“Annie, what a wonderful picture of a castle. It looks like you’ve had a lot of practice drawing,” she said quietly as the little girl looked up and nodded hello before continuing with her task.
Sam stopped dead still at the sound of Rachel’s voice and jerked up his head. He obviously hadn’t even known that she’d entered the house. His hair was mussed, his shirt collar was crooked from Janey’s tugging, his white shirtsleeves were rolled up. A tiny sock dangled from his fingers.
“You’re early,” he admonished softly.
“And you agreed that it was my job to get the kids dressed in the morning. Didn’t we spend all of yesterday establishing what my responsibilities would be?” she asked, shaking her head and smiling down at him. “Hey, Zach, let’s get those clothes on, tiger,” she said, sinking down cross-legged on the floor and holding her hands out to the little boy. “Then we can get right to the good stuff—food and toys.”
Zach smiled broadly. He rolled onto his tummy and struggled to his feet, one sock on and one sock off, tumbling toward Rachel.
“Toss me those overalls, all right, Sam?” she said.
Sam sat up. He slid Janey around till she was resting against his hip and raked one hand back through his hair to straighten it. “It’s your first day on the job, Rachel. There’s no point in overdoing it right away. I was supposed to have everything rolling along before you got here.” He pasted a stern look on his face and left the overalls lying on the floor.
Janey grabbed a bit of his hair and tried to shove it in her mouth. Rachel wasn’t sure how, but Sam managed not to laugh. He continued to give her that disappointed parent look.
Catching Zach up in her arms when he teetered close, Rachel rolled her eyes at Sam. “Sam, I’m sorry I spoiled your plans, and that’s very generous of you to want to make things easy for me my first day, but I grew up with four younger brothers and sisters, in case you’ve forgotten. I think I can manage the snaps and buckles on a pair of overalls. Now give me those clothes so I can get everyone fed and you can get off to work. By now Hal’s probably driving the temp insane by messing around with the accounting figures. You’ll need to get down there and soothe everyone’s ruffled feathers.”
A small silence ensued, then Sam shrugged, climbing to his feet.
“All right, I’m off, but if you need me you’ve got the number. Don’t overdo things. I don’t expect you to become a slave, I can handle the tougher stuff once I get home and-”
“Sam.”
He leaned down toward her. She snapped Zach’s overalls and dropped a kiss on the little boy’s hair before standing him on his feet. Then she turned to Janey who was shifting from one foot to the other, struggling to get close enough for her own kiss.
“What, Rachel?”
“I don’t blow away every time the wind whistles, Sam. And I’m not a teenage girl anymore. When I say I’ll do something, I follow through, whether we’re talking about dancing, working, or spending my days with three adorable children. You can count on that. You don’t have to coddle me, or worry. Now, do you think I can get these babies fed, Sam, or do you have any more instructions you need to give me?”
Sam looked down at Rachel and at Janey. His younger daughter now had her palms on the floor, her little bottom in the air as she peeped through her legs at the world turned upside down. “Just one,” he replied, clearing his throat and raising one brow as he gave Rachel an apologetic smile that sent her heart into a faster rhythm. “The diapers—they’re in the front closet.”
Laughing, Rachel rose to her feet and picked up Janey. “Come on, munchkin, say goodbye to your daddy and let’s go get you dry.”
It took a few minutes, but finally Sam had kissed all his children, hugged them twice and stepped to the door.
“Thank you, Rachel,” he said, pausing in a stream of sunlight that filtered into the big kitchen.
Rachel sucked in air. Even though the sunlight killed her ability to make out his features, she could still see the silhouette of a long, tall man. She still felt that husky voice resonate throughout her body. Sam’s gentle words and concern struck a chord deep within Rachel, and she found herself wondering what it would be like to push close to him the way Janey had done. She hoped he couldn’t see the telltale signs of heat that crept up her face at the thought.
