Arianna snapped to awareness, looked in Jack’s direction and saw that he was indeed beckoning to her.
Quickly, she finished her last bites of rice and beans. “It was nice talking to you,” she said to her extremely observant neighbor. She took both their dishes to the washing area and then headed over to Jack, mixed gladness and dread in her heart.
Any day she could see Sammy was a good day. But she was pretty sure Jack was about to turn down her nanny offer. And then she’d have to tell Penny she couldn’t take the apartment, and leave.
The thought of being away from her son after spending precious time with him made her chest ache, and she blinked away unexpected tears as she approached Jack and Sammy.
Sammy didn’t look up at her. He was holding up one finger near his own face, moving it back and forth.
Jack caught his hand. “Say hi, Sammy! Here’s Aunt Arianna.”
Sammy tugged his hands away and continued to move his finger in front of his face.
“Sammy, come on.”
Sammy turned slightly away from his father and refocused on his fingers.
“It’s okay,” Arianna said, because she could see the beginnings of a meltdown. “He doesn’t need to greet me. What’s up?”
“Look,” he said, “I’ve been thinking about what you said.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.
Sammy’s hands moved faster, and he started humming a wordless tune. It was almost as if he could sense the tension between Arianna and Jack.
“It’s okay, Jack,” she said. “I get it. My being your nanny was a crazy idea.” Crazy, but oh, so appealing. She ached to pick Sammy up and hold him, to know that she could spend more time with him, help him learn, get him support for his special needs.
But it wasn’t her right.
“Actually,” he said, “that’s what I wanted to talk about. It does seem sort of crazy, but...I think I’d like to offer you the job.”
She stared at him, her eyes filling. “Oh, Jack,” she said, her voice coming out in a whisper. Had he really just said she could have the job?
Behind her, the rumble and snap of tables being folded and chairs being stacked, the cheerful conversation of parishioners and community people, faded to an indistinguishable murmur.
She was going to be able to be with her son. Every day. She reached out and stroked Sammy’s soft hair, and even though he ignored her touch, her heart nearly melted with the joy of being close to him.
Jack’s brow wrinkled. “On a trial basis,” he said. “Just for the rest of the summer, say.”
Of course. She pulled her hand away from Sammy and drew in a deep breath. She needed to calm down and take things one step at a time. Yes, leaving him at the end of the summer would break her heart ten times more. But even a few weeks with her son was more time than she deserved.
“Would you like to go get a cup of coffee?” he asked. “Nail down the details? I think Penny would be willing to take Sammy for an hour or two.”
Arianna found her voice. “That’s okay,” she said, trying not to sound as breathless as she felt. “We can just talk it over at your house. Or here. Wherever.”
He frowned and cleared his throat. “I’d like to be a little more formal and organized about it,” he said as he started to collect Sammy’s things into his utilitarian gray diaper bag. “Draw up a contract, that sort of thing. We need to hammer out the terms.”
Hammer out the terms. What were the right terms for an aunt to become nanny to her secret son? “Okay, sure, I guess.”
“Meet you at the coffee shop in half an hour?”
“Sure.” Dazed, she turned and headed out to her car.
With God all things are possible. The pastor had said it, and she’d just witnessed its truth. She was being given a job, taking care of her son and had a place to live.
It was a blessing, a huge one. But it came at a cost: she was going to need to conceal the truth from Jack on a daily basis. And given the way her heart was jumping around in her chest, she wondered if she was going to be able to survive this much of God’s blessing.
Chapter Four
Jack walked into the coffee shop half an hour later, still in his business-casual church clothes, briefcase in hand. He had a sample contract on a clipboard, a tablet to take notes, his calendar on his phone.
Having all his supplies made him feel slightly more in charge of a situation that seemed to be spiraling out of control.
He felt uneasy and uncomfortable and wrong every time he thought about hiring Arianna as a nanny, even temporarily. Partly, it was what he knew about her being disorganized and messy. More than that was the fact that Chloe had had real issues with her sister and would never have approved of her taking care of Sammy.
And even more than all that, he just felt strangely uncomfortable with his former sister-in-law.
When he thought about Sammy, though, he knew what he had to do, what was right. Sammy liked Arianna, and she was good with him. And they needed to start his treatment now, not when the perfect nanny showed up in six months or a year.
Inside the shop, the deep, rich fragrance of good coffee soothed him. He waved to a few patrons and headed for the counter. He’d order before Arianna got here, get her some coffee, too.
“Jack!” came a sunny voice from the other side of the shop.
He looked up and saw a mass of coppery curls, then Arianna’s wide smile. His muscles tightened, and he felt a strong urge to back out the door. Stronger was the urge to go toward her, even though it felt like he just might be headed for disaster.
She gestured him over, holding up a drink. “I already got you something!” she called over the buzz of the small crowd.
As Jack turned and walked toward her, he was aware of several people watching. Arianna wasn’t quiet.
And she’d gotten him one of those expensive whipped-cream-topped iced coffee drinks he didn’t even like.
