The Bachelor Boss

by Judy Baer

  “Both. I was hoping you might still be here, but I didn’t really expect it. I meant to drive up much sooner.”

  “You’re in luck. I’ve got a rib eye in the back with your name on it. I’ll add a portobello for fun and do a little balsamic reduction and we’re ready to go. Have a seat anywhere.”

  Hannah’s eyes were big when they sat down. “A balsamic reduction? Here?”

  “Again, don’t judge a book by its cover. Rita came up here to open her own place years ago. She was a cook at a classy restaurant and just decided she wanted a more natural life. They don’t look fancy, but it’s by choice. Lily always said Rita liked to give her money away. A lot of charities have benefited from Rita’s success.”

  “Amazing. Just like this entire day, simply amazing.”

  She said it again when a pear salad with blue cheese arrived.

  “Look at these au gratin potatoes,” Ty commented. They were so rich that Rita should have been a cardiologist on call. Next came roasted asparagus with parmesan and sea salt, melt-in-your-mouth steak and a strawberries and crème concoction that left them both begging for mercy.

  Hannah leaned back in her chair and groaned with pleasure. “What a perfect spot and meal and company.” She bit her lip. When had she decided Ty was perfect for her, anyway?

  “More coffee?” Rita wielded a pot.

  “That was the perfect meal,” Hannah told her. “The most wonderful birthday meal anyone could have. In fact, this has been the ideal birthday.” Her face glowed, punctuating her sincerity.

  When they left, Ty slipped a hundred-dollar bill beneath the plate as a tip. Rita hugged him good-bye at the door.

  “You’ve got a honey, there,” she whispered in his ear. “Don’t mess it up.”

  Rita’s warning echoed in Ty’s ears all the way down the mountain. There wasn’t much to mess up at this point. They were two people exploring their feelings, that’s all. Did either of them want it to be more? He needed to find out.

  After they’d pulled into the garage and carried the quilt and basket into the house, Hannah, glowing from both sunburn and happiness, turned her face to his. “That was the best day I’ve had in ages! Thank you so much. I gladly welcome getting a year older for a day like this one.”

  Gently, Ty lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a sweet kiss. What he’d expected to be pleasant made Fourth of July rockets go off in his head.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Mr. Matthews, I...”

  “What is it, Melanie? I thought I told you I didn’t want to be interrupted.”

  The secretary smiled. “I just wanted you to know that your grandmother has called three more times. She doesn’t give up easily, does she?”

  “She doesn’t give up at all, ever. Did you make sure that she’s okay?”

  “I did what you said. I asked if I could talk to her caregiver, who said she was fine. She was having a hard time distracting your grandmother from hitting redial. She wanted you to know that the caregiver—Hannah, right?—is going to take Mrs. Matthews to her friend’s house for the afternoon, so you can get some work done.”

  “Thanks, Mel. I promise to improve my mood ASAP Since Lily’s going to be busy, why don’t you bring in that big stack of files you wanted me to look at?”

  He’d done something today that he had never done before in his life. He’d refused to talk to his grandmother. Not refused in a bad way, he told himself. He’d simply told his secretary to screen his calls and tell Lily that he would be tied up today and that he wouldn’t be picking up the phone.

  Lily, however, wasn’t accustomed to being ignored and wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

  He scraped his hands through his hair, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, exhausted. He hadn’t slept last night, had done his run an hour early and was out of the house before anyone had stirred. That was fine with him. He didn’t want to talk to Hannah until he had his head straightened out. Yesterday he’d walked right into the fact that he was falling in love. There was no denying it anymore. He was head over heels in love with her.

  He should have run the other way when she hit his car. Now she was battering something much more important—his heart.

  Ty thought back to yesterday, to their time together in the mountains. It had been a long time since he’d had a day like that. Hannah St. James was easy to love. She was beautiful, sweet, compassionate, smart and somehow both vulnerable and strong. And stuck in the past.

