by Gina Wilkins
He named a figure that made Brynn blink. It was as much as she’d made working full-time for the day-care center in Longview. “I—uh...”
Michelle made a face. “We’re rather desperate, actually. My sister Layla is helping with the children this weekend, but she has to work tomorrow, and Tony can only take another day or two away from his office. I’m not supposed to do much lifting for the next few weeks, and I’ll need some help.”
Tony spoke again. “We know you’ll need a place to stay. Michelle and I are prepared to offer you our guest house for as long as you need it. It’s small but furnished. Michelle’s family’s housekeeper and gardener used to live there, but it’s been unoccupied since they retired several years ago.”
Brynn stared at the earnest-looking couple gazing back at her. “You don’t even know me,” she couldn’t help protesting. “What makes you think I’m qualified to take care of your children?”
Michelle smiled. “We consider ourselves pretty fair judges of character. So do Vinnie and Carla. They like you. And I’ve just seen for myself that you’re wonderful with children.”
Brynn frowned, suddenly remembering exactly what Tony D’Alessandro did for a living. “Have you investigated me?”
Tony’s lips quirked. “I haven’t had time to investigate you. Would I find anything to disturb me if I did?”
“No,” Brynn answered candidly. “Actually, you’d find out that I have a spotless reputation. Quitting my job at the day-care center in Longview and moving here with Kelly is the most impulsive and adventurous thing I’ve ever done.”
Michelle’s smile deepened. “Then there’s no problem, is there?”
“We know things are very unsettled for you right now,” Tony said. “We certainly don’t expect you to make a decision like this on the spot. I’ll be around to help Michelle for a few days. Maybe you’d like to think about it for a while before giving an answer.”
Brynn was tempted to accept immediately. She needed the job, the salary and the place to live. She already liked the D’Alessandro children. It all sounded ideal. But she knew Tony was right about her needing time to think before she agreed. Everything had happened so quickly since the accident.
Little Justin seemed to grow tired of being ignored. He squirmed and mewed, one tiny hand escaping his blanket to flail irritably in the air. Unable to resist, Brynn stood and walked closer to the bed for a better look at the baby.
“He’s so beautiful,” she breathed, staring at perfect pink skin, tight black curls and glittering dark eyes.
Michelle and Tony preened in unison.
“Would you like to hold him?” Michelle asked.
Brynn ached to hold him. “I...”
Before she could politely demur, Michelle had already deposited her son in Brynn’s arms.
Justin blinked up at Brynn as if trying to decide whether this was a new face or one he’d seen before. His mouth pursed, then opened for another experimental squeak.
The feeling of holding this tiny, perfect, brand-new person was staggering. It was as if she were holding pure joy. But the joy was mixed with a touch of old anguish that she would never hold a child of her own.
The door opened and Justin’s siblings burst in, beaming faces bearing evidence of chocolate ice cream. Joe followed a bit more sedately.
Brynn quickly but carefully transferred the baby back to his mother.
“I’d better go check on Kelly again,” she said, suddenly needing to be away from this kind, but somewhat overwhelming, family.
Joe nodded. “I’ll take you to her.”
“We’ll talk again in the next day or two,” Tony said to Brynn, and she knew he was referring to their offer of a job. They would need an answer soon.
She only wished she knew what that answer should be.
“Can I get you anything else to eat, Brynn? Another piece of pie?”
Brynn couldn’t help laughing a little, even as she pressed a hand to her stomach. “Thank you, Carla, but I couldn’t eat another bite.”
“Cappuccino?”
“No, thank you.”
Vinnie looked over the newsmagazine he’d been reading in his easy chair. “Stop pestering the girl, Carla. She’s fine.”
Carla sent her husband a look and reopened the book she’d been reading. “I was just asking.”
“And I appreciate it,” Brynn assured her, smiling.
She glanced down at the notepad in her lap, studying the list she’d been working on. She was trying to make a note of everything she needed to do the next day, from contacting the insurance company again to renting a car to picking up some things for Kelly. Brynn had always been a list maker, a trait Kelly often teased her about.
“Joe said you met Tony and Michelle today,” Vinnie murmured from behind the magazine, his tone studiously casual.
“Yes. The children, as well.”
“Did you like them?”
“They seem like a very nice family.”
“I, er, mentioned to them that you might be available for the nanny job.”
“Now who’s pestering the girl?” Carla asked pointedly.
Vinnie closed the magazine. “I’m only making conversation.”
“You’re prying.”
“I am not prying. If I were prying, I would ask her if Tony had offered her the job. And then I would ask if she accepted.”
“Face it, you’re prying. And I wouldn’t blame Brynn a bit if she told you to mind your own business.”
Brynn cleared her throat. “Um—”
Vinnie blustered. “She’s much too polite to do such a thing. Just as I would not be so rude as to ask about her personal business. Although, if she wanted to talk about it, I certainly wouldn’t stop her.”
“Well, I—”
Carla spoke over Brynn’s attempt to intercede. “Vincent, you’ve done everything but come right out and ask Brynn what she and Tony talked about, and what she’s going to do.”
