by Irene Hannon
He swallowed hard and squeezed her shoulder. “Not if I can help it.”
“But stuff…happens, you know? Like today, with Clare. I mean, she’s okay and all, but what if she wasn’t?”
That thought had occurred to Adam, as well. And it left him with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. So he couldn’t very well try to placate Nicole. “Then we’d have to do the best we could. We’d have to take care of each other. We’ll have to do that anyway, when she leaves at the end of May.”
“I know. But that’s months away. And we can still be friends with her even after she leaves, can’t we?”
“Of course.”
Nicole frowned. “But it won’t be the same. I’ll miss her a lot.”
Adam didn’t know how to respond to that. Because he was beginning to feel exactly the same way.
Things were not looking good. Clare added the columns of figures once more—with the same discouraging results.
With a sigh, she reached for her mug of tea and took a fortifying sip. Although she was doing her best to stretch her limited resources over the six months of her nanny job, she’d already blown her budget. Living rent free helped immensely, but the root canal and some major repair work on her car had put a huge dent in her bank account. If everything went smoothly for the next three and a half months, she might be able to eke it out. But she couldn’t count on that. Another emergency could easily arise.
And if it did, where could she turn for help? She couldn’t ask A.J. Her youngest sister had lived on subsistence wages for years. And Morgan was having her own financial problems. So she needed to build up her cash reserves in case of another emergency.
Which left her only one option.
“I saw Clare at Wal-Mart yesterday.”
Adam continued writing in Adele’s chart. “Is that right?” he replied distractedly.
“She works too hard, Adam. You should talk to her. Between taking care of Nicole and cooking your meals, not to mention helping out at church and at Nicole’s school on a regular basis, I’m sure she has her hands full. She doesn’t need another job.”
Adam stopped writing and looked up at Adele. “What did you say?”
“I said I think you should talk to her about taking on this second job.”
Adam had only half listened to Adele’s chitchat, but now he tried to focus on what she’d said. She’d mentioned running into Clare at…Wal-Mart. And what was this about a second job?
“I’m sorry, Adele. Did you say Clare had a second job?”
She raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“Hmm. Clare’s working at Wal-Mart.”
Adam frowned. “How long has that been going on?”
“Just a couple of weeks, from what I could gather. I asked why she didn’t just substitute teach, but apparently she’d have to get different credentials in North Carolina.”
Adam’s frown deepened. Since early February, things had gone crazy at the office as a flu epidemic swept the county. He’d been getting home far later than usual, too exhausted to do anything but wolf down his dinner and head for bed. He and Clare had hardly exchanged more than a few words all month. So he had no idea what had prompted her need for a second job. But he intended to find out tonight.
“Thanks for letting me know, Adele. I’ll definitely look into it.”
“Good. I hate to see her wearing herself down.”
Adam jotted down a prescription, then tore it off and handed it to Adele. “This should help those sinuses.”
She tucked it into her purse and rose. “You’re a good doctor, Adam. I’m sure this will solve my problem. Now take care of your nanny.”
“Clare, could I talk with you for a minute?”
At the serious tone in Adam’s voice, Clare turned from the sink. “Is everything all right?”
“That’s what I’d like to find out. Is Nicole doing her homework?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s sit for a minute, okay?”
Clare wiped her hands on the dish towel and carefully draped it over the sink. Something in Adam’s tone put her on alert, and when she joined him at the kitchen table a moment later she gingerly eased into a chair and folded her hands nervously in front of her.
For a moment he didn’t speak, and she studied his face. He looked bone weary, she thought. Which wasn’t surprising, since he’d put in a ridiculous number of hours over the past month. While the workload was finally beginning to abate, the pressures and demands had left their mark. The fine lines that radiated from the corners of his eyes had deepened, and the smudges beneath them spoke of late hours and interrupted sleep. The fingers he’d wrapped around his coffee cup seemed slightly unsteady, as well.
“I saw Adele today,” he said at last.
“Is she okay?”
“Yes. But she passed on some disturbing information. She told me that you had taken a part-time job.”
Clare frowned, momentarily caught off guard. “Yes. But I only work nine to two, four days a week. We agreed that my time was my own while Nicole was in school.”
“It is. But I didn’t expect you to go out and get another job.”
She sent him a curious look. She hadn’t purposely kept the part-time job a secret. But with Adam’s hectic schedule, there’d been no real opportunity to bring it up. She wasn’t sure why it was such a big deal. Unless he felt awkward about having his nanny work at Wal-Mart.
“I would have done substitute teaching if I had the right credentials for North Carolina,” she said. “But since I didn’t, this was the most convenient thing I could find. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
Now it was his turn to frown. “This isn’t about me, Clare. You could never do anything to embarrass me. I’m more concerned about why you felt the need to take on another job. It seems to me we keep you plenty busy here at the house, and I know you help out at church and at Nicole’s school. I don’t mean to pry into your personal business, but have you had some sort of financial emergency? Because if that’s the case, I’d certainly be happy to help.”
