Dream Wedding

by Susan Mallery

  Ryan Lawford glanced from his niece to the “he” in question. Unfortunately the hungry creature wasn’t a baby brother or even a pet. It was, instead, a beeping fax machine. Crumpled paper jammed the feed, gooey peanut butter covered the keys, while a sticky spoon sat where the receiver should be. His fingers tightened around the ten-page report that he was supposed to be faxing to Japan in less than twenty minutes.

  “Me hungry, too,” Sasha announced. “Me want esghetti.”

  “Sure,” Ryan said, his teeth clenched, his blood pressure climbing toward quadruple digits.

  Spaghetti—why not? He could just whip some up, maybe a nice salad and some garlic bread. Red wine for himself, milk for his niece. There were only two things standing in his way. Make that three things. First, unless the meal came in a little plastic dish with instructions on how long to heat it in the microwave, he wasn’t going to be much help in the kitchen. Second, last time he’d checked, the only food in the refrigerator had been a half-empty jar of peanut butter that the fax machine had just consumed. Third, what the hell was he doing here? Children and their needs were beyond him. Helen and John had been crazy to make him Sasha’s guardian.

  He spun on his heel. “I’ll be right back,” he said, in an effort to keep Sasha from following him. Ever since he’d arrived at the end of last week to help with the funeral arrangements for his brother and sister-in-law, the kid had been dogging his every footstep.

  Sasha wasn’t deterred. Still clutching the jar of peanut butter to her chest, she trailed after him. “Unk Ryan? Go see Mommy?”

  The phone in his makeshift office began to ring. He headed toward the back of the house. Sasha hurried to keep up.

  “Unk Ryan? Me want M-Mommy.”

  Her tiny voice cracked. He didn’t have to look at her to know that tears had started down her face. In the background the fax machine continued to beep. His phone rang again. As he reached for it, he eyed his computer and figured he would scan the pages and send them out using the modem.

  He picked up a receiver and barked “Hello?” into it.

  The jar of peanut butter dropped to the floor. Mercifully it didn’t break, but now Sasha’s tears began in earnest.

  “Mommy,” she sobbed as if her baby heart were breaking. Ryan grimaced. It probably was. Her chin wobbled, soft dark curls clung to her forehead and her tiny hands twisted together.

  One of his staff members began discussing a difficult problem. Ryan couldn’t concentrate. “Hold on,” he said, set down the receiver and started toward Sasha. Before he could reach her, the doorbell rang.

  He clamped his lips down on the curse waiting to slip out. What else could go wrong today? he wondered, then mentally banished the question. He didn’t need to tempt fate to try harder to mess things up. Life was complicated enough.

  He picked up the phone. “I’ll call you back,” he said and hung up before hearing a reply, then turned to Sasha. “We’ll talk about your problem in a minute. I have to get the door.”

  The little girl sniffed. “Mommy,” she whispered.

  Ryan swallowed another oath. How was he supposed to tell a toddler that neither her mother nor her father was going to come home? For the thousandth time in less than a week, he cursed his brother for making him the sole guardian of his only child.

  He crossed the wood floor of the foyer and jerked open the front door. “What?” he demanded.

  A young woman stood on the porch and smiled at him. “Hi, Mr. Lawford, I’m Cassie Wright. We met after the funeral, but I don’t expect you to remember me.”

  She carried two bags of groceries in her arms, one of which she thrust at him. He had a brief impression of average if pleasant features, chin-length thick, dark hair and big eyes.

  “It’s been nearly a week,” she said as she stepped past him into the house. “I figured you would probably be pretty frustrated about now. Sasha’s a sweet kid, but the terrible twos are called that for a reason. I knew you didn’t have any kids of your own. Your brother’s wife talked about you some when she was at the school. So here I am.”

  She’d kept moving during her speech, and by the end she was standing in the center of the kitchen, surveying the disaster that had once been a pleasantly decorated room. Dishes and microwave-safe containers filled the sink, along with every inch of counter space. There were spills on the floor from his attempts to feed Sasha at the table, before he’d figured out that she was too small and, despite her claims to the contrary, really did need her high chair.

  Cassie Wright turned in a slow circle, then faced him. “I brought food, but a cleaning crew would have been a better idea.”

  Ryan didn’t like feeling inadequate, but he was not equipped to take care of a child. “It’s been a difficult few days.”

  “I’m sure.” Cassie’s friendly expression softened into sympathy. She set her bag of groceries on a chair, which, except for the floor, was about the only free space.

  He looked at her, then at the bag in his arms, then back at her. “Who are you and why are you here?”

  Before she could answer, he heard a soft shriek from the hallway, followed by the sound of small feet racing toward the kitchen. “Cassie!” Sasha called in obvious pleasure. The toddler barreled into the room as fast as her short legs would allow. She threw herself at the strange woman.

  “Hey, Munchkin,” Cassie said, crouching down to collect the child in her arms. She straightened and hugged Sasha close to her chest. “I’ve missed you. How are you doing?”

  Sasha gave her a fierce hug, then rested her arm around Cassie’s neck and gave her a wide grin. “Me help Unk Ryan.”

