“Cassie, that’s right.” She smiled, wondering if the woman planned to keep them standing outside. “Mr. Matthews is expecting us. I’m the new nanny.”
“Si, yes.” The woman opened the door wider and ushered them inside.
Cassie stared upward at the ceiling, which soared more than two stories high. When Blake had assured her that he could more than afford her salary and the expense of moving the family, he hadn’t exaggerated. But she’d never expected anything like this.
The woman switched to English. “Senor Matthews is in his office.” She pointed to double doors at the end of the huge hallway.
Cassie tore her eyes from the eye-popping interior. “Thank you.” She turned to her children. “I’ll talk to Mr. Matthews first.”
She heard distracted murmurs of agreement, realizing the kids were as overwhelmed as she was. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed perspiring palms against her cotton skirt and approached the formidable-looking doors, knocking lightly.
When she didn’t hear an answer, she leaned close to knock again, but the door suddenly opened. Nearly falling into his arms, Cassie met Blake’s face, inches from her own. Trying to regain her equilibrium, she rocked back on her practical flat shoes.
“You’re here,” he commented unnecessarily.
“So I am.”
He held out a hand. “Welcome.”
Awkwardly she accepted the handshake, feeling a tremor of awareness at his touch. To dispel it, she made-her smile overly bright. “You want to say hi to the kids?”
“Sure, sure.” He glanced back briefly at the overloaded desk in his study, then moved with her down to the hall, greeting the children, hearing snatches of their excited talk about riding in an airplane, then seeing L.A.
He looked taken aback when the dog licked his hand and waited to be patted. “Uh...I didn’t know you were bringing Gulliver.”
“He’s part of the family,” David John announced.
The dog barked in agreement as the children all tried at once to tell Blake about their trip. When the babble finally died down, they glanced at him expectantly.
Blake returned their glances. “Oh...you need to know where you’re staying. Maria has cleaned your rooms. Did you meet her?”
Cassie smiled at the young woman. “Yes.”
“Good. She can show you the way.” He turned back to the study. “I’ll see you after you get settled in.”
“Sure.” Wishing he was the one showing them their new home, Cassie followed Maria up the curving marble staircase, trailed by her children and Gulliver.
It was silly to be disappointed. What had she expected? For him to fling her into his arms, thrilled to have her there? Maybe not. But it would have been nice to have him a bit more concerned about their arrival.
She considered kicking herself, but she was too loaded down with suitcases to even try. Before leaving Texas, she had lectured herself sternly. Now that Blake Matthews was her employer, she intended to squelch any stirrings of attraction. It was one thing to have a few giddy feelings for a handsome guest in her own boardinghouse. It was another to entertain those feelings for her employer. Especially when he’d given her the first opportunity she’d had to provide her children with a future. There was no way she was going to blow this by going all moony-eyed over him.
No, that had come to an end.
Maria stopped at a light, airy room decorated in delicate shades of yellow. The bleached oak furniture was both tasteful and inviting. Maria pointed inside. “This room is for the girl.”
Katherine Ann gasped. “For me?” Although she’d always claimed to be more interested in learning and studying than in other, more feminine pursuits, Cassie knew it was because they hadn’t had the means in Texas to explore any other interests. Katherine Ann walked into the room slowly, trailing her hands over the furniture. “It’s beautiful.”
Cassie moved inside to give her daughter a small hug. “Why don’t you get settled in? I’ll be back later.”
Katherine Ann was distracted, already lost in the wonder of this new world. “Okay, Mama.”
Cassie and her sons followed Maria down the hall. “These rooms are for the boys.” Maria pointed inside. “They’re connected with a bathroom. The one on the other side is for the young one.”
David John raced inside, while Jimmy Ray moved more slowly. Sleek contemporary furniture filled the room, including bookcases and a curving desk. But it wasn’t the furniture that drew Jimmy Ray. Cassie withheld a gasp.
On the desk, a gleaming computer setup waited. Jimmy Ray walked to it slowly, tentatively touching it, running his hands over the smooth surface, before turning to his mother. “Do you think it’s a mistake, Mama? That it’s supposed to be somewhere else?”
