Daycare Mom to Wife

by Jennie Adams

  Did she see the weariness that he’d been trying to hide from the kids for…Dan couldn’t even remember how long?

  ‘Yeah.’ Dan cleared his throat. It had been hard to pack up their lives, to put the family photos away. He hadn’t wanted to wrap up the pictures of Rebecca because he needed them in front of him and yet, since they arrived, that box had been the second last one Dan wanted to go anywhere near. The other held the urn of Rebecca’s ashes.

  Jess drew a deep breath and for a moment uncertainty flashed in the backs of her soft grey eyes. ‘That is, if you’re happy for me to continue, then I thought, as I said, we could do some unpacking after lunch.’

  ‘I want to keep going.’

  While the children finished their lunches, Jess showed Dan her written qualifications and gave him the phone numbers for her referees. ‘Two are the mothers of the children I mind on Tuesdays and Saturdays.’

  Today was Wednesday, so Jess had a couple of days before she would be with the other children again. ‘The other referee is the woman who mentored me through training as a daycare mum.’

  ‘Thanks, Jess.’ Dan turned and headed for his den. ‘I’ll make sure I find time to make those calls this afternoon.’

  The children pitched in to start sorting out rooms. Jess did her best to get everyone organised and help them all feel good about their achievements, and did well enough with the younger ones. Luke worked hard, but under his own steam and without a lot of communication. Jess would do what she could to draw the older boy out over time.

  By mid-afternoon Jess’s daughter had just woken up from her nap, Annapolly was parked in front of a children’s programme on TV, and the rest of the children had gone outside with snacks to keep them going until dinner. Luke had placed himself in the role of supervisor out there.

  ‘I hope you’ll forgive me for disappearing and leaving you to it.’ Dan had checked in with the family at intervals throughout the afternoon, but had taken the opportunity to work from his den as well. This financial examination was going to make its demands on his time.

  He faced Jess across the kitchen table now and they both knew he had to give her his decision.

  ‘I hope you were able to contact my referees.’ Jess had tried to stay calm throughout the afternoon, but it hadn’t been easy to beat back her worries about money.

  ‘Your referees checked out fine.’ Dan glanced about the now tidy kitchen. ‘You’ve done wonders this afternoon.’

  ‘Thank you. I welcome the chance to work hard.’ Jess paused as her daughter crawled to her side. She picked her up and blew a raspberry kiss onto her neck.

  Ella crowed and giggled.

  Dan’s gaze lingered on Jess’s mouth before he quickly looked away, and Jess’s heart skipped a beat. So much for controlling that. Apparently Dan could put paid to her efforts with a single glance.

  Oh, why did she have to react to him like this? Be so conscious of him as a man when Jess had sworn off men and she’d meant it? Well, Dan didn’t appear to want the attraction anyway so it would rapidly become moot, and that was if Dan kept Jess working for him.

  ‘You’re a natural mother, Jess. That much is very clear.’ Dan hesitated, and then cleared his throat. ‘Do you mind if I ask about other commitments? Will caring for my children interfere with other parts of your life?’

  ‘There’s just me and Ella, so there won’t be interference from home with my work hours.’ Jess drew a breath and slowly blew it out. Would he judge her for being a single mother?

  ‘That’s one less worry. I really need the help.’ Dan straightened in his chair. ‘Anything you can do towards housekeeping will also be appreciated.’ He hesitated. ‘I may be a little overprotective about checking in.’

  Seeing that care in Dan touched a tender place down inside Jess because Ella’s father had proved so different.

  ‘I’d want a contact number for you at all times, too.’ She made sure her expression—a professional one—reassured Dan that all of his concerns were acknowledged. ‘Also a complete list of medical conditions or special needs of the children. And I’d want to be paid weekly either by cash or bank cheque.’

  If Dan assumed Jess would need to access her pay without a waiting period, he’d only be assuming the truth.

  They sat there for a minute, sizing each other up. Jess looked over his ruffled dark hair and the hint of beard on his jaw, the shadows under his eyes that suggested he hadn’t got a lot of sleep just lately.