“We’ll see you at the end of the day, Sam. Don’t worry,” she said as calmly as she could. Carefully she closed the door, not waiting for him to do so.
Sam was gone now. She could breathe—and survive the rest of the day.
“Turning away from the door, Rachel proceeded to do what she’d spent a lifetime doing. She cared for the children in her charge—and she pushed Sam as far back in her thoughts as he would go.
She made pancakes and topped them with cherry eyes and a pineapple smile. She sang songs and built houses out of blocks, she changed diapers and wiped sticky fingers. She played finger games, and with the exception of hand washing, Janey and Zach seemed completely delighted with this new lady who’d infiltrated their home.
Annie, however, was another story.
The little girl who’d enjoyed pizza the night before, now sat silent and rigid. She shook her head when Rachel invited her to join in a game. She turned toward the window every few minutes.
“It’s too bad that school let out for the summer last week. You could have met some other kids,” Rachel said. “But once you’ve had a day or two to get your bearings, we’ll round some people up and invite them over. I know most of the kids in this town. Would that be all right?”
Annie took a tiny nibble of the macaroni and cheese Rachel had made for lunch. “I guess so, thank you,” she said in a tiny little voice that barely carried across the kitchen.
More silence.
Annie shifted on her chair. She looked out the window again.
Rachel managed not to sigh. She thought a minute, then sank down on her knees next to the little girl’s chair. “Annie, your daddy might be having lunch right now. Would you like to call the lumberyard just to say hello?”
It was as if a small candle lit up behind Annie’s eyes. She pressed her hands together and looked up at Rachel. “Yes, please. Could I talk to Daddy just for a moment, do you think? He might need me for something.”
Smiling her agreement, Rachel picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. She handed the receiver to Annie, then moved away to give the child some privacy.
It was such a small thing, letting her call her dad, but it seemed to make a difference. Out of the corner of her eye Rachel could see Annie’s hands fluttering around excitedly. She could hear the animation in her voice.
The terror and heartbreak that child must have endured when she’d realized that her mother had walked away from home—Rachel knew she couldn’t even begin to imagine it. Like the twins, she’d been younger when her father had left. Her pain had been real when she’d finally realized she’d been abandoned, but it had come after the fact, when she could no longer even remember the man who’d fathered her. She hadn’t gone to bed happy and awakened to find her world dissolving. Not like Annie.
“He was very happy to hear from me,” Annie said when she hung up. “Daddy misses me when he’s away.” The girl’s eager little face, her eyes that were suddenly shining, had Rachel blinking to see through the mist that drifted across her eyes.
No wonder Sam was so concerned and had worked so hard to lure her away from the lumberyard. Watching Annie now, feeling her own heart break for this child who’d had the magic snatched from her life, Rachel knew what Sam must have suspected. Having witnessed firsthand this little girl’s grief, she had to do whatever was possible to turn that sadness to smiles. It was just the way things were and always had been with her. She couldn’t ignore a child in need.
She couldn’t ignore Sam, either. Frowning, Rachel shoved that nasty little suspicion to the back of her mind. It wasn’t true, of course. She had walked away from the man many times. But he had never pursued her in the
past. He had never had a reason to do so before. Now he did. Now he needed her—for his children’s sake. And she had darn well better remember that that was the only reason she was here. He’d sworn off love. She couldn’t blame him. He’d found a goodbye note in the dark and had been left to raise his children alone.
And she had a job to do, that was all. Once she’d helped Annie and the twins to resume normal, healthy lives, her task would be over. She’d be a small speck of history to the Graysons. Until then, all of her attention, every scrap, had to be centered on this woeful little girl dangling her legs from the kitchen chair and on those two sweet babies upstairs. Not because she’d been hired to do so, but because her heart would let her do no less.
“You didn’t have any dessert,” she said gently, smiling at Annie who was still glowing a bit. “Do you think you might find a place to fit a scoop of chocolate ice cream now? I’m sure I saw a bowl of ice cream in the freezer that told me it belonged to Annie Grayson. Let’s peek inside the freezer and see if it’s still there.”
