The Nanny Clause

by Karen Rose Smith

  Three kids. One pregnant cat. And one perfect nanny...

  When Daniel Sutton’s daughters rescue an abandoned calico, the hardworking attorney doesn’t expect to be sharing his home with a litter of newborns! And the adorable kittens aren’t his only houseguests. Animal shelter volunteer Emma Alvarez is transforming the lives of Daniel and his three girls. The first-time nanny is a natural with kids and pets. Will that extend to a single father ready to trust in love again?

  Their lips were an inch apart and finally a breath apart. Daniel couldn’t have pulled away if he’d wanted to.

  Suddenly common sense dumped cold water on him. He leaned away and so did she. “I’m not going to apologize for that, but I know that getting involved would be a big mistake.”

  “We shouldn’t let it happen again,” Emma agreed. “Not if I want to work here.”

  “I’m not ready for an involvement, either, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, right?”

  As soon as he said the word, he knew he was kidding himself. If he wasn’t the father of three girls, he’d take Emma into his arms and kiss her again.

  That wasn’t what friendship was about. He held out his hand to her and she put hers in it. “Friends.”

  But after they said good-night and he’d left Emma’s room, he was sure friends wasn’t the right word for what seemed to be beginning between them.

  * * *

  FUREVER YOURS: Finding forever homes—

  and hearts!—has never been so easy.

  Dear Reader,

  I’m so happy to be part of Special Edition’s Furever Yours series. Ever since I was a child roaming my uncle’s farm and playing with cats and kittens in the barn, I’ve been interested in pet rescue. My dad brought a yellow tabby kitten home from the farm when I was around seven. Since then, cats have always been part of my life. At the present time, my husband and I have rescued five cats who are our inside companions and we also care for two feral strays. They give us laughs, cuddles and comfort.

  Daniel, my single dad hero in The Nanny Clause, is reluctantly drawn in to rescuing a pregnant feline for his three daughters’ sakes. Emma, his nanny and a volunteer at Furever Paws Animal Rescue, teaches Daniel all about rescuing his heart and learning how to love again. I hope you enjoy this romance about love, commitment and the deepest joy that children and animals can offer us.

  Happy reading,

  Karen Rose Smith

  The Nanny Clause

  Karen Rose Smith

  USA TODAY bestselling author Karen Rose Smith has written over ninety novels. Her passion is caring for her five rescued cats, and her hobbies are gardening, cooking and photography. An only child, Karen delved into books at an early age. Even though she escaped into story worlds, she had many cousins around her on weekends. Families are a strong theme in her novels. Find out more about Karen at karenrosesmith.com.

  Books by Karen Rose Smith

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup

  The Maverick’s Snowbound Christmas

  The Montana Mavericks: The Baby Bonanza

  The Maverick’s Holiday Surprise

  Fortunes of Texas: All Fortune’s Children

  Fortune’s Secret Husband

  The Mommy Club

  The Cowboy’s Secret Baby

  A Match Made by Baby

  Wanted: A Real Family

  Reunion Brides

  Riley’s Baby Boy

  The CEO’s Unexpected Proposal

  Once Upon a Groom

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  To my dad, who brought me my first pet.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from His Baby Bargain by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Excerpt from The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

  Chapter One

  Daniel Sutton studied the stack of file folders on his desk. Since he was the only lawyer in Spring Forest now, he hardly had time to schedule all of his appointments, let alone interview prospective nannies.

  If only his wife and his law partner hadn’t run off together. It had been over two years and that amount of time certainly should have settled any regrets he had.

  Raina Clark, his secretary, knocked softly on his office door and then opened it. Raina kept his schedule on track. A widow in her late thirties, she was a good role model for his girls. She was always pleasant even when he added to her workload.

  In the doorway, she announced, “Your daughters are here.”

  The next second Paris, Penny and Pippa burst into his office. Even his oldest, Paris, who was hitting puberty and was usually moody and sullen, seemed to be bubbling with excitement. Since he was standing, she made a beeline for his office chair and swung herself around into it. Her dark brown ponytail swayed across her shoulder.

  Penny, his middle daughter who hated school and loved softball and soccer, announced with her arms spread out before her, “We’re done, Dad! We’re done. School’s over for three whole months and I can go outside as much as I want.”

