Single Dad Needs Nanny

by Teresa Carpenter

  The way he said the words made it clear that wouldn’t be his preference. While part of her wanted a big wedding with the long white dress, the sensible side said she was being foolish. Other than Aunt Verna she had no family and only a handful of friends.

  “Not big,” Amy said. “But I do want to get married in a church and have a small reception.”

  “We can get the license this week,” he said. “And be married by the weekend.”

  Amy’s head spun, barely able to fathom the thought that by this time next week she could be Dan’s wife.

  “Would you two care for dessert?” The waiter stood tableside, pad in hand and pencil poised.

  Amy glanced at Dan. “I don’t care for any.”

  “None for me, either,” Dan said. “I’ll wait until we get home.”

  Amy waited until the waiter left before casting a curious glance at Dan. “The chocolate cake is all gone. You ate the last of it yesterday.”

  “That wasn’t the dessert I was thinking of,” Dan said. His gaze dropped to her lips, then downward to linger on her breasts before returning to her eyes.

  The rush of hunger that surged through Amy surprised her with its intensity. They’d made love several times during the night and again this morning. But instead of being satiated, her desire for him only seemed to grow.

  “I’m hungry, too,” Amy said. “Mind if I join you?”

  Dan’s smile widened and a devilish glint filled his eyes. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  The next morning, they made love one more time knowing it would be the last time until after the wedding. Once Emma returned from her friend’s house, Dan would stay in his room and Amy would stay in hers.

  After they dressed, Amy started toward the door, already planning what she was going to make for lunch, when Dan grabbed her hand.

  “Not so fast,” he said with a smile. “How about we walk down to Bagels and Jam? You can get one of those chocolate chip scones you like so much and I can sit and admire your beauty under the fluorescent lights.”

  Amy laughed at the absurd compliment, but she didn’t refute the words because when she was with Dan she felt beautiful.

  “It’ll be like a date,” she said lightly.

  His hand cupped her cheek and his lips met hers for a warm, sweet kiss. “A date with my almost-wife.”

  Amy flushed with pleasure. He threw that word around as if he loved the sound of it as much as she did. Today, they’d start letting people know. She’d call Aunt Verna. Dan would call his mother and Tess’s parents. Then it would be official.

  As they left the house and strolled down the leafstrewn sidewalk, contentment wrapped itself around Amy like a favorite coat. The temperature hovered in the mid-forties and the sun shone warm against her face. Even the breeze held some warmth.

  Walking down the street with her hand nestled in Dan’s, happiness welled inside her. Amy wanted to whistle. If she’d been a better singer she might have burst into song.

  My cup runneth over.

  She’d never truly understood those words before now. Impulsively Amy stopped and pulled Dan to her. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed a long, lingering kiss against his lips.

  “Wow,” he said, a broad grin splitting his face. “What was that for?”

  “I’m so happy,” Amy said.

  Dan trailed a finger down her cheek. “I feel the same way.”

  He took her hand and they continued down the street.

  “You know what’s crazy?” Amy said, after they’d gone another block. She didn’t wait for an answer since the question was strictly rhetorical. “When people used to talk about finding their soul mate, I thought it was corny. Now I understand. That’s exactly how I feel about you.”

  Dan’s fingers tightened around hers but he didn’t have a chance to speak because the bagel shop loomed and he gallantly stepped forward to open the door for a woman in front of them.

  The woman, a statuesque brunette with sprinkles of gray in her hair, looked back. Instead of moving through the doorway, she paused. Her lips curved up into a broad smile.

  “Why, Dan Major, what a surprise.” The woman shot him an exaggerated wink. “We’re going to have to stop meeting like this.”

  Beside her, Amy felt Dan stiffen but his smile was warm. “How nice to see you again.”

  Amy had met most of Dan’s friends but this woman wasn’t the least bit familiar. She stood beside Dan, patiently waiting for an introduction. While Dan normally had excellent manners, he made no attempt to introduce her. It suddenly hit Amy that he must have forgotten the woman’s name.

