Читать книгу Out of Hours...Enticing the Nanny: The Nanny and the CEO / Nanny to the Billionaire's Son / Not Just the Nanny - Rebecca Winters, Barbara McMahon - Страница 11

ON SATURDAY, Reese tried to study, but finally gave up. With Nick and Jamie gone from the penthouse, she was at a totally loose end. After fixing herself a sandwich for lunch, she took off for Macy’s at Herald Square.

The crowded ten-story department store contained everything including the unimaginable. One would have to be here days to see it all. She ended up spending hours walking around. Eventually she found some swimsuits on sale for her and Jamie.

With Father’s Day coming up, she shipped her dad a small framed picture of New York showing Park Avenue. She slipped in a note telling him to hang it in his office.

While she was looking at the toys, she discovered a wooden hand-painted toy sailboat in sky-blue with a white canvas sail Jamie could give his father. It was the perfect size to fit on a desk or a dresser. The artist on hand personalized it on the keel for her with quickdrying black paint. The Flying NJ. When it was finished, she asked the salesgirl to gift wrap it.

Since she was in the right place, she purchased some doughnut toys and a colorful octopus that played classical music when you touched the tentacles. By the time she got back to the apartment, it was after seven.

As she turned down the hall to her bedroom, she almost bumped into Nick. “Oh—I didn’t realize you were home.” Her pulse raced out of control to see him standing there in tan trousers and a midnight-blue silk shirt. He looked and smelled marvelous.

His dark eyes took swift inventory of her in her jeans and layered top. “Looks like you’ve been having fun. Is there a bikini inside one of those bags?”

Her cheeks grew warm for no reason. “Yes, among other things.”

“I hope you put everything on my account.”

Reese shook her head. “Not today. Excuse me while I put them away.”

He rubbed his hard jaw. “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had dinner yet. Paul is going to drive us to Nolia’s in Greenwich Village. The salmon and sea bass are to die for.”

She bit her lip. He obviously needed to unwind after being with his in-laws. “Won’t it make too long a day for Jamie?”

“He’s staying in tonight. Rita, one of the maids who’s been working here a long time, is going to take care of him while we’re gone. I’m expecting her any minute.”

Reese took a shaky breath. Going out to dinner with Nick alone wasn’t part of her nanny job, but as the thought of turning down his offer entered her mind, she realized that she wanted to be with him so badly, she felt an ache to the palms of her hands.

“What should I wear?”

“Anything you feel like.”

In other words, formal dress wasn’t required. She was hot and sticky and needed a shower first.

“Don’t take too long. I’m starving,” he said in a husky tone.

She’d been hungry when she’d walked in the door, but with those words her stomach had too many butterflies to know what she was feeling. “I’ll hurry.”

Ten minutes later she joined him in the foyer wearing a sleeveless dress with a rounded neck in an allover black-on-white print. The summery outfit could be dressed up or down depending on her accessories. After brushing out her ponytail, she’d caught her hair back at the nape with a black chiffon scarf and slipped on low black heels.

When Nick saw her, the unmistakable glimmer in his eyes set a tone for the rest of the evening, making her feel feverish throughout their delicious dinner. A live jazz band prompted Nick to dance with her. He drew the eyes of every woman, young or old.

She thought of Cinderella, who got her chance to be spun around the castle ballroom with her prince. But in that childhood fairy tale, the author never described the feelings running riot inside the scullery maid who for one night had been transformed into a princess. The adult thoughts and desires of a woman weren’t meant to be read by dreamy-eyed little girls.

Nick had told Reese he wanted her to experience some nightlife while she was in his employ. In her naïveté she’d given in to that temptation and thought she could handle it, but if he pulled her against his hard-muscled body one more time he’d feel her trembling.

“You’re a wonderful dancer, Reese.”

“Thank you. So are you.”

“I could do this all night,” he murmured near her ear.

Don’t say another word, Nick. “If I hadn’t walked around Macy’s all afternoon, there’s nothing I’d like more.”