“Thanks,” he said as he reached the table and sat down. “You didn’t have to do that. How much was it?” He got out his wallet.
“It’s on me,” she said. “You’ve got to try this. I had one the other day and it’s so good! It’s a mocha java supreme. Of course, I shouldn’t have it, it’s full of calories, but you certainly don’t need to worry about calories.”
“Thanks.” He sat down, feeling concerned, and studied her. She was talking fast, even for Arianna. She was stressed out, too, he realized, as much as or more than he was.
Compassion washed over him then. Arianna was living in that hoarder house with her aunt and uncle and probably very low on cash. She needed this job, and his own worries paled.
He got out his clipboard and notes. “Before we start going through this,” he said, “are you sure you’re interested in the job? It’ll be more responsibility than most nanny jobs, because you’d be supervising some of his therapists and doing the exercises they suggest. You’d have days off, of course, but you wouldn’t be able to pursue a full-time art therapy position.”
“I’m sure,” she said, her eyes shining.
He got tangled up in that gaze for a few seconds, then looked away and cleared his throat. “Okay, then. Most of the sample contracts I looked at—” he pulled out the one he’d printed to show her “—have clauses about what will happen if either party decides to back out early. And we need to nail down an equitable schedule so you don’t get burned-out.” He drew a breath to continue.
She put a hand over his. “Jack. I trust you. Whatever you think is best.”
Her hand on his felt soft and delicate and warm.
He straightened and pulled his hand away. “I can draft a schedule if that would work for you. Then we can go over it and finalize the details. Now, let’s talk about pay.”
“I’d do it for free,” she said promptly.
“Arianna!” Ja
ck shook his head, frowning at her. “You should never say that to a potential employer.”
“You’re not just that, you’re my former brother-in-law. And Sammy is my nephew. Jack, we don’t have to hash out every single detail, nor get everything down in writing. We can make it happen with a handshake.”
He pointed his mechanical pencil at her. “You’re way too trusting. People will take advantage of you.”
To his surprise, she nodded. “It’s happened before,” she said. “But should I let that change me into a suspicious person?”
He really wanted to know who’d taken advantage of her, because he wanted to strangle that person. Some guy, most likely. “Not a suspicious person,” he said, “but maybe a cautious one.”
“You’re probably right,” she said with a shrug. “But for now...I’m super excited to be working with Sammy. I know I can help him.”
Jack had to admit that her attitude was enormously appealing. If a stranger he was interviewing had acted so enthusiastically, he’d have hired her immediately. Well, after checking her résumé and background, of course. Unlike Arianna, he wasn’t impulsive.
And there were a lot of details to straighten out. “Now, as far as where you’ll stay,” he said. “I have plenty of room in the house, but I’m afraid that would raise a few eyebrows. I wouldn’t want your reputation to suffer.”
“Or yours,” she said, sipping her drink. “But actually, I’ve got it covered. Penny offered me the use of her upstairs apartment if I’ll clean it out and decorate it so she can rent it in the fall.”
“That’s perfect.” Another thing that was working out better than he expected. Not what he was used to. He often expected the worst.
He plowed on through his list of things to discuss. “How do you feel about organizing the TSS schedule? Is that something you can handle?”
A smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “I can be organized, Jack,” she said with exaggerated patience. “I’m just not when it doesn’t matter.”
It’s important to sweat the small stuff, he heard in his mind. Chloe’s voice. The same as his mother’s and father’s. Chloe had gotten along so well with them, partly because she’d tried so hard to do everything right.
Guilt suffused him. Chloe hadn’t trusted Arianna and wouldn’t think that hiring her was doing things right. She’d never sanction this arrangement.
Arianna fumbled in her oversize bag and brought out a tablet computer. “I can print this out for you later, if you want,” she said. “It’s my résumé.” She enlarged it so he could see. “I’ve taken two classes focused on kids with special needs. They were a little older than Sammy, but the principles are the same.” She scrolled to another section. “And I did an internship in an early-childhood program. I love babies.” For just a moment, her eyes went wistful.
Jack studied those eyes as questions he’d never thought to ask before pressed into his awareness. Had Arianna wanted to have kids? Did she ever think about it? Was there a boyfriend in the picture?
Around them, the buzz of conversation indicated that the coffee shop was getting crowded. But Jack couldn’t seem to look away from Arianna.
She didn’t seem nearly so affected. “This section is my coursework,” she continued on, scrolling down the tablet’s screen and highlighting a section to show him. “We did a lot of psychology, life-span development, counseling work. Here, take a look.” She handed him the tablet.
He scanned it quickly, then read more closely, impressed. “You have so much coursework in special education.”
She laughed, a sunny, lilting sound. “Don’t look so shocked, Jack. It’s part of most art and music therapy programs.”
He met her eyes over the tablet and couldn’t avoid smiling, almost as big as she did. “There’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, isn’t there?”
“You haven’t scratched the surface.” Was there a tiny bit of flirtation in her tone, in her expression as she looked at him over the rim of her cup?
