The Rancher's Nanny

by Sam Crescent

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2018 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-604-0

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THE RANCHER’S NANNY

  The Nannies, 2

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2018

  Chapter One

  “I don’t need anyone taking care of me.” Little Paige Pole folded her arms and glared up at her father.

  Caleb smiled and moved behind her on the tire swing, and began to push her back and forth. He loved his little girl, but at his mother’s urging he’d decided to reach out to someone to help him. The ranch was stronger than ever, requiring work every single day. He hired over fifty people now, and still had a great deal of work to do himself. He preferred to be more hands-on with his ranch than allow anyone else to do any work that he could do.

  “They’re going to be helping you. Taking you to school, picking you up, being there when I can’t be. Also helping you with homework.”

  She blew a raspberry. “What’s wrong with Granny taking care of me?”

  “She’s getting a lot older, and the journeys into town are no longer appealing to her.”

  Paige sighed. “I don’t want to be cared for. It’s a load of crap.”

  “Watch your language, young lady.”

  “I don’t want to be a lady,” she said, jumping off the swing, dumping her ass down on the ground and folding her arms. “I want to be a rancher.”

  Ever since her mother left, it had been just him and his little girl. He should have known Ivory would never settle down. She’d stayed a couple of years on the ranch, and the moment an opportunity had been open to her, he’d found Paige alone in her crib, the house empty, and a single letter along with divorce papers waiting for him.

  He and Ivory had never been close, just a quick fling every once in a while, which had resulted in her getting pregnant. Neither of them had wanted to be in a relationship.

  “You’ll be a rancher, honey. Nothing is ever going to stop you from being one. I promise. On weekends after homework and all of the chores are done, you’ll be out there with me, keeping the men in line.”

  His daughter pushed her black hair off her face and smiled up at him. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  All of his ranchers adored Paige, and she threw herself into his arms. “I don’t want anything to change, Daddy.”

  “Nothing is going to change. You’ll see.”

  Taking her hand, he walked with her the short trek back to his home. The hands had already left for the day. His stomach was empty, and he was tired. So fucking tired. At forty years old, he’d expected to be somewhere in his life.

  The truth was, he’d expected to have a family like his brother, who also owned part of the ranch. Mike had four kids, and his wife was always so busy taking care of them that he didn’t want to force Paige on her, even though he knew deep down the other woman wouldn’t mind. Mike’s wife was a kind, loving woman.

  He’d never been envious of his younger brother before in his life. He didn’t know the real meaning of the word. Every time he saw his brother’s family, though, he felt something. A yearning, a need, something that always twisted a knife in his gut, and he wished he had what Mike had.

  The women he’d met didn’t want to be a rancher’s wife. They hated getting up early, or cooking a big feast for the crew, or even staying on the ranch and helping out. None of the women he’d met wanted that.

  Sure, they liked the large, open spaces, but that was pretty much it. After a few months, they always got bored. He’d hoped in the two years Paige’s mother would have settled down.

  To him, Ivory had been an easy lay. He didn’t need to worry about a big show of dinner, wine, and jewels. She’d been more than happy to screw him. Then of course he got her knocked up with Paige, and the rest had been history.

  Now Ivory was gone, and his mother had convinced him to find a nanny. There happened to be one in town whom he’d organized an interview with tomorrow morning. He didn’t know much about the twenty-nine-year-old woman.

  He’d seen her a couple of times around town, but nothing really stuck out other than her glossy red hair.

  Entering his home, he welcomed the scent of chili. It was his mother’s favorite, and one of the only dishes she really knew how to cook, but they all loved it.

  Paige ran to the kitchen, and when he entered, she was already washing her hands.

  “Go take those boots off now,” his mother said.

  “Hey, Mom.” He kissed her cheek, washing his hands and kicking his boots off at the back door.

  “How was work today?”

  “Long, hard, painful.” He gave a little stretch, feeling the years of hard work as he cracked every bone while stretching.

  “You work yourself too hard.”

  “I like being hands-on.”

  “No, you chose to be hands-on.”

  “I like being able to see what is going on, Mom. You know that. Besides, Dad would never have let anyone do a job without him seeing it over.”

  “Yeah, and your father was a control freak. This is your and your brother’s ranch now. It’s your choice what you do.” She rubbed his arms and then began serving them all up some chili. Paige ran into the room and got scolded.

  His mom always had her rules, and running in the kitchen was not acceptable. Paige apologized before taking a seat. “Sorry, Granny.”

  “You should be, dear. We can’t have you hurt.” She touched Paige’s face. “This face is that of an angel, dear. The kitchen is a dangerous place.”

  “I know, I know. I can burn it, and then I’ll be crying. I get it. I’ll stop running.”

  His mother sighed. He’d always given Paige freedom to say and do what she wanted, but the ranch was not a place to have a young girl running around.