Although she was touched by Adam’s generosity, accepting such an offer wouldn’t be in keeping with the spirit of Aunt Jo’s will. Besides, it was important to her to be self-reliant. She drew a deep breath, then looked directly into his eyes. “I appreciate that, Adam. But there’s no immediate emergency. I just want to build up a little reserve. The root canal and car repairs pretty much wiped me out.”
Adam took a moment to digest that. When they’d first met, Clare had implied that she’d fallen on tough financial times. But apparently they were even tougher than he’d imagined. Which explained why she was so in need of Jo’s legacy. And why she’d taken on a second, low-paying job. Yet at one time she’d obviously enjoyed a far different lifestyle. What had happened to reduce her to such a desperate state? It wasn’t any of his business, of course. And she hadn’t offered details. But he wanted to know.
“You can tell me to mind my own business if you want to, and I won’t be offended,” he said slowly. “But what happened, Clare? You obviously weren’t always in such dire straits.”
As she searched his kind, caring eyes, Clare was torn between the need to share her burden and the need to protect Dennis’s memory. She didn’t want anyone to think badly of her husband because he had left her with so little in a material sense. That’s why she’d never revealed her precarious financial situation, even to her sisters. Dennis had loved his family with an intensity that had sometimes taken her breath away. He had done everything he could to provide them with the best of everything. And he’d planned to continue doing so.
He just hadn’t planned on dying.
Clare blinked rapidly, then reached up to brush back a few stray strands of hair that had worked their way loose from her chignon. For more than two long years she’d carried her burden alone, struggling to make ends meet even as she dealt with her grief. There had been times when she’d been utterly discouraged, had
longed for a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Figuratively speaking, anyway, because Clare didn’t cry. She hadn’t shed one tear since the accident. At first she’d been too shocked even to react. Shock had been followed by numbness, which in turn had given way to an emptiness that had left her heart devoid of everything—even tears. Which wasn’t the best way to deal with grief. She knew that. Tears were therapeutic. But she was afraid that if she gave in to her grief she’d sink into a pit of despair from which she would never emerge.
So she’d held her tears inside and somehow managed to find the strength to carry on alone. But she was tired of being alone. Lately she’d felt an almost desperate longing to share her burden with someone. To share what it had been like to wake up one morning and realize that her whole world had changed forever in the blink of an eye. And as she gazed into Adam’s kind, warm eyes, she suddenly knew that he was the one she wanted to share it with.
“It’s kind of a long story,” she said.
“I have all evening.”
“You may be sorry.” Clare tried to smile, but couldn’t quite pull it off.
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, I’ll try to give you the condensed version.” She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, then took a deep breath. “When I was twenty-five, I met a wonderful man named Dennis. He was kind and smart and outgoing, and I fell head over heels in love. We were married a year later. And two years after that we…we had a son.”
“David.” At her startled look, Adam explained. “Nicole told me about him.”
She nodded. “We were so happy! I gave up teaching to be a full-time mom, and Dennis’s star started to rise. Within a few years he had an executive position in public relations with a major agency. I was happy for him because he’d come from a dirt-poor family where no one had ever gotten a college education, and success meant a lot to him. So did the trappings of success. We had a beautiful home in an exclusive suburb of Kansas City, and we sent David to one of the finest schools in the area. We took fabulous vacations, and Dennis lavished us with gifts. We had the best of everything, from clothes to cars to home furnishings.”
Clare paused, and when she spoke again her voice had dropped. “The thing is, Dennis didn’t expect to die. He was young and healthy and had many more years to work. To save. To pay off all our debts. At least that’s what we thought. But the accident changed everything. In every way. They were both…” She paused and sucked in a sharp breath. “They both died,” she said in a choked voice.
Adam looked down at her tightly clasped hands. He ached to reach over and cover them with his own, to comfort her for the loss of her family and her dreams. But he remained still, knowing she had more to say.
“Afterwards, I realized just how deeply in debt we were,” she continued unsteadily. “We had a huge mortgage on the house, and we’d heavily financed the cars…as well as other things. Dennis had some life insurance, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to cover our financial obligations. It was clear that everything would have to go.”
She raised her head and gave Adam an intent, almost fierce look. “But I didn’t really care about those things, anyway. They were important to Dennis, and I understood that, given his background. I grew up on a farm, and while we never lived lavishly, we always had nice clothes and plenty to eat. So I never attached as much importance to material things. It wasn’t hard for me to give them up.”
It was obviously important to her that Adam understand she held nothing against her husband for not providing for her after his death. But Adam wasn’t so generous. A man with a family, who chose to live so close to the edge of financial ruin, should at the very least have considered the possibility of an accident and provided for the welfare of those he loved. Adam had little sympathy for such irresponsibility. But he kept those thoughts to himself.
“So then what happened?” he prompted gently.
“I sold almost everything and moved into an apartment. I knew I’d have to go back to work, so I got recertified as a teacher. I was just starting to substitute teach on a regular basis when Aunt Jo’s legacy fell in my lap. I still have some debts to pay off, and I’d like to establish a little financial reserve. So her bequest was a godsend. I’ll be fine once I can claim it, but in the meantime I need to generate some income. Things are a little…tight.”
