by Nikki Larson
Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and he saw a sudden flicker of fear behind them.
She certainly was a timid sort, he noted–her peace so easily disrupted by any misplaced word, and change of events or plans. What was it about her that made her so unsteady, so uneasy at times, and so engaging and funny and lighthearted at others? Her confidence wavered as often as the breeze in Bonita Mesa changed directions.
Not when it pertained to children, though. She was more than adept at childrearing. She had a gift–a rare and beautiful gift. It made her valuable to him, somehow. Both practically, and otherwise.
“No worries,” he reassured her, patting her hand before taking a bite of his swordfish. “I have an exciting proposition for you. But if you don’t want to do this, just say so.” He was giving her a way out, but he knew she’d never take it. She, like he, loved spontaneous adventures and new opportunities. Or so he hoped.
“Yes?” she said. She took a sip of her iced tea, her eyes never leaving his.
“I’ll just get right to it, then,” he offered, to put her at ease. “No use in dragging it out any longer.” He leaned forward and smiled at her. “I’d like you to cruise with us when we leave this port. We’ve been docked for months now, and it’s time we move on. Grunt likes a little variety. He gets antsy when he has the same scenery for too long. And, it’s good for the kids to experience new places, to explore. We want them to have a balanced upbringing, with plenty of opportunities for growth. I want my children,” he said, emphasizing the false words, “to have a well-rounded, life-affirming education. A real-life education. The more real-life experiences we can give them, the better. I want them to travel, to see the world. It’s healthy. It’s important to me.” He gave her a little encouraging smile. “And I want you, as their nanny, to be a part of it.”
Thea just about choked on her broccoli. “What?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “We want you to continue being part of the kids’ lives as we move on to Saint Cathay Island. I mean, you’ve done such an awesome job with them. You’ve been doing a great job teaching them. Their schoolwork is coming along beautifully. And you’ve been helping them with their manners. We’ve seen a real improvement….” How else to explain all the ways she’d been asset? His words drifted off because he couldn’t think of what else to say.
“You have?” she asked. Her eyes were wandering. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but her mind was obviously elsewhere.
“Um…, yeah,” he said, nearly losing his train of thought. “They’ve come a long way these past few months and we believe–Grunt and I believe–that you’ve played a big part in that. They’re more mild-mannered, and happier.” He was repeating himself. “And they’re learning a lot.”
“You really think so?” she asked, her doe eyes brightening.
He could see flecks of gold in them, which he hadn’t really noticed before. Her beauty was unsettling. He found himself wanting to reach out to caress the soft skin of her cheek. “Yes, certainly,” he assured her. Maybe now he was getting through to her, properly expressing his appreciation.
But she fell silent as she added half a sugar packet to her tea and stirred.
Her delicate features–her long, sleek nose; her gentle, caring eyes; her luminous skin; her pouty, perfect lips–kept his attention and drew his heart to her. He always did like a compelling, beautiful woman.
“Well?” he asked her, impatiently.
“I’m thinking about it,” she replied noncommittally, sipping her iced tea.
“Really?” he said, annoyed now. “You’re going to leave me hanging like that?”
She laughed, then covered her mouth self-consciously. “It’s been two minutes,” she objected.
“Yes, but I’m dying to know,” he confessed. It had been more like five minutes, but whatever. He wasn’t going to argue.
“Well, that’s very business-like of you, Lucas,” she said now in a suddenly condescending tone. She paused and tapped her spoon on her lips before she spoke further. “Mr. Flaire, you’re right: I don’t need any more time to consider your offer.” Her eyes narrowed at him, making him feel like shrinking down into his seat.
But he was the boss, at least in her eyes. Didn’t he deserve a little respect? She was sounding so haughty, so aloof. This was not at all the Thea he had gotten to know. But then again, she could be this way sometimes. When she felt threatened, he noticed.
