“Then it doesn’t count.” Rory looked entirely too self-satisfied as he stared at his sister.
Mitch joined the group, carrying Isabella’s fish. “Well, you may have caught more fish, but Isabella certainly brought in the biggest. Look at this guy.”
He held it up as they all marveled at the fish’s size.
“And don’t forget about me,” Clara said, sounding a bit too smug for her own good. “I caught three fish, all by myself. And...” She held up a string containing four fish. “I managed to snag Louisa’s fish with my net. Three plus one, plus Isabella’s large fish, that’s five. So we win.”
“You said Isabella wasn’t going to catch any,” Rory whined.
“She didn’t.” Clara stared at her brother, hands on her hips. “She was holding Polly’s pole, and Polly and Papa brought it in together. So it was Polly’s fish.”
“Well if Papa helped bring it in, then it was part Papa’s fish. And since Papa helped with Louisa’s fish, that’s part Papa’s fish, too. So we win.”
Rory squared off with his sister, eyes flashing. It always amused Polly to see how the largest sibling rivalry occurred between the twins, but having no experience with twins herself, she had no idea if it was normal or if this rivalry was different.
She was about to step in when Mitch spoke up. “Actually, I helped Louisa lose the fish, and Clara got it, so credit rightly belongs to the girls. As for the fish I helped Polly bring in, I think we can consider it a joint effort, therefore our fish competition is a tie.”
Mitch looked at Polly and gave her a smile that melted her clear to her toes. “No winners, no losers.”
That might be true, but somehow Polly felt as though the greater battle was yet to come. And she wasn’t talking about fish but about the funny flutter in the pit of her stomach. She was committed to these children, but how could she maintain a professional distance when even the simplest look from Mitch sent her insides into a tailspin?
Chapter Eleven
Something had changed in Polly since their time fishing. Mitch couldn’t put his finger on it, but where he’d once been entirely too aware of the warmth emanating from her, he sensed a new coolness, a distance that hadn’t been there before.
He passed her in the hallway as he was about to go tuck the children in.
“Sorry,” she murmured, then started to move in the other direction.
“No, it’s all right. I was just going to...um...” Was he intruding in her territory by taking on more of the parental duties?
Polly smiled. “I’m sure they’ll be glad. I just wanted to get another hot brick for the girls’ bed. It’s chilly tonight. You go on ahead, and I’ll be there shortly.”
The words were polite, but something in her tone sounded forced.
“Are you sure everything’s all right?”
“Of course.”
She didn’t look in his direction as she continued down the hall.
What had changed between them?
He paused at the door to his room. It was ajar, and he was certain he’d closed it before going down to dinner.
Mitch looked inside and saw a note on his pillow. He picked up the paper and stared at its contents. I love and adore you, and I wish we could be together forever.
The note wasn’t signed, but as if to indicate the sincerity of the sentiment, a large heart was drawn around it.
Mitch refolded the note, then stared at it. Was this the reason for Polly’s awkwardness? She’d just declared her love for him and was afraid that he’d reject her?
Mitch sighed. He would reject her, of course. It was the only right thing to do. After all, he was Polly’s employer, and anything between them was inappropriate. Besides...he let out another long sigh. While Polly was attractive in so many ways, there was one way in which they were completely incompatible. Eventually, she would leave. And Mitch was neither inclined to make her stay against her will, nor was he going to give his heart to someone who would take it with her when she went.
Because the truth was, as much as he had gotten to know her, he was beginning to care for her. She was a delightful woman who was opening his heart to so many possibilities, and bringing so much joy to his family. He was certainly grateful to her, but the feelings she stirred in him...he couldn’t act on them. Nor could he be responsible for her acting on hers.
For a woman as young as Polly, what was happening between them was mere infatuation, and as the other romances her family had alluded to had passed, so, too, would this. Polly was right in judging herself too young to settle down. She didn’t know her own heart yet, and he couldn’t afford to give his to someone in that position.
Tucking the note in his pocket, he resolved to speak with her before her infatuation got too out of hand. She had a job to do, and she couldn’t be distracted from caring for his children.
He made his way up the stairs to the attic, where the children were already in their beds.
“Polly went to get us a brick,” Clara said, reaching up to hug him. “She’s so thoughtful like that.”
“Yes, she is,” Mitch said, returning the hug.
“She’s done so much for us.”
“Yes, she has.”
Clara let out a long sigh. “She would make a lovely mother, don’t you think?”
Mitch tried not to groan. Hopefully, Polly hadn’t been letting the children in on her romantic notions.
“I’m sure she would, but it’s a long time before she needs to be thinking about that.” He gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “But until then, she’s doing a wonderful job of taking care of us.”
“She could be our mother.” Clara looked up at him with such hope in her big brown eyes, it nearly broke his heart.
“Polly is your nanny. Nannies aren’t mothers.”
“She could be, if you married her.”
This time, Mitch couldn’t help the groan that escaped his lips. “That’s not going to happen, sweetheart.”
