An Unexpected Nanny. Constance Masters

story. Would you have a minute to put a notice in the general store window for me, please, and maybe the paper?”

      “Sure, I will.” Trish smiled. “What would you like me to say?”

      “I’ll leave that up to you. I haven’t had any luck so far myself. Maybe you would know what I’m looking for. I need someone special.” Curtis picked up Rose and headed for the door. “Thanks, Trish, I know I can trust you.”

      “No problem, you just leave it to me.”

      Vi and her grandmother had no idea where to start even though they had the father’s name. “How about a Google search?” Vi suggested. They typed in the name.

      “There’s so many,” Lillian said. “How can we narrow it down?”

      “I guess we can look at more of his Facebook page,” Vi said. “Maybe it would have his occupation.”

      “Good idea but I already tried that, it’s private.”

      “I have an idea; why don't we try one of those people search things. We know his name; we know Rose’s name. Maybe the white pages?” Lillian asked.

      “I don’t think they include children.”

      “I know what we can try. I have no idea if it will work. This photo is like a professional photo shoot, right? What if we drop the photo into photo booth and cut out the picture of Curtis?” She demonstrated as she did just that. “Then we can do a reverse image search of the cut picture. We might just get lucky.”

      “Bingo!” Lillian said a few minutes later. “He has a LinkedIn account.”

      “How do you know about all this stuff, Grandma?” Vi asked.

      “I did a free class for seniors.”

      “You amaze me. How did my mother ever come from you?”

      “Your mother wasn’t always the way she is now, your stepdad had a lot to do with the finished product,” Lillian said sadly. “Anyway, back to this. Let’s look at his LinkedIn account.”

      “That’s him,” Vi shouted.

      “He’s a doctor!” they both said at once.

      “And his number is right there,” Vi said, staring at the profile like it was the Holy Grail, in a way it was.

      “Now, what are you going to do with this information?” Lillian asked. “You need to think about this, you can't just go like a bull at a gate. You need to know exactly what you are going to say.”

      “I could just say—” It wasn’t going to be as easy as she first thought. “Hi, this is Viola Spring, I was just ringing to offer my condolences.”

      “Honey, it was a year ago. What if he was to say, who are you, Viola, and how did you know my wife?”

      “Maybe I should tell him the truth,” Vi said. “I could say, I’m your baby’s birth mother, I don’t want anything from you, I heard you lost your wife and just wanted to know that the baby I gave you is okay.”

      Lillian blew out a deep breath. “Whew, it isn't a lie, but you could open up a can of worms with that.”

      “If I can't lie and I can’t tell the truth, what can I say?” Viola was feeling extremely frustrated. She knew her grandmother was right, but her little girl was on the other side of the phone that belonged to the number right in front of her. She couldn’t just do nothing, she had to try.

      “I really don't know but maybe you could keep it more… vague. After all, it isn't a lie if you’re protecting everyone involved, I don’t think it is anyway.”

      Vi sat there thinking for a few minutes. “I could pretend to be doing a survey,” she said.

      “I would tell you, no, thank you, and hang up.”

      “You know what, Grandma? I’m going to go with the truth.”

      “Then if that’s your final decision, I’m behind you all the way, Vi, I just want you to be sure,” Lillian said. “I’m going to find something to busy myself with outside, so you can have some privacy.”

      “Thanks, Grandma.”

      Vi stared at her phone for what must have been five minutes before she got up the courage to call. Her fingers were shaking as she punched in the numbers. She had to breathe very deeply to stop herself from crying. Fabulous first impression, if he answered the call to hear her sobbing on the other end. Not that deep breathing would go over that much better. She would just have to get herself together and do neither once she heard his voice.

      “Dr. Stonehouse speaking,” Curtis said.

      “Um, hi, my name is Viola Spring,” Vi said nervously.

      “Viola,” Curtis said. “I guess you’re calling about the position?”

      Vi blinked rapidly. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “The position?” she practically choked out.

      “I assume you’re phoning about the position of nanny, for my young daughter.”