Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 85
Renee Swan turned out to be a slight woman with compassionate eyes and a friendly demeanor. She showed up on time and relieved Edward by responding to all his queries with satisfactory answers.
Esme had already screened for the critical areas. The purpose of today's meeting was for both parties to meet and get a feel for each other. To make sure they could foresee a mutual trust developing between them in the coming months.
Renee spoke of her daycare center, which she ran profitably for over a decade until she had to close it down two years ago to take care of her ailing husband whose health had taken a turn for the worse after being in remission for a year. He had recently passed away of lung cancer.
The long, uphill battle had left her on the brink of near destitution. Even after liquidating her husband's business and selling their house, she was teetering on the edge financially. A live-in position would be perfect for her to slowly get back on her feet.
Edward liked her. Renee Swan had an air of patience and empathy about her that reminded him of Esme. She understood that looking after Ella would be a full time job and she was very much up for the task. She loved children. She would be right in her element.
He began to favor the idea of foregoing interviewing the other two candidates and offer her the job on the spot. The more he learned about her, the more his conviction solidified.
With the passing of her husband, she had very few family obligations left that required her personal presence. Her only child had gone off state to attend college, who was a fairly independent young adult, strong willed and conscientious, and seldom needed her mother's intervention to manage her life away from home.
Renee smiled fondly when she mentioned her child, saying how fortunate it was that she managed to come out of the whole crisis with her daughter's college fund intact.
Edward felt a certain bond of kinship forming between them as he heard Renee speak of her daughter. It created a strange sense of anticipation in his stomach.
He tried to visualize Ella as a five, ten, fourteen year old.
He imagined her going off to college.
He pictured Ella all grown up, raising her own children.
His chest hurt at the thought.
It was a marvelous yet scary prospect.
How did parents do it?
How did his own parents do it?
Would he be able to let Ella go one day when the time came?
His musings were interrupted by Renee clearing her throat.
"Unless you have any more questions, I was hoping maybe I could say hello to Ella today," she said. "And to Mrs. Cullen too, of course.
"I mean your wife, not your mother," she clarified when she saw the perplexed look on his face.
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