“But why? We like her the very best.”
Mitch closed his eyes. How could he explain the adult feelings that needed to happen between them for romance, let alone a marriage, to work? And how could he explain the utter impossibility of such things happening?
“Because Polly intends to leave at some point and make a life for herself. We can’t keep her forever.”
Clara wrapped her arms around him. “Then we should go with her.”
“We can’t.”
Again, more adult ideas that his daughter couldn’t possibly understand.
“How do we make her stay?”
The helplessness in his daughter’s voice broke his heart. His children were experts at making people leave. They could drive away the most strong-willed nanny. He’d seen them break even the hardest of women. But giving someone with every intention of leaving a reason to stay?
Impossible.
Mitch had learned that the hard way.
And that was a lesson he couldn’t share with his children. They’d already been hurt too much by their mother’s actions. They knew that devastation all too well. But they didn’t know, didn’t understand, that in the beginning, Mitch had done everything he could to make Hattie stay. He’d tried all he could to make her so happy she wouldn’t want to leave. For a long time, he’d thought it his own failure. But now he knew better. There was nothing that could keep a person chained to a life she didn’t want.
And frankly, though he was trying not to care for Polly in that way, he cared for her too much to even try.
“We can’t make her stay,” Mitch told Clara softly. “But we can enjoy the time we have with her and be grateful for all she does for us for as long as we have her.”
Clara squeezed him tighter. “But this feels different in my heart.”
; This felt different in his heart, too. But no matter what he felt in his heart, he couldn’t control what Polly felt in hers.
Mitch pressed another kiss to her head. “Just remember that no matter what, we’ll always have each other.”
He pulled away, then walked toward Louisa’s bed, not wanting to continue the conversation further or to be forced to think about the things he wasn’t ready to confront. He couldn’t make Polly love them, nor could he make her stay. He’d experienced the futility in that.
But the note he’d found on his pillow burned in his pocket. What if she did feel that way? What if those feelings were real?
Mitch sighed. As easy as it would be to think those feelings were real, love wasn’t something that came of a short time together, as they’d only had. He’d seen the damage mistaking infatuation for real love could do. And while this, as Clara said, felt different in his heart, it didn’t feel right to tread on such unsteady ground.
As he sat on Louisa’s bed, she turned toward him. “I hate to say it, but Clara’s right.”
“What do you mean, Clara’s right?”
“You should marry Polly.”
Had someone come and replaced his daughter with someone who only looked like Louisa?
“What makes you say that? I thought you wanted to get rid of her.”
Louisa turned to her side and propped herself up on her elbows facing him. “She’s good for us. The others aren’t fighting as much, and you’re spending more time with us than you ever have. Polly’s the first person I’ve thought actually cared about us.”
Then she let out a long sigh. “I thought she was just playing a game, making us think she cared. But it’s not. It’s real.”
Louisa’s voice quivered, and in the dim light, Mitch thought he saw tears in her eyes. “How did she do it? All this time, I thought...”
She took a deep breath, and he could see her whole body shake with it. “I thought you would never want us, could never love us, but because of Polly, I learned it was a lie. I know you’re mad at her for interfering, but all she wants is the best for us and for us to see the truth.”
Tears ran down his daughter’s cheeks. “Why did we believe the lies for so long? Today was the best day ever.”
He gathered his daughter in his arms. “It’s just the best day so far. We’re going to have many more good days like today, and there will be some bad ones, too. But together, we’re going to make a lot of wonderful memories to make all those bad ones worth it.”
Louisa squeezed him hard. “I would listen to Mother say all those horrible things a thousand times over if it meant having another day like today.”
He squeezed her back, then pulled away. “Why do you call her Mother now? You used to call her Mummy.”
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Because that’s what she wanted to be called. She thought it sounded grander and more sophisticated. I wish I didn’t even have to call her Mother, because she was never really a mother to us.”
It was Mitch’s turn to let out a long breath. “I know that right now you’re feeling the hurt of everything she did to you. But remember that she is the one who gave you life. Without her, you wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t have you. I’m grateful for my time with Hattie because without it, we wouldn’t have our family. Despite everything, I would go through it all over again to be your father.”
Louisa stared at him. “You love us that much? But she was horrible, and we all had to pretend otherwise.”
“But she gave me five wonderful gifts, who are worth everything I had to go through to get them.”
He sensed Polly behind him, even before she was near enough to make her presence known.
“I’m sorry for intruding, but I have a brick for Louisa, and I don’t want to drop it.”
Mitch moved to let Polly do the work she needed. “It’s all right. I should go see to the boys.”
He kissed Louisa on top of the head. “Good night, sweetheart. I love you.”
As he passed Polly, the light was too dim for him to accurately read the expression on her face, but he thought he spied a twinkle in her eyes. He tried not to groan. Did Polly find this amusing?
