Mommy for Hire

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  “I’m glad you realize that.” Alexis’s eyes softened. “Because I think you and Savannah deserve a whole lot better than that, too.”

  Grady nodded in agreement. “In any case, I promised Holly Anne if I decided to go that route again, I would use ForeverLove.com. And to make up for the way I’ve monopolized your time, and distracted you to the point you missed a client meeting this morning, that I would give a testimonial the company could use in their advertising.”

  “That must have pleased her!”

  To put it mildly. “I did my best to turn a negative into a positive for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Grady walked over to see what he could do with the AC—it was hotter than blazes in here! “So when will you find out if you get the Galveston job or not?” he asked, over his shoulder.

  “Thursday.” She followed.

  “The day of Savannah’s graduation.” He studied the controls. Nothing seemed amiss.

  “Speaking of the little darling, where is Savannah?”

  Grady smiled fondly. “With a sitter. I tucked her in before I left. She was so tired, she was asleep before the lights were out.”

  “Poor kid.”

  He noted the perspiration dampening Alexis’s clothes—and his. “What’s wrong with your air conditioner?”

  “It doesn’t seem to be working. I called building maintenance, but I doubt I’ll hear back from them until morning.”

  “Well, you can’t stay here. People die in this kind of heat. It must be a hundred degrees in here.”

  Alexis lifted the hair off the back of her neck. “I was just thinking about going to a hotel.”

  Grady had already cost Alexis enough. This was one expense he could easily alleviate. And since he already knew she wouldn’t let him pay…

  He took her by the hand, anxious to get her someplace cool and comfortable. “You’re coming home with me.”

  ALEXIS WOKE TO THE JOYFUL sound of Savannah’s voice. “Daddy! Daddy! Alexis is here! She sleeped in one of our beds!”

  Footsteps sounded outside the guest room door. “Slept,” Grady corrected. “And shhh! We don’t want to wake her.”

  “I’m up.” Alexis opened her eyes.

  Savannah dragged Grady all the way into the room. “Hi, Alexis!” She dropped his hand and climbed up on the bed. “What are you doing here?”

  Alexis stifled a yawn and struggled to sit up. Unlike her own place, Grady’s house was blissfully cool and comfortable. “The air conditioner in my apartment is broken, so your daddy invited me to sleep here last night.”

  Savannah cocked her head. “Your hair is pretty when it’s all messy like that.”

  Grady seemed to think so, too. “I’ll get you some coffee,” he said with a grin.

  Savannah sat cross-legged on the bed. “Grandma Josie is sending me a new dress for the tea party at Lisa Marie’s house tomorrow.”

  Grady came back in with a mug, the coffee fixed just the way she liked it, with milk and a little sugar. “We talked to Mom on the phone last night.” He sat on the edge of the mattress and briefly outlined the crisis that had ensued. “My mother was a Dallas debutante years ago. She has a few friends who are still in that social scene. And one of them knows an up-and-coming children’s clothing designer who’s going to messenger something Laura Ashley-ish over, whatever that means.”

  “It’s going to be pretty and pink!” Savannah clapped her hands. “So now I get to wear a pink dress tomorrow when I go to the tea party and the yellow dress on Thursday when I graduate!” She held up a pair of fingers. “That’s two days and two dresses!”

  Alexis patted Savannah’s messy curls. “Yes, it is.”

  The child’s eyes lit up. “Can you sleep here every night?”

  Alexis ignored Grady’s assessing gaze as she took a sip, then set her coffee mug on the bedside table. “Um…no. Thank you for asking, though. But I’m going to have to go home when they get my air conditioner fixed.”

  “Is it going to be fixed today?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “She can stay with us until it is,” Grady interjected.

  “Can she go to the tea party with us tonight?” Savannah asked, slipping beneath the covers and snuggling close to Alexis. “At the hotel?”

  Alexis looked at Grady. “Apparently, everyone is practicing tea party etiquette,” he explained. “So we’re having tea at the Adolphus Hotel this afternoon at five-thirty. Savannah and I would like it very much if you would join us.”

