Babysitter’s Club Noelle Read online

  Babysitter’s Club Noelle

  Jordan Silver

  Copyright © 2018 by Jordan Silver

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Preface

  1. Noelle

  2. Noelle

  3. Noelle

  4. Noelle

  5. Noelle

  6. Noelle

  7. Noelle

  8. Noelle

  9. Noelle

  10. Noelle

  11. Noelle

  12. Noelle

  13. Callan

  14. Callan

  15. Callan

  16. Callan

  17. Callan

  18. Callan

  19. Callan

  20. Callan

  Epilogue

  Preface

  It was a spur of the moment decision. A bad breakup and a near death experience had sent me into hiding I guess you can say. And that’s why I ended up here in this remote place, far away from everything.

  The house was beautiful, the nearest neighbor was miles away and all around us were nothing but trees and nature. I didn’t mind though, from the moment I stepped foot on the driveway it felt like coming home. There was something about the place that seemed familiar, though I was sure that I’d never been there before.

  And the father, the man whose baby I would be watching, seemed like someone I’d met before. If I were into fanciful daydreams I’d say it was as if we knew each other in another life.

  Just one look in his eyes, and I could get lost. It was all very confusing. Especially the flashbacks to an earlier time. A time when I knew him, intimately it seemed.

  The visions and dreams were so real I’d wake up in a sweat, with a fever between my thighs and I could swear there were teeth marks on my nipples. Still, instead of fear, I wanted to know more. Like what was it about the place, about him, that seemed so familiar?

  Noelle

  “Why must you be so melodramatic Noelle? Don’t you think this is a bit extreme?” I threw the last of my clothing into the suitcase and zipped it up, ignoring my best friend’s refrain for the one-hundredth time.

  What she sees as over dramatic, I see as life preservation. “Just hug me goodbye and get out of here already. You’re only making this harder.”

  The tears that I’d been fighting off for the past few weeks since I made the decision were threatening again and I didn’t want to start. Any show of weakness and Amy would scent blood like a shark in the water.

  In the past I’ve let her talk me out of things, but this was something I didn’t want her to talk me out of. I need to do this, even though I can’t get her or anyone else to understand. Sometimes I don’t even understand it myself, so how can they?

  But deep down inside I know that it’s the best thing for me right now. I knew it when I woke up in the hospital with aches and pains and not knowing who or where I was for those first few minutes.

  When my mind was a jumbled mess that I had to piece back together like a puzzle that was missing way too many pieces. When I was feeling adrift without an anchor and fear clawed at the dark recesses of my mind.

  As soon as reality came flooding back, bringing all the pain and heartache of betrayal with it, my first thoughts had been of getting away. The thought has been beating in my head like a drum ever since.

  Now as I looked around my room one last time for anything that I’d missed, I let my mind go back to that dark place one last time. Hoping that I could leave those particular memories behind.

  I saw Jack’s face that last day that we’d fought, argued. Heard the harsh words that had cut me like a knife. And then I saw myself walking away in a daze.

  I wanted to yell at that girl to stop, not to open the car door, not to climb in. But it was already too late, weeks too late in fact. And there was no going back.

  I shook off the heaviness that threatened to overtake me and took a deep breath. The only thing that had felt good since the whole sordid mess started was this, the move I’m about to make.

  My mom stood in the doorway wiping the remnants of tears from her cheeks. No doubt she’d enlisted her little helper to give it one last try before I really was out the door.

  She’s another one that can’t seem to understand my pain, and why it is that I’d made the decision to leave my home for the summer. To get away from everything I knew.

  I bit my lip when Amy’s arms came around me and I felt the slight tremble in her body. I know that meant that she too was fighting back tears.

  “Call me as soon as you get there. And if you change your mind I’ll come get you.” She whispered the words so that mom wouldn’t overhear.

  I pulled back and looked at her face, her eyes. I should’ve known! She does get me. Her whole act was all for mom’s benefit. That’s why she’s my bestie. I’d been afraid that I’d lost even that as well.

  I smiled wanly because my face was ready but my heart wasn’t yet, to smile. I dragged the heavy case down off the bed and struggled to the door.

  “Oh mom, it’s not like it’s forever. Just three months and I’ll be back.” Maybe! I hate lying to her but if I told her the truth I’d never make it past the doorway.

  I one arm hugged her and had to pull away when those apron strings began to choke me. I wrestled the case down the stairs and out to my little Beetle with the two of them trailing behind with last minute instructions.

  There was barely enough room in the trunk for the luggage. I already had my books and laptop in the backseat. Hoping that I hadn’t left anything behind, I slammed the door before looking back at the house.