  The best times of his life had been exploring the ranch. He never allowed Paige to go off by herself, and there was always someone with her.

  Like his mother had said many times now, Paige needed to have some structure. Her education was important, and she’d missed days of school because his mother’s arthritis played up, and he’d been too busy to drive her.

  He didn’t say anything as they all sat down to eat.

  “When does she arrive tomorrow?” his mother asked when Paige left to go take a quick shower.

  “Eight in the morning. We’ll see if she’s a morning person, if she’s early or late.”

  “What do you have against a nanny?” his mother asked.

  “We didn’t have one growing up.”

  “You had me, honey. Ivory’s not here, and you need help. I know it’s hard for you to accept that.”

  “It’s not hard. I can take care of my own daughter.”

  “Then why is her attendance so low? Why don’t you get Mike to pick her up and hang out with his kids?” she asked, sitting back, arms folded.

  “You know I don’t like to impose,” he said.

  His mother sighed. “This woman comes highly recommended. She’s got qualifications in teaching, and in taking care of kids.”

  “No one needs a qualification to do that.”

  “You do nowadays for the mo
st part. This place could use a woman’s touch, and I’m warning you, Caleb, be nice.”

  “Have you met this woman before?” he asked.

  His mother looked away. “A couple of times in town.”

  “This is not your idea of matchmaking, is it?”

  “Maddie is a lovely woman. She’s just been hit with a hard time, is all.”

  “Really?” he asked. Running a hand down his face, he sighed. “I don’t have time for this.”

  “Her fiancé left her at the altar for her sister,” his mother said, stopping him from leaving. “This happened a year ago, and the entire town was present to witness it. She was at the church, dressed in white, looked absolutely beautiful. He called her a fat bitch, along with a lot of other names, and left.”

  He remembered the gossip he’d heard about it. His mother had been so upset about the whole ordeal. He’d not been able to attend the wedding even though he got an invitation. He remembered it purely for the fact they got invited. No one ever took the time to drive out to the Pole ranch and ask them to attend. His mother had spoken of Maddie, or Madeline, Lennox often after that.

  “Didn’t she leave town?” he asked.

  “No. She went and worked for the Hoopers for the past year.” The Hoopers were one of the town’s wealthiest families. “Just give her a chance. I’m going to stay over so she’s got a friendly face when she gets here.”

  His mother left him alone. Getting up, he did the dishes. At the time when he heard what happened, he’d felt a little sad for the young woman. He couldn’t put a face to the woman his mother often talked about, or even the gossip the ranchers liked to mention.

  Oh, well, everything would become clear tomorrow.

  ****

  Maddie was a morning person. Tapping her fingers on the wheel of her car, she stayed outside of the ranch, which she’d parked in front of ten minutes ago. It was only seven in the morning, and she knew her appointment was for eight. She took a sip of her coffee as she watched ranch hands begin to arrive, parking up in the large expanse of field near the house.

  She knew Pole’s Ranch employed a great deal of people, and had undergone a lot of radical changes over the years. It was one of the best places for rearing cattle, or so she’d heard. She didn’t really know all that much about the ranch. She knew Mrs. Pole and that the man here had a daughter.

  Gossip was not something she liked to follow. She’d never liked it. After always being the butt of a joke, or someone’s idea of a cruel joke in school, she’d hated gossip from a young age. Then of course Chad decided to dump her ass and pick her sister, Emily. What made it worse, she didn’t care.

  When she first started dating him, she had hoped for marriage, a family, and stuff that she always wanted, only … she didn’t want them with him, necessarily. She may not always like the man she was going to marry, but no one liked their husband all that often, right? That was the kind of thing fairy tales and romance movies were for. She didn’t live in movies or books. She lived in the real world, and in the real world, it sucked.

  She now called bullshit on all that romance crap. She didn’t need it, nor did she want it.

  “You know you can go right on in.”

  Maddie jumped at the voice. Glancing up from her open window, she saw Ryan, a guy she’d gone to school with, smiling down at her. “I will. My appointment is not for another fifty-five minutes.”

  He chuckled. “Caleb won’t mind. He doesn’t like people to be late, and besides, Granny’s there as well.”

  That’s who had asked her to come for the interview with her son. Mrs. Pole had asked her to call her “Granny”. She wasn’t sure about that, but she’d been doing it for years, and everyone had called her that from the moment Mike Pole had the first child.

  “Thank you.”

  “No problems, Maddie. Good luck.”

  She sighed. One of the things she hated more than anything was when people told her good luck. It was like a completely bad omen to her.

  Her father had even said good luck to her on the wedding day. Look how that turned out. She’d been mortified by what Chad had done. Once in the privacy of her own home however, she’d been pissed. Gathering all of his shitty things, she’d dumped them into an incinerator in the back yard and lit it.

