"More like four wild animals."
Danny chuckled at her comment. Jill smiled at the boy and the tightness at the base of Craig's neck eased a little. Maybe she wasn't going to leave.
"I'll get a service in," he said.
"I'll arrange it first thing Monday morning," she said, nudging a soccer ball out of her way so she could step farther into the room. "You don't want a nanny, Craig, you want a part-time slave. Anybody around here know what a vacuum looks like?"
"I do!" Danny said brightly. "But I've never used it."
"That seems to be a family trait."
Craig set the suitcase down. "I'm sorry, Jill. I should have noticed what had happened to this place. We haven't talked about salary yet and I—"
She held up her hand to stop him. "No. I can't be bribed. I agreed to do this for Kim and I will. For exactly what you were going to pay her. Just tell me one thing. Is it worse upstairs?"
"Sure is," C.J. said proudly and grinned. "Wanna see?"
"Not just yet."
Just then something moved on the sofa. Craig saw Ben stretching toward the remote control to change the channel. As always, the sight of his oldest brought on a wave of regret and frustration. He knew he was doing something wrong, but he didn't know what. He tried to encourage the boy to be more active. He practiced sports with him when he could. They'd talked about Ben needing to eat less. Nothing had helped. He could see his oldest was in a lot of pain, but he didn't know how to help.
"Ben, this is Jill Bradford."
Ben didn't bother turning his attention from the television. "I thought her name was Kim."
"I told you yesterday. Kim eloped. Jill is taking her place. Say hello."
"You're leaving us with someone you don't even know? A woman you've just met? Thanks, Dad."
The censure in the twelve-year-old's tone made Craig's hands tighten into fists, but he didn't move. He knew Ben was trying to get to him, but he wasn't going to let it happen. "Ms. Bradford isn't just some woman I found. I've interviewed her and checked on her. She's very—"
The sight of someone on the sofa had startled Jill enough that she was able to focus on something other than the disaster that had once been a very attractive family room. Craig's comment captured her attention. "You checked me out? Behind my back?"
"Yes." He frowned. "I don't know you. I can't trust my children with just anyone."
"I know but it's so yucky. Sneaking around behind my back."
"I did not sneak."
His brown eyes darkened with a combination of concern and temper. She understood both. She shouldn't have questioned him, at least not in front of the boys. C.J. and Danny were staring at her, while Ben hadn't taken his attention from the television. The house looked as if it had been overrun by a fraternity, and she was about to be put in charge of three children. She who had sworn she would never get involved with someone else's kids again. She was in over her head and sinking fast. Yet she couldn't walk away. From the look of things, she was needed. Aaron, her ex-husband, had needed a wife and surrogate mother. Any woman would have done. These boys needed a nanny and there was no one else around. She'd always been a sucker for being needed. Only this time she was going to be smart. She was going to keep from getting personally involved. She wasn't the boys' part-time mother, and she wasn't Craig's part-time wife. She was only the hired help. Assuming she survived the first week, when spring break arrived she would be out of here. It was just a job.
Craig glanced at his watch again. He was obviously late. In his well-fitting black uniform, he looked competent and dangerous. An interesting combination. Her body continued to react to this close encounter with a good-looking man. She ignored the sweaty palms and slightly elevated pulse. He would be gone soon. From the looks of the house, he was gone a lot.
"I'll be fine," she said, stepping farther into the room. "You go to work. The boys and I will handle the introductions."
"Are you sure? I hate to leave you but I was due at the station a half hour ago."
"We have lots to do," she said, and smiled brightly. C.J. grinned in return. Danny gave her a shy half smile. Ben ignored everything but the television.
"Okay, boys, be good for Jill. If there's a problem, the station's number is by the phone in the kitchen. See ya." He gave a quick wave and disappeared out the door to the garage.