  That sounded like fun. “I would love to come,” she said.

  Savannah leaped up, gave Alexis a big hug and then raced off.

  “Is it like this every morning?” Alexis asked.

  Grady nodded. “Afraid so.” He winked. “Better get used to it.”

  She wanted nothing more than to do just that.

  TEA IN THE Lobby Living Room at the Adolphus Hotel in Fort Worth was lovely. Grady had on a jacket and tie, Alexis wore a summer business suit and Savannah looked adorable in a smocked mint-green cotton dress with short sleeves and a round, embroidered collar.

  The waiters were very attentive, bringing back plate after plate of delicate sandwiches and cakes, and even serving Savannah cups of milk flavored with a bit of mild, decaffeinated tea and cubes of sugar. It was all so grown-up and ‘fancy’ that the little girl was beside herself.

  Watching her partake of the repast, Grady couldn’t stop smiling. Nor could Alexis.

  Finally, they’d eaten their fill, and were waiting for the check. Relaxing in his chair, Grady told his daughter, “Now you know what to expect tomorrow when I take you to the tea party at the Petersons.”

  Savannah had been lounging in the curve of her daddy’s arm. She sat bolt upright, utterly horrified. “Daddy, you can’t go! Only mommies and little girls can go to that!”

  Grady patted her on the arm. “Pumpkin, it’s going to be okay. I’ve already RSVP’d Lisa Marie’s mommy that I would be taking you, and she was perfectly fine with it.”

  Savannah wasn’t. “But I don’t want you to go, Daddy! I want Alexis!”

  “SORRY TO PUT YOU on the spot like that,” Grady told Alexis several hours later, when Savannah was in bed.

  Alexis couldn’t say she wanted to spend time at the Peterson home, but when it came to protecting Savannah from further hurt and humiliation it was a no-brainer. “I’m happy to fill in for you. Especially if it will make the event less awkward for her.”

  Grady took a load of clothes out of the dryer. “I’m tempted to have her skip the party entirely, but with everyone else in her class going…”

  They both knew how long Savannah had been anticipating this end-of-year event. “I’ll keep an eye out for her,” Alexis promised, lending a hand by folding towels.

  She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for or to lament the ongoing problem with her apartment air conditioning. Because the unit needed to be replaced with a new one, her place wouldn’t be livable again until Friday. It seemed, with the current heat wave broiling the Fort Worth area, a lot of people were having trouble with their systems. Grady’s, however, was working just fine. The heat she felt welling up inside her had everything to do with his nearness, and nothing to do with the room’s temperature. “So…” she swallowed, trying not to think how much she would like to throw caution to the wind and make love with him again. “How is the search for a new school going?”

  Grady went back to transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer. “I’m putting her in our neighborhood public elementary school. I spoke to the principal earlier today. It’s not going to be year-round, but there’s an after-school program run by the local YWCA. It includes tutoring if they need it, as well as a time for the kids to do their homework, so that’s all good.”

  He won’t need someone like me in his life.

  Alexis followed Grady out into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a box of pizza leftover from the evening before. The restaurant tea that had
filled her and Savannah up hadn’t put a dent in his hunger. Alexis shook her head, declining his offer for a wedge of pizza. “When does school start?”

  Grady put two slices on a baking sheet and slid them into the oven to warm. “Last week of August.” He paused to set the temperature, then went back to the fridge and got a bottle of water. “Which means she’s going to have seven weeks off. And that could be a problem, as my investigation of summer day camps shows a lot of them started when the public schools let out in May, and are already full.”

  “Do you want me to help you with that?” The words were out before Alexis could prevent them. He was no longer her client. She was no longer billing him by the hour. But she couldn’t seem to extricate herself emotionally from their problems.

  Grady shook his head. “I’ve got it covered,” he said.

