“More like a means to keep my sanity. When I’m troubled, I go outside and tinker in the yard. My wife got me hooked on it. She started this, and I’m just keeping it going. How about you?”
“Can’t stand to garden, but I love to look at a beautiful one. I’m a great spectator—not such a good participant.”
Ian turned toward her, not a foot away, and smiled.
“How about your children?” she asked. “Do they help outside?”
Watching Joshua finish with the last cushion, Ian pressed his lips together as though weighing what he said. “Joshua loves to, but his assistance isn’t quite what I need. Jasmine helps often. She takes after her mother, but Jade and Jeremy will do anything to get out of work—whether outside or inside.” He frowned. “In fact, if Jeremy joins the family at all it’s an accomplishment.”
“Will he be at dinner?”
“Yes, for as long as it takes for him to eat. I used to make him sit there until we were all ready to get up. Finally, I decided the hostile atmosphere he created wasn’t fair to the other children.”
“How was Jeremy with the other nannies?”
“He had as little to do with them as possible. The only one who seemed to get through to him was Aunt Louise. When she died, he took her death doubly hard.”
“He’s old enough to understand the losses he’s had,” Annie said over the stomping of Joshua’s feet as he came up the stairs. “Can I help you with dinner?”
“Nope. You aren’t officially on the clock until tomorrow.”
“What time do you want me to come to eat tonight?”
“Six-thirty, and I hope to have the food on the table shortly thereafter.” Dr. McGregor clasped his son’s shoulder to keep him from going into her apartment. “No guarantees, though. Joshua, we’re leaving. You have a room to clean.”
“Do I hafta? I told Annie I’m sorry.”
“Yes, but it has nothing to do with your room. It’s Sunday, and it’s supposed to be done before you go to bed.”
Joshua huffed and raced down the stairs, jumping to the ground from the third step.
“If he doesn’t give me a heart attack, I’ll be surprised,” Ian said with a chuckle.
But Annie had spied the tense set to his shoulders and the clamp of his jaw as his son had made the leap. “I imagine my parents felt the same way about some of my brothers.”
“But not you?”
“Well...probably so.” Some of Annie and Amanda’s antics could rival her siblings’. “But nothing like my younger brother.”
Ian grinned. “What is it about the youngest in the family?”
Annie smiled and shrugged, then watched Ian descend the steps. He moved with an ease and confidence.
Her new employer was easy to talk to. He was nothing like what she had expected. Tom had told her yesterday Dr. McGregor could work anywhere he wanted and make a ton of money. His reputation as a plastic surgeon was known throughout the United States. He chose to stay in Cimarron City, his wife’s hometown, and to donate part of his time to the free clinic. Annie couldn’t deny that the man intrigued her.
As she entered her apartment, she remembered an article she’d found on the internet when she’d applied for the nanny position. Recently, a world-renowned model had gone to Dr. McGregor to erase the effects of a car accident. Even with the scars from the wreck she’d been beautiful, but once the surgery had been performed and she’d recovered, there wasn’t a trace of what had happened to her.
Annie had an hour until dinner and decided to take a long, hot bath. As she stood in front of the counter in the bathroom, she pulled her turtleneck off. She usually didn’t look at herself in the mirror, but her gaze lit upon her reflection—zeroing in on her pink-and-white scars. She’d learned to accept them, but she recalled once when one of her nieces had glimpsed them, wide eyes glued on the scarred tissue, she’d clapped her hand over her mouth in shock. Annie wouldn’t forget that look—ever.
* * *
The door in the kitchen from the utility room opened, and Ian glanced at Annie entering the house. Dressed in jeans and a black turtleneck, she looked more relaxed since the scare with Joshua earlier. Her shoulder-length blond hair framed her face and emphasized her expressive dark brown eyes. She wasn’t classically beautiful, but she was cute and pert. And those eyes were so appealing and mesmerizing.
Suddenly he realized he was staring at her. He dropped his attention to the pot on the stove and stirred the sauce. “I hope you’re hungry. I think I went overboard.”