“I forgot about that. You should have said something sooner. We’ll go.”

Ever the consummate host who went out of his way to make her comfortable, they left the restaurant and rode back to the apartment in the limo. The maid was there to meet them.

“Jamie never made a peep.”

“Thank you, Rita.”

“Anytime.” Her brown eyes flicked to Reese with interest before she left the penthouse.

When the door closed, Reese looked up at her incredibly handsome escort. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Nick. I must be the luckiest nanny in New York with the nicest employer and the sweetest little boy.”

His eyes were veiled as he smiled at her. “We’ll have to do it again.”

No, no.

“Lest you’ve forgotten, Cinderella only had one night at the ball. It wouldn’t do for the hired help to expect a repeat with the prince. Good night, Nick.”

Reese left for her bedroom having meant what she’d said. To lose her head over this man when she was being paid to do a job for him would bring heartache—the kind she instinctively knew she would never recover from.

For the rest of the week she made certain she and Jamie were there to greet him when he walked through the door of the penthouse, but that was all. Once she’d told him about Jamie’s day and answered any questions he had, she disappeared to get going on her studies.

On the following Friday she was studying on her laptop when she heard Jamie’s distinct cry through the baby monitor. He hadn’t built up to it. One minute it was quiet in the room. In the next, he’d let go as if he’d awakened with a nightmare, or was in pain.

He’d only been down for an hour since his one-o’clock bottle. She slid off the bed and rushed across the hall to the nursery. Alarmed to see him in so much distress, she picked him up to comfort him.

“Uh-oh—you’re hot.” She walked over to the dresser with him to get the thermometer. To date his health had been so perfect, she’d almost taken it for granted.

“Hmm…l01.4. That’s not good. Let’s check to see what’s going on.” When she undid his stretchy outfit and diaper, she discovered he’d had diarrhea. “Oh—you’ve got a stomachache.” She got him all clean again and put him in a fresh diaper and a shirt.

For the next hour she walked him around the apartment on her shoulder, singing every song she could remember to comfort him. He remained restless and whimpered, then let out another heartrending cry before she felt him have another loose movement.

Back she went to the nursery and cleaned him up once more. This time she applied some rash cream so he wouldn’t get sore. When she picked him up again, he burrowed into her neck, still feeling hot.

Without hesitation she carried him to her bedroom and phoned Nick on her cell. This was the first time she’d called him at his office since coming to work for him. Though she hated disturbing him, she knew he’d want to be told.

“Reese?” He picked up on the third ring. “Is there a problem?”

“I’m glad you answered. Jamie’s come down with diarrhea and is running a temperature of 101. He’s going to need fluids to lower it, but I’m not sure what the doctor would prescribe.”

“I’ll phone Dr. Wells right now. How long has Jamie been sick? When I left him this morning, he seemed fine.”

“I know. He woke up crying in the middle of his afternoon nap. My sister Carrie uses Pedialyte when her baby gets dehydrated, so ask the doctor about that. Since we don’t have any on hand, I’ll give him some water for now.”

“I’m on my way out the door,” he declared in a decisive tone. “I’d planned to come home early anyway.” Secretly she was relieved. Normally Nick hid his emotions well, but this was his little boy who was ill. He must be as nervous as she was, if not more so. “While you try to get more liquid down him, I’ll call the doctor then stop by the drugstore.”

“Good.”

“I’ll be home soon.”

After she hung up, she went to the kitchen for a bottle and filled it with cool water. Jamie seemed eager enough to drink, but by the time she reached the nursery and fed him a little, he threw up.

She put him in the crib and changed his clothes for a second time. His temp had climbed another tenth of a degree. She wet a cloth and sponged his forehead and cheeks.

Before long Nick entered the penthouse. “Reese?”

“In the nursery.”

As he came through the door, Jamie threw up once more. It frightened him so much he started crying harder. After she’d wiped off his mouth, Nick pulled him out of her arms and cuddled him against his chest. “Hey, sport—what happened to you?”