His children thought they should get married, and she... Once again, he thought of the note. Did she think this was a fun game? Young as she was, she probably didn’t understand the serious implications of romance and of what declaring one’s romantic feelings meant. No wonder she’d had her heart badly broken. If she went chasing after other men in this manner, they were bound to take advantage of her heart being laid bare.
Mitch shook his head. What was he thinking? Surely Polly wasn’t that sort of girl. She’d already made clear her desire not to marry, so of course she wouldn’t easily and readily declare her love for someone.
Mitch bent to tuck Rory in and kiss him good-night.
“Good night, Papa. Clara’s right, you know. Polly would make a fine mother for us all.”
Madness. That’s what this all was. Perhaps it was one of the children’s many pranks.
Which was why, as he stared down at his innocent-looking son, who’d just agreed with his nemesis on something, Mitch had a funny feeling that something far different than romance was in the air.
He knelt beside Rory’s bed. “Since when did you agree with Clara on anything?”
“Since we met Polly,” Rory said. “She’s loads of fun. No one’s ever taken us fishing before, and she didn’t even scream when I threw fish guts at her. Did you see the way she caught them?”
Actually, it had been pretty impressive. Rory had thrown fish guts at Polly to protest her pronouncement that they’d all be getting baths when they returned home. Polly caught them midair, then casually put them in her bag, saying that they’d be a wonderful addition to Maddie’s compost pile.
So what game were the children about now?
“I will admit she did a mighty fine job,” Mitch said, trying to sound like he was being an ally to his son. Perhaps he could ferret out what they were up to.
“And Wheezy isn’t so mean to us anymore. She isn’t so bossy.”
Mitch glared at his son. “You know she doesn’t like it when you call her that.”
“Well she is mean and bossy.”
“I would hate to have to tell Polly that instead of play time, you’re going to have to sit inside writing sentences about loving and respecting your elder sister.”
Rory let out a long sigh. “Fine. I’m sorry I called Louisa Wheezy.”
The exasperated tone indicated he wasn’t sorry at all, except in that he would potentially be punished for it. Typical Rory, and Mitch wasn’t sure exactly how to deal with it. Polly would have an idea.
And just as quickly as the thought floated through his mind, Mitch wanted to snatch it away. She’d been in their lives such a short time, and yet he’d come to depend on her. To rely on her as an ally and for sound advice.
Mitch gave a quick shake of his head. Now was not the time to analyze his feelings about their nanny. However, he did need to disabuse his son of any notion that Polly’s place in their lives was going to be permanent.
“All right, then.” Mitch tucked the covers around his son. “But just so you understand, I am not marrying Polly. She’s going to go off to school to learn how to be a teacher and find her own way in this world. She’s only with us for a short time.”
Rory snorted. “Shows how much you know. Polly doesn’t need to go to school to learn how to be a teacher. She’s already the best teacher we’ve had. Last week, we got to bake cookies. She said it was a math lesson. I say it was a delicious lesson.”
Mitch had to hold in the laugh at his throat. No wonder Rory wanted to keep Polly. If he’d had baking lessons instead of math, he’d have enjoyed school far more himself. Her creative approach to the children’s les
sons was one of the things he appreciated about Polly. But clearly one of the reasons his children were going to be reluctant to let her go.
“Well, good night, then,” Mitch said awkwardly as he bent to kiss his son. He’d lost this round, but eventually, he’d convince the children that keeping Polly wasn’t going to involve matrimony.
Thomas was already asleep when Mitch went to tuck him in. But Mitch kissed him on top of his head anyway. He was really enjoying this bedtime ritual, one more thing he could thank Polly for.
But as he saw Polly and Louisa, heads together, whispering about something, Mitch had to hope that it wasn’t about his marital prospects. One wife had been plenty for him. Whatever attraction he felt for Polly, and she for him, it was a temporary emotion, and once it wore off, Polly’s dreams of living her own life would override any romantic notions she might have had.
He retreated downstairs to the parlor, where he took the note he’d found out of his pocket and tossed it into the fire. Whether it had been from Polly or a trick set up by the children, it didn’t matter. For now, he’d pretend he hadn’t received it. If the children were behind this whole nonsense, they’d see their effort as a failure. If it was Polly, his lack of response would hopefully be all the answer she needed.
* * *
Polly woke with a start. The sun shone brightly in her room, and Isabella was no longer snuggled beside her. How long had she slept?
She dressed hurriedly, then, as she ran down the stairs, quickly rebraided her hair so she could easily tuck it up into a more serviceable style. She’d never been one to oversleep, but she’d spent most of the night tossing and turning. When she’d returned from tucking the children in, she’d found a note from Mitch on her pillow.
You are so beautiful, it had said. I’ve never met a woman as wonderful as you. I love you.
All right, it hadn’t been signed from Mitch, but who else could it be from? No wonder he’d acted so awkwardly toward her last night when they’d tucked the children in. She’d been trying to put distance between them, afraid that the strange attraction she felt for him would somehow be noticed and he’d think her incapable of doing her job.
The Nanny's Little Matchmakers (Love Inspired Historical) Page 13