Читать книгу A Nanny Under the Mistletoe: A Nanny Under the Mistletoe / Single Father, Surprise Prince! - Teresa Southwick - Страница 11

After her students had gone home for the day, Libby had work to do while Morgan was being supervised in the Nooks and Nannies after-school program. She sat behind the flat oak desk in her brightly decorated classroom. The walls were filled with pumpkins colored by her kids, as well as witches, ghosts and other costumed characters to commemorate the upcoming event. When Halloween was over next week, she wanted to go right into projects for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

As she thumbed through material for ideas, several caught her eye. Paper plates and brown construction-paper feathers to fashion a turkey. If everything was cut out and ready, the kids would have fun pasting it all together. There was another one that used small magazines with the pages folded to form the turkey body, then a pattern to cut out the long neck and head.

It would make a great centerpiece for the dinner table on the big day but would require a lot of supervision, a higher adult-to-child ratio than normal. Mental note: ask for parent volunteers. There were enough involved parents this year to make it a fun exercise for everyone.

Christmas would be next, a time rich in project material from trees and ornaments to Santa and presents, as well as the spiritual side of the season. She wanted this holiday to be special for Morgan, the first without her parents.

The thought made Libby’s heart heavy. Her own holiday memories were filled with Charity, and then Ben. Some of them included Jess, because he was their friend, too. A vision of him popped into her mind followed by a familiar yearning that lately had turned into an empty ache. Her seeing-him-every-day plan to crush out her crush didn’t seem to be working all that well. Not much had changed from the days when their paths crossed because of mutual friends.

In all fairness, it wasn’t Jess’s fault that she had the hots for him but left him so cold he couldn’t remember her name. She knew that and in spite of it, her longing for him was still an issue even though no one would ever accuse him of being a parent, let alone one she could count on.

The intercom on her phone buzzed and she picked up. “This is Libby.”

“Hi, Lib, it’s Mary in the office.”

“Hey.” The receptionist’s tone was normally upbeat and cheery. It took Libby a couple of seconds to realize that wasn’t the case now. “What’s wrong?”

“Morgan is here. She had a little accident—”

“I’ll be right there.”

Libby ran out of her classroom and to the administration offices, which were in another building. There was a small room just off the reception area where the kids went with minor scrapes and bumps, where first aid was handled. The door was open and she heard whimpering. The knot in her chest squeezed against her heart as she braced herself and walked in.

“Hey kiddo. You have a boo-boo?”

The little girl was sitting on a chair, her right hand wrapped in a towel. There was blood on her pink sweater, jeans and white sneakers. It was more shocking because, for some stupid reason, she hadn’t expected to see blood.

She looked at Sophia Green, the Nooks and Nannies director, who was sitting beside Morgan, an arm around her shoulders.

“What happened?” Libby asked.

Sophia’s gray eyes were serious as she tucked a strand of reddish-brown hair behind her ear. “She cut her hand.”

“How?” Libby knew that question bordered on dense because it didn’t matter. But in that heart-stopping moment, it was all she could think to say.

“The kids were at outside playtime. Morgan was by herself near the perimeter fence. She reached through and picked up a piece of glass.”

Libby dropped to her knees beside the little girl. “Oh, baby—”

“I didn’t know it was sharp, Aunt Libby.” Tears welled in her brown eyes.

Words of censure fueled by her own fear were on the tip of her tongue, but somehow Libby held back. This wasn’t the time for a safety lesson.

“Okay, sweetie. We’ll put a Band-Aid on it and fix you right up.”

“About that, Libby—”

If she’d been thinking more clearly, she’d have realized there would already be a bandage on the boo-boo and Morgan would be showing it off. Because that wasn’t the case she knew it was more serious.

“What?” she asked Sophia.

“It’s a little deep,” the other woman said gently. “I think she needs stitches.”

“Okay.”

Libby was doing her best imitation of calm even though her hand shook as she brushed the hair off Morgan’s forehead. “I’ll call the pediatrician.”

“Lib, it will probably be faster to take her to Mercy Medical Center. The emergency room has a pediatric trauma specialist available twenty-four hours a day.”

Libby glanced up at the little girl’s pale face and frightened eyes. “You don’t think that would be scarier?”

Sophia shook her head. “They’re specially trained for things like this. Not that I think it’s that serious, but the staff knows how to put their littlest patients at ease in these circumstances.”

She trusted implicitly her friend’s judgment. Sophia had been with the Clark County department of family services before job burnout sent her to Nooks and Nannies. The woman had seen trauma. If anyone knew how to deal with it, Sophia did.

“Okay. We’ll go to Mercy Medical Center.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“Thanks.”

That way she could call Jess to meet them there, then she could concentrate on keeping Morgan calm.