  With all that love she had to give, it was natural that Hannah had chosen to be a caregiver—for Danny, Trisha, her clients and now Lily. That provided plenty of people on whom to spread the devotion from that big, warm heart of hers. It satisfied her need to nurture and supported her well-developed fear of giving that love to a man who wasn’t Steve.

  She’d deny it, he knew, but he could tell when he’d kissed her. Even though she’d responded warmly, she’d held back slightly, like a boxer pulling punches.

  The reason he recognized it was because Ty had done it himself. It was not unlike a nervous flyer thinking he could get on an airplane and yet not letting his full weight down. He’d restrained a part of his heart for years, knowing he wouldn’t settle for a marriage that was less than the 60-year love affair his grandparents had had. With Hannah, he’d let his guard down and she’d promptly snuck beneath his defenses.

  She was only the second woman who’d ever made him think that a marriage like that of Lily and his grandfather was possible. But Hannah was even more skittish than he.

  All he could do was hash it out with God and wait for Him to make the next move. If Hannah was ever going to leave her late husband in the past and look to the future, Ty felt it would have to be by divine intervention.

  When Ty finally did return to the house, Lily wasn’t home, but Hannah was.

  “She asked Irene to drive her somewhere,” Hannah greeted him. She waved her hands helplessly. “I told her I’d do it, but she insisted that Irene be the one and that Danny go with them.”

  “Now what is she up to?” Ty’s voice was weary. He could take anything his job or company threw at him. But this emotional roller coaster these women insisted on bringing him on was going to be his undoing.

  “Danny didn’t seem to know why she wanted him to come along either, so I think he’s in the dark.”

  “Worse yet. Whenever Lily scooped me up and my grandfather didn’t know what we were up to, it was usually trouble for him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let’s just say that no young boy needs a scooter, scuba gear or a BB gun.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “My wish was Lily’s command much of the time. Both my grandparents loved to spoil me, but at least Gramps had some common sense. Lily never saw the danger in things—only the fun. Danny hasn’t been talking about martial arts or downhill skiing, has he?”

  “Now you’re scaring me, Ty.”

  He followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table while she went to the oven and pulled out an apple pie. He was getting accustomed to domestic bliss, he thought. He watched her take out a plate, a fork and an ice-cream scoop and lay them on the counter.

  “We’ll have pie à la mode as soon as this cools.” She sank down into a chair. “I’m feeling the urge for a jolt of pure sugar to keep going. Life’s short. Eat dessert first, don’t you think?”

  “What’s happening in Trisha’s financial saga?” he asked as he imagined bits of apple in melting vanilla ice cream.

  “She called me last night to wish me happy birthday and apologize for not buying me a present. I told her all the present I needed was for her to quit spending money frivolously and get her financial responsibilities figured out. She’s trying, I know she is.”

  “Then what’s troubling you?”

  “I’d still like to know more about Jason, this boyfriend of hers. She says he’s a nice guy and that they aren’t serious, just friends.”

  “And you believe
her?”

  “I’ve always believed her until this money fiasco. Now I don’t know what to think. She’s reminded me that she’s still young and that common sense isn’t her strong suit.”

  “Maybe common sense isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Ty commented mildly.

  Her head snapped up. “What do you mean?”

  “Even people with the most common sense need to let go once in a while. Take you, for example.”

  “Me? What does this have to do with me?”

  “You’ve been logical and sensible for so long that you may not even see how things have changed in your life.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Trisha isn’t fourteen anymore. And you aren’t married anymore. Your house might not be right for you any longer. You’re trying to maintain a life that existed years ago.”

  “Trisha’s just a kid! And my house... Steve and I...” She drooped in her seat. What he was saying was true. Trisha was at the age now when she and Steve had decided to marry. The house was an anchor that held her to the past. Steve was never coming back. Why was she holding on?

  Had it been a sad life she’d lived before coming here? A restrained life, perhaps, one without much spontaneity, one in which her filter to every question had been what would Steve have done? Or, what would Steve have thought? She had rarely asked what does Hannah want?