  And she said softly around her consciousness of him, ‘I’d like to help you, Dan, if you feel I’ve passed the tests.’

  ‘I don’t mean to make it seem like that.’

  Jess shook her head. ‘If you hadn’t grilled me, I’d have worried whether you were taking enough care of your children.’

  ‘You’re young.’ The words were low.

  ‘You don’t look that old, yourself, you know.’ He looked seasoned and appealing. Jess shook her head to try to drive the thoughts out.

  Dan glanced from his daughter watching the TV, to the children outside, to Ella in Jess’s lap, to Jess. ‘Will you stick around for the rest of the day? And then I’ll need you here first thing tomorrow morning so I can get on the road to Sydney.’ He threw his shoulders back as though to say now the decision was made he’d stick by it and make it work.

  Relief flowed through Jess. ‘Thank you for giving me this opportunity.’ She got to her feet and bent her head over Ella’s so Dan wouldn’t see the depth of that relief in her eyes. ‘Just let me pop home and get Ella’s playpen, monitor and walker and a few other things.’

  They’d be fine working together. And this consciousness of him would be extremely transitory.

  Of course it would!

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘WHY IS IT THAT PARENTS make up stories about where babies come from?’ The question was earnest, as were all of Daisy Frazier’s questions. Daisy went on. ‘And why would anyone believe those stories?’

  It was early evening, the following day. Jess and the children were outside on the veranda that swept around three sides of the rambling home. Dan had unpacked like an automaton all yesterday afternoon and probably well into the night after Jess left that evening. Jess and the children had helped, too, of course.

  The house was halfway habitable now, thanks to those efforts, but it was still nice to get outside. Jess had sliced up wedges of watermelon and brought everyone out here. The boys were having a seed-spitting contest.

  Ella and Annapolly were playing with dolls. Mary, Dan’s quiet six-year-old, was sitting on the edge of the veranda watching her brothers and swinging her legs.

  That left Jess and ten-year-old Daisy, who was gifted with an inquisitive mind.

  ‘Do you see Annapolly and Ella, Daisy?’

  Annapolly was explaining to Ella in her childish way all about how the dolls were going on a road trip to get to a new house where they’d live happily ever after with a frog that laid golden eggs. Ella listened with awed attention, even though she didn’t understand.

  ‘Yes.’ Daisy’s brow wrinkled and she pushed her glasses up her freckled nose. She had dark hair like her father. They all did. Daisy had the same considering expression, too. ‘What about them?’

  ‘They’re happy in their make-believe world. They can enjoy their imaginations and make up whatever stories they want.’

  Daisy pondered for a second. ‘If that’s why kids want to believe that babies come from under a cabbage, or the stork drops them, I suppose it’s okay.’ She sniffed. ‘But it would make more sense if they had a pelican drop them. Then they could tell themselves that the baby could be kept warm and safe in the pouch in the pelican’s beak until it got dropped off.’

  ‘They could.’ Jess stifled a smile over Daisy’s pragmatic logic, and made a mental note to tell Dan this discussion with his daughter was coming, if it hadn’t happened already.

  Dan…

  Despite his absence today, Jess had thought of him often. She’d asked herself h
ow he was getting on in Sydney, had tried to remember whether he truly looked as handsome as she had thought on first meeting and again this morning when all of her awareness of him hadn’t exactly been evaporated into oblivion.

  Dan had phoned twice. Jess had assured him things were going well, and let whichever children had been hovering at the time have a quick chat to him. She’d at least attempted an attitude of professionalism on the surface.

  After that second phone call Luke had tried to grill her almost aggressively about her personal life, why she was by herself and a few other questions that could have become a problem if Jess had let them. Instead, she’d stated only that being the mother of Ella was the greatest joy of her life and firmly turned the conversation elsewhere.

  ‘Time to go in, I think.’

  Ella was getting sleepy. Annapolly and Mary were rubbing their eyes. Even the boys had lain back on the veranda floor after finishing their watermelon. And Jess had let her thoughts wander far enough. ‘It’s been a big day. Thanks for all trying hard today.’

