Kitabı oku: «Bringing Up Babies»

Chapter One

“Hi, I’m Lily Andersen. You advertised for a nanny?”

Chas Brewster stared in amazement at the woman standing at his front door. The gorgeous blue-eyed blonde was about the farthest thing from a nanny he’d ever seen.

“Yes. Come in,” he said, then swallowed hard. With her big, bright sapphire eyes and bounty of luxurious yellow curls accenting the peaches and cream complexion of her face, Lily Andersen had the kind of beauty that could stop traffic. She wore a baby-blue sweater that wasn’t designed to accent her bosom, but did anyway, and modest jeans covering a perfect derriere and long legs.

“We’re looking for a nanny, but we plan to interview a lot of people,” he said, gently discouraging her because he couldn’t imagine this woman caring for triplet babies who required nearly round-the-clock care. “For first interviews I’m only asking a few preliminary questions. Suitable candidates will be called back for a second interview.”

Lily nodded her understanding. Chas motioned to the right, directing her down the hall to the den, praising the heavens as he followed behind her. Watching her hips move he acknowledged that nature had truly outdone itself when it created this woman. For a good ten seconds he wished she really did want to play mother to three motherless children, but he squelched that wish because it was selfish. Right now his top priority had to be the health, safety and well-being of the children.

Besides, he couldn’t have a relationship with her, anyway. First, if he hired her, she’d be his employee. Second, if he hired her, she’d be living in his house. Both circumstances spelled trouble.

Taking another look at the subtle swing of her hips, Chas sighed. It was a fun fantasy while it had lasted.

“Second door on the right,” he said.

She turned and smiled. “Thank you.”

Chas instructed Lily to take a seat as he rounded the old, worn desk that had once been his father’s to sit on the battered burgundy leather chair behind it. Professionally, as if he had interviewed nannies a million times, he reached for his legal pad and pen. “You said your name was Lily Anderson,” he said, writing the information at the top of the page.

“That’s right. Lily Andersen. A-N-D-E-R-S-E-N, not O-N.”

Chas glanced up and smiled. “E-N,” he repeated, making the note, though he knew the record would be worthless. When she discovered the job was caring for triplets, not one child, she would probably run in the other direction, but more than that, he’d already figured out he couldn’t seriously consider her a candidate to care for Taylor, Cody and Antoinette, whom they called Annie, unless she had excellent credentials. Tamping down the thought that it would be nice to simply look at this woman twenty-four hours a day, he knew her ability to attend to the children was the real bottom line.

“Where are you from, Lily?”

“Wisconsin.”

That stopped him. “You’re an awfully long way from home.”

She shrugged carelessly. “I know. I was feeling stifled by my family and decided to get away.”

“To Pennsylvania?” he asked incredulously.

She grinned charmingly, innocently. “Why not?”

Confused, Chas only stared at her. If she were running away, he’d expect a woman of her good looks to choose a place like Los Angeles or New York, a place where she might be able to put those good looks to work as an actress or model.

“I love Pennsylvania,” she continued. “You have beautiful mountains and fabulous trees. For a mid-Atlantic state, Pennsylvania has kept a lot of its rural appeal. I could probably live here happily forever.”

The flowing, melodious tones of her lovely voice lulled him into a warm, comfortable state and he found himself gazing at her like a love-sick puppy. She was beautiful, her voice was soft and sexy, and she had an absolutely perfect figure….

Call him a chauvinist, but a man had to know the limits of his endurance, and Chas knew his. Having this woman living with him in this house wasn’t going to work.

He almost felt bad for rejecting her for a problem that was his, not hers—then he realized the problem could be hers. Rather than believe she wanted to live in the middle of nowhere, it made more sense to think she was on her way to the big city, needed money, saw the Brewster ad, decided she could make quick, easy cash and stopped to try to get the job.

Well, that was the end of that. He didn’t have to worry about being overwhelmingly attracted to her anymore. Not only was she too beautiful to run after three screaming, hungry babies, who demanded full-time attention, but she was a transient. There was no way he’d introduce the children to a nanny who would desert them after a few weeks, or even a few months. Given the way they’d been shuffled around, these kids needed someone more permanent.

He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, I certainly love Pennsylvania, too,” he said, then pretended to consult some notes. He would ask a few more general questions as a formality, then, with a clear conscience, he’d send her on her way. “Tell me about your child-care experience.”

“Who cares about her child-care experience?” Grant, Chas’s oldest brother, said from the door of the den. Cradling their baby brother and two sisters in his well-muscled forearms, dark-haired, bearded Grant walked into the room. “For some reason or another, Chas, I get the impression you’ve forgotten we’re desperate. At this point, I’m willing to take anybody.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Lily exclaimed, jumping from her chair. “Aren’t they the most adorable babies!”