Annie inhaled and smiled. “It smells delicious. Italian?” She bridged the distance between them. “Spaghetti. I love it. From scratch?”
“Yes, that’s the only way. It’s one meal all of my kids will eat. That’s not the case with a lot of food. Their palate hasn’t expanded much beyond pizza, macaroni and cheese and hamburgers.”
“I saw some hope the last few years with the Hansen children.”
“Oh, good. I have something to look forward to. There are a lot of recipes I’d like to try, but I know they won’t go over with my kids.” Ian continued to stir the sauce.
“I have a niece who is five and loves snow crabs. She will crack the shells and eat them until you think there couldn’t possibly be any more room in her stomach. I’m usually right there with her, but the last time she kept going when I couldn’t eat another bite.”
Ian laughed. Annie was easy to talk to, nothing like the other nannies. Earlier, when she’d caught Joshua, she’d been calm and efficient. He remembered when the second nanny had freaked out when Jeremy was cutting up an apple and sliced his finger. Thank goodness he’d been home to take care of the wound because the woman had frozen when she’d seen the blood then yelled for him. He imagined Annie would have handled it and had the bleeding stopped before he came into the kitchen.
Ian put the spaghetti noodles on to cook then glanced around to make sure everything else was ready.
Those beautiful eyes connected with his. “Can I help you? Set the table?”
“It’s already set in the dining room.” Ian swung back to the stove, stirring the sauce when he didn’t need to. He had to do something. Looking at her was distracting.
“Do you usually eat in the dining room?”
“No—” he waved toward the table that sat six in the alcove “—usually in here, but this is a special occasion. We’re welcoming you to our home. I want this evening to be a nice calm one. Now, if only my children cooperate, it might be.”
“The least I can do is help you carry the food to the table.”
Ian made sure he had eye contact with Annie then said, smiling, “What part of ‘you are our guest’ do you not understand? Guests are supposed to relax and enjoy themselves. Nothing more than that.”
A grin twitched at the corners of her mouth. “Aye, aye, sir. I’ve got that. It’s awfully quiet. Where are the children?”
Ian frowned. “Come to think of it, Jade was the last one in here. That was fifteen minutes ago. I haven’t heard a peep out of them since.” He walked to the intercom and pressed a button. “Time for dinner, everyone. Don’t forget to wash your hands.”
“I like that. Does it work?”
“Yes. Saves me yelling or going in search of them, if you meant the intercom. Otherwise, not always about washing their hands.”
A few minutes later, the first to appear in the kitchen was Jade quickly followed by Jasmine, exact replicas of each other down to the clothes they wore. “You two can help put the food on the table. Where’s Joshua? He was with you in the den doing his homework.”
Jasmine put her hand on her waist. “He was coloring. He doesn’t have any homework.”
“You and I know that, but since you, Jade and Jeremy do, he thinks he should. Did you leave him in there alone with the crayons?”
“No, he left to go to the bathroom.”
“How long ago?”
Jade looked at the ceiling and tapped her chin. “I guess a while ago.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help your girls get everything on the table.”
Ian paused at the doorway, started to tell her she didn’t have to and then decided instead that he’d give her an extra day of pay. He was afraid she would earn every bit of the money and more by the end of the evening. For starters, his daughters dressing alike didn’t bode well.
Ian went to the downstairs bathroom and checked for Joshua. It was too clean and neat for Joshua to have been there. He mounted the stairs two at a time. He knew Joshua was still in the house because he’d set the alarm to beep twice when someone opened an outside door. The last time it had gone off was when Annie had come in.
The children’s bathroom on the second floor was empty, so Ian made his way to the one connected to his bedroom. No Joshua. He returned to the hall and looked into his youngest son’s room. Empty.
Maybe he got outside somehow. Giggles wafted to him. He marched down the hallway to where Aunt Louise used to stay and turned the knob. More laughter pealed. Quickly Ian crossed to the bathroom and found Joshua in the big tub, washing himself.
