Phyllis Halldorson - Professor And The Nanny

Brittany still didn’t understand the problem. “I admit I’m not very experienced, but I’m well trained in nursing care as I’m sure the agency told you. I can administer his shots, oversee his diet and watch him so he doesn’t wander off—”

“How old are you?” Ethan interjected.

“I’m…uh…I’m twenty-one, but I’m well aware of the responsibility involved in caring for my patients,” she hastily assured him. “I was studying to be a registered nurse but…”

She bit back her ill-advised words and hoped he hadn’t caught them. She really didn’t want to get into that subject right now. It was still too painful to discuss with strangers, and besides, it had nothing to do with her nursing skills. She’d learned those at the vocational school after—

Unfortunately his hearing was keen and so was his curiosity. “Brittany? You were saying…?”

“Oh, nothing,” she replied, groping for a way out. “It really doesn’t apply to this situation.”

He leaned back in his chair and captured her gaze. The lenses of his glasses weren’t very thick, and she could see the flecks of gold in his brown pupils behind them. The metal frames were circular and softened the wideness of his cheekbones and the squareness of his jaw. He looked to be in his early or mid-thirties, and was a very handsome man in a quiet sort of way.

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” he suggested softly but with a hint of determination that would not be denied.

Oh well, this was, after all, an interview for a job. He had a right to ask questions, and if she wanted the position she’d better answer them. She just hoped she could get through it without breaking down!

She twined her hands in her lap and leaned forward as she began. “Last year I completed my first year at the university. I was working for a degree in nursing, but then in August my…”

Her voice shook and she swallowed. “…my parents were killed in a boating accident.”

He sat bolt upright in his chair. “Oh, look, I’m sorry. I had no idea. I didn’t mean to put you through this….”

She held up her hand. “No, please, it’s something I have to learn to live with.”

With her fingertips she dabbed at the unwelcome tears that had formed in her eyes. “When the estate was settled I learned they had been living beyond their means for years and were on the verge of bankruptcy. All I managed to salvage was Mom’s car, which by some miracle was paid for, and enough money to enroll in the medical assistant’s program at the career vocational school here in town.”

She took a deep breath. “It was a ten-month course and I graduated last week. This is my first job interview.”

“But surely you have relatives,” he muttered.

She shook her head. “Not unless you count two second cousins living in California whom I haven’t seen in almost ten years. I have no brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles.”

“Well I have to admit you come highly recommended by your school,” he said, “but you’re so young. And so fragile.”

Brittany couldn’t help it, she laughed. “There’s not much I can do about the ‘young’ part, but ‘fragile’? Professor Thorpe, I’m five feet six inches tall and weigh one-hundred-thirty pounds. I’ve also had strength training and my body is very well toned.”

Ethan grinned. “Don’t underestimate my dad. He’s over six feet tall, slimmer now than he used to be, but still tips the scales at close to two hundred pounds, and makes up in just plain wiliness for what he may have lost in muscle power.”

The cool reserve between the two of them had been broken, and they sat back and relaxed. “Tell me a little about your father,” Brittany said. “I understand he’s retired now, but what did he do for a living? How many children does he have? What about your mother? That type of thing.”

She knew she was assuming a lot here, asking questions like that before she’d even been hired, but she really wanted this job and she wasn’t going to make it easy for the professor to send her away if his only objection to her was her age.

“You want to know what my dad used to do for a living?” Ethan inquired. “He spent forty years as a heavy-equipment repairer. He’s got muscles you never heard of, and most of them are still fully operational even though he doesn’t exercise much anymore. You’d have a time controlling him if he didn’t want to be controlled. Fortunately, he’s even-tempered and he’d die before he’d ever touch a woman in anger.”

“Then we don’t have to worry about my strength or lack of it, do we,” she said sweetly with a touch of sarcasm.

“But it’s not your well being I’m worried about,” Ethan replied. “He sometimes loses his balance and falls. Are you strong enough to help him get up and patient enough to give him constant attention? He tends to get confused and wanders away if not supervised.”

“It’s almost impossible for any one person to lift a patient who can’t help himself,” she told him, “but I can certainly dial 911 if I need help. I’m prepared to do whatever is necessary to keep him safe and well as long as he’s under my supervision. How old is he?”

“He’s seventy-two and in good health as long as he keeps his diabetes under control, but because of his short-term memory problems he can’t always remember to give himself his insulin shots. When that happens he goes downhill fast, but I’m sure you know about that.”

Brittany knew he was testing her and responded appropriately. “Yes, I do. His blood-sugar count goes up dangerously high and he feels woozy. That’s when he’s apt to get confused and fall.”

Ethan nodded his agreement. “Right. That’s the most important reason we need a medical assistant as a caregiver.”

“I’m very good at making sure my patients get their meds,” she assured him. “What about your mother? Does she live here, too?”

He shook his head. “My mother died of a sudden heart attack when my twin brother and I were in high school. Peter and I were their only children, and Dad never married again so there’s no second family.”

“And your wife?” she asked hesitantly. “You do have a wife, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “Not anymore,” he said crisply. “My wife and I were divorced two years ago. We have an eighteen-month-old son, but he won’t be a problem for you. He lives in Pleasant Hill with his mother. I have him every other weekend.”

Brittany was startled by his disclosure. So far she hadn’t seen any sign of a woman in residence, but she’d assumed there was one. Why would any woman give up on a man with all Ethan had going for him? What had happened?

Well, that was obviously none of her business and it was time to change the subject.

“So you have a twin brother,” she said. “That must have been fun when you were growing up.”

He smiled. “No, we’re fraternal twins, not identical. Pete is six two, losing his hair and has blue eyes. We don’t even look like brothers.”

Brittany’s gaze shifted up to Ethan’s luxuriant crop of brown-colored hair, and her fingers tingled to run through it. No chance of him going bald anytime soon. “How odd,” she commented. “Does he live in the area?”

“No, he and his wife are lawyers and are partners in separate law firms in New Orleans, so you’d be on your own with Dad from eight in the morning until midafternoon at the earliest. Do you think you could handle that?”

“I’m sure of it,” she said with a tad more confidence than she felt. “Also, the agency I work through has backup help always available. I can call them at any time should a problem arise.”

“Well, I don’t know,” he waffled. “I need someone who understands the situation and can deal with it. My first choice was for a male medical assistant, but the agency didn’t have any available.”