All three of the kids wore one-piece rompers. The girls’ were solid pink with a bunny appliqué on the chest. Cody’s was gray with a multicolored train. Cody and Annie had sandy hair and light green eyes, but Taylor had dark hair and brown eyes. Looking at the eight-month-old triplets the way a stranger would, Chas had to admit that, yes, they were adorable.

“Don’t let their looks deceive you,” he said, aware that he was behaving like a man dousing water on the fire, but also knowing it was for the best. These kids needed more than a temporary nanny. “At three o’clock in the afternoon, well rested from their naps, they seem adorable. At three o’clock in the morning, hungry and wanting to play rather than sleep, they are as far from adorable as you can get.”

“Oh, they are not!” Lily said, taking Taylor from Grant’s outstretched arms. “Look at you,” she said, brushing her cheek against Taylor’s in a gesture of complete fascination with the little girl with the dark hair and eyes like Grant’s. “You’re just precious.”

“They’re all precious and wonderful,” Grant said as he slid Cody and Annie into the play yard set up in the den for Chas’s convenience when he had to work. “And surprisingly easy to care for.”

Chas’s eyes bugged out in astonishment. “You’re lying,” he said without thinking.

Grant glared at him. “These children are a joy to have around.”

“These children are family,” Chas said. “And I love all three of them dearly, but they are not always a joy to have around.”

Grant thrust his chin in Lily’s direction, then tried to send Chas a message with his eyes.

Chas frowned and shook his head.

“Well, they’re beautiful children,” Lily said, stroking Cody’s cheek while she balanced Taylor on her hip. “And they appear to be very well behaved.” She smiled at Grant, then Chas. “Whose babies are they?”

Chas looked at Grant. Grant looked at Chas. Finally Chas said, “They belonged to our father and stepmother, both of whom died recently. Grant and I, along with our brother, Evan, were granted custody.”

“Oh, so the three of you live in this house?” Lily questioned innocently.

“No, our brother Evan got married over the weekend. He’s on his honeymoon,” Grant said.

“Which leaves the two of you as guardians for the kids,” Lily surmised, glancing from brother to brother.

Chas shook his head. “No. We recognized that each child needed individualized attention, and we’ve all more or less adopted a child to be our own. The kids stay together all day, then in the evening I take care of Annie, Evan and Claire will have Cody, and Grant gets Taylor.”

Lily shot him a confused expression, but Chas decided that was good. She might be sweet, she might be nice, she might even have honorable intentions about trying to care for kids, but he suspected she was only here temporarily. He wasn’t about to hire somebody who wouldn’t stay around.

“So, what you’re telling me, then, is that the job is more of a daytime thing?”

“And we’re planning to hire a housekeeper,” Grant said encouragingly.

“You simply want someone to care for the children?”

“Absolutely,” Grant said, grinning charmingly.

“Eventually,” Chas contradicted sternly. “For now the nanny will have to do basic housekeeping, and the job is at least ten hours a day,” Chas reminded, again bringing everything back to reality. “Because you’d be the primary care giver, there will be times we’ll expect you to baby-sit in the evenings. There will also be times you would be responsible for overnight duty. Grant’s in the process of bringing his construction company north and once it’s here he’ll need a full night’s sleep. I’m setting up my law practice. I won’t always have to get up first thing in the morning, but when I do, I’ll also need my sleep.”

“But the nanny will have a room upstairs for convenience in caring for the kids,” Grant put in immediately. “You’ll live here. Room and board is part of the package. Afternoons or mornings that you’re not needed will be your free time. We’ll try to work out advance schedules,” he added, skewering Chas with a look that dared him to try to throw water on that one.

“It sounds like exactly what I’m looking for,” Lily began, but Chas stopped her.

“That’s great,” he said, rising from his seat to walk around the desk. He placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the door. “Like I said, once I’ve completed all the first interviews, I’ll begin calling people back for second interviews. I do have a number where you can be reached, don’t I?”

“I’m staying at the bed and breakfast on Main Street,” Lily said, handing Taylor to Grant. “If you want me for a second interview, just call Abby, I guess.”

“Okay. Fine. That’s great,” Chas said as he directed her out.

He got as far as the door before Grant said, “What in the hell are you talking about first interviews and second interviews for? We are desperate. Desperate. I want somebody here tomorrow. I’m supposed to be in Savannah on Thursday. I’m not going to make it if we don’t get some help soon.”