Sitting in a foot of water, Joshua beamed up at him. “I’m washing my hands.”
“I see. Why did you come in here?”
“I miss Aunt Louise. Jeremy was asleep, so I came in here. Is Annie here?”
Joshua’s sometimes-disconnected thoughts could be hard to follow. “Yes, she is and hungry.” Ian held a towel open for his son. “Time to get out, get dressed and come downstairs.” At least this time Joshua had taken off his clothes before getting into the bath.
Joshua jumped up, splashing the water, and stepped out onto the tile floor. “Okie dokie.”
Ian waited at the doorway for his youngest to dress himself. When Joshua ran past him and toward the stairs, Ian made a detour to Jeremy’s room and knocked on the door. No answer. He decided to make sure Jeremy was there, so he pushed the door open and found his eldest curled on the bed, his eyes closed.
Ian sat next to Jeremy and shook his shoulder to wake him up.
His son’s arms lashed out at Ian. “Get away.” Blinking rapidly, Jeremy pushed away as if he was coming out of a nightmare and didn’t know where he was.
“What’s wrong? A bad dream?”
Jeremy looked around him, then lowered his head.
“Dinner is ready.” Ian spied Joshua in the doorway and waved him away.
His eldest son clenched the bedcovers. When he didn’t say anything, Ian rose, not sure what was going on. “I expect you downstairs to meet the...Annie.”
Jeremy flung himself across the bed and hurried out of the room—leaving Ian even more perplexed by his behavior. Not sure his son would even go to the dining room, Ian hastened after him.
Chapter Three
Annie took the seat at the end where the twins indicated she should sit. All the food was on the formal dining room table, and Jade and Jasmine sat on one side, constantly looking over their shoulders toward the foyer or staring at Annie.
She checked her watch. “Maybe I should go see if your dad needs help.”
“Knowing Joshua, he’s probably hiding. He does that sometimes,” the girl closest to Annie said.
Jasmine? They were both wearing jeans and matching shirts and ponytails. According to Ian, they didn’t dress alike anymore. Obviously, tonight they had other plans.
The other sister grinned. “We should go ahead and eat.”
Annie shoved her chair back. “Wait until the others come. I think I’ll go see what’s keeping them.” Something didn’t feel right. She started for the hallway and found Joshua coming down the staircase, his lower lip sticking out. She hurried to him. “Is something wrong, Joshua?”
“Daddy is in Jeremy’s room. He made me go away.”
She escorted Joshua to his seat across from one of the twins. “Well, sometimes parents need private time with a child without any interruptions.”
“Jeremy was telling Daddy to leave. I saw his angry face.”
“Jeremy is in one of his moods,” one of the twins chimed in.
“Jade, I think—”
“I’m Jasmine.”
“Okay, Jasmine. I think we should go ahead and eat before the food gets cold.”
“But you said we should wait,” the real Jade said, her pout matching Joshua’s.
A sinus headache, common for her in the spring, hammered against Annie’s forehead behind her eyes. Remaining calm was the best way to deal with children. She took a moment to compose herself then bowed her head.
“What are ya doin’?” Joshua grabbed a roll from the basket near him.
Annie glanced at him. “Blessing the food.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing, Joshua. I pray over my meal before I eat.”
All evidence of a pout vanished, and he grinned. “I pray at night before bed.”
“We used to with Aunt Louise, but those other nannies didn’t,” Jasmine said, grabbing the bowl of spaghetti and scooping pasta onto her plate.
“We do when Daddy eats with us.” Jade folded her arms over her chest. “I’m waiting.”
“I’m not. I’m staaarving,” Joshua said.
While Jasmine joined him and piled sauce all over her spaghetti, Jade glared at her sister, then her little brother. When her two siblings started eating, she slapped her hand down on the table. “We should wait.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Annie spied Ian entering the dining room with a scowling Jeremy trailing slowly behind him.