Other children might have giggled. Other children might have rolled their eyes and said, “Oh, Rachel, don’t be silly.”
Annie didn’t giggle or roll her eyes. She looked up at Rachel, studying her. Then, “I think I might like to have a bowl of ice cream now, thank you,” she said as she seated herself obediently at the table. “Daddy said he will be home very soon. Just a few more hours.”
A sigh simmered deep within Rachel’s consciousness. This little girl needed so much. So very much. But Annie wouldn’t recover what she had lost in a single day. And as the little girl had indicated, this day was almost gone. Sam would be here in a few hours. With his let’s-make-love voice, his bedroom blue eyes.
A churning began deep within Rachel. She watched as Annie finished her ice cream and then quietly carried her dishes to the sink, standing on tiptoe to carefully place them down into the basin.
“Maybe you’d like to help me make dinner for your daddy again. Do you think he’d like that?” she asked.
Annie looked back over her shoulder and nodded. “Yes, please.”
Rachel wondered what it would be like to hear Annie laugh or to see her get so excited that she forgot to be polite. She wondered what the sound of Annie and Sam’s laughter joining together would sound like—and found she wanted to know.
“I know what we’ll do,” she said to Annie. “Let’s see if there’s a cookbook around here. You pick something out while I go wake up your brother and sister. Then we’ll come back in here and make an incredible, wonderful mess. How about it?”
Annie opened her mouth and Rachel knew that the child was going to volunteer to get the twins out of bed herself. Quickly Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t have a clue as to what your dad would like, and I really do need your help, Annie,” she said. “Maybe something for dessert. You know him better than I do. You’ll be able to find something special.”
Rachel was pretty sure she looked calm on the outside, but as she located a cookbook for Annie and went to get the twins up from their nap, she couldn’t keep from looking at the clock eating up the minutes.
Time was passing. Sam would be here shortly. Surely this wasn’t anticipation she was feeling. Of course not. She focused on the weekend ahead, concentrated on making plans, charting out a day with some friends.
Then, coming into the twins’ bedroom, Rachel shunted even those thoughts away. She picked up a sleepy-eyed, yawning Janey and smiled, hugging her close.
“Come on, buttercup. Time to rise and count your toes.”
Janey managed a sleepy giggle. Zach rolled over, his hair sticking up at all angles. He promptly reached down and grasped his foot, bringing it close to his face.
“Toes,” he declared proudly. “Dee?”
“Your daddy’s not home yet, Zach,” she told him. But of course, he will be. Soon, Rachel admitted again, finally acknowledging what had been bothering her all afternoon. The fact was that she could face these little darlings all day, every day, and was glad to do so. She would willingly stay with them long enough to help, without letting them become too dependent on her. But the thought of being near their father was something else entirely. It was past time to stop acting like a coward and learn to deal with Sam as a friend and an employer, nothing more.
Sam had blown back into her life like an unsettling wind, knocking her off course. The fact that this strong man had faced so much, that his ego had been torn and he’d come back fighting, earned him her reluctant admiration. But his willingness to sacrifice his pride and crawl on his knees to a woman who had once scorned him, and all for the sake of his children, that kicked her straight in the heart. And she had yet to adjust, to right herself and find her way back to her own path.
But she would. She definitely would—had to.
She’d grown up, away from Sam. There were other men in her life now. And love could grow out of something like her friendship with Don. It didn’t have to start out as this devastating flame and frost that had always colored her relationship with Sam. She didn’t have to let herself be pulled in by those sensations this time. Her path and Sam’s were different—separate.
There. Rachel moved into the kitchen with the kids and gave the twins a set of spoons to play with. By the time she and Annie had taken the cake out of the oven, Rachel had decided that this situation could work. Sam was her employer. That was all. All she had to do was follow the basic rules of business.