Chas tried to silence Grant with a glare, and Lily took a step forward out of the way of the two tall, angry, obviously disagreeing men. Dressed in a plaid work shirt and jeans, Grant was frightening and imposing, but Chas was majestic. His sandy-brown hair was straight but cut short and styled in such a way that not even one strand was out of place. His green eyes were clear, direct. Even wearing casual tan slacks and an open-necked yellow shirt, tall, whipcord-lean Chas had the look of a person in power. It could have been the way he carried himself. It could have been the fact that he didn’t back down from his older, brawnier brother. Or it could have been because he seemed to be the one calling the shots.

Lily also wasn’t surprised Chas didn’t want her. She’d seen disapproval in his pale gray-green eyes the minute he opened the door to her. Men always had one of two reactions to her. They either thought she was a bubble brain or they thought she was riffraff.

Dignified, stately Chas apparently thought she wasn’t good enough for his family.

“Grant, why don’t we let Ms. Andersen go, and you and I will discuss this privately?” Chas asked.

“Why don’t we let Ms. Andersen wait in the living room while I convince you you’re an idiot, and that way I won’t have to drive to town to apologize to her and beg her to take this job,” Grant quickly countered.

Because Lily had been down roads like this one many times, she stepped in before the dispute became ugly. “Okay, look, I’m not going to pull any punches here.” She faced Chas. “You think that because I’m blond I’m stupid,” she said, opting for the nicer of the two choices for why Chas immediately disliked her. “Since I know I’m not, and since I know I’ll do a very good job as nanny for your children and you’ll be glad you hired me, I would be more than happy to work out some sort of a trial period.”

Lily watched Grant smirk cockily and cross his arms on his broad chest as if he knew her argument had won the battle, but she nonetheless held her breath waiting for Chas’s reply. She might be staying at the B&B tonight and maybe tomorrow night, but basically that was all she could afford. She had to find a job today. Because it was already three o’clock, nanny to the Brewster children might be her salvation.

Chas sighed heavily. “Ms. Andersen, it isn’t that I don’t think you’re capable of caring for the kids. I’m afraid you’ll only be temporary.”

She gave him a puzzled frown. “What do you mean?”

“Well, your home is awfully far away. What’s to say you’re not going to get homesick and just pick up and leave?”

Lily answered without a second’s hesitation. “I won’t.”

When he didn’t immediately respond, Lily knew her first guess was right on the money. Though he might truly question whether or not she’d stay in this town, that wasn’t the real reason he didn’t want to hire her. Since she couldn’t defend his possible opinion of her social status, she chose to defend her abilities.

“My sister is ten years older than I am, and she had three babies in three years. Not only did I live with her after our mother died, but I baby-sat while she worked.” She caught Chas’s gaze and held it. “I can handle three kids. I’ve already done it.”

“She’s got you, Counselor,” Grant said with a laugh.

“All right, a trial period,” Chas said as if he were doing her a supreme favor. “But these babies are very important to us,” he warned soberly. “If you don’t do an excellent job and I do mean excellent, you’re out. Do you understand me?”

“Oh, I understand you very, very well, Mr. Brewster,” Lily said, giving Chas a pointed warning look of her own, before she turned to walk out of the den. “I’m going into town to get my things from Abby’s. Please have my room ready when I return,” she said, then left.

“I guess she told you,” Grant said with a laugh after Lily was gone.

“I should punch you for getting us into this mess,” Chas said, striding back to his chair behind the big desk.

“Punch me? Punch me? You were about to let the only nanny to answer our ad walk out the door. We’ve had that ad in the paper for months, and not one person answered it until Lily.”

“Someone will come along eventually.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Grant said and fell to the seat in front of Chas’s desk. “No one wants this job. Face it, Chas, you are in rural Pennsylvania now. This isn’t Philly. Nannies aren’t flocking here in droves.”

“Still, that doesn’t mean we have to take the first person who comes along, either. Do you know you hired her before I had a chance to get references?”

“So, we’ll get references when she returns.”

“And what if we find out she’s wanted for a felony in Wisconsin? What do we do then?”

“Then we let her go. That’s what trial periods are for.”

Chas dropped to his chair in exasperation. “All this is so easy for you because you’re going to be out of town. What if she’s careless or persnickety? What if she can’t handle all three kids alone?”

“She’s not going to be alone. It was never our plan to leave the nanny alone with the kids for long stretches of time. That’s why you’re setting up shop at the house, Counselor,” Grant reminded archly. “You volunteered to be the watcher and helper so that Evan would have the freedom to take over the mill.”

“Yeah, and what are you supposed to be doing while I’m the watcher and helper?”