  “Hello,” Amy said pleasantly, holding out her hand. “I’m Amy Logan.”

  “I’m sorry.” Dan quickly recovered. “Amy, this is Angela Bartgate. She used to be a neighbor.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Amy.” Angela took Amy’s outstretched hand and shook it, her smile open and friendly.

  A gust of wind blew Amy’s hair into her face. When Amy reached up with her free hand to push the wayward strands back, Angela gasped.

  “What a stunning ring,” the woman said.

  Amy proudly held out her hand. The stone shot sparks of color in the sunlight. “It originally belonged to Dan’s grandmother.”

  “It’s lovely.” Angela’s gaze shifted from Amy to Dan before returning to Amy. “I must say this is quite a surprise. Dan and I ran into each other yesterday morning and he didn’t say a word about being engaged.”

  Amy laughed. “That’s because he hadn’t popped the question yet.”

  “Soon you’ll be newlyweds.” Angela’s eyes softened. “I remember when my husband and I were first married…”

  Angela began to reminisce and somehow—Amy wasn’t quite sure how—she and Dan found themselves sitting with Angela.

  Normally quite social, Dan seemed unusually quiet. Or maybe it was because Angela kept asking questions and Amy kept answering. By the time Amy finished her scone, she figured Angela probably knew as much about her as her closest friends.

  Every so often Dan would throw out a comment, some anecdote about something they’d shared and Amy had to resist the urge to pinch herself to make sure this was real.

  Dan glanced at his watch. “We’re going to have to get going. I told Ted we’d pick up Emma.”

  He’d barely finished speaking when his phone rang. Dan pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the readout.

  “I need to take this.” He rose to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me…”

  Dan moved to the far end of the shop where there were more empty tables and less chatter. Amy’s eyes weren’t the only ones that followed him. She caught several women staring. Women always noticed Dan.

  Yet, he chose me.

  Amy still couldn’t believe it. He could have had almost any woman.

  “You love him.”

  Amy pulled her thoughts back and looked up to find Angela’s gaze on her. She thought about denying it, but decided she was being ridiculous. Dan was her fiancé. Love was supposed to be part of the equation.

  “I do love him,” Amy said. “It took me a while to realize it but I think I’ve loved him for a long time.”

  A thoughtful look crossed Angela’s face. “He loves you, too.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Amy’s lighthearted tone was at odds with her rapidly beating heart. Somehow she even managed to throw in a little laugh. “Other than this ring on my finger, of course.”

  “The way he looks at you,” Angela said. “My husband, Tom, used to look at me that same way.”

  A warm rush of pleasure washed over Amy, quieting her fears.

  Angela shook her head. “I can’t believe how much that man had me fooled.”

  “Your husband?”

  “No, your fiancé,” Angela said. “Yesterday when we talked Dan had me actually believing his next marriage would be based on practicality, not love. And now, here he shows up madly in love and engaged.”

  Amy swallowed hard past
the sudden lump in her throat. Practicality? Had Dan just been playing a part for Angela? Or was that how he truly felt?

  Angela took both of Amy’s hands in hers. “I’m so very, very happy for you both.”

  Amy’s only response was a wan smile.

  Very, very happy?

  That’s the way she should feel. Instead, Amy had never felt worse.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When Dan had returned from his phone call and told Amy Jake was coming over, she turned quiet and solemn. As they walked home, she scarcely spoke. He wondered if she was upset that he hadn’t talked much around Angela. The truth of the matter was he felt awkward after his previous conversation with the woman. Not to mention he didn’t want to give Angela a chance to bring up what they’d discussed.

  Or she could be upset because he’d left her to talk to Jake. She’d seemed in good spirits up to that point.

  He took her hand, surprised to find her fingers ice cold. “I didn’t mean for us to get stuck spending all that time with Angela.”

  “That’s okay,” Amy said, not looking at him. “She’s a nice woman.”