  I’ve always loved my home. Have always been proud of the house my parents kept. Dad! I can’t think of my dad right now or I’ll break. He’s so mad at me and I’m such a daddy’s girl that at eighteen it still matters.

  If he knew the real reason I was running away it would be even worse. He’d end up in jail for sure and I’d have even more guilt on my conscience.

  It’s never good when you disappoint the ones you love. And I know I’d disappointed them in more ways than one. Growing pains I guess.

  After one last round of goodbyes I hopped in the car and drove off. Forcing myself not to look back as those tears finally worked their way through.

  I wiped as fast as they fell and tried to think about anything else but what I was doing. Why is it that at the point of decision something can seem so right, so perfect?

  And then when the time comes to execute every doubt in the world begins to plague you and tie you up in knots?

  I pressed my hand against those knots and fought back the nausea as it climbed up my throat. Telling myself once again that this was the right move.

  For some reason, something that had seemed like the perfect solution only the day before now seemed rather daunting.

  Still, I kept my foot on the gas and my eyes trained straight ahead as I left the little town I knew and loved behind. Heading for what I hope were greener pastures.

  As I drove, no radio on for distraction and just my mind and thoughts to keep me company, I bypassed the usual and focused instead on what laid ahead.

  In many ways I was walking into the unknown. For one, I didn’t even know the family I would be working for. It hadn’t seemed that important.

  It was the mother of the husband who’d hired me for the job of babysitting her little granddaughter. At least that’s what I remember.

  He’d been on location at the time, which I
’d interpreted to mean he was either an actor or some kind of entertainer but who knows. For all I know he could be an FBI agent.

  At least those had been my thoughts until a little digging had revealed that he works on an oil rig out in the ocean and is gone weeks and sometimes months at a time.

  The wife, or ex-wife to be exact was still around, but they were no longer married. At least I think that’s what she’d said.

  There was something about that that keeps niggling at the edges of my mind, but I can’t for the life of me find the thread to tug on.

  I have to admit that my head was so full of my own problems at the time that I hardly paid attention to all the details. Not to mention my body hadn’t been entirely healed back then.

  My only interest had been in getting as far away from home as possible. I could’ve gone to Europe like my parents wanted me to my last summer before college. Could be with my friends doing the one thing I’d been looking forward to all year.

  But somehow the thought of being in brightly lit cities with lots of people around did not appeal. No, when you’ve screwed up as royally as I have it’s best to hide away and lick your wounds.

  And that got me to thinking as I drove out of the city headed for the outskirts of town. Why is it that when someone has hurt you, you still carry the blame for your part in it?

  Since when is not being in love a bad thing? Something you should be punished for? “Nope; time for the radio.” No way did I want to relive that horror for the thousandth time.

  I blasted the radio, singing along with the windows down until that feeling of sadness that had crept up on me passed and I was once again looking forward to this new adventure.

  Babysitting isn’t exactly something I would’ve chosen to do with my summer. In fact anyone who knew me would find the choice passing strange.

  I’ve always been more the shopping and afternoon lunch type. Traipsing across Europe would’ve been ideal or even another summer spent visiting the historical sites of the South, which is one of my favorite things to do.

  But for some odd reason, this seemed to be the answer I needed. In fact, I remember during the interview, feeling like it was the best thing possible, though I still had no idea why I’d even come up with the idea.

  It’s just something that had come to me while I was laid up in the hospital. While my parents were showing me brochures of the Louvre and all the other places I’d been looking forward to revisiting.

  Poor mom and dad, they had no idea that I had no interest in spending hours looking at paintings, or going for long walks around the Eiffel Tower with the other million tourists.

  Not that I’d lost my longing for the sights and sounds of Paris in spring, or Spain in the summer. Not even close. But somehow the prospect of visiting those places alone no longer appealed to me.

  Hours later as I made the turnoff for the nineteenth century plantation house that seemed to be at the end of nowhere, I was singing a different tune.

  If my ex-boyfriend had been anywhere in sight I’d have ran him over a time or two. It was because of him that I was here. Because he was a lying, conniving, manipulative shit.

  My chest grew tight and my heart hurt so bad I thought I would have to pull over. But that stubbornness that I’d inherited from my dad held up and I forged on ahead.

  What’s more, I refuse to let him intrude here. I gave myself the little pep talk I’ve been using to keep thoughts of him at bay. It was fast losing its power these days but it was all I had.

  I drove down the long dirt track wondering if the thing had an end to it, when suddenly the most overwhelming feeling of melancholy hit me in the chest, only to be replaced almost immediately with euphoria.

  It was as if the two fought each other and I wasn’t sure which one was going to win as I felt tears of sadness tease the corners of my eyes. That is, until the house came into the view.

  Then my breath caught in my lungs and tears of another kind filled my eyes. “It’s beautiful!” The words were a hushed whisper within the confines of the car.

