by D. R. Grady
“Dad, how can she say that?” They were the first words Bryce had uttered all day. Maybe all week.
“Well, she can say it. But I don’t know if Macy will take the job.”
“She will.” Certainty dripped from Starla’s lips. She patted her hair before delicately sipping from her water glass. Nick still had trouble believing she was his child. But back to Bryce.
“Why don’t we worry about whether she’ll take the job? She might not like it once she’s here.”
This time, both girls turned eyes of disgust on him. “Dad, no woman likes this job.” Savannah’s voice was firm.
“No way, Daddy, it’s awful.” Starla blinked at him and between her and Savannah he nearly threw his hands up.
“Well, let’s just ease her in, okay?”
“Do you think she likes snakes?” Brandt asked.
“She didn’t seem to mind Philippe,” Savannah answered.
“Then she can be our mom.”
“She’s going to be whether we like it or not,” Starla answered and Nick refused to squirm in his seat. She was six, how could she know these things?
He didn’t know these things. He’d tucked his attraction to Macy away in a far corner of his mind. Falling for one blonde bombshell had been bad enough. He wasn’t doing that again. Nick had sworn off blondes long ago.
And there was no going back now.
Just say no to blondes.
Chapter 2
Not that she had expected things to go well, but Macy had hoped for something less than outright hostility from Nick’s kids. Unfortunately, the icy indifference and stony silences were not how she envisioned starting her new job. This was one miniscule step down from an outright war zone.
“Savannah, if you want your clothes washed, you’ll need to bring them to the laundry room,” Macy reminded the teenager.
The girl raked her with barely veiled hatred. “The other nannies always got it from my room.”
“I’m not the other nannies. If you want your clothes washed, you can bring them to the laundry room.” Macy started sorting the clothing she did have.
“Bryce didn’t bring his clothes,” Savannah pointed out.
“Right, so he won’t have clean clothes.”
“We don’t want you here.”
Macy turned around and stared into Savannah’s cold eyes. The other kids all piled behind her. Only Starla’s eyes weren’t full of distrust and inner anguish.
“Okay, that does it,” Macy snapped. She pointed to the family room.
“To the family room, all of you, now,” she barked in her most authoritative voice. After helping to raise her younger siblings, she had that down. The kids obeyed. Which was good because she held onto her patience with a frayed rope.
“We don’t have to listen to you,” Savannah mumbled.
Macy got in her face. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re grounded until I decide you’re ready to be free again.”
Savannah gasped. “You can’t ground me. You’re not my mom. We hate you!”
“Keep it up and you’ll be grounded until you go to college. And trust me, I have the power to ground you. Right now your dad is near collapse. But do any of you care?”
“What are you talking about?” Savannah seemed to be the mouthpiece of the four. Macy wasn’t convinced Bryce or Starla were tuned in to the conversation.
She nudged Bryce, in order to force him into their reality. Which heartily sucked at the moment. But she was tired of these kids trying to push her around.
“Your dad is trying to keep up a busy architectural practice and raise the four of you. He needs to work so he can buy you food and clothing and keep this house. There is no way he can also take care of you twenty-four hours a day.”
Savannah, especially, glared at her. Brandt didn’t seem to care either way, but she also caught Bryce’s glare. He didn’t like being forced out of his own little nirvana.
“Are you saying we’re selfish?” Savannah challenged. Even Starla bristled.
“Oh, yes, definitely.” Macy wasn’t about to shield them. “I know what you’ve done to some of the other nannies. If you try to do that to me, you won’t eat dessert ever again. And your chores will increase so that you get no play time.” Macy heard the fierceness in her voice and from the stunned expressions on their faces, hoped she got through to the little brats. They’d made things so bad for the other nannies Macy couldn’t believe some of the handwritten tales left behind by her predecessors.
“Daddy won’t stand for this,” Starla cautioned in a know-it-all voice.
“Starla, your daddy can barely stand, period. He’s so exhausted, I found him asleep on his feet in the kitchen last night.”
