura of calm that suddenly imbued their home, and was far more settled after just an hour in Rachel’s care. A calm she hadn’t even realised was missing until now. And that’s when Charlotte finally accepted… Her kids deserved this. And so did she.

Until now, her stubborn insistence that she could do everything herself, even when she knew she couldn’t, had been denying them all this sense of calm and tranquillity. They’d all suffered because of it - even Jake, who patiently supported her and said nothing of her shortcomings.

But Charlotte knew they were there. She was trying so hard to be everything to everyone that she wasn’t doing a very good job at any of it. She’d allowed pride and fear to get in the way of the wonderful life they could have if she just unbent enough to allow someone to help her.

Goddesses! She couldn’t even remember the last time they’d had sex! Not even a quickie, never mind anything else.

Charlotte decided it was time to change all that.