Her gaze fused with Nick’s. “Did you reach the doctor?”

“His nurse said he’d call me back. In the meantime we’re to try and get liquids down him in small increments.”

“I’ve been doing that, but after a minute, up it comes. It must be some kind of flu.”

“Maybe the Pedialyte will stay down.” Nick kissed his forehead. “The nurse said it was good to use. I got him cherry. He’s a lucky little guy you’re here for him.”

Nick was always ready to praise her. It made her want to do everything right in his eyes. “I’ll take it to the kitchen and put some in a sterile bottle.” When she returned to the nursery Nick told her the doctor had called. “We’re to keep a close eye on him. If we can’t get anything to stay down, we’re to take him to emergency. The hospital will keep him informed.”

She nodded. By evening he’d thrown up enough times to convince her this was serious. His temperature never dropped. “He seems too lethargic.”

Lines marred Nick’s face. “Let’s take him to the hospital. I’ll tell Paul to bring the car around.”

“While you hold him, I’ll put some things in the diaper bag for him.”

In a short time they left the penthouse. Paul drove them to the E.R. entrance and they hurried inside with Jamie lying limp against his daddy’s shoulder.

One of the emergency-room staff showed them to a cubicle. Right after that another person came inside the curtain. His tag said he was Dr. Marsh. He got to work checking the baby’s vital signs. “How long has he been sick?”

Jamie didn’t like being examined. His cries wrenched Reese’s heart. “Since about two o’clock. It came on so fast I couldn’t believe it. We’ve tried to get liquids down him, but he just spits it up and hasn’t urinated for several hours.”

“We’ll have to culture him to find out if this infection is bacterial, but I’d say he’s picked up Rotavirus.”

“What is it exactly?” Nick’s features had darkened in anxiety.

“A disease of the bowel that causes diarrhea and vomiting. Most children have had several incidences of it by the time they’re five.”

“How would he have gotten it?”

“It’s transmitted several ways, but I would imagine your son picked it up through the air. Someone’s cough could have spread it. It’s highly contagious.”

“I’ve heard it’s serious—” Reese blurted.

“It can be when left untreated. If I’m right, we’ll put him in isolation and hydrate him with an IV to bring back his body’s salt and fluid levels to normal. He should get through this just fine.”

Should? She and Nick shared a panicked glance.

“Who’s your pediatrician?”

“Dr. Hebert Wells.”

“In a minute a team will come in to take a blood sample. When we know for sure what we’re dealing with, we’ll call him. If it’s bacterial, your doctor will treat him with an antibiotic.”

Reese hugged her arms to her waist in agitation. “What more could we have done to have prevented this?”

The doctor eyed her with compassion. “As long as you’re constantly washing your hands before and after you attend to your baby, that’s pretty much all you can do.” Jamie wasn’t her baby, but she loved the sound of it.

“Reese has been very careful about that,” Nick interjected. “I need to do it more often.”

“Washing hands can prevent all kinds of illnesses.”

Nick’s lips tightened. “If an IV is called for, where will you insert it—he’s so small?” He’d taken the question right out of her mouth.

“The IV team will decide, but probably in his foot. It hurts for a minute, but then it’s over.” Reese shared another worried glance with Nick.

“Go ahead and hold your baby until one of the staff shows you to the isolation area.”

As the doctor left the cubicle, Nick reached for Jamie. Once he was back in his father’s strong arms, he quieted down a little bit, but clearly he was miserable. Reese smoothed her hand over the back of his head. “You’re all wiped out, aren’t you, sweetheart.”

“We’re both here—” Nick talked to his son in a low, comforting tone “—and you’re going to get feeling better soon.”

Reese wanted to believe it, too, but she’d heard the underlying concern in his voice and was scared to death herself because the illness had robbed Jamie of his vitality.

