Park Avenue Player by Vi Keeland
Chapter 10
Elodie
Hailey’s school had reserved a section of the park for the picnic event. It was a beautiful, unseasonably cool day. With a cotton candy station, fried dough, and a full barbecue, the school had definitely gone all out. There was an inflatable bouncy house set up, along with other games.
Speaking of games, those were going to start soon, and Hollis wasn’t here yet. Late wasn’t his style. It was more like mine. I looked at my watch, and Hailey noticed.
“Do you think Uncle Hollsy forgot?”
I offered a sympathetic smile. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, I don’t want to wait for him forever to eat. They’re putting out the burgers and dogs. Can I go get one? I’m hungry.”
I looked around one last time. “Yeah. Why don’t you go get in line?”
“You’re not gonna eat?”
“No, not right now.”
“Oh, I forgot about your Keto.” She rolled her eyes.
“I can still have the burger. Just not the bun.”
“The bun is the best part! And the ketchup.”
“I’ll survive.”
While Hailey took off for the food table, I stretched my neck to see if by some chance Hollis had arrived and I’d missed him. Still no sign of him.
Seriously, Hollis? You couldn’t ditch work for one damn afternoon?
A deep voice registered just behind my ear.
“Hi.”
I turned to find a decently handsome man who looked to be in his mid-thirties standing there.
“Hi,” I said.
“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Lawrence Higgins’s dad.” He held out his hand. “James Higgins.”
“Oh. Nice to meet you. I’m Elodie Atlier, Hailey LaCroix’s nanny.”
“I thought you might be…a nanny.”
I raised my brow and activated my scum-bucket detector. “Oh?”
“Well, no offense to anyone else…” He lowered his voice. “But the moms aren’t usually as attractive as you.”
So, that’s what this exchange is all about? Can’t even escape this shit at a middle school picnic.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” He sipped his water. “How long have you been a nanny?”
“Actually, not long. Only a couple of weeks.”
Hailey appeared, interrupting our conversation. “You like wieners, right?”
Her question made my juvenile spirit chuckle. “Only if they’re all beef, which that one probably is not.”
She turned toward the man. “Who’s this?”
“This is Mr. Higgins, Lawrence’s dad.”
Her expression dampened. “Your son is an asshole.”
I cringed.
His smile faded. “I’m sorry?”
Placing my hands on her shoulders, I said, “If you’ll excuse us.” I then pulled her away and asked, “Why would you say that to him?”
Hailey took a bite of her hamburger and let out a deep sigh. “That kid is the worst. I thought his dad should know.”
“Well, maybe next time use a more polite word to convey that?”
“He’s the one who started making fun of my boobs, calling me Cyclops Tit—because he thinks one is bigger than the other.”
I nodded, remembering when she told me that story. “Oh, that jerk?”
“Yes.”
I looked back at the man briefly. “Okay. Well, screw him and his dad, then.”
“That’s what his dad probably wanted….to screw you.”
“Where did you learn that term?”
“I know a lot of things about sex.”
Shit.“Oh, you do, do you? What exactly do you think you know?”
She handed me her plate before sticking her index finger inside a hole formed by her other hand and simulating the act of intercourse.
Add to mental to-do list: speak to Hollis about a birds-and-bees talk with Hailey.
Before I could explore this subject further, my eyes landed on a very flustered-looking Hollis in the distance. He looked like he’d just run a marathon and somehow landed in the Twilight Zone. I handed Hailey back her plate and watched him for a bit.
He’d changed out of his suit and wore a navy polo that hugged his muscles. God, he looked super hot dressed casually. I mean, he was super hot no matter how you cut it, but this was a particularly good look for him. I loved everything about it—from the snug sleeves around his thick biceps to the chunky watch he wore, and the dark jeans I was dying to see molded to his ass.
He was totally oblivious to the starving moms checking him out as he made his way toward us.
Hollis finally spotted us as he weaved through the crowd.
He was out of breath. “I’m sorry I’m late. I thought I had time to go home and change—which I did—but then traffic was a bitch getting here.”
“Language, Hollis,” I scolded.
“Sorry.”
“I’m glad you made it, Uncle Hollsy.”
He cracked a slight smile. “Me, too.”
Hailey had polished off her burger pretty quickly. “You want Elodie’s wiener?” she asked.
His brow furrowed. “Excuse me?”
She held out the hot dog on her plate. “This. She can’t eat it because of her Keto.”