  She jumped to her feet, threw open the freezer door, pulled out the vanilla ice-cream bucket and began to saw at the rock-hard contents. Then she gave the ice cream scoop to Ty and cut the pie. She didn’t want to think anymore. Maybe if she ate enough ice cream her brain would freeze solid.

  It was unnerving, she realized, that Ty watched silently, not commenting on her frenetic behavior. He said nothing as they sat together and devoured half the pie and far too much ice cream.

  Hannah was suffering the welcome distraction of a painful brain freeze when they heard footsteps and voices at the front door.

  “At least now we’ll find out what they’ve been up to,” Ty said.

  “Do we even want to know?” She imagined Danny with a pair of nunchakus, a knife or his own race car. Ty’s stories had not calmed her mind in any way. What would Steve say if he got hurt...

  She stopped herself. It was what she thought that mattered, Hannah reminded herself. She had to live for herself and Danny, to finally learn to embrace the unknown. Those were muscles she hadn’t used in a very long time.

  “I suppose we’d better see what went on,” Ty said grimly. “It could be perfectly harmless—but knowing Lily...”

  What they saw when they walked into the entry of the house was harmless, but it had the potential to disrupt this already fragile household and spread chaos wherever it went.

  Danny held snuggled in his arms a yellow puppy with a lolling pink tongue and soft brown eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Danny! What are you doing with that puppy?” Hannah gasped.

  “Lily! What have you done now?” Ty glared at the threesome. Danny and Lily looked delighted. Irene was a picture of guilt.

  “She made me do it, Mr. Ty. I told her you wouldn’t like it, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  “She never does. It’s not your fault, Irene. I’ll take it from here. Why don’t you take Danny to the kitchen with the pup? Hannah made an apple pie.”

  The woman scooted off toward the kitchen, relief on her face. Danny, blissfully unaware of the undercurrents among the adults, followed her, his arms firmly around the squirming yellow Lab, a dog just like the one Ty had had as a boy.

  Danny stopped in front of Ty. “His name is Crackers. Lily said you had a dog named Crackers when you were a boy. She said he loved to eat any kind of cracker. I’ll bet this dog likes them, too.” He looked hopefully into Ty’s eyes. “It’s okay if I name my dog Crackers, too, isn’t it?”

  “Every boy needs a dog, Tyler.” Lily fixed those bright blue eyes on him and dared him to challenge her. “Remember how much you loved your dog? You two were inseparable. You wouldn’t deny the child such joy, would you?”

  This was beyond even his tolerance for Lily’s antics. “Did you ask his mother about this? Isn’t she the one who should make a decision like that?”

  “Oh, she doesn’t mind.” Lily looked to Hannah for confirmation. “Do you, dear?”

  “I... I...” Hannah looked like a deer in the headlights as she blurted what was obviously the first thing that came to her mind, “I’m not sure I can afford a dog, Lily. What if we keep him and I don’t find another job after I leave here?”

  Lily looked horrified. “You’ll be working here, for Ty and me!” She turned toward him. “Won’t she, Ty?”

  He opened his mouth, but it was Hannah who answered first. “I’ve only been hired to stay until you’re back on your feet, Lily. Soon you won’t need me. Look how well you’re doing with physical therapy. Irene can cook and clean for you. There won’t be a reason for a caregiver. You’ll be on your own again.”

  What was happening to him? Ty wondered. He hadn’t felt anything like this in... When had he felt like this before? Not since Anita had he been so drawn to a woman. The realization came crashing over him like a tsunami. He’d long believed there was only one soul mate for him and she had died. But now...

  “I don’t want to be on my own. I want you. But we don’t need to think about that now. It’s going to be fine.” Then Lily did as she’d always done—what Ty called “pulling a Scarlett O’Hara.” Every time Scarlett ran into something unpleasant, she refused to think about it. Exactly what Lily was doing now.