“Lucas,” she said authoritatively, “you must know that I cannot leave Bonita Mesa. I’ve made a home here. I’m comfortable here. I’m not going traipsing across the ocean with some people I barely know. And the kids are nice and all, but I’ll just have to go and find another nanny job. One that will enable me to stay in this town.” She dabbed at the corners of her mouth with the linen napkin.
For some reason the gesture made him feel like she was discarding him as easily as the food particles on her face. Wiping her slate clean of him, or something like that.
“You know,” she said, her tone hardening, “I wish you would have revealed all this to me during the interview.” Her eyes were suddenly like daggers boring into him. He pictured them, strangely enough, like those little silver nutcracker picks, poking into his heart. “It isn’t very nice of you to divulge this little tidbit of information now, when I’ve already gotten so attached to the kids. Don’t you think you should have mentioned this during the interview? Why spring it on me now?”
The intake of his breath was sudden. He felt like she had punched him in the chest. The shock of it was so hard to take, his heart literally began to hurt. This was something he never expected from Thea, not in a million years. He was Lucas Flaire, supposed billionaire. He was used to getting what he wanted from women. Though they did flee from him once they read the tabloids, linking him wrongly to Nichole Tiffington.
It was such an unfortunate state of affairs, the fact that his career involved a whole lot of lying and deception. Which always seemed to lead to disappointment. But he’d thought that just this once, maybe, things were going to work out for him. He couldn’t shake the belief that it was his turn to experience true joy and happiness. And maybe, just maybe, true love.
But now Thea had erased any chance of that.
Chapter 10
Thea threw herself onto the bed, next to a box of tissues, and sobbed. This dreadful day was simply too much to handle. First, Raven had showed her photographs of Flynn and his new bride-to-be, Persephone, taken at their recent engagement party at the Ritz Carlton. And then Lucas had dropped the bombshell that he wanted her to continue on with him and the kids to Saint Cathay.
But she was paralyzed. She couldn’t go anywhere. She could stay right here at her sister’s house and branch out from there, look for a new job. Maybe spread her wings and fly at some point. She’d have to move out of her sister’s house eventually. Wesley wasn’t liking her there, though he was polite and civil. She prayed he would be patient, until she could get on her feet.
All this time at her job with the Flaire children, she’d been trying to keep Lucas at arm’s length. Though he was appealing as all get-out. Letting him into her heart was just too painful. Plus, he was her boss. How inappropriate for her to act on her attraction to him. She had to back off, keep her distance, as awful as that sounded. And how weird it would be for her to get close to him right now, so soon after losing Flynn. It would be unfair, to both of them. When she fell for someone, she wanted it to be undeniably real, not a rebound.
The heart is deceitful above all things, who can cure it?
She’d do well to remember that verse, and guard her heart, because how could she know what she wanted right now? She had to stay put, and not commit to any more changes.
How on earth could Lucas expect her to commit to traveling on with them on such short notice? How could she leave Southern California, her home? It had been ten years since she’d left her home state of Alabama, and now she had gotten settled here. With its sunny beaches, its friendly
people, and her wonderful church, the port city of Bonita Mesa felt like home.
Ever since her wedding to Flynn had been ripped out from beneath her, she’d been reeling. Though she’d disguised her feelings well, she thought. It was commendable, if she did say so herself. She’d been able to give it all to God and not worry much about it. Until now….
Also, the Flaire children had been her panacea, a God-given gift, wonderful for distracting her from her problems, for uplifting her heart. For giving her a purpose, something important to do. She had hoped to develop some new curriculum to try out on them. And then she could use it at church, in her Sunday school class. But she hadn’t even had a chance to ask for permission to teach them Bible stories. She wasn’t sure how Lucas and Mr. Hunt would respond.
Thea looked again at her phone. Her sister’s small, cottage-like house was dark except for the one small lamp next to Thea’s bed, and the glaring glow of the phone. She looked once again at the pictures of nerdy Flynn and his thin-as-a-reed fiancée Persephone. They looked so happy–so deliriously, ridiculously happy.