Brynn tried again. “But I—”
“I asked her no such thing. I only said I’d mentioned her to Tony and Michelle. Nothing more.”
“I know you,” Carla said sternly. “You’ll probe and pry until she tells you everything you want to know. Leave her alone, Vinnie.”
“Excuse me?” Brynn was almost laughing when she finally got their attention. Carla and Vinnie were so funny with their heated fussing, which was so obviously laced with exasperated affection.
When she was certain they were listening to her, she continued, “Michelle and Tony offered me the job, Vinnie. They suggested that I take a little time to think about it before giving them an answer.”
“What’s to think about? You need a job—they have one. My grandchildren are sweet natured and very well behaved. Carla and I believe that you will make a good nanny for them. This job was meant for you, Brynn.”
“That’s for Brynn to decide for herself, Vincent,” Carla chided again.
Brynn spoke quickly, before Vinnie felt obliged to defend himself once more. “I just don’t want to make a decision too quickly after all that’s happened in the past few hours.”
“That sounds like a very sensible idea to me,” Carla said with a stern look at her husband. “Don’t you let this one rush you into anything, cara. You do as you think best.”
Cara. Brynn didn’t speak Italian, but she recognized that word as an endearment. And it warmed her.
Her growing fascination with this family—one member, in particular—was beginning to worry her. Maybe it would be best if she found a job with a large day-care center, rather than taking the job Tony and Michelle had offered. And yet... she had a funny little feeling that Vinnie was right. That Brynn really had been brought to this place at this time for a reason. That she was meant to be nanny to Jason, Carly, Katie and Justin. That her entire life had been forever changed by that one moment of impact on a Dallas highway.
She definitely needed some time to try to think logically before she made any decisions.
He cleared his throat. “Ladies.”
They both looked his way in response to the greeting. Kelly spoke first. “Hi, Dr. Joe.”
“Looks like a florist shop in here.”
She smiled. “The flower arrangements were sent by various members of the Walker and D’Alessandro families. Everyone has been so kind.”
He took in the fine lines carved around her mouth, the purple circles beneath her eyes. “I understand you’ve been in quite a bit of pain today.”
She glanced away and tried to speak nonchalantly. “Some. Not too bad.”
Because he knew she was lying, and suspected that she was trying to convince everyone—maybe even herself—of her courage and strength, Joe spoke gently. “I’m going to increase your pain medication, Kelly. There’s no reason for you to lie here suffering when we have methods available to help you.”
Kelly frowned. “I don’t want to be doped up. I can’t think clearly on medications.”
“What’s to think about?” Brynn asked practically. “It’s not as if you have anything to do at the moment but lie here and heal. You don’t have to think all that clearly to do that.”
Joe chuckled. “Brynn’s exactly right. Let me make you more comfortable.”
Kelly sighed. “Whatever you think best, Doc.”
“I wish all my patients were so cooperative.” Joe glanced at Brynn. “How are you holding up? I heard from the grapevine that Dad made you his personal project today.”
Brynn smiled then, her eyes warming. “Your father has hauled me around most of Dallas today. He helped me obtain a copy of the police report, and then talk to the insurance agent. He helped me arrange for a rental car, and then he took me to a fabulous Italian restaurant for the best lunch I’ve eaten in longer than I can remember...”
“Vittorio’s?”
She nodded. “Vinnie said it’s owned by your relatives. Most of whom I think were there, by the way. He must have introduced me to a dozen people.”
Joe chuckled. “Only a dozen? That’s not ‘most’ of my family, merely a small sampling.”
She widened her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t even imagine having so many relatives.”
“Sometimes it’s great—sometimes it’s a pain in the neck,” he admitted. “Especially when I’ve done something stupid or embarrassing and it seems like half of the state of Texas is talking about it the next morning.”
“Do you often do stupid and embarrassing things, Doc?” Kelly asked with a faint grin.
“Not in years,” he assured her. “I haven’t dared.”
Brynn glanced at her watch. “I have to go. I’m having dinner with Tony and Michelle and I’d like to run back to Vinnie and Carla’s to change first.”
“You’re going to talk to them about the nanny job?” Kelly asked, looking interested.
Brynn nodded. “They’re going to tell me exactly what they need, and I’m taking them a copy of my résumé and references.”
“Surely Michelle isn’t cooking dinner the day she got out of the hospital.”
“She had someone to help her with that this evening,” Joe interjected.
“I suggested we wait until tomorrow,” Brynn added. “I was afraid Michelle wouldn’t be up to company this evening. But she insisted she feels fine, and she and Tony want to hire a nanny as soon as possible.”
“If Michelle says she’s feeling fine, she is,” Joe said with a slight shrug. “She loves nothing more than having people over for dinner.”
Kelly squirmed a bit restlessly in the narrow bed, further evidence of her general discomfort, but she kept her attention on the conversation. “Do you know how to get to their house?” she asked Brynn. “I worry about you driving at night alone in a strange city, especially after...you know.”
