Maid for the Single Dad

by Susan Meier

  But at least he didn’t have a temper.

  She groaned inwardly as Mac and the kids left the kitchen. Then she slammed the cookbook on the table. It was one thing to be softening her feelings about him as a boss. But finding reasons it was okay to like him—that was wrong! Was she nuts? Seriously? Did she need another lesson about how she always chose the wrong men to be attracted to?

  Apparently.

  Annoyed with herself, she jogged up the staircase. Mac’s bedroom hadn’t been a disaster, but it was on her rotation for cleaning. It was better to wipe down the showers and tubs every day than to wait until an employer noticed soap scum. So she headed for the laundry room, where she’d also found cleaning supplies for the upstairs, and went into Mac’s room.

  The ugly bedroom reminded her that she and Mac were totally different. Scrubbing toilets helped her to remember who she was and where she was and why she shouldn’t be attracted to him. By the time she was done in the bathroom she felt much better. Normal. Like a woman who earned her living by the sweat of her brow, who, in spite of her positive attitude, would never set herself up for the embarrassment of falling for an employer and being…well, patted on the head and told she wasn’t good enough.

  No. No. She knew how the world ran. She wouldn’t be bucking that particular system.

  Satisfied, she took a dust cloth over the furniture in Mac’s room, once again noticing how hideous it was. In a giddy moment, she wondered if poor taste was why he’d dumped his ex-wife, then she spun around, curious. There was not one sign that a woman had ever shared this suite. In fact, that thought actually made sense of the ugly room. Lots of men didn’t have any idea how to decorate. If Mac had chosen these things himself, without the assistance of a wife or decorator, then the man wasn’t totally gifted after all. He might be rich, good-looking and successful, but he couldn’t color coordinate. Plus, if he’d completely redone this bedroom that explained why there wasn’t a trace of his ex.

  Of course, she hadn’t looked in the closet. Surely there was at least a picture.

  That roused her curiosity enough that she left her dust cloth on the dresser and tiptoed to the closet. Opening the door, she gasped. The thing was bigger than her apartment! She walked inside, running her hand along the hundreds of dark suits that hung in two long rows. Open shelving held more casual clothing. A back cabinet contained at least five hundred ties. Twenty-three pairs of assorted black shoes lined one row of a three-row shoe rack. The other rows held numerous tennis shoes, different colored dock shoes, various and sundry brown shoes, and ten pairs of navy shoes.

  She snooped around, even peeking behind the suits for a door or a box that might contain a few things left behind by his wife. But she found nothing.

  Feeling like a fool for being so curious and also realizing that if Mac came in it would appear as if she was casing the joint to rob him, she quickly scrambled out of the closet, grabbed her dust cloth on the way out of the bedroom, stored her cleaning supplies in the laundry room and headed downstairs again.

  Through the wall of windows behind the stairway, she saw Mac and the kids returning from their afternoon with the neighbor, and she picked up her pace so she could beat them to the kitchen. The safety zone. The place he expected her to be.

  But they didn’t come into the kitchen. Using one of the many doors in the house that she couldn’t see from behind the stove, they’d entered and probably gone to the playroom or maybe upstairs for the kids’ naps.

  Walking to the cabinet to retrieve two boxes of macaroni, she shook her head in wonder. Her heart squeezed at the thought that he loved his kids so much he wanted to be their primary caregiver. Her brain was suspicious, thought he was overprotective and worried that he would smother his kids when they got older.

  She blew her breath out. Her past too frequently caused her to worry too much about people she didn’t know. But maybe that was the real bottom line? She always jumped to conclusions about people she didn’t know, speculated about their lives, wondered about their behaviors. But as soon as she got to know someone her confusion stopped. So maybe what she needed to do was get to know Mac?

  That made her wince. There were only two problems with that. First, he didn’t seem to want her around. Second, she was fighting an attraction for him. She tapped her finger on her cheek. The truth was she’d never met a man she couldn’t talk herself out of being attracted to once she spent some alone time with him. It wasn’t that she found faults or flaws; it was simply easier to categorize someone as only a friend once she got to know him.