  I can’t name the myriad of emotions that overwhelmed me in the next few seconds. I’d have to be able to speak first, and I seem to have forgotten how.

  Noelle

  I exited the car almost in a trance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as beautiful as the sight before me. The house may be old, over two hundred years to be exact.

  But it was obvious that it had been kept up very well over time. The many windows, dormers and angles reminded me of something I’d seen in an old black and white film as a child.

  White stone, with a wraparound porch above and below. Huge pillars that looked like sentinels standing guard. It was the picture of antebellum grace.

  There were windows every few feet it seemed like, and French doors leading from the rooms to the porch and balconies that went all around the house.

  I stared up at the magnificent beauty, feeling a sense of familiarity, wracking my brain for where I’d seen it before. It could easily have been in a movie setting, that’s how beautiful it was.

  It wasn’t just the house though, that caught and held my imagination, but the beautiful foliage. There was a backdrop of trees that seemed to surround the home in a semicircle.

  Flowerbeds led up each side of the walkway that led to the massive front door and even more flowers grew seemingly wild off to the sides and back.

  And the house, it seemed to be waiting for something, for me. It was perfectly placed in the middle of nature, as if someone had dropped it there. Like a painting!

  Spanish moss hung from the large cypress trees that framed both sides of the driveway, and the sunlight beating off the many windows made the place seem to belong to another time.

  I’m not sure what about the place made my city girl heart melt but there was something on the wind that seemed to whisper, ‘home’.

  Yes! That felt about right. Later I’ll question. Later I’ll take out these strange new feelings and examine them like I do everything else. But for now I just wanted to enjoy. It was the best feeling I’ve had in forever, whatever this was.

  I felt it in my heart and my soul as I looked around. There was a large pond running along the back of the property where I could see ducks and geese off in the distance.

  An old boat laid on the grass next to a weathered dock and as I turned in a circle taking it all in, I wondered how anything could be so perfect.

  I wondered even more about my feeling of Déjà vu. It felt like I’d been here before, although I know that’s not the case. But the feeling was so strong, almost as if something was begging me to remember.

  Something about the serene beauty of the place called to me almost welcomingly. It’s almost like that feeling you get when visiting grandma’s house.

  Where you know the hugs and kisses are in abundance and you don’t have a care in the world. Yes! It felt like that and so much more.

  I felt the first real smile cross my lips as I took it all in. It was as if the last few weeks just disappeared and the things that had seemed so significant, so monumental even a few short minutes ago, blew away like cotton in the wind.

  That feeling of knowing grew stronger the longer I stood there, but I brushed it off as just my pleasure in the place. I won’t mind spending my summer here at all.

  As the first leg of this journey I’d undertaken without giving it much thought, this was off to a good start. Any residual doubts I may have had were fast disappearing.

  Here I could lose myself in the natural beauty of my surroundings. Here I could leave all the ugliness behind. Here my days will be filled with this immense beauty that seemed untouched by the outside world.

  I don’t know how long I stood there taking it all in but I know it couldn’t have been that long though it felt like it. Closing my eyes I took in the scents and sounds that seemed to speak to something inside me.

  That sense of calmness enveloped me again and I wrapped my arms around myself, patting myself on the
back, almost giddy with excitement.

  I felt real joy, genuine happiness for the first time in too long and was beginning to congratulate myself on a job well done when I was brought rudely back to earth. “Who the hell are you?”

  I turned from the trunk where I was about to retrieve my luggage, looking in the direction of the voice. Before me a few feet away stood an attractive blonde woman of about twenty something.

  She had her hands on her hips and a look of pure hate on her face. I brushed back the wisps of my red velvet colored hair that had fallen into my face and looked around before looking back at her.

  She seemed out of place here, like she didn’t belong. Maybe it was her approach, her unwelcoming glare, or the anger that seemed to be coming off her in waves.

  Whatever it was, there was something about her that struck sudden fear in my heart. My skin felt clammy and it felt like something was cutting off my air.

  I forced myself to keep eye contact even though I wanted to look away and a sudden depressing thought struck. Had I made a wrong turn? Figures!

  “I’m so sorry, I…” Before I could finish, the sound of a door slamming came from somewhere up at the house and then a male voice intruded on the scene.

  “You must be Noelle.” I looked past her to the newcomer and a whole new set of emotions took flight in my chest and tummy and other places that we will not mention.

  Holy…well…if the place was beautiful then the English language was lacking in words to describe him. Gorgeous comes to mind. Yes let’s go with that.

  I’m not one to fall for a pretty face and I am smack dab in the middle of a hate for all things male. But even my cold abused heart had to admit, he is fiiiiine.