In a minute someone came and took them through double doors to a restricted area where they were set up in a private room. Jamie cried some more. “I think he wants you, Reese.” Nick handed the baby to her.

She hugged Jamie close and sang to him. The music kept him somewhat calm. When she lifted her eyes to Nick, she caught a look of such pain in his, it shattered her.

Something in his expression told Reese that Nick was thinking about his wife and how he’d lost her so quickly after they’d reached the hospital. In the two weeks she’d known Nick, he’d never talked about her except to explain how she’d died. Reese refused to consider the possibility that he was worrying his son would be taken from him, too, in so short a time.

“Nothing’s going to happen to Jamie,” she assured him with her heart in her throat. “You heard the doctor. Everyone’s had Rotavirus in their lives. Even the two of us, and we’re alive and healthy, right?” She flashed him a coaxing smile.

Reese wasn’t destined to hear what he would have said back because two technicians came into the cubicle wearing masks. Jamie didn’t like that and turned his head into her neck.

The taller one said, “If Mom and Dad will step outside the curtain, we’ll get this over with quick.” He reached for the baby Reese had to give up, but it killed her because Jamie cried out in protest.

“It’s okay, sport,” Nick assured him. “We’ll be right outside.” He reached for Reese’s hand and led her beyond the curtain. She knew he wasn’t thinking as he drew her along with him, but a sensation of warmth traveled up her arm into her body. He didn’t let go the whole time Jamie cried. With both their emotions raw, the feel of his hand gripping hers gave her the strength to deal with this crisis.

The technician had called them Mom and Dad. Right now she couldn’t imagine feeling any different if Jamie were her son. She loved that baby with every fiber of her being.

All these years she’d planned for a career, not realizing what it meant to love a child like she loved Jamie. The bond with him was so strong, it tore her apart to think of leaving him right now. When the day came that she had children of her own, how would she be able to leave them?

What if she were his mother and had to get back to her job of running a company? She couldn’t see it, not when Jamie needed her and Nick so desperately.

Together they stood having to endure his frightened cries. “For the last two weeks he’s only been with the two of us,” she whispered. “He’s not used to anyone else.”

In a minute the team left and another masked team showed up with their cart. “Stay where you are. This won’t take us long.”

Nick squeezed her hand gently before letting it go. She presumed their arrival made him realize he’d been holding on to hers all that time. Reese wished he wouldn’t have relinquished it. Without that physical connection, she was snatched back from her fantasy about being Jamie’s mother. Nick had been part of that fantasy, too. The three of them, a family. How was she ever going to say goodbye to them when the time came?

Deep in turmoil, she heard the baby let out a yelping cry like the one she’d heard through the monitor. They’d just jabbed him, she was sure of it, the poor darling. In reaction she smoothed her hands nervously over jeanclad hips.

It had been hours since she’d looked in a mirror. At least her hair was back in a ponytail and not messy. When they’d left for the hospital, she’d been in too alarmed a state to think about changing out of the jadecolored T-shirt she’d put on to study. But none of that mattered with Jamie lying there feverish and sick.

“They’re taking a hell of a long time in there,” Nick muttered.

Reese bit her lip. “It seems that way to me, too.”

“At this rate he’s going to think he’s been abandoned.”

“But he won’t remember once it’s over.”

“I’m not so sure of that.” Something in his tone told her that wasn’t idle talk. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but one of the team came outside the curtain with the cart, preventing further conversation.

“You can go back in now. We’ve attached his foot to a pad for protection. You can hold him all you want, just be mindful of the tubing.”

She and Nick hurried back inside to rescue his howling child, but were met by the other technician. “Wash your hands first, then put on the sterile gloves from the container on the wall. After you’ve done that, wear the masks we’ve left on the counter. Do this every time you leave the cubicle for any reason until the doctor tells you if your baby has Rotavirus or not. Dispose of everything in the bin inside the bathroom here. Leave through the other door that leads into the hallway.”

“Thank you,” they both said at the same time.

