by Donna Fasano
After plucking up three stubby, plastic flowers from the changing table, Katie set them aside and then reached to lift the toddler onto the table. A box of baby wipes took care of cleaning Gina's bottom and legs from her accident. The diapers were close at hand and Katie also found a clean white T-shirt nearby. In no time Gina was partially dressed. All the while, the little girl stared at her as if she were something totally new and awe-inspiring.
"What would you like to wear today?" Katie asked.
She hadn't expected an answer, really, but had voiced the question to fill up the silence that seemed to hang in the air.
"Shorts!"
Katie's brows rose.
"Well, now" she said, "aren't you a decisive one? It's really not warm enough for shorts, though. So let's look for something else."
Lifting Gina onto her hip, Katie went to the dresser and pulled open a drawer with her free hand. She saw sweatpants and turtleneck shirts, cute pastel-colored cotton tops and at least three dozen mateless socks, all tossed together in the drawer.
"Gina, it looks like your whole room needs an overhaul," she commented. "This place is a wreck."
She gazed at Gina, whose tiny brow was knit with confusion.
"We need to clean up in here," Katie explained further.
Gina's face brightened. "Clean up!" She clapped her hands.
Katie chuckled. But then an idea came to her. She wouldn't have time to do the entire room, but if she at least put all the toys into the toy box and made the bed, maybe she could show Jason Devlin what an asset it would be to have her around.
Tugging a pair of lace-edged denim jeans, a long-sleeved knit top and a pair of matching socks from the drawer, Katie hurried back to the changing table and helped Gina wriggle into the clothes. As she did so, she wondered how she could get the little girl's help.
Her thoughts turned to Mary Poppins, and she remembered how the magical nanny had made work into a game. Katie decided to try that approach.
"Gina," she said, filling her tone with an enthusiasm she knew would pique the child's interest, "how would you like to have a race?"
The little girl's face lit up like the sun. "A race!" she mimicked. "I go fast."
Katie nodded. "Let's see who can put the most toys into the toy box." She set Gina down onto the floor. "Ready? Set? Go!"
The two of them scrambled around the bedroom, gathering up small dishes, satiny doll clothes, two soft teddy bears, a half dozen shiny shapes Katie knew had to be pieces to some game that should have been kept together, plastic sailboats, a stuffed giraffe, a sock puppet monkey, and other toys, tossing everything into the brightly colored storage box.
Finally the floor, the bed, the changing table, the dresser, even the windowsill were clutter free.
"Now—" Katie smiled at Gina "—how about if Katie makes your bed?"
Gina clapped her approval. "Lady make bed!"
Turning to the bed, Katie was surprised to feel a hard tug on her trousers. She looked down.
"Gina help?"
The hope exhibited on the cherub-like face tugged at Katie's heart.
"That's a wonderful idea. I would like for you to help."
With patient instruction, Katie showed Gina how to straighten the sheet and blanket, fluff the pillow and tuck in the spread. Of course, the job could have been done in a fraction of the time without the toddler's help, but Katie knew this could be an important lesson for the little girl. It was so clear to Katie that the discipline of organization and picking up after one's self wasn't practiced in the house. Learning to do a few chores would certainly be good for Gina.
The pink spread had white ruffles across the bottom and looked neat and lovely with the feminine white furniture in the room. Katie stood back, plunked her hands on her hips and remarked, "Your room really looks nice, don't you think?"
She had to suppress a smile when she saw Gina place her hands on her small hips and nod.
"Looks nice, I fink," Gina said.
"I think so, too."
Katie whirled around at the sound of Jason's deep voice.
Her heart leapt up into her throat at the sight of him. She tried to read his expression. Was he angry? Had Sharon said anything to give her away?
Before he had time to speak, Katie noticed that he'd changed, not only his shirt, but his trousers, too. He was no longer wearing his officer's uniform. The soft knit shirt and jeans he now wore hugged his muscular physique like the polyester uniform couldn't. Helplessly her gaze was drawn down the length of his body. He looked... good.