Cassie had seen a computer on Blake’s desk. “I don’t know. You’d better ask Mr. Matthews.”
“Sure, Mama.” But his eyes hadn’t left the computer.
Cassie hoped the computer was indeed meant for Jimmy Ray, especially since Blake had been so adamant about her son’s computer education. But she guessed the expensive computer belonged to Blake’s children. Still, if Jimmy Ray could just have access to it... Wiping an unexpected bit of moisture from her eyes, she turned to Maria. “I guess I’m next.”
“Down this way.” The hall curved, and a skylight poured sunshine into the area, highlighting a beautiful arrangement of fresh, vibrant flowers. Trying to keep her eyeballs attached, Cassie followed as the hall wound around toward the other side of the house.
They passed a few closed doors, and Cassie couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Maria, what are these rooms?”
“Some are guest rooms. Also the library, sunroom and music room.”
“I thought one of the guest rooms was mine.”
Maria smiled. “The one Senor Matthews picked out for you is larger than these—a suite. We’re almost there.”
Cassie digested that. “There was no need to make a fuss.” She couldn’t help craning her neck back, looking longingly toward the wing her children’s rooms were in. Feeling homesick and disoriented, she wished her room was closer to theirs.
Maria stopped, then turned with a smile. “And this is your room, señora.”
Stepping inside, Cassie withheld a gasp. A Queen Anne—style cherrywood four-poster bed dominated the center of the bedroom, and a sheer, gauzy white canopy seemed to float above the bed. Fragile curtains of the same gauzy white material were pushed back to reveal a triple-paneled set of French doors. Instinctively Cassie stepped closer, seeing that the doors led to a flagstone terrace. Turning around, she saw that matching pieces of cherrywood completed the furniture.
She moved farther inside, still staring. The sitting room, separated by an arched open doorway, was also furnished in traditional pieces. A love seat and wing chair faced the huge white marble fireplace. The mantel was also carved from rich cherrywood. It struck Cassie that this was the only room not decorated with stylish but almost stark modern furniture. The familiar style warmed her chilled, nervous heart.
Turning back toward the bedroom, she saw that a beautifully crafted Persian rug covered the wood planked floor, adding a splash of color. Her gaze skipped to the night-stand, which held a vase filled with more exotic blooms. The room was at once elegant and inviting.
Impulsively Cassie turned to the woman who waited near the doorway. “This is beautiful, Maria.”
“Si, yes, señora.”
“Cassie, please. We’ll be working together now.”
Maria smiled. “Cassie.”
“Is your room close by?”
Maria shook her head. “We’re in the separate houses.” At Cassie’s puzzled look, she explained. “Behind the big house are servants’ quarters. The staff lives there. Pedro—the general handyman—and his wife, Isabelle, who’s one of the maids. Albert, the driver, and Dora, the new maid.”
“Oh. Still, this room, and my children’s rooms, seem awfully nice for hired help.” Cassie glanced again at the scrumptiou
s furnishings.
Maria shrugged. “Senor Matthews is a nice man.”
He’d certainly pulled her bacon out of the fire, Cassie agreed silently.
Turning toward the hall, Maria shrugged again. “This part of the house is usually for guests, but maybe he doesn’t think of you as staff.”
Startled, Cassie met the woman’s warm brown eyes. “You don’t...mean....”
Maria lifted a casual shoulder. “You are to be in charge of his children. That is a special job.”
Relieved, Cassie managed a smile. “I guess so.”
Maria moved toward the doorway, then paused. “Welcome, Cassie. I hope you’re happy here.”
“Thanks, Maria. Me too.”
After the woman left, Cassie turned back to the incredible room, gave in to the urge that had been plaguing her, and pinched herself. But the room didn’t fade away. Laughing aloud, she dropped back on the downy comfort of the bed. She was truly in paradise.
PARADISE had a lot of faces, Cassie discovered. And the three belonging to Blake’s children held expressions ranging from disinterest to dislike to disrespect.