Once they were alone, Reese urged Nick to wash first. “Jamie needs you.” Though everything in her screamed to pick up the baby, he wasn’t her son and it wasn’t her place.

The warning Reese’s mother had given her about not getting too attached to the baby had gone by the wayside the first time she’d laid eyes on Jamie. The beautiful boy had caught at her heartstrings. After meeting his father, Reese knew why. Now—after loving and playing with him over the past two weeks—there were so many heartstrings being pulled by both Wainwrights, she realized she was in terrible trouble.

Once they were washed, gloved and masked, they spent the next hour taking turns holding him while they tried everything to settle him down. Finally he fell asleep and Nick lowered him to the crib.

“He’s not in pain right now, Nick.”

“We can be thankful for that small mercy at least.”

“You look exhausted. This is going to be an all-night vigil. Why don’t you slip out and grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria first. When you come back, I’ll go get something. I’d rather it was you he woke up to later.”

Nick’s eyes looked fierce above the mask. “He wants you just as much.” Her heart pounded dangerously, but it wasn’t from hunger or fatigue. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

She knew the waiting was getting to him, but the more he kept telling her that, the more she wanted to believe it. “Hurry, before he wakes up looking for you.”

“All right, but I won’t be long.” He disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. Reese walked over to the crib and looked down at the dear little boy she’d been privileged to take care of so far.

When Reese had helped her mom with her baby sister, she’d only been fourteen. Though she’d loved Emma, she couldn’t compare the feelings and emotions that filled Reese now. Jeremy had riddled her with accusations about being a cold woman who put a career above the feelings a normal woman possessed.

If he could see into her heart and soul right now, he would discover Reese was more than normal, and Jamie wasn’t even her son!

After consuming a sandwich and a piece of pie in record time, Nick left the cafeteria and walked outside the hospital doors. He had a phone call to make, but cell phones weren’t permitted inside. His father-in-law answered.

“Nick?”

“Sorry to call you this late, Walter, but I thought you should know I won’t be able to bring Jamie to White Plains tomorrow.”

There was a long silence. “Anne predicted right about you.”

He took a fortifying breath. “Jamie’s in the hospital with a bad flu bug of some kind. They’ll be keeping him overnight. Depending on what’s wrong after the tests come back, he might be here tomorrow night, as well. I’ll keep you posted and we’ll plan to bring him to White Plains next weekend instead.”

“What kind of flu?” Anne demanded. She’d picked up on another house phone the minute Walter had told her who was calling.

“We don’t know yet.”

“This never happened when he was with us.”

Nick was sorry she’d come on the line. This was exactly what he’d hoped to avoid. “Every child gets it, Anne. The point is, he’s receiving excellent care. I have to go back to him now. Tomorrow I’ll let you know how he’s doing. Good night.”

He hung up. It was automatic for him to check his voice messages. To his surprise there was one from his father. While his parents were traveling, they never called him. Out of curiosity more than filial duty, he clicked on.

“Nicholas? This is your father.” Nick shook his head because that was the way he always started out any phone call to him. The distance between them continued to widen. “Your mother and I are back on Long Island. I came in the office and discovered you’d already gone home. Stan tells me you’ve got the boy with you at the penthouse. Why you would do that baffles me and could prove to be very unwise. We ran into the Ridgeways while we were vacationing in Cannes. They’ll be back next week with their daughter Jennifer who’s been staying with friends in England. She’s a lovely young woman we want you to meet. Better not spring Jamie on her at first. You know what I mean. I expect a call from you before you go to bed.”

Before I go to bed?

His father could say that when he never phoned for months at a time?

Nick clicked off. The pain he’d carried since he could first remember life kindled into white-hot anger. His parents could wait. Reese couldn’t and neither could Jamie. He’d been gone too long as it was and hurried back to the E.R.

To his relief Jamie was still asleep. Reese’s blue eyes, those mirrors of the soul, fastened on him with intensity. “The doctor still hasn’t come back with the results.”