Her eyes were riveted to his firm thighs when she realized she should be looking at his face. She felt her cheeks burn, and she couldn't bring herself to raise her gaze.
"Daddy," Gina said, "Lady and Gina cweaned up."
Katie grasped this opportunity to direct her eyes on Gina.
"I can see that, honeybun," Jason said. "And your bedroom looks better than it has in—" He laughed lightly. "Ever. Thanks, Katie."
She smiled at him, feeling terrifically relieved that he hadn't noticed the way she'd gawked at him only a second before.
"Gina?" Jason's tone was soft. "Would you like Katie to be your new sitter?"
"Lady! Lady!" Gina ran to her father, squealing gleefully, and he pulled her up into his arms.
Searching Jason's face, Katie waited silently for him to speak.
"I talked to Sharon—" he grinned "—or rather, she talked to me. I only had to identify myself, and she went off on a tangent. She was very impressed with your work with the children at the hospital. She went on and on about how dedicated and effective and competent you are."
Relief flooded through every muscle in Katie's body.
"She sent you a message." Jason looked a little sheepish. "I wasn't going to say anything, but you'd probably find out, anyway. Well, Sharon told me to tell you that if you'll come back to the hospital, she'll do everything she can to see that you get a raise."
Katie pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Good old Sharon, she thought.
Katie knew Sharon had mentioned a raise in her imaginary salary, not for Katie's sake, but for Jason's. Sharon had wanted Jason to think that Katie's efforts would be missed at the hospital. The woman had certainly come through for her—with flying colors!
"I think," Katie said quietly, "that I'd like to take this job. That is, if you really are offering it to me."
"Oh, I'm offering it, all right." He tilted his head a fraction before he continued. "But there are some things you need to know..."
Katie found herself smiling. "What things?" she prompted.
Gina wiggled from his arms, and he set her down on the floor. She went across the room to choose a toy from the box she and Katie had just filled.
Jason heaved a sigh. "You see," he began, "I have to work swing shifts for a couple of months. I'm helping to train some new officers. This week I'll be working 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. I worked my first night shift last night, in fact."
No wonder he looked so beat. The man had worked all night and then come home to have Gina's sitter quit on him.
Suddenly an idea dawned in Katie's head. "So, are you telling me that you would need me to spend the night here?" She blinked. "For the rest of the week, I mean?"
"Yeah," he said, his tone thick with apology.
Her smile brightened. "This is great. I was going to have to find a room to rent or an apartment or something this afternoon."
"You were?" His expression told her he was wondering why she didn't have a place to stay.
"I'm new in town," she quickly explained. "And I don't have transportation. So, this will work out just fine. At least, for this week, anyway. We'll worry about next week… next week." She grinned.
Then the concept of staying right here, being a live-in nanny for a week, grew. It formed into something even more beneficial—both for herself and for Jason.
"Uh...Mr. Devlin," she said.
"Call me Jason."
As soon as she
heard his words, she remembered he'd already made the request earlier.
"Jason." She grinned self-consciously, then when she continued, there was a touch of hesitancy in her voice. "I can see that you need someone to... clean up around the house."
Now he looked a little embarrassed, and she felt bad that she might have hurt his feelings. But this job was too important to her for her to start backpedaling now.
"I'd be willing to act as housekeeper," she offered. As the thoughts came to her mind, they were spilling from her lips. "And I could do the grocery shopping... and the cooking..."
The cooking? How could she offer to do the cooking? The closest she'd ever come to cooking a meal was to suggest a dinner menu to the professional chef who worked for her parents.
And the grocery shopping. Ha! She wouldn't know the dairy aisle from the frozen food department.
Katie felt her jaw tighten. Shut up, she commanded the doubting Thomas in her head. She wasn't stupid. She could learn.
If she could master the fine art of entertaining a foreign diplomat from a third-world country and not break any of the copious cultural traditions, she could certainly learn how to make meat loaf and mashed potatoes.