“Good. You have started. Spaghetti is best when it’s hot.” Ian winked at Annie then took his chair at the head of the table. “Jeremy, this is Annie.”
“Hi, Jeremy,” Annie said.
“I don’t need a nanny. I’m gonna be ten at the end of next month.” Jeremy’s mouth firmed in a hard, thin line.
“Neither do we.” Jade mimicked her older brother’s expression. “We’re eight. Nannies are for babies.” She sent Joshua a narrow-eyed look as if he were the only reason Annie was there.
“I’m not a baby.” Joshua thumped his chest. “I’m four. I’m gonna be five soon.”
“How soon?” Annie asked him, hoping to change the subject.
Joshua peered at his father.
“Two weeks. The twenty-seventh.”
“You act like a baby. Look at what you did today. You could have died today.” Jade shoved back her chair, whirled around and ran from the room.
Annie’s first impulse was to go after the girl, but she didn’t know her yet. Jade must have been the one who’d screamed at the bottom of the steps earlier when Joshua was on the railing.
Instead, Ian stood. “Keep eating.” Then he left the room.
Wide-eyed, Joshua looked at Jeremy, then Jasmine and finally Annie. “I won’t die.”
The pounding in her head increased. “Jade was just worried about what you did today. Standing on the railing is dangerous.”
“Yeah, dork. You have a death wish.” Jeremy snatched a roll and began tearing it apart.
“Death wish?” Confusion clouded Joshua’s eyes. Tears filled them. “I don’t wanna die.”
“Then, stop doing dumb things.” Jeremy tossed a piece of bread at his younger brother.
Joshua threw his half-eaten roll at Jeremy. It plunked into the milk glass, and the white liquid splashed everywhere.
Grabbing for a roll in the basket, Jeremy twisted toward Joshua.
“Stop it right now.” Annie shot to her feet. “The dinner table is no place for a food fight. If you don’t want to eat peacefully, then go to your rooms.”
Jeremy glared. “I don’t need a nanny telling me what to do.”
Annie counted to ten, breathed deeply and replied, “Apparently you do, because civilized people don’t act li
ke this at the table. It’s your choice. Stay and eat politely or leave.” She returned his intense look with a serene one while inside she quaked. She might be fired after tonight.
Jeremy took the roll and stomped away from the dining room while Joshua hung his head and murmured, “Sorry.”
“Apology accepted.” Although her stomach was knotted, Annie picked up her fork and took a bite. “Delicious. Your dad is a good cook.” If only she hadn’t walked around the yard enjoying the beautiful flowers before coming inside, she wouldn’t be contending with a headache. In spring she limited her time outside because she had trouble with her allergies.
“One day I’m gonna be a good cook, too.” Jasmine continued eating.
“Jasmine, I can teach you a few things. I especially enjoy baking.”
“I’m Jade.” The girl lowered her gaze. “Sorry about that. We were just playing with you.”
“I understand. I have a twin sister.”
“You do? I have a girlfriend who has a twin brother. They don’t look alike, though.”
“They’re fraternal twins. You and Jasmine are identical, like I am with my sister, Amanda.”
“I’d like to meet your twin.” Jade—at least Annie hoped that was who she was—took a gulp of her milk.
Ian reentered the dining room with Jasmine. “I’d like to meet your twin, too.” He scanned the table. “Where’s Jeremy?”
“He chose not to eat.” Annie took another bite of her spaghetti as the knots in her stomach began to unravel.
Joshua huffed. “He threw food at me.”
Ian’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“He’s mean.”
Ian swung his attention to Annie, a question in his eyes.
“Jeremy chose to leave rather than calmly eat his dinner,” she answered while her head throbbed.
Ian nodded then said to the children, “Tell Annie about what you’re doing this week in school.”
* * *
Later, contrary to what Ian had asked, Annie finished putting the dishes into the dishwasher. She had to do something while she waited for Ian to return from upstairs.
The Nanny's New Family (Caring Canines) Page 3