  A phone call from work, and some sort of emergency on the development project he was helming, occupied Grady for the rest of the evening, and was still commandeering his time and attention the next morning. So Alexis took Savannah to school, with a promise to meet her at the house in time to help her get dressed and take her to the tea party.

  “Okay!” the little girl said happily, as Alexis came around to help her with her car door. “Bye, Alexis!” She awkwardly unbuckled her seat belt. Backpack banging against her leg, she tumbled out of the rear passenger seat and gave her a big hug. “See you later!” She skipped off.

  Thinking maybe she had been overreacting where Savannah’s previous anxiety was concerned, Alexis waved goodbye, then got back in the car and drove on to work. Maybe this tea party wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

  Wishful thinking, as it turned out. Savannah was tense and upset again when Alexis arrived to help her get ready. She looked adorable in the stylish new pink dress her grandmother had sent her. But shoes were turning out to be a problem. Savannah didn’t like her white patent leather Mary Janes.

  Grady vetoed flip-flops. “I may not know much, but I know those aren’t appropriate.”

  Savannah scowled.

  “Try again,” he said.

  She flounced off.

  “I haven’t seen her that temperamental in a couple weeks,” Alexis commented.

  “I know,” Grady murmured, turning to her with concern. “I think it’s the stress of the party. She’s usually a lot better when you’re around, though.”

  Savannah tromped back along the hall and down the stairs. She had on one red Velcro-fastened sneaker and a hot-pink rain boot. Both were for the left foot. “How’s this?” she asked, in full diva mode.

  Grady returned her look, his expression droll. “How do you think?”

  Savannah tried to keep up the attitude, but the mixture of humor and indulgence in her daddy’s eyes soon had her collapsing in giggles. Grady caught her up in his arms and hoisted her until the two were at eye level. “You know,” he told his daughter, suddenly serious, “you don’t have to go to this party if you don’t want to.”

  She wriggled out of his arms.

  “No.” She threw herself at Alexis and held on tight. “I want to go. And I want Alexis to take me.”

  And that, Alexis thought, as she helped Grady find appropriate footwear for his daughter, was that.

  FORTUNATELY, the mother-daughter tea party was in full swing by the time Alexis and Savannah arrived at the Peterson home. The unseasonably hot weather had forced the party to be held inside, instead of in the garden. White folding chairs and pastel linen covered tables for seventy dominated the formal living and dining rooms and foyer of the elegant home. Seats were indicated by place cards. A white-jacketed catering staff moved among the tables, setting up tea service and treating the little girls and their mommies to delicate pastries and sandwiches.

  Savannah was right to bring her instead of Grady, Alexis thought, as the two of them found their way to their seats—at what was clearly the least desirable table, in a far corner. Already there were two other little girls from Savannah’s class. Both were happy to see her. Alexis had a nice time chatting with their mothers.

  Lisa Marie and the two girls who had gone out of their way to humiliate Savannah the previous week were seated at the table of honor. To Alexis’s relief, they were too busy lording over their party to give Savannah any trouble.

  Near the end of the event, some of the children dashed upstairs to hang out in Lisa Marie’s room. Savannah stayed where she was with her friends.

  And that was when one of the other mothers appeared at their table, introduced herself as Nancy Waterman, and asked to speak to Alexis privately for a moment.

  Because it was convenient, they stepped out onto the screened back porch. “I’m in charge of the fittings for the school uniforms. The deadline for getting the measurements for the new first graders was yesterday at five o’clock. I’ve been trying to get ahold of Grady since last week. I’ve left messages for him everywhere, and he hasn’t returned any of my calls. I thought, since you brought Savannah today, that you might know what’s going on.”

  Before Alexis could respond, Kit Peterson popped out to join them. “Nancy…Alexis, something I should know about?” she asked brightly.

  Nancy looked at Alexis, still waiting.

  “Grady didn’t mention anything about next year’s uniforms to me,” she said, quite truthfully. “But I can certainly mention it to him when I take Savannah home.”