Again, she allowed the words to tumble from her mouth before fear could freeze them in her throat. "I'd be happy to help out around here in any way I can... if you would be willing to provide me with room and board."
She watched him rake his fingers through his russet hair.
"I'd absolutely love to have some help with the house, and with the shopping and cooking." He shook his head regretfully. "But I have to tell you, I can't afford to pay you any more than I was paying Mrs. Haskell. And she didn't lift a finger around here."
"Oh, I'm not looking for more money," Katie quickly assured him. "Just a place to stay—" she looked over at Gina "—and a cute little girl to look after."
When Katie shifted her gaze back to Jason Devlin's face, she saw something in his gray-blue eyes, something she couldn't quite read. There was gratitude there, yes, and she was feeling plenty of that herself so that was an emotion she could recognize when she saw it. But there was something else, too. But then in a flash it was gone, and he took a step toward her, offering her a handshake.
"Then you have a job," he said, smiling brightly. "And I think we're all going to get along just fine, Katie Smyth-with-a-y."
Chapter 3
Her new world was a wonderful place. The rich, heady aroma of beef stew thickened the air, and Katie couldn't help but feel proud that she'd prepared the meal all by herself. Of course, the cookbook she'd found—written expressly for beginners—had been a godsend. And the package of frozen vegetables she'd discovered in the freezer hadn't hurt either. The process had been quite simple, really, and the cookbook had broken down the preparation into easy-to-follow steps. Before Katie knew it, she had a wonderful-smelling stew bubbling on the stove.
Glancing around the kitchen, she felt pleased and satisfied that the floor was clear of the clutter of toys. Yes, the floor could use a good scrubbing, but that could wait for another day. She'd been busy all afternoon taking care of, and picking up after, one little chaotic whirlwind named Gina.
Earlier this morning when Katie had accepted Jason's offer of a job as live-in nanny and housekeeper, she had quickly agreed to start right away, so that Gina's daddy could get some much needed sleep before he had to get up and go back to work. Katie had been so excited to realize that her worries of a paying job and a place to hide—no, she silently corrected, a place to stay—were all taken care of. At least for the time being anyway.
Wanting to make the best possible impression on her new employer, she'd thrown herself into cleaning the house. Well, not actually cleaning, but picking up all of Gina's toys and clothes that seemed to be strewn from one end of the house to the other. She'd never in her life seen a child with so many things to play with and so many outfits to wear. The house looked like a veritable toy and clothing store. Katie suspected that the overabundance of material things were Jason's way of compensating Gina for not having a mother. She didn't think that was a healthy way for Jason to be raising his daughter; however, it was much too soon for her to be butting her nose into his business by voicing her opinions to him of good parenting practices.
What did she—a twenty-five-year-old single woman, whose only exposure to children consisted of a few hours a week volunteering at the local hospital—know about raising a child?
Katie couldn't help but chuckle softly. Yes, she'd better keep her opinions to herself.
"Lady!" she heard Gina yell at the top of her lungs, "Gina needs you!"
Racing out of the kitchen and down the hallway, Katie rushed into Gina's bedroom.
"Shhh." She placed her index finger against her pursed lips. "I've reminded you lots of times today that Daddy's sleeping, Gina," she whispered. "We need to be very quiet."
"Gina needs you," the toddler repeated, only this time in an urgent whisper that mimicked Katie's.
The warm, strong tug on her heartstrings became more and more familiar. Katie had felt it each time that Gina had "needed" her throughout the day when the little girl had recited those three words. It felt nice to be needed, but, Lord, this child was a high-attention baby.
Then Katie glanced around the room. There were several dolls lying helter-skelter in one corner. A teddy bear was right in the middle of the floor, and Gina had just dumped out a carton of wooden blocks.
"Gina," Katie said softly, "didn't we talk about putting away one toy before getting out another one?"
