Never Say Never

cheeks warmed at the praise.
“Thank you.”
Jaime reached for her pencil. “Do you want to draw something?” she asked him.
“Yeah!”
“Oh no, Emily, don’t let him draw in there,” Camila said when Emily turned to a fresh page. “I’ll get you some paper.”
“It’s fine,” Emily said, holding the sketch pad in front of Jaime. “I don’t mind. I’ve got a dozen of these, and half of them are filled with doodles from kids I’ve looked after in the past. It’s nice to look back through them.”
Jaime was holding the pencil over the paper, his face scrunched up in concentration. “What do you wanna draw, buddy?” Emily asked him.
“You and Mama!” His eyes lit up with the idea, and he began working, the pencil scratching over the paper.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Camila murmured, and turned back toward her office.
“We’ll come and show you when it’s finished.”
* * *
“I think Mama will like this one.” Camila smiled at the sound of Jaime’s voice. His head was bent over what must be his third drawing of the day. The pair had come back in the office and were perched side by side on her couch.
“I think she will too, buddy.” Emily smiled as she looked down at Jaime. Camila thought that must be what she herself looked like whenever she gazed at him, and she wondered if it had taken only two days for Emily to fall in love with him too.
Camila couldn’t stop stealing glances at Emily and Jaime, even though she was supposed to be finalizing the schedule for the upcoming season.
She couldn’t believe how well she was doing, how utterly captivated Jaime was. She didn’t know what it was that had her son so engaged. That morning she thought that perhaps last night had been a fluke, that Jaime would be standoffish and wary like he usually was around new nannies, but as soon as Camila told him that Emily would be by later, he had talked about nothing else all day.
It was…astounding.
She couldn’t figure out what it was about Emily Walker that made her so special.
She just was.
And it was maddening not being able to pinpoint why.
Having Emily around was supposed to help her productivity, but it had the opposite effect. But Camila had seen enough—Jaime was perfectly at ease around her, and one more day in the office wouldn’t hurt before she let her loose in her home, trusting that the girl wouldn’t burn it down. And then she’d be able to concentrate again.
Camila tried to ignore the sound of Emily and Jaime quietly talking. She pulled her focus back to her laptop screen and the schedule in front of her. When she finished, she sent it off and relaxed back in her chair. Her work was done for the day—barring an emergency, of course.
“Are you finished working, Mama?” Jaime asked, turning to her eagerly, and when she nodded, he scrambled off the couch, struggling to carry the sketch pad that was almost as big as him. Camila laughed. When he reached her, she picked him up and set him down in her lap. “This is you!” he said excitedly, pointing at the page in front of him.
Camila’s breath caught. Jaime had colored in the sketch using a mishmash of his favorite colors, but the sketch itself was done by a more expert hand.
And it was… Well, it was a sketch of her. Emily must have finished it quickly, but it was still detailed, a beautiful depiction of Camila as she sat behind her desk, glasses on the edge of her nose, eyes focused on her computer screen.
“I…I hope it’s okay. He asked me to draw you and I… Well, he can be very persuasive.”
Camila glanced up. Emily was hovering across from her desk but refusing to meet her gaze.
“It’s fine, Emily.” In fact, the drawing was flattering, highlighting her cheekbones and her piercing eyes, and if that was how Emily saw her… Well, it was nice to be admired by someone so young and beautiful herself. “I think it’s wonderful.”
“Y-you do?”
“Yes, I do.” She turned back to her son. “And you did wonderful coloring, sweetheart.” She kissed the top of his head, and he beamed. “What else have you drawn today?” Jaime pointed to previous pages showing stick figures of what must be the three of them. “My, my, you have been busy, haven’t you? Have you enjoyed yourself today?”
“Yeah!”
“Had fun with Emily?”
“Emily’s the best!”
Camila chuckled. She was glad that Emily’s charm had not worn off. “Yes, well, Emily can go home now.”
His face fell, bottom lip trembling, and Camila recognized the beginning of a tantrum. That was new. Until now, the only person he had thrown a fit over leaving him had been her.
“But—”
“But nothing,” Camila told him gently. “She’ll be back tomorrow, and until then you can spend time with me.”
“Okay.” He seemed momentarily placated by that. Then he asked, “Is it tomorrow yet?”
“No, buddy.” Emily laughed. “Not yet, but it will be soon.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” she said, then asked Camila, “Do you want me to come here a little earlier, get to know his usual routine?”
Camila had been thinking the same thing. Emily had read her mind. “How about eight thirty? Though I’ll need you earlier than that when you come to the apartment next week.”
“Of course. Eight thirty is fine.”
I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. Evans. And you too, Jaime.” She waved, and he waved back. “Have a good night!” she called over her shoulder.
Camila and Jaime watched her go.
“You like her, huh, Jaime?” Camila asked. Jaime nodded enthusiastically. “You know what’s crazy?”
He shook his head.
“I think I do too.”
Emily was…refreshingly different from the nannies who had come before her, different even from anyone else in her life. She seemed to constantly surprise and impress Camila, and it had only been two days.
She wondered what the future held.

Chapter 5
The night before her first day going to Camila’s apartment, Emily set her alarm for six thirty. She groaned when it went off. She had never