  A sense of unease crept up Dan’s spine. Something wasn’t right but he couldn’t put his finger on what.

  “Jake won’t stay long,” Dan said. He’d tried to tell his friend today wasn’t good, but as usual Jake didn’t listen. “He has a problem with a project he’s working on that supposedly needs immediate resolution.”

  “I’ve been thinking,” Amy said slowly, keeping her gaze focused straight ahead. “It might be better if we didn’t tell any more people about the engagement. Not just yet.”

  “Why would we want to do that?” he asked slowly. Now that Amy had agreed to marry him, he didn’t want her to change her mind.

  Amy lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Everything has moved along pretty fast,” Amy said, sounding incredibly weary. “It might be good to slow things down a bit.”

  Red flags popped up in Dan’s head. He didn’t want to read too much into what she was saying. But between her body language and her words, he had the definite impression she was getting cold feet.

  “Is it—” he took a deep breath and plunged ahead “—that you’re not sure you want to marry me?”

  He cast a sideways glance, surprised to discover Amy wasn’t at his side. He spun on his heel and found her standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

  “This isn’t about me.” Amy’s voice was so low he could barely hear her. “It’s about you.”

  “Me?” Dan’s heart beat like a hammer in his chest. “What about me?”

  “Angela said when you two talked before she’d gotten the impression if you did marry again it would be because of practicality, not love.” Even though the day was warm, Amy crossed her arms over her chest as if she were cold. “Is that why you’re marrying me, Dan? Because I’m quick and convenient?”

  Ah, now he understood.

  Amy did a good job keeping the pain from her voice but Dan knew her too well to be fooled. Angela’s words had hurt her. Dan clenched his jaw. Next time he saw the woman he’d let her know what he thought of her meddling.

  “For your information Angela brought up the topic of marrying for companionship, not love,” Dan said. “I already have friends and companions. I don’t need to marry to have that.”

  Amy’s gaze searched his. Whatever she saw there must have satisfied her because she smiled and didn’t object when he took her hand.

  But as they walked home Dan couldn’t help but wonder if she’d noticed he hadn’t fully answered her question.

  He still hadn’t said he loved her.

  Amy listened to Emma’s chatter in the car with half an ear. When Jake had arrived, Amy had volunteered to pick up Emma. She’d planned to walk to the Martins’s house knowing that would give her even more time alone, more time to think. But the wind had picked up and the air had taken on a decided chill.

  When Amy had pulled into the Martins’s driveway she’d taken off the ring before getting out of the car. While Dan’s comments on their walk home had partially allayed her fears, she hadn’t wanted to get the girl’s hopes up. Not until she was absolutely sure Dan was marrying her out of love, not practicality.

  She loved Emma too much to cause her pain.

  But Dan loves Emma, too.

  Not to mention, he wants us to start a family. A man wouldn’t do that with someone he didn’t love, someone he considered only a companion.

  “Are you going to read to me tonight, Amy?” Emma asked.

  Amy blinked and shifted her gaze to Emma. “Of course I am. How far did you get last night?”

  The Santa Paws books were above Emma’s reading level but perfect for reading to her. On Thursday night they’d finished the first book in the series and Emma had taken the second, Santa Paws Returns, with her to her friend’s house.

  A look of disappointment crossed Emma’s face. “Nina’s mother didn’t have time.”

  It didn’t surprise Amy. Abigail Martin had been one of Tess’s closest friends. She was a career woman. Very nice, just not very child oriented.

  “Well, I must say that’s good news,” Amy said.

  Emma looked quizzical.

  Amy shot her a wink. “I won’t need to catch up on what I missed.”

  The giggle that escaped from Emma’s lips made Amy smile. Her heart swelled with love. If she and Dan did marry, she’d not only be Dan’s wife, she’d be Emma’s mother. Stepmother, she corrected herself. But she didn’t feel like a step-anything. She couldn’t love Emma more if the little girl was her own.

  For a second Amy was tempted to open her purse, pull out the ring and put it on…

  “Amy.” Emma squirmed in her seat. “Can you unlock the door? Rehn is on her porch and I want to say hi.”