Brynn nodded gravely. “Tony’s picking me up. I told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.”
“That was very considerate of him.”
Brynn rose from the chair in which she’d been sitting. “I really should go. Is there anything else you need now, Kelly?”
“No, thanks.”
“I’ll leave you to talk to your doctor, then. And you listen to his advice, you hear?”
“Yes, Mom,” Kelly murmured ironically.
Brynn looked at Joe. “I suppose I’ll be seeing you around,” she said, suddenly awkward in a way she had not been with her friend.
“Yes, you will,” he replied.
He watched her walk out of the room, and his mouth went dry again as his gaze lingered on the gentle sway of her hips.
Sooner than you think, actually.
Brynn had just finished applying lipstick when there was a light knock on her bedroom door. “Brynn, your ride is here,” Carla announced through the wood.
Brynn hurried across the room to open the door, smoothing her loose-fitting red dress and hoping she’d chosen appropriately for the occasion.
Carla seemed to approve. “You look very nice,” she said. “That bright red looks so pretty with your dark hair and fair skin.”
“Thank you. Um, would you mind checking the tie in the back? I had a little trouble with it.”
“Turn around.”
Brynn felt a gentle tugging at the back tie that gave the dress its shape, then a pat on her shoulder.
“There you go,” Carla said. “It looks fine.”
Brynn spun back around, and was surprised to see that Carla’s dark eyes had turned a hit misty.
“It’s almost like having one of my own in the house again,” Carla murmured. “Of course, I had boys, but many’s the time I helped them get ready to go out.”
And then she laughed softly, a bit self-consciously, and patted Brynn’s hand. “Sorry, dear. I was indulging in a moment of nostalgia.”
Brynn couldn’t help thinking again how lucky Carla’s sons were to have had her for a mother.
Brynn wasn’t at all prepared for which of those sons waited for her in the living room.
“Joe! Um...you’re driving me to Tony’s?”
He smiled and nodded. “I volunteered. I’m joining you for dinner, then I’ll entertain the kids while you talk business with Michelle and Tony.”
“You knew this when I saw you at the hospital earlier?”
He nodded.
“And you saw no need to mention it?”
He shrugged, feigning innocence. The expression didn’t work very well for him. “It never came up.”
Brynn was suddenly nervous in a way that she hadn’t been at the mere prospect of having dinner with Michelle and Tony and discussing their job offer. How could she think clearly and logically about a job when all she could concentrate on was how Joe’s sexy smile made his dark eyes gleam so appealingly?
This evening wasn’t turning out at all the way she had expected.
Chapter Five
Because it seemed the most innocuous topic, Brynn kept the conversation on Kelly’s prognosis during the drive.
Joe answered her questions fully and candidly, explaining that it would be weeks before Kelly’s right leg would bear her weight, and then only after intensive therapy and with support. He admitted that there was still a danger of infection from bacteria introduced into the open wounds during the time Kelly was trapped in the wreckage, but he assured Brynn that the antibiotics Kelly was taking, along with aggressive monitoring, minimized the risks as much as possible.
“Will she be able to start school in the fall?”
Joe hesitated so long that she was afraid she already knew the answer by the time he spoke.
“Maybe,” he said cautiously. “Possibly on crutches. That’s only if everything goes smoothly for the next few weeks, of course.”
She nodded gravely, knowing how much Kelly wanted to begin her graduate work. If it meant getting into school
on time, Kelly would cooperate fully with the physical therapy, would probably work hard enough to startle anyone who didn’t know her as well as Brynn did.
If there was one word to describe Kelly Morrison, it was tenacious.
Brynn was dazzled into silence when Joe turned the car through the massive stone gates of what appeared to be a near mansion. A spacious, beautifully landscaped lawn led to a Tudor-style house that looked enormous to Brynn’s eyes. She could just see the corner of a trim little brick guest house that sat behind the main house—the one Tony and Michelle had offered her, most likely.
She couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to live surrounded by such luxury. She told herself not to be swayed by her initial awe of the place. She’d never craved wealth or extravagance, and she didn’t intend to change in that respect now.
She realized that Joe was watching her out of the corner of his eye as he parked in front of the house. Several other vehicles were parked in the spacious driveway, making Brynn wonder exactly how many people were waiting inside. She’d thought the dinner invitation had included just her and Joe.
“This is a lovely home,” she said, feeling the need for a comment. “It’s, um, big.”
“Yeah. Michelle grew up here. Tony moved in when they married eleven years ago. Apparently, they decided to try to fill it up with kids,” he added with a grin.
“It must have been filled with children when Michelle was growing up,” Brynn commented. “She has so many brothers and sisters.”
There was a slight hesitation before Joe replied. “Actually, Michelle was raised as an only child. She and her siblings were orphaned and separated as small children. She was adopted by the couple who owned this house. When her adoptive mother died several years ago, Michelle learned about her brothers and sisters, and started a search for them. They found each other again about the same time Tony and Michelle married.”