A couple of hours later Libby was sitting alone with Morgan in one of the emergency room’s trauma bays. When they’d been called back she’d insisted Sophia didn’t have to stay. That was before she’d known how long they’d be waiting. She still hadn’t spoken to Jess. His cell phone went straight to voice mail, which was now full due to all the messages she’d left. Unable to reach him directly, she’d tried his secretary, who’d informed her he was in a meeting and had left strict orders that he wasn’t to be disturbed. The problem was that Morgan couldn’t be treated until he authorized it.

That wasn’t the only problem, just the most pressing. Somewhere deep down inside, Libby knew she wanted him there for herself. She was scared, too, and could really use his support, a strong shoulder to lean on, someone to talk to. Not just anyone. Him.

At that moment the privacy curtain moved and she expected to see the nurse who had been checking in on them whenever possible for the last couple of hours. Instead, Jess stood there. She hated how glad she was to see him, how badly she wanted to throw herself in his arms and have him hold her.

“I got here as soon as I could,” he said, stopping on the other side of the bed.

Right. Not soon enough, she thought.

Her resentment and anger were out of proportion to the situation and she wasn’t sure why. But this wasn’t the time to call him on it any more than scolding Morgan after the fact would have been.

“How is she?”

Why do you care? she wanted to ask. But part of her knew that was just taking all her fear and frustration out on him.

She blew out a long breath. “Worn out. We’ve been here a long time. You got my messages?”

A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Yeah. I need to give permission for treatment.”

She nodded. “You could have done it over the phone.”

“I’ve never handled something like this. It seemed better to show up.”

“The pediatric trauma specialist—Dr. Tenney—looked at her hand and said no nerves or tendons or anything that would permanently affect her fine motor coordination were compromised.”

“That’s good,” he said.

“It is, but she needs stitches, because of where she cut herself. Movement in her palm will make healing take a lot longer unless he closes the cut.”

His mouth thinned to a grim line. “Something like this never crossed my mind. How did you handle stuff while she was with you, after Charity and Ben left?”

Libby met his troubled gaze. “I had power of attorney. I was authorized to approve routine check-ups, visits to the doctor’s office and whatever came up. When they died everything changed. You’re her legal guardian and I couldn’t sign any of the forms. So we’ve been waiting—”

Her voice cracked and the weakness shamed her, making her more self-conscious.

“Libby, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“Your secretary said her orders were that you not be disturbed. She’s very good at her job.”

“Still—” He ran his fingers through his hair. “This should have been an exception.”

He looked sincere, she thought. And in all fairness this was a situation she hadn’t foreseen. The fact that she’d had a lot on her mind, including him, was no justification for her not to consider what would happen in a medical emergency. But it also made a certain amount of sense that his employees who worked so closely with him knew him better than anyone. Knew his priorities. If a child who needed medical treatment was an exception-worthy event, the woman would have put Libby through to him. She hadn’t. And that didn’t speak highly of his attitudes toward parenting.

Morgan stretched and opened her eyes. “Hi, Uncle Jess.”

“Hey, Morgan. How are you?”

“Not good.” She glanced at her hand. “I got a boo-boo.”

“I heard. Does it hurt?”

“Not really,” she said. “Want to see it?”

His hesitation wasn’t all that obvious, but Libby saw. “Sure.” He lifted the small surgical drape covering the little hand and winced, turning a little pale. “It looks like it hurts a lot.”

“If I hold really still it’s okay.” Morgan’s eyes filled with tears. “But I’ve been holding still for a long time. I wanna go home.”

“Can’t blame you,” he said. “I’ll go do what I have to do to make that happen.”

Libby watched him disappear and aloneness surrounded her again. Wasn’t she the perverse one? Jess was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. She didn’t trust him with this child, but Libby was desperately drawn to his strength and support.

Not more than a few minutes later Jess returned. “Okay. Everything is taken care of. The doctor will be here in a few minutes to fix you up and pretty soon you can go home.”

“Thank you, Uncle Jess.”

The small, sad voice brought a pained look to his face. “Morgan, I’m very sorry you had to wait so long.”

“That’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t,” he said. “I didn’t get the message and it’s my responsibility to let the doctor know he can do what’s necessary to make you better. I was in a meeting.”

“Was it important?” Morgan asked.

“Yes. It means lots of people will have jobs.”

“That’s pretty important,” the little girl agreed.

Jess shook his head. “My secretary didn’t give me the message.”

“Why not?”

“Because I told her not to.”

“You made a rule?”

“I guess you could say that.” He reached out with one finger and brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek. “I just want you to know that I’m very sorry you had to hang around here so long.”