A stubborn frown planted itself in the little girl's forehead. "Don't wanna," she proclaimed stubbornly.
"Then how is your room going to stay pretty and neat?" Katie asked. "Remember how much your daddy liked it when your bedroom was all cleaned up? He'll be up soon. You don't want him to see everything all messy again, do you?"
Gina looked at the dolls, the teddy and the carton of blocks, then she looked up at Katie, panic clearly expressed on her darling little face. "Lady help Gina?"
Katie smiled gently. "Of course I will."
As the two of them made a game of picking up the toys, Katie was bothered by something that seemed to nibble at the back of her brain. Something disturbed her about what she'd said to Gina, but whatever it was wouldn't come out of the shadows of her mind enough so that she could get a good look at it.
The front doorbell rang, and Gina squealed happily.
"Shhh," Katie reminded the toddler, all the while wondering who would come calling for a visit at the dinner hour.
As she and Gina went down the hall toward the front door, Katie passed Jason's closed bedroom door. The sound of water running in the master bath was evidence that Gina's daddy was awake and in the shower. Katie felt her heart quicken at the thought of his reaction to all of her work, and the hot meal she'd prepared. She hoped so much that he'd be pleased, not only with her efforts, but also with his decision to hire her to care for his daughter and his house.
Gina ran ahead of her, through the living room into the small foyer, and tried to tug open the door. Katie chuckled at her struggle and said, "Here, here. Let me help you."
She opened the door and grinned as Gina scurried to see who was standing on the doorstep. The fact that the toddler nearly knocked her down in the process had her laughing under her breath. Katie made the quick assumption that this little girl was an extremely social person and not in the least shy.
"Hi! Hi!" Gina jumped up and down.
"How's my big girl today?"
Katie stepped from behind the door. "Hello," she said.
The man and woman standing on the other side of the full-length screen tipped up their faces in unison. The happiness with which they had greeted Gina changed dramatically to a mixture of confusion and wariness.
"Who are you?" the woman asked, her tone blunt and blatantly unfriendly.
Katie's smile faltered. "I'm... Katie," she said, hesitating just a bit, "Katie Smyth." She won
dered if she sounded as though she'd lived with the name all her life rather than the one day that she really had.
"Where's Mrs. Haskell?" The woman craned her neck to try and look into the house. "Why isn't she here? And where's Jason?"
The bombardment of questions took Katie aback. She absently pointed over her shoulder. "He's in the shower at the moment. He just woke up. You see, he worked... through... the—"
Her response had caused the woman's eyes to grow round with sudden alarm—an alarm that made Katie's words fade in her throat. Who were these people? she wondered. They obviously knew Gina, and vice versa, but they hadn't offered the courtesy of introducing themselves.
"Just who are you?" the woman demanded.
Katie felt her brows shoot skyward as did her blood pressure. She couldn't help but take offense at this woman's outright rude behavior. Katie recognized that she was under attack, but she hadn't the slightest idea why. What had she said or done to upset these people?
"Now, Ellen—"
It was the first time the gentleman had spoken. His voice was steady and calm, despite the confusion that was written all over his weathered face.
"—the young woman has already told us her name, dear." He directed his gaze once again on Katie. "How do you do? My name is Jack Cole. This here's my wife, Ellen. We're Gina's grandparents."
Katie seemed to shift into automatic pilot when Mr. Cole finally obtained the wherewithal to perform the formalities. A smile plastered itself on her mouth, and even though she might not have been in the friendliest of moods after what had just transpired, she knew the couple, as relatives of her employer, deserved to be treated graciously.
"Won't you come in?" she asked, and at the same time she eased open the screen door.
He'd said their last name was Cole, she recalled, not Devlin. That meant they must be the parents of Jason's deceased wife. Katie felt her stomach jitter with a sudden case of nerves, and she didn't understand why that should be.
As soon as the Coles stepped into the house, Katie felt that the emotional charge emanating from the older couple was turning the small, boxlike foyer into a prison cell.