  Her phone buzzed and she pulled it from her jeans pocket.

  “Hey, Ava.”

  “Hey, Ellie. What time do you want me over tonight? In time to bring something for dinner?”

  “Mac’s grilling.”

  “Oh. That’s interesting.”

  Though she understood Ava’s curiosity, Ellie didn’t comment. That was one thing she’d always understood. When employed to walk through someone’s house, dust their personal things, wash their clothes, a maid could not comment on what she saw. Instead, she said, “How about eight o’clock? Dinner will be over and Mac should be busy upstairs putting the kids to bed.”

  “Sounds great.”

  Plus, Ellie was considering spending time with Mac. The best thing to do would be to insinuate herself into dinner somehow. With the worry of Ava popping in at any minute now gone, Ellie could relax and do that. Then this time tomorrow she wouldn’t feel any attraction to Mac and she and Mac would probably get along much better.

  Mac hadn’t needed her help getting the kids or the hot dogs out to the grill that had been set up in a gazebo just beyond the patio. The patio itself had two love-seat-sized sofas with thickly padded seats and glass tables. But the gazebo appeared to have been furnished with the kids in mind. Four-foot walls kept the little ones inside, but also hid the big gas grill and the practical plastic furniture more suitable to children’s needs. Comfortable dark-colored chaise lounges created a seating arrangement to the right of the eating area. A leather wet bar probably served the needs of both the gazebo and the patio.

  Ellie saw all that when she brought the macaroni and cheese to the table.

  “Set it here,” Mac said, pointing to one of the huge side arms of the grill, then he went back to tending the sizzling hot dogs, dismissing her.

  Ellie’s brain scrambled around for a reason to stay. Mac had secured Henry in a highchair and settled Lacy with a coloring book at the comfortable-looking heavy plastic table. There was nothing for her to do. No reason to stay.

  But she couldn’t leave. This relaxed atmosphere was the perfect place for her and Mac to begin to get to know each other so their relationship would be less strained. Yet she couldn’t think of a way to detain herself.

  “Everything okay?” Mac asked.

  Ellie looked over at him. Think, she told herself. But gazing into his blue eyes, her brain shut down and her hormones kicked in. She wanted to smile, to flirt, to put her arms around his neck and coax him into admitting there was something between them.

  Good grief! Why was her imagination so vivid with him? Especially when that was exactly the problem! She did want to flirt with him. They had to get to know each other in a more professional way, maybe even become friends, so these crazy feelings inspired by their chemistry would evaporate like the insubstantial vapor they were.

  She took a breath. “I thought maybe I could help with the grilling.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Then maybe I could entertain Lacy and Henry while you’re busy.”

  He shot her a look of such distrust that Ellie actually stepped back.

  “No.”

  “I’m really good with kids—”

  “You’re dismissed, Miss Swanson. May I suggest you tend to your own duties while you have sufficient time to get the housecleaning end of your job in order.”

  She swallowed. She wanted to call him a pain in the butt, a grouch, a horrible father. But because
she was an employee, she couldn’t say any of those. Plus, he wasn’t a horrible father. If anything, he tried too hard to be a good father and ended up being an overprotective father… She frowned. He’d said he was caring for Lacy and Henry because he was giving her and the kids time to get adjusted to each other. But what if he just plain didn’t trust her with his kids?

  The thought almost made her gasp. She’d actually considered this already, but had forgotten about it because their damned attraction was so strong it usually pushed every other thought aside.

  But she got it now. His secondary purpose for his caring for the kids truly might be to give her and Lacy and Henry time to get adjusted, but the main reason was that he didn’t trust her.

  “He’s a blooming control freak.”

