by Cara Colter
He nodded, grinned. “It’s worked really well for me so far. I got you in my bed, didn’t I? You just take whatever time you need. I’ll be right here.”
Andie showed up eight days later. Audrey was planting camellias by the giant tree in the front yard, Tink sunning himself in the grass beside her.
Audrey sat down in the grass, waiting for her daughter to come to her, trying to calm herself by fussing over the dog, who stretched, sighed heavily, then laid his head against her right knee, obviously wanting some attention.
Andie walked slowly to her, a troubled look on her pretty face. “You’re still working in the yard?”
“Another part of my job,” she said. “Simon’s yard was a mess when I came, thanks to this dog.”
Tink licked her knee, then rolled over onto his back and presented her with his furry belly to rub. Or maybe for Andie to rub. He turned his head toward Audrey’s daughter and whined, as if to ask how she could possibly ignore him.
Andie sat down and obliged him, still looking sad as could be.
“The house sold. We have to be out in three and a half weeks,” she said, tentatively. “And I thought I might take a look at the apartment here, if that’s okay.”
Hope surged inside of Audrey. This day had been so long in coming. “Of course, you can.”
“You talked to Simon about it?”
Audrey nodded.
“And he’s okay with me being there?”
“Yes. He said you and I just can’t fight in front of his little girl. We scared her the last time she saw us together.”
“Oh. I can do that,” Andie said. “I think I’m tired of fighting anyway. I’m tired of everything. Simon said I should—”
“Wait? You talked to Simon?”
“Yeah. That day I heard you and dad arguing at the house. Simon didn’t tell you?”
“No. Where did you see him?”
“With Jake. He was with Jake, talking to him about how to get me to stay here and not go to Spain. He told me I should think about what I want, what would make me happy, instead of how mad I was. And I didn’t want to hear it then, but the last few days I keep coming back to what he said. I’m so tired of feeling this way. It’s exhausting. I’ve been miserable and making everyone around me miserable, and I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“Oh, honey.” Audrey wanted to grab her and hug her but resisted the urge. “That’s good. That’s a big, hard lesson to learn.”
“And I’m afraid I learned it too late, because I was so awful to Jake, and I don’t think he’s going to forgive me. He won’t even talk to me, Mom.”
“Well, it’s only been a few days since your big fight, right?”
Andie nodded. “But it feels like forever. He’s been my best friend, ever since everything started to fall apart … since you started to fall apart. He’s the one who got me through that, and I hurt him. I really hurt him, and … What if he doesn’t ever forgive me?”
“Honey, the way he feels about you … That just doesn’t go away.”
“I hope so. You know, I started thinking about what I could do to show him how sorry I was,” Andie said, with tears falling. “And I thought I’d just keep showing up where he was, keep trying to tell him I was sorry. That I’d refuse to go away and refuse to give up on us, and that eventually he’d see that I was really sorry.”
Audrey reached out and took her daughter’s hand, unable to help herself, and Andie didn’t pull away.
“And I realized I was going to do the same thing you’ve been doing all these months with me,” she said. “I remembered how many times I screamed at you and walked away and made you leave me alone, and I don’t think I could stand it if Jake treated me that way. I think if I’d been you, I would have given up months ago. And then I knew that all this between you and me had to be really hard for you, but you just kept going. You kept fighting for you and me, and I guess I just understand things better now.”
Audrey was crying, too. Tink was whining and making his crying sound, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Andie, I could never give up on you,” Audrey said. “Never. You’re my daughter.”
“Will you help me with Jake? Because, I just really need you.”
“Of course, I will. Now, come on. I’ll show you where I’ve been living, and you can tell me what you think of it.”
When Simon got home that night, he found Audrey lying in the hammock in the backyard, Peyton curled up asleep against her, the dog lounging on the ground beside them.
He leaned over and kissed his daughter’s cheek, ruffled her hair. She was all warm and limp in sleep, layered against Audrey like a blanket and looking so sweet.
He turned to Audrey and gave her a slow, lingering kiss, then said, “There’s a car I don’t recognize in the driveway.”
Audrey nodded.
“Andie’s?” he guessed, and by the way Audrey’s smile widened into all-out joy, he knew he was right. “Did she happen to bring anything with her? Suitcases, maybe? Boxes of her things to move in?”
“Not yet. But she spent some time looking over the apartment, and I think she’s excited about having her own place, kind-of. She has a tape measure right now, trying to figure out which pieces of furniture from our old house will fit in those rooms.”
Simon felt a slow, easy satisfaction rolling through him. “So, that means you’ll be needing a place to live.”
“Yes, I will. Thanks to you.”
He gave her a blank look.
“You didn’t tell me you and Jake teamed up to try to keep Andie here. Or that you talked to her that day she found out she wasn’t going to Spain.”
“Just trying to do my part to help.” He pulled a chair over to the side of the hammock and sat down so he could be close to her. “Audrey, I’m always going to do everything I can to make you happy, to make our life together everything we want it to be. I promise.”
He took her hand in his, brought it to his lips for a soft kiss. “Now, can we go pick out a ring for this hand and find a minister and a church? Do you want a minister and a church? Or there’s the pavilion at the lake in the park. We could get married there. The dog could even go if we did it there, and I know you and Peyton love that silly dog.”
She laughed, with tears on her cheek. “You’re willing to have the dog at our wedding?”
“I just want a wedding, and I don’t want you to make me wait too long for it. Those are my only conditions. I’m happy to let all other decisions on the matter be yours.”
“Terms?” she asked. “You have no other terms? What kind of a negotiator are you?”
“One who knows what he wants and is about to get it. Say you’ll marry me, Audrey? Make me the happiest man in the world.”
Audrey leaned back, looking at him, reality suddenly sinking in. “I can’t believe how much has changed since I came here. How wonderful my life is, when I thought I’d never be happy again, that I’d never be able to make everything right again, and I didn’t really deserve to be happy anyway. And you … I never thought I’d trust a man again, Simon. I never thought I’d let myself love one, either.”
“You still haven’t said it,” he reminded her, a man focused, goal-oriented and determined as always.
“I still have trouble believing it’s all real,” she told him.
“It’s real. Say it. Now.”
“Yes, Simon, you sweet—”
“No.”
“Kind—”
“I deny it completely,” he insisted.
“Patient—”
“I’m all out of patience. Right now. Say it.”
“Yes.” She finally gave him what he wanted, what she wanted, too. “I’ll marry you.”
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All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House,
18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
AT HIS SERVICE: NANNY NEEDED
© Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. 2012
Hired: Nanny Bride © Cara Colter 2009
A Mother in a Million © Melissa James 2007
The Nanny Solution © Teresa Hill 2009
eISBN: 978-1-472-00914-2