He took a long pull on his own drink, sucking up frothy sweetness. “You know,” he said, “these are actually good.”
Again, their gazes tangled.
“Son!” The deep voice penetrated his awareness at the same time a familiar, beefy hand gripped his shoulder.
He glanced up as the usual tension squeezed his chest. He knew exactly what his father was thinking. “Hi, Dad. Do you remember—”
“Arianna Shrader. How could I forget.” His father didn’t extend his hand for shaking and neither did she, instead inclining her head slightly, as if she were a queen and he, a lowly peasant.
The attitude wasn’t lost on Dad, Jack could see. But looking at Arianna, he could tell his father’s attitude wasn’t lost on her, either.
“What brings about this meeting?” Disapproval dripped from his father’s voice.
“I’m going to be working for Jack,” Arianna said. “Taking care of Sammy for a while.”
“You’re what?” Dad’s voice squeaked, and his face reddened. He looked at Jack as if he’d just committed a federal crime. “Was this your idea?”
“It was my idea,” Arianna interjected before Jack could open his mouth. “It made sense, given my background and Jack’s needs. Is there a problem?”
“Sure seems like a problem to me, you moving in with your sister’s husband.”
Arianna gasped.
At the same moment, Jack stood and stepped forward so that he was in between his father and Arianna. “Arianna is Sammy’s aunt,” he said, “and there’s nothing inappropriate about her caring for him.”
“Perceptions mean a lot,” Dad said, but his voice was quieter. He stepped sideways to look at Arianna. “It’s your reputation that would suffer the most. This is a small town.”
“I won’t be living in.” Arianna’s normally expressive eyes were cool and flat. “Your son’s virtue is safe with me.”
His father’s face went almost purple, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish.
“It’s under control, Dad.” Jack put a hand on his father’s arm. “Nothing to worry about.”
Dad looked at their half-empty cups, pursed his lips and shook his head. “I hope so,” he said abruptly and walked away, weaving through the coffee shop’s small tables.
“I’m sorry for that,” Jack said. “Dad can be a little...”
“Judgmental? I’m familiar,” Arianna said, and suddenly, Jack wondered what kinds of things his father had said to her on the few occasions they’d all gotten together.
Certainly, the buoyancy had gone out of her face and voice, and he continued to think about that as they agreed on a few last details and a start date—tomorrow.
But as he walked her to her car, Jack couldn’t forget what his father had said. Perceptions were important. At least a few people in their small town might start to link their names together.
Chloe would have felt that as the ultimate disrespect. If that wretched blood clot hadn’t already killed her, this would have.
Was he making a huge mistake hiring Arianna?
* * *
“The place is kind of a mess,” Penny warned Arianna that evening as they climbed the outside steps to Arianna’s new apartment. “It’s been a rough year.”
Arianna had heard bits and pieces of Penny’s story: how she and her husband had bought the ranch with high hopes. How they’d worked together—she with enthusiasm for the mission, he with enthusiasm for their pretty young office assistant. How he’d left Penny high and dry, and absconded with the funds and the assistant.
Penny was so kind and so beautiful, Arianna couldn’t imagine how anyone could do that to her.
But then again, men could quickly tire of a woman when there were responsibilities involved, or when they found a new obsession. She’d learned that the hard way from Sammy’s father.
Penny threw
open the door at the top of the steps, then put a hand on Arianna’s arm, stopping her. “You’d be doing me a favor if you’d move in and fix it up, but it’ll be a lot of work. You be honest, now. If it’s too much for you, say no. I’ll understand.”
Little did Penny realize how few options Arianna actually had. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she assured the older woman. “I love a good project.” Not least because it would keep her busy and push her worries away.
“Just take a look before you say anything,” Penny said and held the door for Arianna to walk through.
Inside, hard-back chairs stood at odd angles amid boxes, a big cooler and a bike that had to date from the 1980s. The place smelled musty, and through the giant dirty window, sunbeams illuminated the dust motes that danced in the air.
Arianna looked past the surface, something she’d always loved to do. The place had great bones and amazing potential. She clasped her hands together. “This is perfect!”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No! That slanted wood ceiling is gorgeous. I love a nonboxy space. And the view from the windows... It’ll look out on mountains, right?”
“The Sangre de Cristos, once it’s clean. You can barely see them through that coating of dirt and dust.” Penny picked up a photo album covered in white lace. She grimaced at the happy couple on the cover and then dropped the album into the trash.
Arianna lifted an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Not her business.
She looked around, scoping out the space. “I’d put the bed there,” she said, gesturing to a space directly across from the big window. “Wall hangings should be big, with these tall ceilings. A sitting area over here.” As she spoke, the place came to life in her imagination. “It’s so much more than I expected in a place to live.”
Penny put her hands on her hips and stared at her. “Now, why would you say that? Where were you living before, that this place seems so fabulous?”
The Nanny's Secret Baby--A Fresh-Start Family Romance Page 4
