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girlfriends?”
    “No. I’m going to be your nanny! Didn’t your uncle tell you I’d be coming here to meet you guys today?”
    Nell shook her head. “No.” Michelle had been here less than half an hour and already she was making a mental note to tell her new employer that you couldn’t just spring stuff like this on kids, especially a kid in Nell’s situation. What a jerk.
    “Ever had a nanny before?”
    Nell’s expression turned wary. “No.”
    “But I bet you know people who have.”
    “Yes. My best friend Caro Moore, had a nanny.”
    “What was she like?”
    “Lovely. She baked biscuits with us and all sorts of things.”
    “There’s no reason why we can’t bake biscuits.”
    Now she was talking Nell’s language. “Honest?”
    “Yeah! I’m moving in to take care of you. You’ll probably get sick of me!”
    Nell looked down at her bed, her index finger slowly tracing the spiral patterns covering the quilt. “I won’t get sick of you,” she said quietly.
    “We’ll have to help each other out and get used to each other,” Michelle continued kindly.
    “Okay.” Nell’s finger was still following the quilt’s designs.
    Michelle tapped her fingers on the bed. “You know, I was just thinking about your friend Caro. You miss her, right?” Nell nodded sadly. “Well, there’s no reason why you can’t call her.”
Maybe even have her visit some time. God knows your uncle has the money to spring for plane fare
.
    Nell was pop-eyed. “Really?”
    “Why not?”
    “I’d like that.”
    “Now,” Michelle began cheerfully. “I’ll be moving in tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, could you do me a big favor?”
    “What?”
    “Could you make me a list of foods you love and hate? And all the stuff you like to do: dancing, writing, anything.”
    Nell looked thrilled.
    Michelle leaned in close, as if imparting a secret. “Do you like nail polish?”
    Nell looked at a loss for words. “I guess. I’ve never worn any.”
    “I thought it might be fun if tomorrow night, after I’m all moved in, we paint our fingernails and our toenails. What do you think?”
    Nell nodded avidly. “I think it’ll be fun.”
    “Oh yeah,” Michelle agreed, as if it were a foregone conclusion. “It’ll be great.”
    “Thank you,” Nell said politely.
    “You don’t need to thank me.” Michelle stood. “I’m going to leave my telephone number for you on the kitchen counter, okay? That way you can call me if you need me between now and tomorrow.” She smiled at Nell. “I think we’ll do okay together, don’t you?”
    Nell’s fingers stopped tracing the quilt. “Yes.”
    “I’ll let you get back to your reading. See you tomorrow.”
    * * *
    “How did it
go?”
    Esa looked up from the sports pages of the
Sentinel
as Michelle reentered the kitchen. He’d actually been feeling anxious about her meeting his niece. What if Michelle didn’t think she and Nell were a “good fit”?
If you’re being paid enough
, he reasoned irritably,
shouldn’t you be able to make things fit
? Well, in any case, he couldn’t imagine anyone not liking Nell.
    “It went well,” Michelle reported. “She’s a sweetie.”
    “Shy, I know, but I think once she gets to know you . . .” He swallowed uneasily. “She’s been through a lot.”
    “I know. I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”
    Michelle’s promise prompted a painful moment of self-examination. Had he himself said that to Leslie before taking Nell? Had he even told Nell herself he’d take good care of her? He did remember telling her not to be scared. It seemed enough at the time.
    “Do you need any help moving tomorrow?” he asked her. “I can rent a small moving van.”
    Michelle waved the idea away. “No need. My brother has a truck. I don’t have that much stuff, anyway.”
    “Travel light?”
    “You have to in my line of work.”
    “I promise you that by Monday morning, you’ll have your own TV in your room. Also, towels, sheets, and