Joe folded his arms across his ridiculously wide chest and said, "I'm glad the girls weren't here to see that."
Taylor bit her lip and hooked her hands behind her back. "Um... sorry?"
Joe laughed. "I'm kidding. I would have done exactly the same thing. And you're right, the girls are your first priority. The dishwasher can wait."
"I have no idea why she dislike me so much."
"Don't take it personally. She doesn't like me, either, but she's one hell of an awesome housekeeper."
"You would think she would be happy to have me here. Now she doesn't have to deal with the twins."
"I have a talk with her."
That could be really a bad idea. "Maybe you shouldn't. I don't want her to think I tattled on her. It will just make things worse."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Joe walked to the laundry room and over the sound of washer and dryer she heard the door snap closed behind him. Tempted as she was to sneak back there and press her ear to the door listen, she put the lunch dishes in the dishwasher instead. Joe was back a couple of minutes later, a satisfied smile on his face.
"She won't hassle you anymore," he said. "If you need me, I'll be in my office."
Whatever he said to Ms. Cruz, it had worked. She came out of the laundry several minutes later, red faced with embarrassment or anger, and didn't say a word or even look at Taylor. She maintained her tight-lipped silence until dinner time when she served a Mexican dish that was so delicious Taylor had two helpings.
Taylor was surprised when Joe invited her to eat in the dining room with him. She had just assumed that she would be treated like any other hired help and eat in the kitchen with the girls.
Because surely he wouldn't want two infants around making a fuss and disrupting his meal. But he actually insisted on it.
While Taylor sat at one end of the table, Summer in her high chair next to her, he sat with Winter, alternately feeding her then himself.
When Winter started to fuss and Taylor offered to take over, he refused.
He wiped the applesauce from her face and hands with a washcloth, plucked her from the high chair and sat her in his lap while he finished his meal, dodging Winter grasping hands as she tried to intercept his fork.
After their talk last night , maybe he felt he had to prove some sort of point.
When they were done with dinner he switched on the enormous flat screen television in the living room and turned it to HBO Channel. Then he stretched out on the floor and played with the girls while she sat on the couch feeling like an outsider.
The girls obviously adored him and it scared out the hell of her. Not because she thought that the girls will love him more. She'd reconciled her position on the girls' lives. She just hated to see the girls become attached to him, only to have him grows bored with parenting.
to be continued...