  There was the expected chorus from the younger ones of not wanting to go to bed but an hour later they were all in their rooms. It would be a while before some of them slept, Jess suspected, but she wouldn’t be helping that if she hovered. She spent time doing chores and by then it was quite late and all the children were asleep. Well, she didn’t know about Luke. His door was shut and she didn’t feel she could intrude to check.

  Jess curled up on the couch in the living room to rest until Dan got home.

  She had five children and a baby to take care of tomorrow. The day after was Saturday and she had other children while their mothers worked at their Devonshire teas business.

  Jess was an excellent daycare mum and trained to care for older children too. She would give that service to the very best of her ability; she would find her way forward with Dan Frazier’s children. And when she got her first pay cheque she would go to the council and pay some money onto the overdue account there and talk to them about a more realistic payment plan. She didn’t need to panic.

  Things would be all right. And Dan would be back soon, and Jess was looking forward to seeing him. Just a little, and there was nothing wrong with that, provided she stuck to professional anticipation…

  ‘Dan.’ Jess spoke his name and sat up on the couch.

  She’d been dozing when Dan unlocked the front door and stepped into the house.

  ‘Hi. It’s late. Sorry.’ Dan’s words were pitched low. He couldn’t explain why they also emerged in a soft, deep tone. But coming home to find a woman sleeping, waiting for him, was something Dan hadn’t done for years. Maybe the memory of that was what made him stop and take Jess in from the top of her head, with its messy cap of hair, to her bare feet with their high arches and purple painted toenails. It had to be memories, didn’t it, even though Jess was nothing like Rebecca? He couldn’t actually be truly attracted to Jess Baker.

  ‘Was it very tiring, the trip into the city and the workload?’ Jess’s voice was soft and scratchy. Her cheeks had turned a gentle rose-pink as she met his gaze.

  Because she was aware of him?

  Rather arrogant to think such an appealing young woman would even notice you, Dan!

  He took a step towards her. And then veered to the right to dump his briefcase on the couch because what would Dan do once he stood in front of Jess? Want to run his fingers through that fine, silky hair? Ask her to sit with him while he talked about his day? ‘The financial examination process is very thorough. I won’t mind not having to think about numbers until tomorrow.’

  Dan needed to ask her about her work. How the children had fared today. He’d phoned in, but he wanted to hear more than those brief words. ‘You’d ring me if there was a problem, not wait until I checked in?’

  ‘Immediately.’

  ‘I’ll just look in on them. You don’t mind? Then you can tell me how things went today overall. I don’t want to hold you up from getting home.’ He had to be businesslike about this.

  ‘See them first, then I can give you a progress report.’ Jess nodded. ‘Ella’s fast asleep in her travel cot. I can wait.’

  Dan disappeared to the upper reaches of the house to check on his children.

  In the living room, Jess watched his receding back until he disappeared from sight.

  By the time Dan returned Jess had smoothed her hair. She didn’t need to look like something that had been dragged backwards through a house, five children and a baby, she justified. She’d boiled the kettle and she tried to be very casual as she gestured, ‘Would you like tea?’

  That was suitably employee-like, wasn’t it? And of course that was all Jess intended to be. Not that she’d been invited to be anything else. Not that she’d want to be invited.

  Yes, you do.

  No, you do not.

  Dan smiled. ‘At this point a good cup of tea would be worth crushing stones with my fingers for.’

  Jess laughed, a low, startled sound that filled the kitchen and wiped Dan’s face clean of the light-hearted expression that had accompanied his statement. In its place came the kind of tension that appeared in kitchens in the middle of the night when two people stood close together over a boiling kettle with nothing but silence around them. And a man’s smile that had softened a girl’s heart just a little more than she was ready for, so that she forgot to be careful and just enjoyed him for a moment.

  Well, that kind of enjoying had to stop, didn’t it?

  ‘I’ll make the tea, then.’ Jess swung about to get cups down from the cupboard.