  “Would you?” Nancy sighed. “This order has got to go in by Friday, and with graduation tomorrow—and the Fourth of July holiday after that—I am worried it won’t get done.”

  “I’ll talk to him. I promise,” Alexis said.

  “Thank you.” Nancy started to go back inside.

  Alexis moved to follow.

  Kit stepped slightly to the left, barring her path. “We’ll be there in a minute,” she told Nancy with a smile. “I need to speak to Alexis, too.”

  The woman nodded and shut the door behind her.

  “Just what is your interest in Grady McCabe?” Kit demanded.

  Alexis blinked, stunned by the venom in her tone. “Excuse me?”

  “You were supposed to be Grady’s matchmaker, but would you ever call me back and let me help you with that? No. So I sent my very good friend—Zoe Borden—who is perfect for him, by the way—to ForeverLove.com so you could set them up.” Kit’s eyes flashed. “Instead, you talk her out of pursuing him! I talk her right back into it, only to find out Grady is no longer looking! And you’re now cozily ensconced with him and his daughter!”

  “Look.” Alexis held on to her temper with effort. “I don’t know what you’ve heard—”

  “Savannah told everyone at school today you’re sleeping over.”

  “In the guest room!” Alexis corrected, embarrassed.

  Kit crossed her arms. “Mmm-hmm.”

  Alexis ignored the judgment in her tone. “My air-conditioning unit is broken. There’s a heat wave going on, in case you didn’t notice.”

  Kit leaned closer. “Yes, well, it’s about to get a whole lot hotter if you think you’re going to lay claim to that man, when there are any number of fine, socially suitable women who have been waiting for him to become available again.”

  When had this become a competition? Never mind one for Grady’s heart? “I assure you,” Alexis stated, “it was never my intention to jump line.” Never my intention to get emotionally involved with a client. Never my intention to fall in love….

  But she had fallen in love with Grady. Head over heels in love.

  “That’s good to know.” Kit shot daggers at her. “Because all you are to him—all you will ever be—is Grady McCabe’s rebound woman.” Her voice dropped to a vicious hiss. “And once he’s really ready to move on, you mark my words, honey. He’ll come to his senses. And he’ll pick someone in his own league.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Grady was waiting for them when they returned from the Petersons’ tea. He hoisted his daughter in his arms the moment they walked through the door. “So ho
w did it go?” he asked them, turning his McCabe blue eyes on Alexis. His probing gaze was full of something Alexis couldn’t quite put a name to, but mesmerized her nevertheless.

  Oblivious to the subtle sparks arcing between the two adults, Savannah snuggled closer, rested her cheek on his broad shoulder and yawned. “It was kind of boring, Daddy. We just sat at tables and ate stuff, and they didn’t even have tea for the kids, like at the hotel, only lemonade with some stuff in it.”

  “Peach slices and maraschino cherries,” Alexis interjected, in response to his baffled look.

  Savannah yawned again. “I liked the tea party you and me and Alexis went to better.”

  “Well, I’m glad you were able to go to both,” Grady said, with a perfectly solemn face, planting a kiss on his daughter’s head. He cuddled her even closer. “Did you thank Mrs. Peterson and Lisa Marie for having you at their party?”

  Savannah’s expression indicated that was a silly question. “Of course, Daddy.” She rubbed her eyes.

  “What do you say we take you upstairs and get you in your pajamas and tucked in bed?” Grady smiled down at her tenderly. “You’ve got a big day tomorrow. You’re graduating from kindergarten.”

  “I want Alexis to come up, too. So she can read me a story and kiss me goodnight.” Savannah reached out to tug her closer.

  Happy to be included, Alexis winked. “No problem.”

  Savannah made it through only four pages of the Dr. Seuss book she’d picked out before falling fast asleep. Her heart swelling with love, Alexis tucked the covers around her and kissed her gently, as did Grady. They both tiptoed out of the room and went back downstairs.

  “So how was the party—really?” he asked as the two of them settled on the living room sofa.