He suspected that was a gross understatement. She was clearly living a bare-bones existence, purchasing only the absolute necessities. Yet she truly didn’t seem to mind.
But something didn’t quite make sense, he realized with a frown. “Given your situation, I’m surprised Jo didn’t provide some sort of stipend for you while you worked as our nanny. Sort of an advance against the bequest. She wasn’t the type to ever leave a need unaddressed.”
Clare averted her face. “She didn’t know about the state of my finances. No one does.”
He didn’t have to ask why she’d kept that information to herself. Clare was protecting Dennis’s memory. Which he admired. But loyalty to her late husband wasn’t going to solve her problem. Clearly she needed a temporary job, for her own peace of mind if nothing else. And teaching was out of the question. Still, there had to be something that would make better use of her skills than clerking at the giant discount store.
Suddenly, in a flash, a solution presented itself. He wasn’t sure she’d go for it. But it was certainly worth a try.
“I may have an idea,” he said slowly.
She looked at him curiously but remained silent.
“When Janice has her baby, she’ll be taking six weeks off. The temp I had lined up just fell through, so I’m desperate for a replacement starting next Monday. I only need someone from eight to four, four days a week. Nicole’s gone by seven-thirty, and she could stay at the after-school program for half an hour. You’d still have Wednesdays free to work with the Feed the Hungry program if you wanted. You’d be perfect for the job, Clare.”
She stared at him. Working as a temporary receptionist in Adam’s office was far preferable to stocking shelves at Wal-Mart, but was it somehow violating the spirit of Jo’s legacy?
As if he’d read her mind, Adam spoke. “Jo’s stipulation about pay related to the nanny job,” he pointed out. “If you don’t take the receptionist job, I’ll still have to fill it. I’ll be paying the same salary whether it’s to you or to someone else. And I guarantee you’ll have a great boss,” he added with a grin.
Some of the tension in Clare’s shoulders eased, and she smiled in return. She couldn’t argue with his logic. And it was the perfect solution to her problem. “You’ve convinced me. I accept. But I’ve never done this kind of work before. I hope you won’t be sorry.”
“Not a chance,” he assured her.
Which was true. He already knew Clare was sharp and quick. She’d have the office routine mastered in a couple of days. It was the ideal solution to her problem. And his.
Not to mention the fact that for the next six weeks, he would get to see a whole lot more of his daughter’s nanny.
Chapter Nine
“Adam, may I interrupt you for a moment?”
At Clare’s slightly uncertain voice, Adam paused and glanced up from the chart he was reviewing on his way to the next examining room. “What is it?”
“There’s a Mrs. Samuels on the line. I know you have back-to-back patients today, but I think you might want to take this. I checked her records and saw that she’s diabetic. It sounds like she may be having problems with her insulin.”
The twin furrows in Adam’s brow deepened. “Pull the chart and put her through to my office.”
Clare handed him the chart. “She’s waiting on line three.”
Adam nodded. “Let Mr. Travis know I’ll be right with him.”
A few minutes later, as Adam hung up the phone, he was reminded again of how quickly Clare had become a valued member of his staff. After only two weeks, she had not only learned the office routine, but took appropriate initiative and demonstrated soun
d judgment with patients. Like Janice, she was able to screen calls and quickly discern the true emergencies. Today she’d been right on the money in her assessment of Mrs. Samuels’s condition. The woman had needed immediate attention, and Clare had recognized that.
As he strode down the hall, Adam took a moment to pause at the receptionist’s counter. “Good call,” he told Clare.
She gave him a relieved smile. “Thanks.”
“Mary Beth, could you do a throat swab on Mrs. Reed in room four? We might have a case of strep.”
“Sure thing.”
The two women watched as Adam continued down the hall, then Mary Beth turned to Clare with a grin. “Congrats on the accolades. They were well deserved. I have to admit I was a little nervous about Janice being gone, but you’ve really picked things up quickly. It’s been smooth as silk. Don’t tell Janice I said that, though. She might get nervous about her job.”
Clare laughed. “She doesn’t need to worry. This is very definitely a temporary position for me.”
“I don’t know. Adam runs a tight ship, and he seems really pleased. He might not want to let you go.”
Clare knew Mary Beth was just teasing, so she only smiled in response. But more and more, she was finding herself wishing that were true. And not just about the receptionist job. It was silly, of course. Adam clearly wasn’t in the market for romance. Despite what she’d seen in his eyes the day of the sledding accident, he’d never done anything to suggest directly he had an interest in her beyond the jobs she was doing for him. His primary goal was to establish a close relationship with his daughter. Clare was simply a catalyst for that.
And frankly, even if he was interested in her in a more…personal way, she wasn’t ready to offer him much encouragement. She was trying to work through her guilt over the accident, but it was slow going. And until she resolved that, she couldn’t really mourn the loss of her beloved family. So she wasn’t ready to think about the future yet, either.