Blake had briefly introduced them. The oldest, fourteen-year-old Kevin, challenged her with a single glance. The nine-year-old twins, Mark and Todd, imitated their older brother’s belligerent actions. Before she could take in any more about them, Blake fled to a meeting.
The boys were as bad as he’d described. Mouthy, disdainful and uninterested, they scattered as soon as their father was out of sight. Cassie decided not to pursue them until she knew the house and her job a little better.
Acquainting herself with the huge kitchen, Cassie looked for enough essentials to prepare dinner. Pulling open the refrigerator, she rooted through the sparse contents. Frowning, she decided that no one had gone shopping since the previous housekeeper left.
Uncovering tuna and noodles in the pantry, she put together a casserole. A search of the freezer yielded enough frozen entrées to last a month, but no vegetables. A further search through the pantry provided enough of the basics to make biscuits and a yellow cake. For all the kitchen’s designer style and modern conveniences, it wasn’t stocked to feed a family.
Hands on hips, Cassie surveyed the bountiful counter space, the island workstation and the adjoining breakfast room. The room curved invitingly around a huge bay window that revealed a burst of colorful, exotic flowers and lush greenery landscaping the yard.
Katherine Ann shyly poked her head into the room, finally having left the sanctuary of her room.
“Just in time, Katherine Ann. I could use some help setting the table.”
“Sure, Mama.” Automatically she accepted a stack of plates.
“Did you get settled in?”
Katherine Ann clutched the plates, a dreamy expression on her face. “Did you see how beautiful the room is? I had to pinch myself so I’d know it was real.”
Since Cassie had done the same thing, she could only nod in agreement.
Katherine Ann all but twirled. “It’s just like out of the magazines. Do you suppose people get used to living like this?”
Cassie reached out to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear. “I’m not sure. But I don’t think we should.”
Katherine Ann looked both crushed and incredulous. “Why not?”
“My contract’s only for a year. I hope the job will work out, but I can’t make any promises. It would be awfully difficult to return home if we forget our roots.”
Katherine Ann studied the toe of her shoe for a moment. “I don’t think we’ll forget what you’ve taught us, Mama. The important things. But is it wrong to want nice belongings?”
Seeing the earnest, troubled expression on her child’s face, Cassie smoothed a hand down her soft cheek. “No, sweetie. As long as we don’t forget that things aren’t more important than people.”
Katherine Ann’s expression cleared. “That won’t ever happen, Mama.”
This child, so close to her heart, was at once both her most difficult child and her most perceptive one. Probably because Cassie saw too much of herself in Katherine Ann. The desire to succeed, the yearning to have more than life had allotted, the capacity to be swayed by the lure of new, distant places.
None of those ambitions had turned out the way Cassie once thought they would. Now she hoped for peace, the children’s happiness, and relief from their financial burdens. As she glanced around the magnificent room she stood in, Cassie knew that a portion of her hopes had been realized. Provided Blake Matthews liked the way she performed her job.
Cassie checked on the tea and saw that it had steeped long enough. “What are your brothers doing?”
Katherine Ann put the last plate on the table. “Jimmy Ray’s glued to that computer, and David John was bugging the twins.”
Cassie stilled her hands. “Why?”
Katherine Ann shrugged. “Why not?”
“This is going to be our home for the next year, and I want you and your brothers to get along with the Matthews.”
The thin shoulders bobbed up and down again. “I like Mr. Matthews fine. But the boys are the worst.”
Considering how tired she was, Cassie didn’t feel this was the time to launch into a lecture. Right now, she just wanted to get through this first long day. “The silverware’s in the first drawer on the left”
Katherine Ann nodded, efficiently setting the table.
Pulling the casserole from the oven, Cassie glanced up as Blake came in through the back door. His puzzled face pulled together in a question as he looked at the clutter of bowls in the sink, then at the big round table in the breakfast room, which had been set with eight places.
Cassie smiled at him as she put the casserole on a trivet. “Good, you’re just in time. Supper’s almost ready.”
