Five years ago, no one would have bat an eye at him hiring you on to babysit Sarah for the summer. An easy arrangement, two neighbours helping each other out. You were still a kid yourself then, the whole thing mostly your mother’s idea–two facts that make his current situation even more deplorable than it already is.  Because you are not a kid anymore. And by all accounts, neither is his fucking daughter, who’s made it clear on several occasions she no longer feels she needs a babysitter. Truthfully, Joel’s inclined to agree. Sarah’s well past twelve now, and more independent than she has any right to be. She’d be fine on her own, and Joel’d do well to save some goddamn money instead of needlessly giving it away to you.  ‘Course, you’d seen to it that he never stood a chance, showing up on his doorstep that first weekend in June, looking all expectant and giddy, it was the second weekend you’d be babysitting Sarah—the thirteen year old who didn’t need babysitting—after a long year of travelling.