“What?” Savannah’s hostility faded a bit as she gazed at Macy with disbelieving eyes.
“He was sound asleep on his feet. I don’t think he’s slept in weeks. At least not a full night. Because you guys keep forcing the nannies to leave. He can’t keep up like this. Your dad can’t work full time and do all your laundry, make your meals, and clean the house. He’s going to have an accident or something worse.”
“We could kill him?” Starla whispered.
“Yes,” Macy nearly shouted. “You guys need me. Your father needs to have someone here to take care of you. If you four don’t shape up, you’re not going to like the consequences.”
“Macy?” Starla asked.
“Yes?”
“What’s consequences mean?”
***
Macy shoved open the door soon after the kids returned home from school and stared at the woman on the front step. She wore a crisp, neat suit in navy. Her handbag, shoes, and briefcase all matched. The woman’s auburn hair was perfect, her nails manicured. Disdain appeared as the uppermost expression in her eyes when she returned Macy’s perusal.
Resisting the urge to glance down at herself, Macy instead performed a quick mental check of her own person. She didn’t have to touch her hair to know strands straggled from her ponytail. Nor did she have to look down to see the bedraggled sweats and worn T-shirt. The aging boa constrictor wrapped around her waist probably didn’t help the picture she presented.
“May I help you?” She tried to keep the wince to herself.
“I’ve an appointment with Nicholas Morrison. I was told to come to this address,” the woman answered in cool, controlled tones.
“You’ve come to right place; except the entrance to his office is on the other side of the house.” Was it catty to point out that the woman had knocked on the wrong door? Probably, but Macy didn’t care.
Really, her work didn’t require a neat appearance. In fact, said neat appearance would disappear within moments in this house. At this very moment muted barks echoed down the hall. Lexus streaked past, hissing as she ran. Without turning, Macy knew Riley chased the cat as that was his favorite pastime. Unless Macy broke up the excitement, Lexus would eventually grow tired of Riley and scrape her claws across his nose. That, in turn, meant she’d have to clean up the blood. It was not her favorite pastime in this house of bedlam.
“There’s another entrance?” The woman made it sound like Macy lied.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Macy thought, too much money, no common sense, and nodded. “Yes, if you follow the driveway and signs, you’ll come to the entrance. It’s marked.”
Macy didn’t need to add the last part, but that perverse part of her couldn’t stifle the impulse. Snarky worked when the target was this easy.
The woman swept her eyes up and down Macy again, and Macy took pleasure in shutting the door in the woman’s face. Then she raced up the hall to break up the fight between Riley and Lexus.
Bryce sat on one of the couches, but as usual, the ten-year-old didn’t seem to notice the spitting cat and tail-wagging dog. “Bryce!”
He ignored her. As was his wont. The kid stared right through her. But then, Macy was used to that behavior. She leaned over the back of the couch and shook his shoulder. He
turned to stare through her and she raised an eyebrow.
“Why didn’t you tell Riley to knock it off?”
“Riley?”
“Your dog, remember him? The big dog terrorizing the cat?”
He shrugged and his eyes glazed over again. Macy bumped him again. “Look, you’re a member of this family. You have to live in our world sometimes, Bryce.”
Had no one ever made this child face reality? He’d created a world of his own, and could be prone to fits of rage if he couldn’t disassociate, so apparently he had scared them. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t scare Macy.
Bryce stared through her, but refused to respond. “No dessert if you don’t try.” Macy stood firm and by now he knew she meant it. The only reason he sort of talked to her now was because she hadn’t offered him dessert the last two nights.
She’d pulled Nick aside and explained that Bryce needed to be forced to live in the real world or he would be useless to society. Nick had agreed with her, but she noticed he’d glazed over halfway through the conversation. She thought about not letting him have dessert, either.