“Supper?”
“Well, I suppose you call it dinner. It’s not much. I couldn’t find hardly anything in the kitchen.” She smiled, feeling ridiculously nervous, like a student trying to impress the teacher. “Could say the cupboard’s bare. I’ll have to go shopping tomorrow.”
“Sure. Household money’s in a canister on the top shelf.” His face drew together again. “I didn’t know you were going to all this trouble....”
“Why, sure. That’s why you hired me.”
Kevin and his brothers raced down the stairs, headed for the back door.
“Whoa!” Cassie held up her hand, staving off their escape. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out,” Kevin answered for them.
“Not now. We’re ready to eat supper.”
The boys looked at the table, and Kevin said, his voice dripping with disdain, “Supper? What’s that?”
Cassie leveled them with a look that never failed to make her own children straighten up. “It’s called sup—dinner. You know, when members of the household sit down at the table together, pick up forks, put food in their mouths, chew, swallow. It’s a wonderful experience. Try it. You’ll like it.”
The boys turned to Blake. “Dad, we don’t have to stay, do we? We were going to grab some burgers, then hit the arcade.”
“Mrs. Hawkins went to a lot of trouble. Wash your hands and sit down.”
Three rebellious faces glared at Cassie. Dragging their feet, the boys crowded into the bathroom beneath the back stairs. Hearing the amount of splashing, Cassie suspected they were covering the room in water.
As the boys returned to the kitchen, Kevin sniffed the air. “Smells like something died in here. Or maybe that’s...supper,” he said, drawing out the word, mocking her drawl. “Come on, y’all. Let’s pull up to the chuck wagon.”
Cassie held on to her temper. She didn’t want a scene on her first day. Blake returned, his jacket and tie gone. Her own children were on his heels, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Allies in the enemy camp.
Once everyone was seated, Cassie glanced around the table. Blake looked resigned, his children rebellious, and hers uncomfortable. Oh, thi
s was going well. Her gaze went back to Blake as she folded her hands and looked at him expectantly. His eyes fell on her hands, and he nodded to her.
She uttered a brief blessing and then raised her face, meeting three disbelieving pairs of eyes. A little disconcerted, she smoothed her napkin before offering the plate of biscuits to Katherine Ann. Then she picked up a serving spoon. “Kevin, if you’ll pass your plate, I’ll serve. The casserole dish is pretty hot.”
He sent a sulky look in his father’s direction, then thumped the plate into her hands with more force than necessary. Cassie spooned a portion onto his plate and handed it back.
“What is this?” Kevin asked, staring at the casserole as though she’d served him cow patties.
“Tuna casserole,” she replied, filling the twins’ plates.
“Yuck,” Mark responded.
“I hate tuna,” Todd chimed in.
“The pantry was full of tuna. I thought it must be one of your favorites,” Cassie replied, automatically accepting Blake’s plate as she looked at the rebellious trio of faces.
“That would be Mrs. Thompson,” Blake replied. “The former housekeeper. The boys and I either eat out, have dinner delivered, or put something in the microwave.”
Which explained the contents of the freezer.
Cassie hid the uncertainty trembling inside her. She had two choices. Cave in to their routine, making it easy on the Matthews men. Or do the job she’d been hired for.
“Luckily you won’t have to do that anymore. Tomorrow I’ll go shopping.” She glanced at Blake’s sons. “After I find out what you like to eat. Then we can make sure that su—dinner is a family affair. If you don’t like tuna, I could scramble some eggs.”
Mark looked briefly interested, but Kevin elbowed him, and he set his face in a mutinous line, as well.
“I want a burger,” Kevin retorted.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any hamburger,” she replied, precariously hanging on to her temper. It had been a long, trying day, and her patience was wearing thin.
Blake glanced between his sons and Cassie. “Try the tuna. If you still don’t like it, I’ll call for some burgers. You’ll learn that Mrs. Hawkins is a wonderful cook. Her fried chicken’s the best I ever had.”
His-And-Hers Family Page 5