  Ellie had gone over everything she’d done for Mac and the kids and knew, absolutely knew, the problem was not hers. She’d been helpful, patient, kind, honest, trustworthy. If he still didn’t trust her, then he had the problem. And because she wasn’t telling Ava anything about his kids, his preferences of underwear, even what he stocked in the fridge, she didn’t feel she was breaking a confidence.

  Particularly since she needed Ava’s help understanding him or she’d never last the entire month she’d promised to handle this assignment.

  Ava strolled to the weathered table, dropping a stack of files at a place in front of a chair. “Most rich men are control freaks. Cain can be pretty darned demanding himself.”

  Ellie shook her head, taking the seat beside Ava at the table. “Demanding is one thing. Surrounding your children to keep them from your new nanny is another.”

  Ava peered over at Ellie. “Why hire a nanny if you won’t let your kids near her?”

  “Exactly my point.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Especially since he’ll never trust me if he doesn’t let me spend time with the kids.”

  Walking to the kitchen for an apple after putting the kids to bed, Mac heard Ellie’s voice. Though he couldn’t make out what she’d said, he very clearly heard her speaking and stopped. Was she talking to herself?

  “He cooks for them, gets up with Henry at night and Lacy in the morning. He entertains them before he puts them down for their naps and bathes them before bedtime—”

  Mac froze. The tone of her voice quite clearly said she was not only displeased with his overbearing behavior about his kids, she was also suspicious.

  That wasn’t good. Suspicious people went snooping. She wouldn’t find anything in this house. But if she got curious enough to go on the Internet, she’d not only discover his ex-wife’s identity beyond Mrs. Carmichael, but she’d also realize why Mac was so protective. What she wouldn’t guess, though, was that he was still in the process of investigating her while his children became accustomed to seeing her in their home, so they’d be comfortable when he went back to work.

  Phil probably only needed another day or two. The question was did Phil have that long before Ellie began an investigation of her own?

  “He… He…”

  “He what?”

  Mac’s jaw dropped. The voice that nudged Ellie along was new. It took several seconds for that to fully penetrate, when it did his feet took on a life of their own and he propelled himself through the swinging door into the kitchen. She’d let a stranger into his house!

  A short, dark-haired woman with black frame glasses sat beside Ellie at the table by the French doors.

  “Who is this!”

  Ellie’s faced turned white in horror. “She’s Cain’s assistant, Ava.”

  “And how did she get in?”

  Ellie rose. “I let her in. I told you that while Liz is on vacation I have to run Happy Maids. Ava’s been doing the office work during the day, but at night I have to approve hours, shift changes and assignments.”

  Mac tried to stem the roar of his blood through his veins, but he couldn’t. This was exactly the kind of mistake that could give away his location.

  “Yes, and I also told you that you could leave the house when I’m with the kids.”

  “But…”

  “But what?” he thundered, so afraid for his kids and their sanity that he lost control of his temper. Lacy already didn’t sleep through the night. He didn’t want her life to become a circus. “You haven’t had the kids at all. I told you that the housework was secondary. Why, exactly, couldn’t you leave?”

  Her already white face paled again. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have gone to Ava, not had her come to me.”

  Her apology stopped him cold. He didn’t know why he expected her to argue, but when she didn’t his anger deflated and he stood there like an idiot. Embarrassed because he’d yelled.

  He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. “I’m sorry that I lost my temper.”

  “Thank you. But in fairness, you never told me Ava couldn’t come in.”

  He pulled in a breath, counted to ten, then said, “Okay. That was my mistake.” He’d thought telling her that she couldn’t let anyone know where she was working covered that, but then again by the time he’d set down that stipulation she’d already told her helper at Happy Maids about her assignment. So maybe she felt this woman was grandfathered in or something?

  “But I really don’t want outsiders in the house. I understand your responsibilities to your boss’s company, but I also want my house rules kept. Plus, you’re free to leave anytime you don’t have charge of the kids. Tomorrow,” he said, pointing at Ellie, “you go to her—” he pointed at Ava “—for this meeting.”