“It’s a busy night here. Why don’t you go get something to eat now?”

“I will.”

After she left through the bathroom, he washed his hands, then slipped on new gloves and a mask. Thankful his son was getting the rest he needed, Nick pulled up one of the chairs next to the crib to watch him.

He’d grown over the past couple of weeks. His father’s question about why he would bring Jamie home to live could be answered by the baby lying right in front of him with an IV in his tiny foot.

This was why! There were changes going on every day of his son’s life. Nick wanted to be in on all of them. No more chunks of time missing he could never get back.

Had his father or mother ever actually heard Nick say his first word or seen him take his first step? When Nick had gotten the flu as a baby, someone on the staff would have taken care of him. Nick’s mother wouldn’t have been able to tolerate being thrown up on. She would have left that to a nurse.

Reese on the other hand loved and kissed Jamie to death. That was her nature. Because of so much one-on-one attention, his son was blossoming. You can’t spoil a baby enough. Those were her words. Nick believed in her philosophy. Every baby should be so showered.

Nick’s parents didn’t have a clue. They’d been raised by nannies and their parents before them. His father’s mention of the Ridgeway’s daughter, another woman who had to be made in the express image of the other women in Nick’s life, sickened him.

“Mr. Wainright?” Dr. Marsh had come in.

Nick got to his feet. “What’s the verdict?”

“Your son has Rotavirus. I’ve talked to your pediatrician. He’ll be by in the morning on rounds unless the baby’s temp spikes. In the meantime we’ll continue to do what we’re doing and will come in at intervals to check his vitals. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Not that I can think of right now.”

“If you and your wife need a cot, they’re in the closet behind you.”

“I appreciate you telling me that.”

“This part of the hospital has been redone for the comfort of the parents.”

“Whoever planned it must have had a baby here at one time.”

“No doubt.”

“For your information, my wife has passed away. Reese is the nanny.”

Nick had to give Dr. Marsh credit for not reacting the way he probably would have under other circumstances. “You’re lucky to have found someone who has a strong mothering instinct. That’s going to help your son.”

“I agree.”

Reese returned soon after the doctor had left and washed her hands. “Do you know anything yet?”

He told her what he’d learned. She finished tying the mask and walked over to the crib. “I should think sleep is the very best thing for him.”

“We’re going to need it, too. It’s after eleven.” He went to the closet and pulled out the made-up cots, placing them end to end. There was enough room for the staff to move back and forth changing the IV while they did vitals and programmed their notes into the computer.

He heard a sigh. “Bed sounds good. Thank you for setting them up.” She removed her sandals and slipped under the covers with her head at the far end. Maybe she’d done it on purpose so their heads couldn’t possibly be close to each other. He was sorry about that, but at least they’d be spending the night in the same room with Jamie.

Nick shut off the overhead light. After studying his son for another few minutes, he took off his shoes and lay down on top of the cot, putting his hand behind his head. From his vantage point he could see her lying there on her side toward Jamie.

“Reese? Are you asleep yet?”

He watched her shift in the cot. “No. I know you’re worried about Jamie, but he’s getting the best care possible.”

“I believe that, too. I just wanted to say that the reason I was so long was that I had to let Jamie’s grandparents know he wouldn’t be coming to White Plains in the morning.”

“I’m sure they were upset.”

Reese didn’t know the half of it.

“Don’t be surprised if they show up tomorrow.”

“That would only be normal. In my family if anyone were in the hospital, a whole crowd would descend.” Nick couldn’t imagine what that would be like. “Too bad your parents are away and don’t know he’s ill.”

“Actually they got back from Cannes today. I listened to my father’s message on my voice mail.”

“Are they coming over here tonight?”

“No. I didn’t call him back.”

A long silence ensued. “I see.”

“You don’t see at all, but you’re so polite, you would never pry.”

“Your personal life is none of my business.”

“That’s an excellent response.”

“What do you mean?” She shot straight up in the cot. “I don’t understand.”

