The Sitter: Part One
- Hamlin
- Jul 27
- 15 min read
Lauren Cole was always ten minutes ahead of the clock. Her hair was curled and set before the kids were even out of bed, her coffee brewed to the precise shade of tan that matched the walls of their open-concept kitchen, her nerves jangled tight by the time Carson made his first appearance in the morning—usually already half-dressed in cycling lycra, or, on his lazier days, slouched in the elastic waistband of old Harvard crew shorts. Today she’d been up before dawn, scrubbing a spaghetti stain out of the family room rug, setting out a tray of cheese cubes and “healthy” crackers, and silently, meticulously plotting how the interview with the new babysitter could not, under any circumstances, be a repeat of last time.