Libby waited for him to say that nothing like this would ever happen again. He didn’t. She knew Jess took a promise very seriously and the flip side of that was not to make a vow you couldn’t keep. But this was one that he should move heaven and earth to make and not break.

“So,” he said, looking down at Morgan. “Other than this trip to the emergency room, how was your day?”

“Okay.” The small smile she’d given him disappeared. “But I’m scared about gettin’ stitches.”

“I can see where you would be,” he said seriously. “But I’ve had them before.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened. “Is it gonna hurt?”

“The doctor is going to give you some medicine that will make you not feel anything.” He held up his finger. “But here’s the thing. The medicine comes through a needle, a really small one and it will feel like a little pinch. Then it might burn for a couple of seconds. After that, you won’t feel anything.”

“Promise?”

He made the cross over his heart and held up two fingers. “Swear.”

He’d told her the truth, Libby realized. It would have been easy to lie and tell her it wouldn’t hurt, but he hadn’t done that. Which made his omission about promising to be accessible to Morgan all the more significant. If he couldn’t make that promise, Libby would see to it that nothing like this ever happened again. She’d make sure that if Morgan needed anything she wouldn’t have to wait. Maybe it was time to do something she’d been considering for a while—consult a lawyer about her alternatives for obtaining legal custody of Morgan.

He’d cited his sense of duty, but in her opinion love should trump obligation.

She didn’t ever want this little girl to wait for what she needed until Jess could find time to be available. She didn’t ever want this precious child to feel like an unwanted obligation. Libby knew from firsthand experience how painful growing up that way could be.

Twenty-four hours later things were back to normal, whatever that was. Morgan was in the Nooks and Nannies after-school program, where she was being watched over and pampered so Libby had felt confident in resuming her teaching duties. A lot of parents counted on child care and the kids could be thrown off by a substitute. If Morgan needed her, she was right down the hall, as opposed to Jess, who had meetings and left orders not to be disturbed for any reason.

Still, after he’d arrived at the emergency room and expedited the little girl’s treatment, he’d been great, making her laugh, distracting her while the doctor stitched her hand. Then he’d taken them home, with a detour to a toy store where he bought what he’d called her brave-little-girl reward. Libby had experienced the E.R. with and without him and definitely preferred him there. Which was a bummer since he couldn’t be counted on to show up when needed.

Her classroom door opened and Sophia Green walked in. “Hi, Lib.”

Her stomach clenched. “Is Morgan okay?”

“Fine. I just checked on her.” The preschool director sighed. “Are you going to the bad place every time you see me now?”

“No.” And that was a big fat lie.

“Give it time.” She sat in the chair beside the desk. “Morgan says her hand doesn’t hurt. I think that very impressive bandage is helping in that regard.”

“Good. She does like her Band-Aids.”

“Miss Connie is keeping her quiet. Which isn’t really all that difficult.” Sophia frowned. “How is Morgan coping with losing her parents?”

Libby thought about the question. “Fine. She seemed to take the news okay and was a trouper at the memorial service.” Now Libby frowned as she mulled it over. “But she never asked many questions and now she doesn’t talk about them at all.”

“I see.”

But Libby didn’t miss the deepening worry lines. “She’s had to cope with moving. Jess is practically a stranger to her. That’s a lot for a little kid to deal with.”

“How’s the arrangement working out?” Sophia asked. “I mean you being her nanny.”

“You mean what’s he like. Admit it.”

Sophia shrugged. “I think it’s perfectly normal to be curious about an above-average-looking wealthy man that my friend is living with.”

Wow, that was an understatement in every way. Jess was drop-dead gorgeous and the penthouse lifestyle didn’t happen without a couple extra bucks in the bank. But the “living with” part made the arrangement sound way too personal.

“I’m not living with him—”

“So you commute there to fulfill nanny duties?” Sophia’s expression was all innocence except for the gleam in her gray eyes.

“No. I’m a live-in nanny.”

“So, how is that working for you?”

It was Libby’s turn to shrug. “Nice place. Morgan doesn’t want for anything that money can buy.”

“I hear a but.”

“Let’s just say it’s a good thing I’m a live-in nanny,” Libby hedged. “For Morgan’s sake.”

“Are you concerned about her welfare?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Sophia persisted.

“For starters, sexy stewardesses show up with their own key and let themselves into the penthouse.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Oh, please.” Libby rolled her eyes. “You’re a grown-up. Do the math.”

“They drop by for…” Sophia thoughtfully tapped her lip. “Benefits when they’re in town.”

“Right in one.”

“And you’re jealous.”

Not a question mark anywhere near that statement. How irritating that she was so easy to read. Instead of outright denial, Libby attempted a flanking maneuver. “Why in the world would I be jealous?”

Sophia linked her fingers and settled her hands in her lap. “Because he’s a hot guy and you have a crush on him.”

