LITMIR.BIZ

      Ryan Larson brushed off the knock at the door, followed by the sound of the doorbell. Whoever it was would just have to wait. It was probably just FedEx dropping off a package, anyway.

      They could just leave it on the porch. He was on the phone with his lead developer who was on a business trip to Japan. This call from halfway around the world was one of the final keys to everything. It wouldn’t be long until he was presenting to the entire Yamoharo Global team, persuading them to buy his new app technology.

      Once they did, the sky would be the limit.

      Until then, nothing in heaven or on earth could be a distraction. Especially not the doorbell.

      “Look, we’re getting five thousand downloads a day. And if we can land this, that number doubles. Yeah, I know. I hear what you’re saying. Well, I don’t think it’s that complicated. We just tell them who we are, you know? We’re a young, proven company. We’ve got apps that work. And this one has a great interface, it’s simple…exactly.”

      Ryan paced across the front of his home office, oblivious to the light filtering through the windows or the sounds of the birds in the trees. He could feel it. One step closer to sealing the deal. “Yeah. And I just think we share the comments…I’ve got ‘em right here.”

      Ryan dragged his finger across the touchpad mouse on his laptop and pulled up his email. He tapped the forward button and sent the summary brief with the feedback flying halfway around the world to the Land of the Rising Sun.

      Suddenly he couldn’t keep his focus anymore. A woman in a lightweight brown jacket was jumping up and down and waving and flailing outside the window to his office. He lived in a popular neighborhood with lots of families and hustle and bustle. But a strange woman dressed in fall-appropriate layers and practically tap-dancing in his front yard was something he’d never seen before. “I’ve got to call you back.”

      His colleague acknowledged receipt of the email. Ryan wrapped up the conversation. Through the window, he gestured for the woman to meet him at the front door.

      Ryan opened the dark wooden door and a woman with loose brown curls and a pearly smile stood just in front of him.

      “Can I help you?” he asked. He needed to get this over with so he could make a few more phone calls before the time difference between Seattle and Japan made it difficult to continue any of the day’s discussions. Sometimes, it seemed hard to work globally—especially without Laurie. He’d been able to work all day and all night before she got sick. Laurie ran the house, Ryan ran the business.

      Together, they helped each other achieve their dreams. It had been the ideal partnership, and although it had been nearly four years since ovarian cancer stole her from the family they’d created together, he still felt a twinge of regret when he thought of what was missing from his life and the kids’ lives. Some days, it felt very lonely without a wife and mother to keep all the balls in the air and to fill the four walls around them with love.

      “Oh, I’m Poppy Summerall. Temporarily for You—I made a business card and everything.”

      She handed him a business card that looked like she’d made it on her home computer. It declared the name of her business to be Temporarily for You Nanny Services. There were clouds dotting the background of the card. He’d never seen anything quite like it.

      But at least he now knew who the crazy dancing lady in the front yard was. He’d gotten so caught up in the call that he’d forgotten she was supposed to come by today. “Yes, you’re Megan’s sister.”

      Megan had become a friend over the years. Their kids played together. Megan had brought Zoe and Zach home from school in a pinch when one nanny or another quit or Ryan needed to work late. She dished out practical, thoughtful mom advice without making him feel like a clueless dad.

      Ryan trusted Megan. So, when she said that her sister Poppy would be perfect to take care of the kids, Ryan believed her.

      “And you’re Ryan Larson,” Poppy said.

      If he’d been oblivious to everything this afternoon except conversations with techie types, he wasn’t now. Poppy had an easy smile and a twinkle in her blue eyes.

      She looked like someone the kids could warm up to. Eventually. Poor lady probably didn’t even know what she was in for. The kids had taken all of their recent nannies by surprise.

      And there had been a string of them lately.

      He took a deep breath and nodded, opening the door wide for her to enter. “Yeah, come on in.”

      “Thank you.”

      “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

      “No. I just looked for the only house on the block without Halloween decorations.”

      Her observation brought back more memories of Laurie. Ryan had been so caught up in the presentation he needed to make in a few weeks that he’d put off everything having to do with the upcoming holiday. And now it was basically too late. Laurie never would have let that happen. Laurie had a way of making every holiday special.

      “Yeah…yeah…Halloween was kind of my wife’s thing.” Ryan hoped the new nanny couldn’t hear the regret in his voice. He didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot with this one. Goodness knows there had been enough wrong feet with the wrong nannies around here for a while.

      “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Poppy apologized.

      Ryan hadn’t intended for her to feel badly about his observation. He needed to change the conversation quickly and keep this moving forward. “No, no… It’s okay. It’s been almost four years now.” Ryan needed

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