Just then one of the staff came in to check on Jamie. “How’s he doing?” Nick asked as the nurse finished on the computer.

“His temp is up a little from before, but these things take time. Try to get some sleep while he’s quiet.”

Nick’s stomach clenched. There was no way he could do that right now. He got up from the cot and walked over to the crib. At this point Reese joined him.

“He’s got to be all right, Nick!” He heard tears in her voice.

Without conscious thought he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. After dancing with her last week, he needed her warm, curvaceous body next to his. Though she’d told him no more repeats, the fact that she didn’t fight him right now revealed her deep need for comfort, too.

“What you said earlier,” she whispered. “If I—”

“Forget it,” he broke in. “I’m afraid I’m not myself tonight. We may be employer and nanny, but sometimes the lines get blurred. We’ve lived under the same roof for two weeks now. I find myself wanting to ask you questions I have no right to ask.”

“I know what you mean.” The tremor in her voice made its way through to his insides.

“So you admit you’re a little curious about me.”

“Of course.” He noticed her hands cling to the edge of the crib. “I wouldn’t be human otherwise.”

“Go ahead and ask me why I haven’t told my parents about Jamie being sick.”

She bowed her head. “Not if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Actually I do. You recall our conversation about my family being blue bloods? Well, I made a vow that Jamie’s life is going to be different. Yes, he’s a Hirst and a Wainwright, but I won’t let him grow up under a system where appearances count for everything. That kind of life might be desirable at first, but it ends up destroying you.”

“You feel like that’s what happened to you?” she asked quietly.

“Our whole families have been destroying themselves for generations to the point that they don’t have that human quality of giving and receiving affection. They don’t feel it.”

She looked up at him with eyes that were suspiciously bright. “But you’re nothing like that!”

The impulse to crush her in his arms was so strong, he forced himself to let go of her altogether. “I was on my way to being exactly like that until a client made a chance remark three weeks ago that opened my eyes.”

“What did he say?”

“He’d been offering his condolences and said there was nothing like a child to help you get over your loss. He obviously assumed I was the typical new father having to get up with him in the night for his feedings. But he didn’t realize he was talking to a Wainwright who’d come from a cloistered, upper-class aristocracy.

“You can’t imagine how I felt at that moment knowing Jamie was at my in-laws’ being taken care of by their staff and I’d let it happen. Worse, my own parents saw nothing wrong with it. But the real crime was the one I’d committed by letting him go home with them in the first place. By turning over my son’s life to the hired help, I’d virtually abandoned him.”

“But if you hated what your parents had done to you, then—”

“I know.” He raked a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated. At the time of Erica’s death, everything was murky. But standing here now next to my son, I see things so clearly it terrifies me that I was once that other man.

“The truth is, I could have called my father back tonight and told my parents about Jamie, but they wouldn’t have cared, and it wouldn’t have occurred to them to come to the hospital. They’ve been emotionally absent from my life for thirty-four years. That’s never going to change. My uncles, my cousins, they’ll never change, either.”

“Oh, Nick…I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“How could you possibly know? You come from another world. A real world.”

“At least Erica’s parents have been there to support you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. They despise me.”

“Because you hired me?”

“No, Reese. My problems with them stem back to a year ago when Erica agreed to a divorce.”

“You divorced her?” She sounded shocked.

“Yes. We’d made one more stab at trying to patch up our two-year-old marriage, but it didn’t work. It wasn’t until after we separated that she told me she was pregnant. She moved back with her parents. I didn’t see her again until I got a phone call that she was on her way to the hospital. You know the rest.”

“So that’s why there was no nursery at the penthouse.”

“I let her have carte blanche decorating the apartment so she could entertain in style, but more often than not she stayed at White Plains. We lived apart much of the time, a situation that suited both of us. I know you can’t comprehend that.”

She kept her eyes averted. “It’s just so sad.”