  With that he walked out of the kitchen, his heart pounding and his head beginning to ache. This had been a terrible plan. Hiding in plain sight had sounded so good when Mrs. Pomeroy suggested it, but it was failing. He couldn’t use a typical maid company. He’d hired a woman who needed more training and guidance than he had time to give. And that woman was probably growing tired of breaking rules she didn’t even know existed.

  Still, he didn’t blame himself. He blamed the circumstance. His options had been limited.

  Walking along the marble floor Mac headed to the main stairway. The cell phone in his pocket rang and he grabbed it. Phil. Thank God. He didn’t know what he’d do if he had to fire Ellie. He’d used his only option for secrecy when he’d found her. But he did know that one way or another something had to give.

  “Can you talk?”

  “I’m on my way to my room.” He couldn’t even go to his office because he had to be available in case Lacy or Henry woke. It was no wonder he was off his game. “So you talk for the two minutes it will take me to get there.”

  “Okay.” Phil paused and Mac heard the sound of his indrawn breath as if what he had to say wasn’t good. “I don’t know if you’re going to like this or not.”

  “Just spill it. This situation has to change. Even if what you tell me is bad, it only means I start over.”

  “Okay. Ellie Swanson was a foster kid who ran away. South to Florida where it’s warm.”

  “All of which I know.”

  “She actually got a job in a pizza shop that was part of a big chain of shops that was growing with leaps and bounds in the South Florida area.”

  “Oh.” So she hadn’t spent a lot of time on the streets. That relieved Mac. He hated thinking of her cold and hungry. Which didn’t just puzzle him; it angered him. The very fact that he cared about her showed he was beginning to like her and he didn’t want to like her. She was insubordinate, pretty, funny…all kinds of things that could be trouble. He wanted her to be a normal employee.

  “Yeah. All that’s good,” Phil said as Mac reached his bedroom.

  He walked inside, closed the door behind him and flopped into one of the white leather chairs in the sitting room in front of the bedroom. “So what’s bad?”

  “I did some digging. Real digging. Talked to friends, employees of the pizza shop who’d been around awhile, neighborhood people, and discovered that the owner of the chain of sho
ps took a special liking to Ellie.”

  Mac sat up on his chair. “What do you mean ‘special liking’?”

  “They dated and eventually moved in together.”

  “Oh.” Technically that had no bearing on her ability to be a nanny, so Mac wasn’t happy when the news squeezed his heart. It could mean that he was jealous, but since he didn’t know her well enough to be jealous, that left option two. He knew what happened when starstruck employees dated bosses who had money and power.

  “One employee…a Jeanie Blair…said that Sam Kenward hung around the shop where Ellie worked for a few weeks chatting her up, flirting, being really good to her. He asked her out and he continued to be good to her. Then they moved in together and within a few weeks, Ellie became withdrawn.”

  Mac sat back in his chair again. “Damn.”

  “She lived with him for a year. Nobody ever saw a mark on her, but it was fairly common knowledge that he verbally abused her.”

  Mac pressed a finger to his forehead.

  “The reigning rumor is that he hit her once and only once, and she left him.”

  “Good for her.”

  “Yeah,” Phil agreed wholeheartedly. “She came out of it really well. I don’t have specifics on what happened. She never came back to the pizza shop where she worked or contacted her friends.”

  “Probably because whatever shelter she went to told her that if she contacted anyone they could slip her location to the pizza shop owner.”

  “Precisely. Anyway, she appears again in employment records when she got a job working for Liz Harper at Happy Maids.” Phil chuckled. “From the looks of things she was Harper’s first employee.”

  Which was why Liz trusted her to run her company while she was away.

  “I talked with a few of the ladies at Happy Maids and every one of them adores her. They call her Magic.”

  Mac laughed. “Magic?”

  “Yeah, something about her intuition. Anyway her coworkers would trust her with their lives. They call her fierce. They adore her. She babysits for most of them.”