  Cassie looked at him. “Uh-oh. Sasha’s heart is in the right place, but her helping tends to create disasters. You have my sympathy.”

  “The fax machine needs it more. She tried to feed it peanut butter.”

  Cassie winced. “Did you do that?” she asked Sasha as she wiped drying tears from her face. “Did you give the fax machine dinner?”

  Sasha nodded vigorously. Her dark curls danced with her every movement. “He hungry. Me help.”

  Ryan stared at the young woman in front of him. She was comfortable with Sasha, and the kid obviously knew her. So he was the only one out of the loop. “Who are you?” he asked.

  Cassie set Sasha on the floor, then smoothed her palms against her skirt. She took two steps closer to him and held out her right hand. “Sorry. I should have been more clear. I’m Cassie Wright. I’m a teacher at Sasha’s preschool. I’ve known her for about a year, and she’s been in my class for the past six months.” She met his eyes and her voice softened. “I’m so sorry about your recent loss. I thought you might be having some trouble adjusting to life with a two-year-old, so I came by to see what I could do to help.”

  The feeling of relief was instant. He gripped her hand as if it were the winning lottery ticket, and he smiled at her. “This is great,” he told her. “You’re right. I don’t have any kids, and I don’t have any experience with them. I’ve been trying to do work, but Sasha follows me everywhere. It’s nearly impossible to get anything done.”

  He released her hand and glanced at his watch. “I need to fax something to Japan. It’s already late and I have to scan it into the computer before I can send it. Would you watch her? Just for a couple of minutes. I’ll be right back.”

  He edged out the door as he spoke, then disappeared into the hall before she could refuse him.

  His prayers had been answered, he thought as he saved the scanned documents into a file, then prepared to send them via modem. If Cassie whatever-her-last-name-was knew Sasha, she could be a great resource. He hadn’t yet figured out what he was going to do about his niece. While he wanted to get back to San Jose as fast as he could, he didn’t think that was going to be possible for a while. As if his own company didn’t keep him busy enough, he ha
d John and Helen’s affairs to settle. He had to decide what to do about the big Victorian house his brother and sister-in-law had recently purchased. There were a thousand details he had neither the time nor the inclination to take care of. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone else.

  Cassie could help him with Sasha. Maybe she could baby-sit, or recommend someone who could move in full-time. That was what he needed, he decided. A nanny. Like Mary Poppins.

  Thirty minutes later, Ryan made his way back to the kitchen. He wasn’t ready to face Sasha again, but he knew he couldn’t leave her alone with Cassie forever, despite the temptation to do just that.

  Sasha sat at her high chair. As she was literally up to her elbows in a red sauce, she’d obviously just finished eating an early dinner. Cassie stood with her back to him as she bent over to fill the dishwasher.

  He froze in the doorway. While he’d seen this exact domestic scene a thousand times on television or at the movies, he’d never experienced it in real life. There was something vaguely unsettling about having a woman and a child in his house, he thought. Of course this wasn’t his house. If anyone was out of place in this scenario, it was he.

  Cassie glanced up and saw him. “Did you get your papers sent?”

  “Yeah. Thanks for looking after her.”

  As he glanced at Sasha, she gave him a big smile, then picked up her plastic-covered cup in both hands and carefully brought it to her lips. She managed to drink without pouring more than a couple of teaspoons. He winced quietly as he remembered the first time he’d given her a glass of milk…in a real glass…about ten ounces. The cold liquid had ended up down the front of her pajamas, over and in his shoes, not to mention coating the kitchen floor. He’d cleaned up as best he could, but his shoes still smelled funny.

  Sasha set her cup back on her high chair tray and wiggled in her seat. “Down,” she announced.

  “Okay, but let’s get you cleaned up first,” Cassie told her. She dampened a paper towel and wiped off Sasha’s face and hands. Then she untied the bib and set the little girl on her feet.

  Sasha dashed over to him and wrapped her arms around his right leg and stared up at him. “Esghetti.”

  “For dinner?” he asked. When she nodded he glanced at Cassie. “I’m amazed. That was her request.”

  Cassie grinned. “Don’t be too impressed. I feed her lunch nearly every day, so I know what she likes. It was just a matter of picking it up at the store.”

  “I see.” He untangled himself from Sasha and walked to the kitchen table. Cassie had cleared off the chairs. He took the closest one and indicated that she should take the one across from his.

  She crossed the floor toward the seat, pausing long enough to collect Sasha in her arms and bring her along, too. When Cassie sat down, she settled the toddler in her lap.

  There was a moment of silence as he tried to figure out where he should begin. “This has been very difficult,” he started, then paused as he wondered if she would think he was talking about his dealings with Sasha or the death of his brother.

  “I’m sure it has been,” Cassie said, before he could explain himself. “Everything was so sudden. The police came to the school to tell us. I took Sasha home with me those first couple of nights, until you could get here.”

  He blinked at her. He’d never given it a thought, he realized. When he’d received the phone call informing him that his brother and sister-in-law had been killed, he’d had to wrap up as much work as possible, then drive over to Bradley. Sasha hadn’t been at the house when he’d arrived. Until she’d been placed in his arms, he’d nearly forgotten about her existence.