But when the doorbell rang a bit later and she faced the messenger bearing a bouquet of larkspur and Queen Anne’s lace, Rachel realized that the basic rules of business just didn’t apply to her and Sam.
She was still foolish enough to feel touched by his gift. He was still uncertain that he could count on her to stay. Rachel wished she could reassure him in some way, but to do that she would have to get close to Sam—and that just wasn’t going to happen. Not in this lifetime.
~ ~ ~
The house was just ahead. Sam could feel himself tightening up as he got closer, wanting to rush. A vision of Rachel waiting on the porch, a baby on either hip and Annie at her side, pushed into his consciousness.
“Hell,” Sam said, forcing the thought aside as he made himself slow down. The woman had only been at his house a few hours and already he was casting her in a role she wasn’t meant to play. A role he wouldn’t want her to play, he reminded himself.
If he was eager to get home, it was only because he’d missed his children. The bride of Frankenstein could have been caring for them and he’d be just as eager to get there. Heck, in that case, he’d have been there hours ago rescuing them, Sam thought with a smile.
And Rachel was just his employee. He paid her to be there, and he had darn well better remember that and keep his ludicrous daydreams in check.
But when he arrived, reality wasn’t as far off base from his vision as he would have expected. Annie was on the porch waiting, and Rachel was hot on the trail of Zach who had wriggled out through the half-open door. Janey had a death grip on the tail of Rachel’s blouse which had come untucked.
Rachel was hauling Zach up into her arms and grasping Janey’s hand at the same time, just as Sam stepped up onto the porch.
“Nice day?” he drawled, looking at the way Rachel’s hair had come loose from the ribbon that was tying it back.
She blew out hard, sending a loose lock hanging over her forehead to fly up in the air and descend—right where it had been resting before. Her jeans had a rip in the knee where one hadn’t been that morning .Her white blouse had lost a button and sported tiny fingerprints of various colors near the waist. But standing there barefoot, holding on to his children, she was more beautiful than Sam had ever seen her.
“Nice day,” she said, following his perusal of her with her own eyes. “We were painting,” she explained.
“Hor-sey,” Janey added, looking at Rachel.
Rachel looked down at the hole in the knee of her pants and blank spot where her b
utton had been. “A lame horse,” she agreed with a smile and a shrug. “What can I say?”
She didn’t have to say anything. It was clear that his babies had enjoyed themselves and that Rachel, while she looked disheveled, seemed undaunted and unfrazzled by her day.
It was only when he moved to take Zach from her arms, and his own hand barely brushed her arm, that she jerked back. But not soon enough for him. He had felt her warmth. He could see the way her breathing had kicked up faster. So this was going to be awkward every day, was it? This meeting over and over?
“I’ll repay you for your losses,” he said gruffly, indicating her jeans with a wave of his hand.
Rachel shook her head violently. “Hey, I’m a big girl, Sam. I make my own choices. If I end up with a rip here and there, it’s my own responsibility.” He started to open his mouth again, but she shook her head.
“Dinner will be ready in two minutes,” she said, turning back toward the door. “Annie helped make it.”
Annie, who had been hovering at his side the whole time, nodded at Rachel’s words. “No rutabagas, Daddy,” she announced. “I made a cake.”
She was sticking closer to him than most children would, but then what had he expected? She’d only been here two days, she hadn’t had time to even begin to adjust. But Rachel had been sensitive to her needs today. She’d let his child call him at work, she’d paid attention to the panic signals his daughter was sending, and she hadn’t berated Annie for her fears. It would take time, but he had every hope that Rachel would finally breathe contentment back into his child. For that he owed the lady big-time. By the time Annie was on the road back to normal, Sam wondered how deep his indebtedness and his gratitude would go. He wondered if every day when he came home, Rachel was going to send a shot of whiskey-hot desire coursing through his veins. Hell, he hoped not.
Babies and a Blue-eyed Man Page 6