  Amy looked up with a start and realized they were in front of their house. Rehn, the little girl who lived next door, was outside helping her mother put up holiday decorations. Pulling to a stop into the driveway, Amy unlocked the car door.

  “Put up your hood.” Amy’s tone brooked no argument. “And I want you in the house in five minutes. That’ll give you plenty of time to say hello. Understand?”

  Emma nodded, opened the car door and slid out.

  Amy waved to Rehn and her mother before pulling into the garage. Rehn’s mother, Margaret, had a life Amy envied. A rewarding career. Three beautiful children. And a loving husband.

  Yes, Margaret had it all. Just like Amy would have if she married Dan.

  Amy pulled the ring from her purse and put it on. She’d been foolish to doubt Dan. Her life was on the upswing and the way she looked at it, it could only get better.

  Dan glanced at the clock on the wall and wondered when Jake was going to leave. Amy and Emma should be back any minute and he wanted his friend gone.

  But instead of getting up to leave, Jake leaned back in his chair as if he had all the time in the world. “So how is our favorite nanny? Are we going to be hearing wedding bells soon?”

  Dan didn’t really want to discuss his engagement with Jake but he certainly didn’t want him hearing it from someone else and jumping to all the wrong conclusions.

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” Dan said after a long pause. “I asked Amy to marry me last night.”

  Amy paused in the hallway just outside the dining room. She’d seen Jake’s car in the driveway and planned to slip up the backstairs but when she heard her name, she couldn’t help herself from eavesdropping. She’d always had a curious streak and she couldn’t wait to hear what Dan would say. Would he tell Jake he loved her?

  Amy held her breath.

  “Did she accept?” Jake asked.

  “She did.”

  Amy smiled at the satisfaction in Dan’s voice.

  “Way to go, buddy,” Jake said. “I didn’t think you’d pull it off.”

  Amy pulled her brows together. Pull what off?

  “When you said you were going to make her fall in love with you, I wasn’t sure
you could do it,” Jake continued. “But you were determined.”

  “Jake—” Dan began.

  “’Course you had a lot riding on this,” Jake said. “Those in-laws of yours won’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting Emma now if anything happens to you. Especially if you have Amy adopt her.”

  Amy’s heart pounded. Her knees went weak. She placed a hand against the wall to steady herself. The proposal had all been part of a plan? A scheme?

  “It’s not about that—” Dan said.

  “’Course not,” Jake interrupted with a sardonic laugh. “Like I told you before, for the price of a ring and marriage license you get a nanny, a housekeeper and someone to warm your bed. I’m just happy you finally listened. Say, what’s she like in the sack? Any good?”

  Dan murmured something Amy couldn’t hear. But it didn’t matter. She’d heard enough. Amy choked back a sob, remembering Angela’s words about Dan’s motives for marriage. The woman had been right the first time.

  Dan’s proposal didn’t have a thing to do with love.

  Making it through the rest of the day took every ounce of Amy’s strength. If this just involved her and Dan, she’d have packed her bags, thrown the ring in his face and walked out without looking back. But because of Emma, Amy pretended she hadn’t overheard Dan’s conversation with Jake.

  She plastered a smile on her face, made dinner and ignored Dan’s teasing comments and flirtatious looks. When it came time for Emma’s bedtime, she asked Dan if she could put Emma to bed herself. By the pleased look in his eye, she knew he thought she was planning to discuss their engagement with the little girl. Amy saw no reason to correct him.

  Emma begged her to read an extra chapter and instead of just one, Amy read three. She savored every moment knowing this was the last time she and Emma would share such closeness.

  As she read, Amy’s eyes filled with tears. When Emma noticed, Amy blamed it on the story. Finally Amy closed the book. She could no longer delay the inevitable. She shut her eyes for a moment and prayed for the right words. Words that would convey to Emma how much she was loved. Words that would help the child to understand that none of this was her fault.