Temporarily Yours

Chapter 2

Saturday, November 7, 2015

I woke up to light rays of sunshine streaming through the window panes. It's then I realized I wasn't at home, I was at Luke's house. Part of being a nanny meant staying in his home. Luke had showed me the guest room and I was pleasantly surprised by how roomy and homey it felt. I sat up in bed and stretched. Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I got up and began to get ready. I put on jeans with a thick leather belt, a long sleeve white sweater, and my knee high boots which had buckles on the top. I did my hair and makeup in the bathroom attached to my room which I thought was very convenient.

As I walked out into the hallway, I turned the corner only to run into Luke. Shirtless Luke at that. Luke grabbed my arms to stop me from colliding into him. I slightly blushed and laughed.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there."

Luke smirked. "It's quite alright darlin'. No harm was done."

I just nodded and quickly went downstairs to prepare breakfast. The image of Luke shirtless just kept circling in my mind. Yah, I know he's my boss and nothing could ever come from this... But man was that guy damn attractive. Any girl would agree. I just shook my head and dished waffles up onto each individual plate I had set up on the island countertop.

"Bo, Tate, please turn off Mickey Mouse and come eat.  Tell your cousin to get in here too." I said.

I sighed and set my spatula down. "Please come on. Your food is getting cold."

They all just ignored me, their eyes glued to the animated mouse on the tv screen. Honestly, I can see why Leah said they were a handful. They never seemed to listen and always did about things as they pleased. Well, that was going to change wether they liked it or not and soon.

"I said get in here now and I mean it. Do I need to ground y'all?" I asked sternfully.

Til stopped scrolling and looked up from his phone. "Psh, you can't ground us."

Just then Luke came downstairs and crossed his arms. "Oh yes she can. She has the right to do basically anything I can do, including grounding you. Caroline is an adult and you will treat her with the respect she deserves. Now, get your butts up, shut the tv off, and come eat."

They stared at him, baffled.

"Now!" He yelled.

With that the boys scrambled to their feet. Bo shut the TV off and they all filed over to the island, pulling out their stools and sat down. I've never seen three kids devour a plate of waffles so quickly in my life.

As the kids tottled off to go do their chores, I began to clean up and do the dishes. I saw Luke come up beside me and grab a dish towel. He started to dry the dripping wet dishes I had just rinsed. We sat in silence cleaning the dishes.

"I'm sorry." Luke said.

"For what?" I asked, a little confused.

"For the kids acting up and giving you problems. Caroline, you're a sweet person and deserve to be treated with respect." He stated matter-of-factly.

I chuckled slightly. "You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault. They'll come around."

Luke nodded. He placed the last dish on the drying rack and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. He seemed to just stare off into space.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Honestly, it's been like this ever since Chelsea died. Bo and Tate just went off the deep end it seems like. They were both Momma's boys. Sure they loved me, loved fishing with me and muddin'... but man did they love their mother." He inhaled sharply. "She was a heck of a woman, let me tell you. A strong fighter up until the last breath she took. I just feel like ever since I lost her, I lost a part of me, ya know? And I haven't really been there for the boys so it's basically my fault how they are now..."