  “I’m that puppy’s foster grandmother and Ty is his adoptive uncle. Crackers won’t starve. I’ll pay for obedience school, if you wish. Besides, we have everything he needs in the car. We bought a kennel, a bed, toys, some grooming tools, a leash, a collar, food, even a toothbrush!” She touched Hannah’s hand. “Don’t worry, dear. It will be fine. I’m sure of it.”

  Hannah gave her a weak smile. “Well, thank you for giving my son such a generous gift.” A tear slid down one cheek.

  Ty couldn’t tell if it was inspired by gratitude, anger or fear.

  “Oh, honey, don’t cry. When I’m fretting about Clara’s situation, you tell me to have faith. It’ll all work out, Hannah.”

  Then, demonstrating exactly how far she had come with her therapy, Lily clutched the bars of her walker and took herself to the kitchen, leaving Ty and Hannah alone together.

  She grabbed his sleeve. “Oh, Ty, I didn’t hurt her feelings, did I? I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. The puppy is a lovely, if overwhelming, gift. It’s just that the first thing I thought was that I didn’t need another mouth to feed.”

  “I’ll tell her she has to undo this whole thing, Hannah. Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t do that! Did you see the look on Danny’s face? He’s always said he was sure his dad would have bought him a dog someday. He knew I wouldn’t because of the hassle, the money. Now he’s finally gotten his wish. I can’t take that away. I also don’t want to hurt Lily. She was only trying to help.”

  “Her idea of help could sink ships, Hannah. She put you in an impossible situation. Of course, she’ll be paying dog support to Danny for the next fifteen years.”

  She pulled him by the sleeve, indicating he should follow her into the kitchen. “Let’s go properly meet the new member of our family. We’ll worry about how to pay for him later.”

  Our family. He liked the sound of that.

  * * *

  The next morning Ty had gone to work, Danny and Lily were closeted in Lily’s room with Crackers and Irene was scrubbing the kitchen floor, leaving Hannah at loose ends. It was time to do something she’d been dreading.

  Hannah entered the kitchen carrying her purse and keys. “I’m going out for a bit. Call me if there’s a problem.”

  “Only problem I can foresee is that puppy piddling on one of Mr. Ty’s wool rugs.” Irene shook her head ruefully. “That little critter is about th
e most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. I’m just sorry that it wasn’t you who drove them to the pet shop instead of me.”

  “Don’t feel bad. None of this was your fault. Besides, Danny is blissfully happy about that pup.”

  “Just so you know, Miss Lily has been asking me to take her to her friend Clara’s house, too. Because she asks during my work day, I always tell her I don’t have time.”

  “Does she do it often?”

  “Getting to be more so. She and Clara also talk on the phone but never when you’re in the room. I think they’re devising something they don’t want you to know about.”

  Lily was a hatchery; if ideas were chicks, she had a million of them.

  “I’ll talk to Ty about it tonight.”

  “Mr. Ty is softer with Lily than he really should be. Of course, that’s because of that promise he made to his grandfather. Mr. Ty never breaks a promise. His word is good.”

  Irene paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, “You make a good team because Lily loves you and listens to reason with you. That makes it easier for Mr. Ty. You’ve taken a lot of pressure off his shoulders these past weeks. I think we’re all dreading the time when you leave, Hannah. You and Danny have brought wonderful life to this house.”

  Hannah had a myriad of thoughts in her head as she drove downtown to run some errands. Irene had reminded Hannah about the promise he’d made when he was young. She had an ever-growing admiration for the man Ty was.

  When she returned to the Matthews’ home, Danny was playing with Crackers in the front yard. Lily, ensconced on a lawn chair, watching them with delight. On the sidewalk was a boy about Danny’s age. Hannah recognized him—Terrible Kevin of the Black Eye. His gaze was fixed on the squirming, yapping puppy, and his expression was one of longing.

  Danny saw the boy about the same time Hannah did. She could see the wheels turning in her little son’s head. Then he picked up his puppy and walked slowly toward the other child. A conversation ensued before Danny nodded and the boy reached out his hand to stroke Cracker’s head.

  Her chest felt clogged with emotion.