The ten-year-old mumbled something, so Macy let the moment pass. She could see they’d made a little progress, but had a lot more ground to cover. The kid didn’t seem to understand that the habits he formed now, like leaving reality to spend more time in one of his own creation, could prevent him from some day holding down a job.
Not that he cared too much about a job now, at age ten, but Macy understood she’d better care. Seems no one else did. Or at least Bryce had them so cowed they didn’t know what to do with him. Macy did.
The doorbell rang again, so she traipsed back down the hall and swung the door open as a sense of déjà vu washed over her. A different woman stood there. Only this woman looked remarkably like Savannah, and her foot was bound in a cast. A crutch perched under each arm.
“Hello, you must be Macy.” Her voice was pleasant and smooth.
“I am. I’m thinking you’re Nick’s mother, cum the housekeeper.”
She laughed and nodded. “Yes. Lily Morrison.” She held out a hand, which Macy took. Her handshake was firm and friendly.
Macy raised an eyebrow. “Hello, Lily. I thought you were forbidden to come here?”
“I was. Like I ever listen to my doctor.” She waved a negligent hand. “Now that you’re here and I’ve received reports of you being a good housekeeper, I thought I could visit without further danger to my limbs or person.”
“I see. Well, remember, I’m the housekeeper now, so keep your hands off,” Macy responded, tongue-in-cheek.
“I’ll keep my dusting mitts to myself.”
“Yes, please do. ‘Cause you know this house certainly doesn’t need constant dusting.”
“I’ve noticed that.” They trailed down the hall, Macy keeping pace with Nick’s mom, who appeared adept on the crutches. They entered the family room and Macy watched as Bryce’s grandmother bumped him for a kiss. He didn’t stare through the woman. Macy was at least heartened to see that. It was promising that he acknowledged one member of his family.
“Hello, love,” she said as she bussed him on the forehead.
“Hi, Granna,” he replied. Bryce’s face revealed no emotion, but that didn’t surprise Macy. He soon lurched to his feet and left the room.
His grandmother’s eyes trailed sadly after him.
“Oh, don’t worry about him. We’ll have him in fighting form soon enough.” Macy sought to ease the wretched ache in the other woman’s eyes.
Nick’s mom’s eyes widened. “Really? You can do that?” Macy read hope there, and couldn’t believe these people had given up on Bryce.
“Bryce just needs someone to help him live on this planet some of the time. I’ll help him.” Macy smiled as Lily’s eyes rounded and she saw that dawning hope again.
“I can’t believe Nick’s luck in finding you.”
“He didn’t find me, I found him.” And I have to deal with his four brats. Even though Starla wasn’t openly hostile like the other three, she had her own little manipulative ways. Macy understood most of the bad behavior was testing her, but still.
“Ah. Right.”
“Oh, I’m a terrible hostess. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Iced tea would be lovely,” Lily said with enthusiasm and Macy laughed.
“I just made some.”
As far as Macy could tell Lily Morrison was the only stable female in these kids’ lives. Well, they had a bunch of aunts and cousins, but those ladies appeared sporadically because they had jobs. Lily was a constant.
She poured the tea and located some cookies. There were plenty leftover since three of the kids had gone without dessert lately. They were coming to understand she meant what she said. Amidst the grumblings, she thought maybe they’d clued in to her being the Supreme Ruler of their lives. Goodness knew their father was pretty useless at the moment.
“Tell me about the kids,” Macy said, inviting Lily to confide in her. The more she knew, the better she could deal with the problems that arose. And here sat an authority on the subject. Who better than their grandmother?
“You’ve already seen the challenges Bryce presents.”
“Yes, I think I’ve got a handle on him. No dessert for him if he ignores me.”
Lily’s eyebrow rose. “He doesn’t ignore you much now, does he?”
“Sometimes, but he’s learning. I’m tough.”
“I’ll bet you are.”
“Had to be. I’m the oldest of five kids. My mom suffers from lupus, and there are times when she has awful flare-ups.”
“Ah, you’ve learned parenting at an early age. That was a lot of responsibility for you.”