“At the time it was simply the norm. When she died, I was devastated, but it was my guilt over our failed marriage that put me in a dark morass. I let them take the baby home. The problem is, Erica’s parents believe that Jamie—and all the money that comes with him as my heir—belongs more to them than to me after I’d damaged the family pride. It was a case of ‘it’s just not done.’”

He heard a little moan come out of Reese.

“You sound horrified. A normal person would be. But in my world, I’d broken the code of our social mores by divorcing her and was viewed as a revolutionary. Letting her parents keep our son for a time would look good on the surface. My parents would prefer it if things stayed that way. Anything to preserve the image.”

She shook her head. “How awful.”

“I debated telling you all this. It’s so messy and complicated and I’ll understand if you don’t want to involve yourself with it all. If you want to leave my employ, I’ll give you a check for the full amount we agreed upon. But I would ask you not to leave until Jamie’s on the mend.”

Leave him and the baby?

If only Nick knew what Reese was really thinking. Though the day would come when she would have to go, she would never be ready to give up him or the baby.

She sucked in her breath. “Don’t be ridiculous. The arrangement we made was that I wouldn’t go until the end of the summer. If you’re still in agreement, then let’s not talk about it again.”

Relief flooded her system when she heard him say, “Then we won’t.”

“Good. Right now your son needs us focusing on him and nothing else.”

No sooner had she delivered her words than Jamie woke up crying. Nick hurried around to the other side of the crib to pick him up.

“Does he still feel as hot to you?”

His dark eyes flew to hers. “Yes.”

That one word filled Reese with fresh alarm. Jamie’s temperature had been elevated for close to eighteen hours now. The IV was supposed to be doing its job.

They took turns holding him. The minutes passed. Another nurse came in to check on him. She left without saying anything to them. That really frightened her. This went on for another half hour. Then Dr. Wells walked in the room already masked and gloved.

He gave them a quick glance. “Sorry to hear your son’s been sick, Mr. Wainwright. Let me take a look at him.”

While Nick handed the baby over, Reese stood back to watch the pediatrician, thankful he’d come. In a minute he lifted his head.

“I’m going to have you start feeding him some formula. The nurse will bring it to you. Just an ounce at a time. He might throw it up at first, but you persevere and we’ll see if it finally stays down. I’ll be back later.”

The next hour was nightmarish with Jamie spitting up ten minutes after every ounce. She didn’t know how Nick was holding up. He’d taken over because of love for his child. That was the way it should be.

She folded the cots back up and put them away so there was room for the chairs. When she sat down next to him and the baby, the sun had come up. Though the blinds were closed, light illuminated the room.

Reese checked her watch. “Nick—do you realize he hasn’t thrown up for twenty minutes?”

His head lifted. “That’s definite progress.” He sounded elated.

“It is!” she cried.

The nurse came in a little while later. “How’s he doing?”

“It’s been a half hour since he last threw up.”

“Terrific.” She took the baby’s temperature. “It’s down four-tenths. I’ll call Dr. Wells and tell him. Let him sleep now.” She hurried out of the room.

Nick stood up and lay the baby back down in the crib.

Reese followed him over. “The worst must be over.”

They both heard the door open and Dr. Wells came back in to examine the baby. “He’s going to be fine. For the rest of the day give him formula when he seems ready for it. We’ll keep the IV going. This evening I’ll come by on rounds. If all is well, he’ll be able to sleep in his own crib tonight.”

“That’s wonderful!” Reese cried as he left the room. Luckily her mask muffled its full intensity.

Nick turned to her. His hands shot out to grasp her arms. “You’re wonderful. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Between his husky voice that sounded an octave deeper and those dark fringed eyes that were looking at her with such gratitude, she was overwhelmed by the feelings he engendered. But growing alongside her great happiness was a new fear clutching at her.

Last night he’d talked about the lines between nanny and employer getting blurred after living beneath the same roof. Try spending the whole night together in the same hospital room with the little baby they both adored.

This morning she couldn’t find the lines anywhere.