For Alice

Katie, freshly showered and changed, sat in her room, avoiding the man she’d doused with a drink—her boss. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and a little girl entered. Katie instantly knew this was Alice. The child was beautiful, with raven-black hair like Ray’s, but she was so petite and pale that she looked more like a seven-year-old than a ten-year-old.

Katie offered a smile, but it wasn’t returned. “You must be Alice. Hi, I’m Katie.”

Alice moved slowly into the room, her gaze never wavering from Katie. She studied Katie from head to toe, her face devoid of emotion. She wandered over to the open closet, taking in the neatly hung clothes and shoes on the floor.

Katie rose, watching as Alice moved to the dresser and examined the makeup and lotions. Finally, the child turned to her and spoke.

“What is all this stuff?” she asked, picking up a bottle and sniffing it.

Katie moved to stand beside her. “Well, it’s my makeup, and these bottles are lotions for your skin—one for my face, and this one is for the rest of me.”

Alice picked up a tiny frosted glass bottle. “What’s this?” she asked, her voice filled with child-like curiosity.

“Perfume,” Katie answered.

The little girl tilted her head, scrunching up her face as she looked at Katie. “Perfume, what’s perfume?”

Katie smiled. “It’s something a woman wears to make her smell nice. Would you like me to put some on you?”

Before Alice could answer, a man’s voice called out to her, and she left without a backward glance. But before she disappeared down the stairs, she called out to Katie, “Supper’s ready. You better hurry. Jimmy doesn’t like for her food to get cold.”

When Katie arrived downstairs, they were all seated around the table waiting for her. Once seated, Jimmy said grace.

Alice kept her eyes on Katie throughout the meal, her gaze never wavering. Seeing the girl watching her, Katie smiled and winked.

“Alice, please stop staring at Miss Harris, it’s rude,” Ray said, his tone stern.

“That’s all right, Mr. Marshall, I’m new, and she’s just curious,” Katie said, smiling at Alice.

Ray slammed his fork down and glared at her. “Miss Harris, don’t undermine me in front of my daughter ever again,” he snapped.

Alice’s eyes darted between her father and Katie, a small smile creeping onto her face as she watched their exchange.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” Katie said, her eyes flashing with anger.

“See to it that it doesn’t,” he practically growled at her.

Jimmy had had enough of their bickering and interjected. “Okay! You two, let’s use first names from now on.” Her tone made it clear she was growing annoyed with their behavior.

When Katie looked at Alice and smiled, the girl returned the smile. She liked Katie and knew instantly that she was the one she’d been waiting for.

After an awkward silence, Ray spoke up. “I had your car towed to the garage. It’s going to take a week to get the part. I guess we’re stuck with you till then.”

Alice looked alarmed. “But Daddy, I thought she was going to be my nurse,” she cried out.

Ray didn’t look up from his plate as he responded. “Honey, I don’t think she’s going to like it here.” He glanced at Katie. “Will you?”

His comment and the way he said it made Katie want to slap the smug look off his face. “I don’t know if I’ll like it or not, perhaps I will.” She smiled at Alice. “I have a week to find out.”

Alice’s face lit up with a huge smile. But from the look on Ray’s face, Katie could tell he was not pleased with her answer. His smile made her nervous—it wasn’t friendly, it was more sinister.

Ray’s face flushed with anger. The nerve of this woman. Well, when I get through with her, she’ll be wanting to walk back to Los Angeles, he thought to himself.

After dinner, Katie offered to help clean up.

Jimmy held up her hands. “No, dear. Alice needs her bath; that’s your job. Then you have to get her ready for bed, and the last thing is her pills.”

After her bath and getting into her pajamas, Katie brushed Alice’s hair.

When she was done, Alice reached up and touched Katie’s hair. “I love your hair. It’s so pretty, like the sun. I wish my hair was this color.”

“Oh, but Alice, your hair is so pretty, so black, just like your daddy,” Katie said, stroking Alice’s hair. “And so soft too.”

When they went downstairs, Ray was there holding Alice’s pills. At the sight of them, Alice hid behind Katie. “No,” she cried out, “I hate taking them, they taste so bad. I won’t take them.”