There they were, staring into each other’s eyes as they danced.
There they were, cutting their engagement cake.
Who gets an engagement cake, anyway?
She should have known Persephone would be trouble, from the moment she met her at the Gritham Bank party–with her intellectual way of talking, with her snooty way of looking down her nose at people on the West Coast.
She should have never believed Flynn when he told her that their work meetings late at night were strictly professional.
She thinks I’m really smart, Flynn told Thea once.
That should have been a sign.
She thinks I’m a great manager for the bank, he said.
Persephone appreciates me, Flynn told Thea more than once.
What a fool she had been not to see all the signs.
But she had thought Flynn was a better person. Not a cheater.
It sickened Thea just now to imagine just how far Flynn and Persephone’s relationship likely progressed all the while Flynn was courting her, Thea.
What was he thinking, two-timing her?
She preferred to think that Flynn kept Persephone at a safe and reasonable distance, both physically and emotionally, the entire time he’d known her. To honor his relationship with Thea.
But it was a lie.
It had to be a lie. Because you don’t just leave one woman at the altar and go get immediately engaged to another without something happening. There had to be something happening in between, and that’s what was making Thea feel so sick.
It was all such a mess. Such a terrible, awful lie.
What she didn’t understand was why Flynn was planning to marry her, Thea, at all. What was he thinking, planning to marry her while dating Persephone, too? It made no sense, but maybe that was for the best.
Thea would just leave it that way, and not analyze everything anymore. Because the wondering, the trying to figure it all out, was killing her.
It didn’t matter anymore, she decided.
Lord, she prayed–finally now remembering God was there for her–Please help me let this go. Please help me forgive Flynn and that awful Persephone–sorry, Lord for insulting her–please help me focus on doing your will. Show me my talents and abilities and help me use them to the utmost. Help me love others like you do. Help me not waste my time, but serve you well.
She wiped her tears and blew her nose, then went in the bathroom to wash her face. “You,” she said to her image in the mirror. “You are going to be okay.” And she gave herself a feeble but determined little smile.
Chapter 11
While putting the finishing touches on Lily’s hair, Thea smiled at Gwenna, who was spinning around the room, her white eyelet lace dress twirling as she danced to her favorite song. “You look so adorable, Gwenna, you know that? You’re going to look great in the pictures.”
“Thank you, Miss Thea,” the oldest Flaire child responded with a smile. “Lily’s hair looks really good,” she remarked. “I like those little shiny things.”
Thea was placing tiny bobby pins, with jewels at the end, into Lily’s upswept hair. She peered around to look into Lily’s cherubic face. “You’re so cute, Lily. You look like a little princess.”
Lily’s lips curled into a smile as she sat with her hands folded sweetly in her lap. “Thank, Miss Thea,” she said. “You look so pretty, too.”
“And look at the boys in their rolled-up pants,” Thea pointed out with a chuckle.
“Like Tom Sawyer, right?” Lily asked. She’d been telling stories to them, every night before bed, of various childhood characters she was familiar with. Anything to give them sweet dreams. And she’d been tossing in a few Bible stories here and there, too. Knowing the Bible would help them, she was sure of it. She’d even been praying with them at night before bedtime, teaching them as much as she could about Jesus.
“Right.”
Thea wanted to tell the children that she only had one more month with them, and then they’d be off to Saint Cathay with their dad and grandpa, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The thought of it troubled her greatly.
Gwenna knew it in an instant. “What’s wrong, Miss Thea? You look sad.”
Thea smiled wanly, then more brightly to convince the child. “No, darling; just thinking.”
Gwenna narrowed her eyes and studied her. “It’s Mr. Lucas, isn’t it? I mean, Daddy. It’s something about Daddy, isn’t it?” she asked, resuming her dance. “I saw the way you guys are together.”