  ‘I’ll get the milk from the fridge.’ He gestured, as though maybe they’d both forgotten where the appliance stood in splendour in the corner of the room beside the dishwasher.

  They put together their teas and carried them into the living room. Dan sat in a recliner.

  Jess sat on the couch. She had a view of Dan in half profile. How could he look so gorgeous from every conceivable direction?

  It must be the distinguishing effect of his age, Jess. You know—the age that means he’s a whole generation older than you are and therefore completely unsuitable to be interested in. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that you are working for him.

  And then there was Luke’s attitude. Jess could imagine how well something between his father and the new carer would go down with Dan’s eldest son.

  Maybe the boy still missed his mother and couldn’t deal with the thought of Dan finding someone else.

  Jess’s heart softened at that, for how could she blame Luke for his grief?

  ‘Mary’s quiet. I’m working to draw her out more. Rob likes to talk but I told him I have big ears, I can fit it all in.’

  ‘You don’t.’ Dan uttered the words and dropped his gaze to his tea. ‘Have big ears.’

  ‘Well, no.’ Jess cleared her throat as Dan lifted his cup to his mouth. She didn’t bring up Luke. Jess would rather try to win the boy over, give it some time and see how things went. Instead, she broached the other potentially awkward topic. ‘Daisy asked about how babies are made.’

  Dan’s cup shifted in a slight, involuntary movement before he carefully put it down. ‘I see. Perhaps you’d better tell me.’

  ‘Well, she’s an inquisitive girl. It goes with her kind of intelligence, I think?’ No need to blush over something that was as simple as pelicans versus storks. ‘It’s just, if you haven’t already given her that talk, I think it might be a good idea if you did it quite soon. I know she’s only ten, but schools are fairly forward about those issues these days, and Daisy’s very curious. Today it was why other children believe in the stork and cabbages. A week later it could be asking for an explanation about stem cell research or something equally tricky. I have a suspicion she might already know the, well, at least some of the mechanics about all that, so, you know—’ Jess waved a hand ‘—maybe a father’s perspective to help keep her comfortable as a child her age should be about the whole topic?’

  Dan
gave Jess one brief, trapped look. ‘I can’t ask you—’

  To tell his daughter about it in a way that should come from a loving parent that Daisy trusted? Jess didn’t want to even think about the topic while she was in the room with Dan and her heart was doing silly things in her chest.

  But for Daisy…

  ‘I could.’ She bit her lip and rushed on. ‘Talk to her, I mean.’ The man was quivering in his boots at the thought of talking birds and bees with his daughter, not thinking about trying to investigate birds and bees with Jess.

  Shut up, Jess. No, talk up. About Daisy. ‘I could talk to her, but I really think this is something that needs to come from her dad.’ She sought Dan’s gaze and quickly looked away again. ‘I think she might feel awkward talking with me about it.’

  Jess drew a breath. ‘Maybe once you’ve talked to her, you could get her a few books to read that explore related topics. Growing or waning numbers of children per family in various countries might be one area that could interest her. All sorts of things tie in with that. Politics, economics, religion.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Dan finally caught her gaze and held it. ‘Aside from my daughter throwing you in the deep end, was everything else okay?’

  ‘I think we all had a reasonable day, really.’ Jess delved into another couple of issues with Dan, asked if he’d mind if she took them all into town tomorrow. It wasn’t that far to walk and if they left early…

  ‘That’d be fine provided you’re comfortable the traffic won’t be an issue if you’re all on foot?’

  He’d lived in a city.

  Jess had, too, before she moved here. ‘There’s a pedestrian walk all the way from here into town. We’ll stay on it, but traffic is always quite light anyway.’

  He nodded. ‘I’ll be leaving for Sydney again early, but I’ll have the weekend at home. Thank you, Jess, for taking this on to help me.’

  Dan wasn’t comfortable with needing her help, and his care for his children shone through in every word he spoke. Jess…well, she found that attractive about him. Probably not surprising when she’d been hurt by a man who had not only wanted nothing to do with recognising his baby, but had insisted on writing an agreement to silence Jess on the topic for ever.