  Of course, she no longer had that house. Once Chad was gone, and had completely ruined her reputation, she took the full-time job with the Hoopers. Being a live-in position, she’d sold her place. Now she was renting on a month-by-month basis.

  Parking the car, she glanced up at the large, beautiful ranch house. It was like something on a cover of a romance novel. Certainly the setting for a good old-fashioned romance. She loved romance even if she no longer believed in it.

  Climbing out of the car, she paused. Should she go around the back or the front? Feeling silly, she made her way to the front entrance and knocked. Glancing down at her watch, she saw it was really early. She pushed some of her hair off her face and blew out a breath. The ranch really was beautiful. She couldn’t resist looking around at the views. The space, the peace, the tranquility. Her romantic brain was also thinking about a family. This would be the best place in the world to raise a family.

  She sighed, and the thought was cut off by the door opening.

  Maddie turned, and was struck by the large, handsome man in the doorway. His arms were huge, like movie star huge.

  No, like “he works on the ranch” huge.

  Words failed her. Short, black hair, amazing blue eyes. The man before her was sexy as sin. No one had ever gotten a response out of her like that, and now she was freaking out.

  Neither of them spoke, and suddenly she became aware of just how unprofessional she was being.

  “Hi, I’m Madeline Lennox. I’m here to see Mrs. Pole or Caleb Pole.” She hoped she didn’t sound too nervous.

  Great way to make a first impression.

  “I’m Caleb.” He held out his hand, and on instinct, she took his, shaking his hand. “You’re the nanny?”

  “Yes, that’s my job title.”

  “Invite the girl in,” Granny said, pushing her son aside. Before Maddie knew what was happening, she’d been pulled inside and Granny had kissed both of her cheeks. “I’m so pleased you’re here.”

  “Sorry it’s early. Ryan saw me outside, and said you didn’t like lateness.”

  “It’s fine,” Caleb said.

  She glanced toward the large man again, and couldn’t believe this was Granny’s son. The woman was a lot smaller than her boy.

  “Let’s go to the kitchen.” She followed Granny, and couldn’t believe the beauty of the house. Everything was pristine and clean, but the place had a real homey feel. After working for the Hoopers, she was ready for a real home.

  Caleb pulled out her chair and she thanked him, sitting down as he eased it beneath the table at the same time.

  A gentleman.

  Get your head out of the romance gutter.

  This is a job interview.

  “Paige is just out feeding the chickens.”

  “You have chickens?” She nearly got up and ran to the window to look, but she forced herself to stay seated.

  “It’s a ranch. How else do you think we get our eggs?” Caleb asked, taking a seat opposite her.

  Damn it, that man was … he was her boss. Or at least her potential boss, which meant no sexy thoughts.

  She could dream though.

  He seemed … miserable.

  “You’re up early,” he said.

  “I’m not much of a night person. I sleep because I have to. I’ve always been like that since I was a kid. Up early and late to bed.” When she had difficult kids to look after, she valued her parents’ patience with her when she couldn’t sleep. Granny placed a coffee in front of her, and she thanked her. “You have a beautiful home.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  She reached into her bag for something to do, and pulled out her references. “There are contact details the
re of all my previous employers. There is also one for a family who lives in France. I spent three years with them while they traveled around the world.”

  “You came home?” he asked.

  “Of course. It was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss, but this is home to me, so like always, I came back.” If there had been more opportunities to nanny in town, she’d have never left.

  A lot of locals just thought she was trying to be a glorified babysitter. In a way she was, but she saw herself as more of a helping hand and a guidance while parents were busy. She never liked to interfere, and was always there for everyone she took care of.

  When she glanced back at Caleb, she saw he was looking down at her clothes. She wore a pair of faded jeans and one of her father’s old checked shirts, which never failed to offer her comfort.

  Dressing up in fancy dresses and clothes didn’t exactly work with kids. Unless some of the families demanded she do, she always stuck to hands-on clothing.

  “Paige is seven, like I told you, and she has to be taken to school five days a week, and brought home. My son could also use a woman’s touch around the house,” Granny said. “I remember you saying that you didn’t mind cooking and cleaning.”

  “Yes, children can get hungry at all sorts of hours, and the families I was with often had a chef. I know how to cook.” She’d taken the time to learn some things.

  Maddie hated drama. She hated violence and nastiness, so she’d always make the extra effort to befriend everyone. Life was hard, but she didn’t have to make it complicated.

  Caleb fired questions at her, which she answered. She didn’t think he liked her very much, and from the scowl on Granny’s face, she wasn’t too happy with her son.

  Maddie resigned herself to maybe not getting the job, which was a shame, as she absolutely loved the place.

  Chapter Two

  There had to be a catch. Caleb wasn’t convinced that Maddie could hack it here full-time. He’d caught sight of her in the window. Her back had been to him, and she’d been looking out across the fields. When he opened the door, and she’d turned to him, he’d caught sight of the happiness in her gaze.