  “The woman who returned her to me was…” His voice trailed off.

  “My aunt Charity,” Cassie said. “I was working that day.” Her gaze settled on his face. “You didn’t visit your brother and his family much.”

  He couldn’t tell if she was stating a fact or issuing a judgment. “I run a large company in San Jose,” he told her, even as he wondered why he cared what a nursery school teacher thought of him. “I have a lot of responsibilities.”

  She wrapped her arms around Sasha and kissed the top of the girl’s head. “This pretty girl looks small on the outside, but she’s going to be one of your biggest.”

  He didn’t want to think about that. A child. “I’m not parent material,” he said. “I don’t know what John was thinking.”

  “You’re family,” Cassie reminded him, as if that explained everything. “Who else would he trust with his only daughter?”

  “Someone who knew what he was doing. Someone in a position to take care of his child.” Anyone but him. He didn’t want the responsibility. Worse, he didn’t know how to handle it. Work was his life and he preferred it that way. If only John had left a dog instead of a kid, things would have been a whole lot easier.

  “You’ll struggle at first,” Cassie said, “but that won’t last long. They look really breakable, but actually children are tough. All they need are attention and love.” Her mouth curved up in a smile. “The occasional meal helps, too.”

  “What this child needs is a nanny.” He looked at her. “Would your aunt be interested in taking on the job for a couple of months? I’ll be in Bradley about that long. I have to straighten out John and Helen’s affairs while I’m figuring out what to do with her.” He nodded at Sasha, who was happily playing with a spoon she’d discovered on the table.

  “Aunt Charity isn’t the nanny type.” Cassie studied him for several seconds. “If you’re only talking about a couple of months, I could do it.”

  His luck wasn’t usually that good, he thought. A young woman who worked in a preschool and was familiar with Sasha. What could be better? “You already have a job,” he reminded her.

  “I know, but because the school year has just started, my boss won’t have any trouble getting replacements for me.” She smiled at what he guessed was his look of confusion. “The university has a large child development department, and all the students are required to work several hours a week with young children. The preschool always gets many more applicants than we have openings. The students work part-time so it takes two or three of them to make up for one full-time employee, but with the semester just beginning, that isn’t a problem.”

  Perfect, he thought. “When can you start?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “You’ll want to check my references, first. I don’t have a formal résumé with me, but I can leave names and phone numbers with you.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Ryan knew he was going about this all wrong. He knew he had to check on Cassie Wright and make sure she would take good care of Sasha. He just didn’t have any experience in this sort of thing. “Assuming everything checks out, can you begin in the morning?”

  She thought for a moment. “I’ll have to make some arrangements with the preschool, but I believe that would be fine. Do you want me to live in, or just work days?”

  “Live in. The house is huge and there are several guest rooms. You can have your pick and—”

  Sasha threw back her hands and released her spoon. The piece of flatware sailed straight into the air. Cassie reached up and grabbed it. As she did so, he caught a glint of light from her left hand. A ring. He should have known. Of course it wasn’t going to be this easy to solve his child-care problems.

  “I doubt your husband will appreciate you staying in the house,” he said, trying not to sound like a kid who just had his bike stolen. “Perhaps you can fill in during the day until I can find someone to live in.”

  Sasha wiggled to get down and Cassie helped her to her feet, then smoothed her skirt back in place. She frowned. “I’m not married.”

  He pointed to her left hand. “You’re wearing a ring.”

  She glanced down, then extended her fingers toward him. “It’s not a wedding band, i
t’s a promise ring. I’m engaged to be engaged. Joel and I have been dating for years.”

  As she looked to be in her early twenties, he doubted it had really been years. A promise ring. He’d never heard of that. He leaned forward to study the slender band. There was a mark in the gold. “It’s scratched,” he said, pointing to the indentation. “Did you hit it?”

  “It’s not a scratch, it’s a diamond.” She sighed. “Well, a diamond chip, rather than a real stone.”

  He leaned a little closer, then took her hand in his so he could study the diamond chip. It looked like a speck of lint, but if he turned her hand back and forth it almost caught the light. Looked like Joel was not much of a spender.

  “It’s very nice,” he told her.

  “Thank you.”

  He released her hand and straightened in his chair. “If you’ll leave me the phone number of your employer, I’ll call and check the reference. Then I can phone you later and confirm our arrangements for tomorrow.”

  He sounded so formal, Cassie thought as she resisted the urge to smooth her hands against her thighs. Her fingers were still tingling from where he’d touched her. She didn’t want Ryan to guess that she was nervous. Fortunately he couldn’t hear the jackhammer pounding of her heart or know that her knees were practically bouncing together like bowling balls.

  She’d never seen a man like him before. Of course she wasn’t around that many men in the course of her day. Harried fathers picked up their children from the preschool. There was the UPS driver, although the new one was a woman. All in all, except for her sister’s husband and Joel, she lived in a world of women.

  Ryan was talking about the terms of her employment. He’d named a generous salary that far exceeded what she earned at the preschool, and was explaining that because her employment was for only two months there wouldn’t be a benefit package, although he would be happy to reimburse her for her medical coverage during that time.