“It was. She always made it up to me, though and always supported my decisions, and so did my dad. Because we had to stand united.”
“Those are some good parents.”
“Yes, they’re the best. I couldn’t ask for better ones.”
“Sounds like they’re wise.”
“They are. When I have trouble with these kids, I either think, how would Mom deal with this? Or I call her for advice.”
Lily laughed. “Not a bad plan, especially after some of the exploits I’ve heard Nick’s kids get up to. It’s always nice to have a person like that to go to.”
“Yes. My mom has been a lifesaver a few times already.”
“Is she planning to visit?”
“I think they’ll come. I’m not sure when.”
“Let’s see, I guess the Fourth of July is the biggest holiday. Could they make that?”
Macy frowned. “Didn’t the kids tell me you folks all go to some lake?”
“Yes, we do go to the lake. But that’s most of the fun.”
“Would there be room for them?”
“Of course. Our cabin has three bedrooms. Nick’s has five or six.”
“Wow, that’s a big cabin.”
“Yes, he is an architect and he designed it well. It’s not huge, but very efficient.”
Macy chewed on her lip. “So there’s room.”
“Yes. And you’ll probably get stuck with most of the cooking, so you might as well make certain you have help.”
Macy narrowed her eyes. “You’ll be there, right?”
“Of course. You can count on me.” Lily caught on fast, for which Macy was relieved.
“Excellent.”
“Do you have other children besides Nick?”
“Yes, I have three sons and a daughter.”
“Poor daughter.”
“She’s the youngest, too.”
“That’s bad.” Macy actually winced. Nick’s sister probably had issues she didn’t even realize she possessed. “The boys tortured her, didn’t they?”
“Probably.”
Macy darted an incredulous look at her.
“I tried to stay out of their fights. I only added to the problem.”
“I see,” Macy said, even though she didn’t.
“No, I doubt you do, but that’s okay.” Lily took a bite of her cookie and washed it down with some tea.
Macy decided to let the subject drop. “Tell me about Savannah.” If she could entice Savannah to her camp, Macy figured she’d be in a much better place with the other three kids. They followed the oldest’s lead.
“Ah, Savannah.” Lily sighed as though from the depths of her soul. Macy figured all along Savannah had issues and here was the confirmation.
“I believe Savannah’s problems are related to her mother.” Lily’s eyes were sad again.
“I take it Savannah’s mom is out of the picture?”
Lily paused with her drinking glass halfway to her lips. She stared at Macy over the rim. “You don’t know about Nick’s wife?”
For some reason the thought of Nick having a wife pierced her through to her core. Macy didn’t like the idea of him with a significant other. He was only her employer, it’s not like she had dibs or anything. But that constant pep talk didn’t seem to help much. She shook her head, not trusting her throat to emit the words.
“Melissa was one of the most beautiful women you’d ever set eyes on.”
“Starla.”
“Oh yes, Starla is her mother through and through. But Starla is pure. Melissa was more the sort who got married and had children because that’s what she’d been told was right for her from her childhood on.”
“What happened?”
“One day I think she woke up, had a husband and four kids and didn’t want her life any longer.” Lily stared into space for a moment before continuing. “She looked in the mirror, must have decided she wasn’t getting any younger and decided to leave here and head for Hollywood.”
Okay, that didn’t sound great, but it didn’t sound bad. Although Macy had trouble with the had four kids and decided she didn’t want her life anymore part. Some women couldn’t just pop out four children. There were women out there who desperately wanted that husband and kids, but would never have either.
Macy forced thoughts of her accident away and even thoughts of vet school. Right now she needed to better understand Savannah.
“She went to Hollywood? Is she some famous actress now?”
Lily shook her head. Her lips pulled down while her eyes turned gloomy. “No, she left with Nick’s best friend. We suspect they were lovers, but we don’t know. He decided to try Hollywood, too. They’d hatched this plan long ago, we think.”