“Give me credit for some maturity.” Again not a lie.

“Age has nothing to do with it. Secretaries fall in love with their bosses all the time. And the nanny falling for the guy she lives with is the stuff of romantic fantasies from Jane Eyre to The Sound of Music.”

Libby thought about confessing that her crush wasn’t a recent development and had happened years before she’d moved into the penthouse, then decided a lie was easier. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” her friend conceded. “So, you’re concerned because a sexy stewardess with a key is bad because there’s a child in the house.”

“A child who subsequently decided when she grows up, she wants to be a redhead with big boobs.”

“Oh, my.”

“No kidding.”

“That’s unfortunate, Lib, but give him the benefit of the doubt. This is a major lifestyle change for him.”

“I get that.” Libby picked up her pen and rolled it between her fingers. “If that was the only thing, I’d shrug it off. But he’s a workaholic. His priorities are budgets and business models. What concerns me is that so far he’s shown no inclination to change his lifestyle to accommodate Morgan.”

Sophia nodded. “That’s a concern.”

“Yeah. Charity and Ben took care of all the details before they left. They dotted Is and crossed Ts. Their decisions were made with abundant thought. And it begs the question—why did they trust me with Morgan for the short term, but make Jess her long-term legal guardian?”

“I can’t answer that.” Sophia studied her. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m just wondering who would be the better parent,” Libby admitted.

“As in changing the custodial status quo?”

“It’s crossed my mind. I have an appointment with an attorney.”

Sophia sat forward, her expression shocked. “You’re talking about suing for custody?”

“I haven’t really thought about it in those terms or that far ahead.”

“Have you talked to Mr. Donnelly? Maybe he would be willing, possibly relieved, to step aside. It’s possible you’d be doing him a favor. You might be able to work out a mutually agreeable solution.”

Libby clicked the top of the pen, sending the point in and out. “Before moving Morgan, I tried to talk to him and couldn’t get access. Rich people have a lot of insulation.”

“It’s probably because they need it,” her friend commented. “There are probably a lot of folks who’d like to separate him from a million or two.”

That was a good point and something Libby hadn’t considered. “I suppose it’s not easy to trust when you’re in his position. But I tried to talk to him when I brought Morgan, that very first day. He adamantly refused to even consider altering custody. Said he promised his friend.”

“Sounds awfully noble to me.”

Libby would have thought so, too. Except Jess had put a finer point on it and called Morgan a duty. But then, in the E.R., he’d been so sweet with her. Probably guilt for not being available to authorize her treatment. And yet his interaction with her had seemed to be completely natural. It was so confusing and she didn’t know what the right thing was anymore.

“What I know for sure is that I love that little girl like she’s my own. For me, walking away isn’t an option. I just want to talk to an attorney and find out what my options are—if any.”

Sophia nodded thoughtfully. “If he doesn’t voluntarily agree to walk away, you could be talking about a legal battle.”

“I know.”

“It could get expensive,” her friend pointed out. “No could about it. We’re talking lawyers and protracted legal proceedings. All of that can add up fast.”

“I get it.”

“He’s got unlimited funds and you—”

“Don’t,” Libby finished for her.

But technically she was working two jobs and saving every penny possible. Just in case.

Sophia studied her for several moments. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

But Libby wouldn’t run away from it either. If she decided to go that route, it would be because that’s what was best for Morgan.

“I have to go. So much paperwork, so little time.” Sophia stood and looked down. “I have just one thing to say.”

“Do I want to hear this?”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s not directly about you.” She smiled. “Morgan is a lucky little girl.”

That surprised Libby, what with losing her parents and all. “Why do you say that?”

“Two good people care enough to be there for her. You and Mr. Donnelly are ready and willing to make sure she’s got everything she needs. He’s got the money, you’ve got the emotional thing going on.”

“That’s what Ginger said. It’s how I came up with the idea to be his nanny in the first place.”

“There are an awful lot of children that no one wants.” Memories turned Sophia’s eyes stormy and sad.

Libby wondered, not for the first time, about Sophia’s past, but when she looked like she did now, bringing up the bad stuff just seemed wrong. “Thanks for stopping in. It really helped to talk.”

Libby finished up her work, then left the classroom and locked the door before stopping by the day-care center to pick up Morgan. They were on the way to the car before she realized she’d forgotten the folder for a project that she’d wanted to look over for the next day. When they rounded the corner a man was standing there, peeking into her classroom window. She recognized him immediately and her stomach knotted.

Speaking of people who’d like to dip into the bank account of the wealthy, or the not wealthy. Just anyone he could use for his own selfish reasons. Including his own daughter—especially his daughter.

“What are you doing here, Dad?”