"Mr. Efficiency? I doubt he even considered I might want time to get a list of questions together and decide what I was looking for. We barely talked about the idea of hiring a nanny yesterday. Yesterday! And today he had people ready to be interviewed? You'd think it was his personal mission."
Wincing, I realized precisely why Jared might believe it was. "I'm sorry, the conflict is probably my fault. When you were having lunch with Christina yesterday, I had Jared watch the boys while I met with the group of local business owners to discuss the new tax system the Gamma Council voted on. They were happy with the hefty reduction, but when I came out of the meeting, I found Jared cutting gum out of Noah's hair while Saul told him what he was doing wrong."
Elisha shook as he started laughing. "Paula told me. Apparently, the gum came right after a paint incident which didn't go as planned. I meant to ask Saul about it, but he's been hanging out with Devon all morning. Devon made the mistake of walking in with a copy of one of my brother's favorite books in his back pocket. Apparently, there's a library around here somewhere? Anyway, they went for a visit."
"Yeah, it's in the next town over. Nice of Devon to get him out of the house. As for the paint incident? Here's what you need to know. Jared thought painting would be a good activity. He didn't realize Noah needed hands-on supervision. It’s why you didn't see him at dinner last night. He spent hours scrubbing the dining room in his mom’s living quarters. Rumor has it Noah got more paint on the furniture than on the paper."
"Oh, God. Poor man! So he wasn't being a jerk—he really was desperate for us to find childcare. Especially with the new baby on the way. Yeah, I get it now. I'm glad I was nice because I’d feel awful if I'd been rude to him.”
I gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. "I think we got sidetracked. Tell me about the nannies—did any of them seem like a good candidate?"
He sat up and tried to turn. It only took me a few seconds to have him sitting sideways, where he could see my face. Elisha rolled his eyes. "It's not fair how easy you make moving me seem. I keep getting bigger every day, and it's so much work to make my body do what I want. And then you lift me around like it's nothing. If I didn't like those muscles of yours so much, I might have to hate you." He stopped to run an appreciative hand over my chest.
As much as I enjoyed his touch, I caught his hand and shook my head. "No distractions, little wolf. At least not with the door unlocked. You were about to tell me about the nannies you interviewed, I believe?"
"The nannies. Yes! They were all good, but I found one I want to hire. She’s doing a trial run right now and spending time with Noah. Her name is Brenda, and she's overqualified for the position, to be honest. She’s in her mid-twenties and has a teaching degree. I didn't meet her before because she was finishing school. Brenda wasn't sure if she was going to come back to the pack or live among the humans, but when her parents told her about us and all the changes we're making, she decided to head home. Which leads me to the next thing I want to talk to you about."
I banged the back of my head against my chair a few times. "Why do I think this is going to cost money? Don't get me wrong—I don't mind. But if I have to sit across the table from Fredo's calculator while the Gamma Council makes me sit through another budget meeting, fair warning, I'm dragging you in there with me." Now that I'd reinstated the powers they should've had within the pack, the gammas had been having a field day. Every time I turned around, another budget meeting or necessary vote had to happen immediately.
Gripping my chin in one hand, Elisha squished my cheeks between his thumb and forefinger to give me fish lips while playfully making my head turn from side to side. "My poor Alpha. He came to save us all, only to suffer a slow death by committee." He squealed and jerked his hand away when I licked his thumb.
Laughing, I booped his nose. "You tease, but I'm most likely to die in the middle of a meeting. But don't worry. They'll have a vote on it first." After shuddering dramatically, I reminded myself we were attempting to have a serious discussion. "Sorry, there was something else you wanted to talk about? First, tell me if you hired the overqualified but seemingly perfect Brenda."
He hummed as he rocked his hands from side to side. "Kinda? I mean, I hired her for now, but I have bigger plans. Do you know what this pack is missing? A school. We have a one-room schoolhouse, but it hasn't been used in several years, from what I was told. After the last teacher left, they couldn't get Horace to hire anyone else. A few families drive their kids to human schools in some of the nearby towns, but it’s a hardship, and a few families homeschool, but parents should have a choice. Some of the Newberry Springs people who came here are also qualified teachers. Christina, for one. But I could list a handful of others. And who knows about the pack members I haven't gotten to know yet? Horace didn't let me leave the house very much, so I have a lot to learn about our packmates."
Thinking his words over, I pursed my lips. How had he read my mind? One of the things I’d been considering was how we needed to grow as a pack and offer more things to our community. Most importantly, educational opportunities.
When I said as much to Elisha, he smiled indulgently. "Let me think, could it be because we’re on the same page? I’m simply glad I can help. You’ve had a lot on your plate, and you're still getting a handle on your new job. Even if your dad did prepare you, that was years ago, and I'm sure he hadn't covered a lot because you were young. You’re a brand-new pack Alpha, and you're having to rebuild the pack after years of neglect. We're going to come across a lot of things we need around here, and we'll deal with them as they pop up. Don't forget, you've got me at your side. We're a team, right? We both have different strengths we can use to support each other."
"How are you only nineteen? I may have a decade on you and a lot more life experience, but I swear, sometimes, it feels like you're the single grownup in the room. When I was your age, I was sneaking into bars and trying to find myself."
No doubt about it, Elisha was unusually mature for his age. I knew a lot of it came from how he grew up. But my grandmother would've said he was an old soul. I'd never given much thought to the old expression, but it fit Elisha. Maybe there was more truth than folksy wisdom in my grandma's old sayings.
Cheeks pink, Elisha smiled shyly at the praise. "Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say so. It's hard being an authority figure when I'm often the youngest person in the room. I'd also like to point out that I was raised for this, too. Like your dad knew you would be his heir, mine had always planned I would be First Mate with the Alpha of his choosing.”
He rolled his eyes at the memory of his father’s plans for him. “And while Dad insisted I was trained so I wouldn't embarrass him, my papa wanted me to be able to confidently run my home. I was younger than Noah when he started. Our tea parties included napkin folding and proper silverware placement.” He paused for a moment, smiling wistfully at the memory.
I loved hearing him talk. He always had so much to say, and all of it was important and interesting. Elisha gave his head a shake and got back to business. “But enough reminiscing. What do you think about getting the school going again? You realize this is also a problem for us personally, right? We either have to hire a tutor or send them to school. Whatever we choose, we should do it sooner than later. It's summer, but the new school year will be starting soon, and we need to have something lined up for them."