Ray sat down, pulling Alice onto his lap. “We go through this every night, Alice. Honey, you know you have to take them.” It broke his heart every time he had to give them to her. She hated the taste and cried when she took them, which only made it harder for him.

When Alice looked at Katie with tears in her eyes, it was as if she was begging her to do something. It tugged at Katie’s heartstrings. “Maybe I can help. Do you like peanut butter and honey?” she asked the little girl.

Alice sniffed and nodded.

Everyone watched as Katie cut bread into small pieces, spread peanut butter on them, and added a drop of honey. She placed a pill on each slice and rolled it into a ball. “Here, try this,” she said, handing one to Alice.

Alice took a bite and smiled at Katie. “I like it; it’s good, and I can’t even taste the pill.”

Jimmy stood back, a huge smile on her face. She was impressed with what Katie had done. Usually, Alice screamed and cried when she swallowed her pills. It was a relief to see the child take the pills without all the fuss.

Once Alice was tucked into bed, Ray walked in. He always came to read her a story and to give her a kiss goodnight. Before he did that, he looked at Katie and told her she could go and change clothes.

“Why do I have to change?” she asked, confused.

Ray gave her an impatient look. “To help me in the stable. But if you want to wear that dress and shoes, go ahead.”

“I have to help you? I didn’t know that was part of my job,” she replied.

“You didn’t think you were getting paid to just give a few pills, did you?”

Katie went to her room, cursing Ray under her breath as she pulled on her jeans and a tee shirt. After tying her hair up into a ponytail, she put on a pair of boots and headed out to the stable. Ray was already there, inside one of the stalls, cleaning out the manure and old straw. Without looking up, he ordered her to grab a shovel and start cleaning.

Katie swallowed hard, staring at the horse inside the stall. Her eyes widened. “But there’s a horse in there.”

“Yeah, so what?” He paused to look at her. “What’s the matter? Are you scared?”

She couldn’t believe how arrogant this man was, and she wasn’t about to admit to him that she was terrified. “No, I’m not afraid,” she answered, then grabbed a shovel and opened the door to the stall, staying as far from the horse as possible.

Ray stopped what he was doing to watch Katie when he heard her talking to the animal.

“Nice horse, that’s a good boy, stay right there till I get this done. No, don’t bite me, go away. No, no, stay back,” she squealed.

He watched, amused, as the horse, Daisy, cornered Katie, nudging her in the arm. “She wants you to rub her between the eyes.”

She stared at Ray as though he were out of his mind.

“Go on, she won’t bite you,” he snickered. “If you don’t do it, you’ll be there all night.”

Taking a deep breath, she stroked the horse where Ray had told her. “Why, you’re not so scary after all,” she said, continuing to pet her.

Suddenly, Daisy gave Katie a hard nudge, sending her sprawling onto the straw-covered ground.

Ray burst out laughing just as she let out a scream. “It’s not funny,” she yelled at him.

“It is from where I’m standing,” he said, still laughing.

Fuming, she snatched up the shovel and began to clear away the straw and manure. She was determined not to give him the satisfaction of calling her a quitter.

He watched her, taken aback by her tenacity. She didn’t give up, didn’t even acknowledge Daisy. He had to concede, she had a certain grit about her.

By the time Katie finished, her body was throbbing with exhaustion and the stench of horse manure clung to her clothes. “Am I done? Can I go now?” she pleaded, her voice laced with pain.

“No, we still need to bring in fresh hay and feed them,” he replied, a smile playing on his lips, one he kept hidden from her.

As the day wore on, her body cried out in protest. “Okay, am I done now?”

He surveyed her, struggling to suppress his laughter. “Yes, but you can’t go inside like that. You’ll need to rinse off in the outdoor shower.” He gestured toward a tiny shed, barely big enough for one person. “Just step under and pull the string. You can keep your clothes on or take them off.” His gaze lingered on her, making no attempt to hide his intentions. “I’d prefer if you took them off.”

“You’re revolting,” she spat, before storming off toward the shower. Opting to keep her clothes on, she stepped under the shower and yanked the string. A shriek escaped her lips as ice-cold water drenched her.

Ray couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Maybe I should have warned her to wait a few minutes before stepping under the water.

Soaked to the bone and shivering, she entered the house, cursing the day she ever crossed paths with Ray Marshall.