“Ah.” He took the plate from her. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Hailey looked over his shoulder. “I see my friend Jacqueline over there. I’m gonna go talk to her.”
After she took off, Hollis turned to me, holding his hot dog with no bun, looking so awkward and out of place.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
He wasn’t amused. “What the hell is so funny?”
“You.”
His lip twitched. “Me?”
“Yes.”
“Might I ask why I’m so funny?”
I gestured to his hot dog. “You look like you don’t know what to do with that thing. Like you don’t know what to do with yourself here. Like you’re out of your comfort zone. I take it picnics aren’t your jam.”
“Well, I suppose I am...a bit out of my comfort zone.”
“Extra points for showing up.”
“I didn’t realize I was being graded.”
We shared a smile. A breeze blew his musky scent toward me. It was definitely arousing. He was arousing. So freaking handsome.
I tilted my head. “Come on. I’ll show you to the food area where you can get a bun for that lonely wiener.”
We walked together to the large picnic table. I took Hollis’s plate, placed the hot dog in a bun, and added a bunch of fixings. I placed a dollop of potato salad next to it and grabbed him a small bag of chips. I finished off the plate with an apple. I handed him everything with a smile.
“Thanks, Mom,” he joked.
Hailey was playing horseshoes with a few of her friends, so we took a spot under a shady tree near their game. Hollis devoured his ketchup-laden hot dog and potato salad while I ate my plain burger with a fork and continued to watch him. My eyes were glued to his large hands. I loved the protruding veins that ran through them. Every time he licked ketchup off his finger, a shiver ran down my spine.
After he’d polished everything off, he licked his lips and said, “That was good. I haven’t had a hot dog in ages.”
“See? Sometimes it’s nice to do different.”
“Believe me, my entire life has been different from the moment Hailey landed at my door.”
“I know it has. And I also know you’re doing the best you can.”
“Well, thank you for recognizing that. But I’m only as good as the help I have.” He looked down at his plate a moment. “Honestly, I owe you an apology.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, I need to say this.” He paused. “I misjudged you early on, doubted your capabilities as a caretaker. But I can’t imagine a better choice now. Passing you by would have been a huge mistake.”
That warmed me inside and gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.
I smiled. “Wow. I don’t know how to respond to that, because I’m not used to this nice version of Hollis.”
“Don’t get too used to it. It’s probably the nitrates going to my head.”
We laughed again as Hailey came over to us.
“Why did you leave your friends?” I asked.
“Lawrence started playing the horseshoe game, and I didn’t want to be around him.”
“Which one is he?”
“The one in the red.”
No way I was going to let her be bullied by some jackass boy.
“You can’t let him win like that, Hailey. You were there first. By leaving the game, you’re showing him he has an effect on you. Even if he does, don’t let him see that. Don’t give him the satisfaction. Go back into the game, and totally ignore him if he says anything.”
She let out a long breath. “Okay.” She reluctantly walked back over there.
A look of concern clouded Hollis’s expression as he watched her. “What’s the deal with Lawrence?”
“He teases her about her boobs. Apparently, he called her Cyclops Tit, because he claims one of them is bigger than the other.”
Hollis tightened his fist. “Little shit. I should wring his neck.”
“The clincher? The kid’s dad was hitting on me earlier. Hailey comes up to us, and when I introduced her to him, she says, ‘Your son is an asshole.’”
Hollis’s jaw dropped. “I don’t even know whether to be upset at her for that.”
“I know. That’s how I felt. But I suggested she be more polite in getting her point across in the future.”
Hollis and I made easy conversation over the next half hour. Then Hailey came running toward us.
“Elodie, my teacher needs your help.”
“What’s up?”
“The person who was supposed to do the face painting bailed. Mrs. Stein bought all these supplies, but she has no one to do the actual painting. I told her my nanny is an artist.”
“Oh...I don’t know. I’ve never painted someone’s face before.”
“Can you try? Please? There’s no one else to do it, and we all want our faces painted like unicorns.”
What the hell? How hard could it be?
I stood up from the grass and brushed the dirt off my pants.
“Who’s gonna babysit Uncle Hollis if I have to do the face painting? We wouldn’t want him to have to make small talk with PTO moms.”
“Just go set up,” she said. “Uncle Hollis is coming with me anyway.”
Hollis stood up. “Oh? What am I doing?”
She pointed to the corner of the field. “Me, you, over there. Potato sack race.”