It was one of those moments when the television went perfectly silent. The sound of the closing door was unnaturally loud in the suddenly still room. Two pairs of eyes focused on her. Jill found herself fighting the urge to run out and tell Craig she'd changed her mind. Instead she glanced around the room, sure it couldn't be as bad as her first impression.
Nope. It was worse. It would take two days to get it picked up enough for the cleaning service to find the dirt. Dear Lord, what had she gotten into?
She thought briefly of Kim's now-empty house and where she was going to go when her roommate returned from her honeymoon. The last couple of nights alone had given her too much time to brood. She was beginning to see that she was coasting through life without any direction. It was time to get moving again. Maybe this challenge was just the jump start she needed.
"Okay, boys," she said. "Let's have a meeting and get to know each other. I want to hear how you do things, and I want to tell you what I expect in return."
Danny and C.J. were standing in front of the entrance to the kitchen. It was up two steps from the family room. The boys moved toward her. Jill stared at the kitchen and thought she might faint.
There wasn't a square inch of free counter space. Dishes, open boxes of cereal, empty containers of milk, cookies and bags of chips were everywhere. Cupboards were open; most of the shelves were bare. She thought of C.J.'s claim that upstairs was worse. She didn't want to know.
"Where are we going to have our meeting?" Danny asked.
She looked down at him. His light brown eyes were bright with questions and welcome. His shy smile was hard to resist. She glanced around to find a relatively clean spot. Through the kitchen she saw a formal dining room. The table didn't look too overrun with schoolbooks and sports equipment.
"In there," she said, pointing. "Come on, Ben."
The boy ignored her.
She walked over to stand in front of the TV. She was blocking the screen, but he continued to stare as if he could see the program.
"Don't you want to talk?" she asked.
"No. You're not going to stay, so why should I bother?"
"Because it's polite. The world is a nicer place when everyone tries to get along."
"You read that on a bumper sticker?" he asked rudely, still not looking at her.
"Oh, a smart-mouth," she said. "Very nice. Very impressive. You think if you intimidate me, you get your way?"
He shrugged.
Ben had his father's dark hair. She suspected he had his eyes, too, but he wouldn't look at her so she couldn't tell. He was a good-looking kid, although about twenty pounds overweight.
From the corner of her eye, she saw C.J. and Danny watching. She hated being tested her first five minutes on the job and she hated it more that the other two brothers were here to witness the event. If she didn't get Ben's attention, the next five weeks were going to be miserable. She and Craig had given each other an out by agreeing to a one-week trial. If she really hated it here, she wouldn't mind leaving after that time, but she didn't want to be run off by a twelve-year-old with an attitude problem. She had her pride.
More than that, Ben reminded her of a growling but lonely dog. The animal desperately wants petting, but it's afraid to let anyone close enough. So instead, it scares the world away, then whimpers because it's alone.
Of course, she could be reading the situation completely wrong. After all, she'd had stepdaughters for nearly five years and had assumed they cared about her. She'd been proven wrong.
She spun around, then turned off the television. "Please come into the dining room, Ben."
She took a step away. Ben leaned
forward and pressed a button on the remote control. The television popped back on. Defiance this soon wasn't good. Jill drew in a deep breath, not sure what to do. She and Craig hadn't discussed discipline. Of course, there hadn't been time to discuss anything.
She thought about physically threatening Ben. There were two problems with that. First, it wasn't really her style. Second, she had a feeling he was taller than her. If only she knew what Craig did in situations like this. Then she looked around at the messy house and the three boys with emotionally hungry eyes. Maybe there wasn't a house rule. Maybe no one had the time or cared enough to lay down the law.
The problem with her trying to do it was that she didn't have a power base.
She could feel C.J. and Danny still watching her, waiting to see what she would do. This showdown with Ben was going to set the tone for her five weeks … or her one week, if she blew it.
Nothing like performing under pressure, she thought, staring at Ben and praying for inspiration. Like a gift from heaven, it arrived.