Thea’s hand flew to her chest as she gasped in surprise. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw the way you look at him,” Gwenna said. “All the time. And the other night, when you guys were talking on the deck at the pool, I saw you.”
“You saw us?” Thea tried not to sound alarmed as her mind tried to quickly retrace every moment of that evening.
“Yes,” Gwenna said, pausing to stare at the floor. “I couldn’t sleep that night. I had a bad dream and I was looking for my dad,” she said, searching Thea’s eyes. “I thought I heard people talking on the deck, so I went up there but then I saw you guys, and he was yelling at you for crying or something, so I just stayed back. I didn’t want to interrupt. Maybe you couldn’t see me. I was thinking you couldn’t.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t,” Thea replied sharply. “You shouldn’t be traipsing around the ship in the middle of the night. I’m sure your dad has told you that. You could fall overboard.”
“I know,” Gwenna said with a resigned sigh.
Just then her brothers decided to play chase, with Gwenna between them. Harley pulled at her waist and Hutch at her legs.
“Hey, stop it you guys!” Guinevieve said, giggling. “I’m not your base!”
But they kept on including her in their game, nearly knocking her over.
“I said Stop!” she yelled.
But the boys did not listen.
“Boys!”
Thea’s voice was so commanding and firm, they stopped in their tracks, shocked and wide-eyed.
Well, that worked.
They looked so cute–so suddenly terrified–it made Thea giggle. Her heart went out to them. “I’m not mad at you,” she said, reaching her arms out to beckon them closer. “Come here.”
Harley took exactly one step towards her, then shook his head profusely. Hutch just sat on the floor, mouth open in shock. It wasn’t like her to yell at them.
“Am I scary today, is that it?” she asked them.
Harley nodded in wholehearted agreement.
“You’re not scary,” Lily defended her.
“You’re our helper,” Gwenna asserted cheerfully.
“Oh, is that right?” Thea asked her. “Well, thank you. I try to be.” She directed her attention to Harley and Hutch once again. “Harley,” she said kneeling down to his level, “I need you and Hutch not to play chase at breakfast time. Do you understan
d that?” As she addressed both of them, her voice was serious, but not overly so, and she let herself smile a little to reassure them.
Harley nodded in agreement, but then he turned and ran off. Hutch crouched behind Lily, using her skirt as a curtain to hide behind.
“Hey, I need you to wash up; you’re all sticky from the syrup, Mister,” Thea called after the four-year-old. “Come back here and wash up.” She had already cleaned Hutch up with a wet washcloth, but Harley was old enough to use the sink.
Harley hid behind a chair, his dark brown locks in disarray as he peeked at her.
“Hey,” Thea said, growing impatient. Hiding was these boys’ favorite thing. Aside from playing pirates, that is.
She walked toward him and quickly grabbed his arm, prompting him to squirm away from her grasp.
“Harley!” she yelled, but she released her grip immediately.
First rule in nanny school: Do no harm.
Well, that’s medical school–but it’s also nanny school.
When Harley again took off, Gwenna came running to help, catching her brother and wrapping her arms around him from behind. “Listen to Miss Thea….,” she prompted him as she led him in the right direction.
He wiggled and jumped up and accidentally clocked Gwenna a good one right on the chin with his hard head.
Thea let her gasp continue long and loud, then shook her finger at him. “We do not hurt our sisters,” she scolded him firmly. “You go up to the sink and wash up right now, Mister, or you’re getting a time out.”
Gwenna winced from the pain inflicted on her by her little brother, who slinked off and finally did as he was told. “I’m okay,” she stated bravely, trying to shake it off.
“That hurt, didn’t it?” Thea asked her.
“I’m okay,” Gwenna repeated.
“You’re a tough girl,” Thea told her proudly, patting Gwenna on the shoulder. “Harley is going to come here and apologize to you as soon as his face and hands are clean, aren’t you, Harley?”