“I’m supposed to be bringing my very successful construction company up from Savannah, remember?” Grant said, reaching out to lift Taylor from the play yard when she began to cry. He snuggled her against his neck, then sighed and said, “Come on, Chas, we need her. Period. End of story. At least until Evan gets back from his honeymoon. When Evan gets back we’ll hold another meeting, maybe regroup and change our plans, but for now it’s just you and me. And I have to go to Savannah.”

“So, go. I’ll take care of the kids.”

“I’m not leaving you with three babies and no helper. Besides, Lily looks very capable to me.”

Chas gave him an incredulous stare. “Oh, yeah. She looks capable, all right.”

“What? You think because she’s pretty she can’t take care of kids?”

“No, I think that because she’s pretty she’s got bigger fish to fry than being nanny for the children of two bachelors in the wilds of Pennsylvania. Use your head, Grant, she’s probably going to New York and we’re a convenient stop along the way. A place where she can rest and earn some extra cash.”

Having settled Taylor, Grant rose from his chair. “I don’t care if she is only temporary. She’s solving an immediate problem. As far as I’m concerned that’s good enough.”

He turned to walk out the door, but Chas called him back. “Grant, one of these days you’re going to have to start thinking about the future.”

Grant laughed. “Not as long as I have you around.”

Lily got into her car and drove down the winding road that led into town, not even noticing the September breeze that rippled through the multicolored leaves of the dense forest around her. She couldn’t stop thinking about Chas Brewster and had to struggle not to close her eyes in frustration, wishing for the one millionth time in her life that she’d gone to college as her sister had advised. At the time she’d thought Mary Louise had only been trying to be a good guardian, pointing out all Lily’s options before Lily committed to helping her sister with her boys. Now she knew Mary Louise understood that pretty blondes didn’t always get the respect they deserved. At least if she had a degree, no one could argue her abilities.

Lily sighed. But she hadn’t wanted a degree. She’d wanted babies. She’d wanted to marry Everett, settle down in a suburban home and be a mom. She’d wanted to car pool to Little League games and ballet recitals. She’d wanted to sew Halloween costumes and give out candy to children for trick or treat. She’d also wanted to be the respected confidante of a man who would be her best friend, her partner, her companion and her lover. She’d wanted to give advice, talk out difficulties, plan the futures of her children and enjoy every second of her life—good or bad. Because she had genuinely believed there was nothing better, nothing more wonderful or more important than spending your life giving love, receiving love and teaching others to love.

Lily sighed heavily and maneuvered her car around a particularly sharp curve.

What a fool she’d been.

Betrayal had quickly stolen all her dreams, and time hadn’t given her the opportunity to come up with an alternate plan. But she did know one thing, she would never base her dreams on something so delicate as another person’s affections. Not ever again.

She would take the job as the Brewster nanny and begin squirreling away her money, because eventually she was going to have to make some decisions about her life, some real decisions. If nothing else, she was going to have to find a way to support herself, because she didn’t think Chas Brewster was going to keep her forever.

In fact, she knew he wouldn’t.

Lily arrived at Brewster Mansion about two hours later. Her car was packed with every single thing she’d collected in her twenty-three years. Holding a suitcase in one hand and balancing a box on the other, she rang the doorbell.

Chas answered. “Come in, Lily,” he said, sounding more resigned than glad to see her, though at least he was polite. He led her through the marble-floored foyer, through the immaculate all-white kitchen with the butcher-block counter in the center and to the door of what was probably maid’s quarters.

He opened the door to a room that was twice the size of any living space Lily had ever had. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said before she had a chance to temper her reaction.

“I’m glad you like it. Go in, get settled, then come back to the den whenever you’re ready, and we’ll discuss salary.”

Smiling brightly, Lily nodded. With one curt bob of his head Chas turned to leave and ran smack-dab into his older brother’s broad chest.

“Why are you putting her down here?” Grant asked incredulously.

Lily watched as Chas directed Grant out of the small alcove in front of her room and closed her door, but he and Grant apparently didn’t get any farther than the kitchen because she could hear them talking.

“This is where we agreed she’d stay.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’m leaving, remember? I need my sleep tonight, which means you’ll need help with those babies.”

“I’ll take care of the kids.”

“I’m sure you’ll try,” Grant agreed, “but I’m also sure you’ll fail. So put her upstairs, as close to those kids as you can get her.”

Obviously exasperated, Chas sarcastically said, “What do you want me to do, put her in my room?”

There was a pause, a long one. When Grant replied, there was laughter in his voice. “Do you want to put her in your room?”

“Absolutely not,” Chas insisted angrily, and though all of Lily’s nerve endings began to crackle with indignation, Chas’s older brother burst out laughing.

“You’re afraid of her.”