She smiled, then bent over and swept everything off the right half of the coffee table. Books, magazines, the television remote control, three glasses that were, fortunately, empty and plastic, and a half-eaten sandwich. Ben looked startled. Good. Better to keep him off-balance.
She knelt in front of the coffee table and placed her elbow on the slick wooden surface. She flexed and released her hand. "You ready to back up that smart mouth with some action?" she asked, trying to sound confident and tough. This was all going to blow up in her face if he beat her.
"What are you talking about?"
"You and me. Right here. Right now." She smiled. "Arm wrestling, Ben. If you win, you get to sit here and watch TV until you're old and gray and your bones are dissolving. If I win, you do what I say. Starting with turning off the TV and coming with your brothers for a meeting."
"Cool!" C.J. said. "You can beat him, Jill."
Ben glared at his brother. "This is stupid," he muttered.
But he wasn't looking at the television anymore, Jill thought triumphantly. She shrugged. "Maybe. If you're chicken."
"I'm not chicken."
Danny made a clucking noise.
"Shut up, brat."
"I'm not a brat."
"You're a shrimpy brat."
"Boys." Jill spoke firmly. Both of them looked at her. She stared at Ben. "Put up or shut up, young man. Either you're tough, or you're not. Let's find out."
Those dark eyes stared at her. She tried to figure out what he was thinking, but along with his father's good looks, Ben had inherited Craig's ability to keep some of his thoughts to himself.
"If I win, I get to watch TV and I get five bucks."
She thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "If I win, you not only do what I say, but you give up TV for the weekend."
Ben glanced at her right arm, then at her. "Deal." He slid off the sofa and onto the carpet. After placing his elbow on the coffee table, he clasped her hand with his. C.J. and Danny moved closer.
"Come on, Jill, you can do it," Danny said loudly. He ignored Ben's glare.
Jill hoped the boy's confidence in her was going to pay off. Since moving in with Kim, she'd started working out with light weights. She knew she was stronger than she had been, but was it enough? She knew very little about the strength of twelve-year-old boys. She could only hope that Ben's inactive life-style gave her an advantage.
Her gaze locked with Ben's. A flicker of uncertainty flashed through his eyes. She thought he might be a little afraid of winning. That would give him more power than most children would find comfortable. At least she liked to think so.
"C.J., you say go," she said, and shifted on the carpet. Ben would probably go for the quick kill. If she could hold on during that, she might have a chance. If she could win, she would make it look hard, so Ben could save face.
Ah, the complications of dealing with a houseful of men, she thought. She leaned forward so she could have the maximum leverage and sucked in a breath.
"Go!" C.J. yelled.
* * *
Chapter 3
« ^ »
Jill thought she'd prepared herself for the assault, but when it came, Ben nearly drove her hand into the table. She managed to keep him from slamming it down, but barely. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.
She didn't look at him or either of the other boys. She focused all her attention on her arm, willing it to be strong.
She finally managed to get their hands back in an upright position. She pressed hard, and he gave. She risked glancing at him. She saw the panic on his face. He was about to be humiliated in front of his brothers.
Her heart went out to this stubborn, proud, over-weight boy who probably endured the taunts of his classmates and the lack of confidence that went with not fitting in. She was torn between wanting to make him feel better and needing to establish a presence in the house. As she'd decided, if she could win, she would. But she wouldn't make it look easy.
Her arm was shaking, but not as badly as Ben's. They knelt there, with their arms perpendicular to the table.
"You gonna beat 'im, Jill?" Danny asked, earning a glare from his oldest brother.
"I'm trying," she said through gritted teeth. She moved slightly to the left, forcing his wrist down.
C.J. laughed. "Come on, Ben. She's just a girl."
"Then you try it," Ben complained. "She's stronger than she looks."
"Lesson number one," Jill said. "Never underestimate the power of a woman."
With that she pressed the back of his hand down onto the wood. Both C.J. and Danny cheered. Ben released her fingers and rubbed his wrist as if it hurt.
"I thought I'd win for sure," he said, then smiled sheepishly. In that moment, he looked exactly like his father. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he grew up, she thought. He leaned over, grabbed the remote control, turned off the television, then handed the clicker to her.
"Haynes men keep their word," he said simply.
He sounded so serious. The words were those of a mature man, not a twelve-year-old boy. But the way he said them, she believed him.
"You're being very gracious," she said. She was surprised. She'd thought he would be a sore loser. One point for him, she thought, deciding that if he really cooperated with her today, she would let him watch a little TV tonight. She'd learned early on it paid to compromise.
"Okay, why don't the three of you give me the nickel tour."
Danny frowned. "We get a nickel if we give you a tour?"
"No, stupid. It's just an expression."
Apparently Ben's magnanimous attitude didn't extend to his brothers. "No name-calling, please." She stood up and placed her hand on Danny's shoulder. "But Ben is right. 'Nickel tour' is just an expression. It means to give someone a quick tour. Not a lot of details."
"Oh, okay."
C.J. looked at her and grinned. "Are you sure you want to see the rest of the house?"
She glanced at the piles of laundry by the door to the garage, then at the dishes in the kitchen. "Sure. How bad can it be?"
The three boys laughed together.
Fifteen minutes later, Jill didn't feel like laughing. She wanted to turn tail and run. She didn't understand how people could live under these conditions. It didn't make sense. Didn't anyone notice that virtually every possession was out of the cupboards, closets and drawers and on the floor?
She stood in the center of the upstairs hall, staring at C.J.'s room. "Doesn't your dad make you pick up your stuff?" she asked.
"Oh, sure," he told her. "All the time. He gets real mad if we don't."
"Then explain this." She motioned to the toys, books, clothes and cassette tapes littering the room.
"He's been gone." C.J. gave her a charming smile. All three brothers were going to cut a swath through the female population when they got older. But for now they were just messy little boys.
There were four bedrooms upstairs. To the left was Craig's.
Not wanting to pry, she'd only peeked inside. She'd had a brief impression of large pieces of furniture and a bed that looked big enough to sleep six. Of course, she wasn't even five foot two. To Craig the bed was probably just big enough. His room was relatively tidy, with only a few pieces of clothing tossed on the sofa facing the corner fireplace.
Next to his bedroom was a small alcove. There was a large desk with a computer and printer. Disks had been piled around the keyboard. On the wall was a bulletin board covered with computer-generated graphics.
Each boy had his own bedroom. First Danny's, then C.J.'s, then Ben's. The bathroom they shared was right next to the stairs. Jill glanced in each of the rooms and saw far more than she wanted to. Danny had toys piled everywhere, C.J. had tons of clothes scattered and Ben seemed to be storing half the plates and glasses on his floor. Aside from that, the three rooms were all identical, each with a twin bed, a dresser, a desk and a set of bookshelves attached to the wall.
"You're all slobs," she said, pausing outside their bathroom door. It was closed. She thought about opening it and looking inside, but then decided that some things were best left for professionals.
"We work hard at it," C.J. said.
Danny moved next to her and touched her hand. "I'll help you clean up."
"Thanks, honey."
Ben snorted. "The little shrimp's already sucking up."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Excuse me," Jill said loudly. "You're all going to help me clean up. We're going to do the laundry, pick up everything that doesn't belong on the floor and do the dishes."
There was a collective groan.
"I'm sorry," Jill said. "But it's your fault. If you'd chosen to live like civilized people instead of baboons—"
She knew the word was a mistake as soon as she said it. Instantly all three boys hunched over and started making monkey noises.
"Herds of the Serengeti, return to the family room," she said over the din of their hooting.
They began the awkward shuffle down the stairs. Halfway there, the game changed and became a race. The in-line skates resting on the foyer floor created a hazard, but everyone avoided them.
PART-TIME WIFE Page 3