  Penny’s light brown hair was always disheveled when she wasn’t wearing her baseball cap. Yes, their private school was over for the summer, but he would have to remind Penny that she would have to choose a summer camp to keep her occupied during the day.

  His youngest, Pippa, ran to him with her blond pigtails flying and wrapped her arms around his legs. “Can you come home now, Daddy, can you?”

  Pippa had finally stopped crying herself to sleep at night, but she still needed a night-light. Their mother’s abandonment had affected his sweet girls in so many different ways. He had to start interviews to find another compassionate nanny/housekeeper who was willing to deal with all of them. It was hard to hire a nanny who could keep up with his daughters.

  In the meantime, he was becoming an expert at negotiation and compromise with his kids. They were all staring at him, waiting to see if he would leave work for them. He wished the decision was that easy.

  Since all three were focused on him, he had their attention. That was rare. “How about if you give me five minutes to make a call before we go home?” Immediately he could see the disappointment on their faces so he added, “You can hang out with Raina or go outside to the yard.”

  The choice was easy for Penny. “Let’s go to the yard. Come on.”

  A door at the back of the offices led outside. Penny opened it and ran down the three steps. Pippa quickly followed her. Paris begrudgingly went along.

  As Daniel made the call and waited for his client to come on the line, he considered Paris and her sullenness. She was eleven. Were hormones her problem? He certainly hoped not. And Penny, at nine...when would her tomboy days end? Or would they? And darling Pippa, at seven, just seemed lost sometimes. He never thought he was doing enough. He felt he had to be a mom and a dad, whether he liked it or not. Sometimes that just didn’t work
.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was ending his call when Penny rushed in. “Dad, you have to come. You have to come right now.”

  He jumped to his feet and ran to the door. “Has someone gotten hurt?”

  “No, but come on.” She took his hand and dragged him outside and around the side of the porch of the craftsman-style house where his offices occupied the first floor. On a side street, he was a short distance from everything in the historic district of Spring Forest. His daughters—even Paris—were on their knees trying to stretch inside the broken latticework surrounding the porch.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice louder than he intended. If there was a raccoon or something worse under there—

  “It’s a cat,” Paris said with a little more excitement than he’d heard in her voice in a long time.

  “She’s a calico, Dad. She must be scared because she ran under there,” Penny added.

  “Of course, she’s scared,” he said. “The three of you are strangers to her.”

  Penny looked up at him, her hair flopping over her eyes. “Really, Dad? Do you think we scare her?”

  Leaning closer to him, Paris whispered, “I think she’s pregnant.”

  “You can tell that she’s pregnant?” he asked in a tone matching his daughter’s.

  Pippa backed out from the latticework, too. Sitting cross-legged, she rounded her arms in front of her. “She’s this fat. She has to be pregnant.”

  So much for keeping that fact quiet. Daniel knew nothing about cats. He imagined the feline could have some disease that caused swelling in her stomach. But if she was pregnant...

  Just what was he going to do with her if she did come out of hiding? Looking at his three daughters, who were so eagerly staring at him, hoping he’d find a solution, he remembered the animal shelter on the edge of town. He sent a check to them every year so the least they could do was take this cat. But he’d have to capture her first. If she wasn’t friendly and fought him, he’d need something to confine her.

  “I think I have an idea,” he answered. “I’ll find food in my refrigerator to tempt her out. I’m sure there’s a carton in the storage room that we can poke holes into so she can breathe and we can put her in that to take her to the animal shelter.”

  “Furever Paws?” Penny asked.

  “Yes. They’re good to animals and have adoption events, so I’m sure they can find her a good home.”

  Pippa piped up. “We can keep her, Dad.”

  He quickly stomped down that idea. “No, we can’t. I know nothing about cats, especially not pregnant cats. The shelter will know how to care for her best. But the first thing you have to do is back off a little and talk to her softly, to try and lure her out.”

  “What should we talk about?” Penny asked.

  “Just tell her you want to make sure she’s all right, and we’re going to take her to a place where she’ll be cared for. I’ll find food and that box.”

  So much for getting work finished today. On the other hand, he’d be spending much-needed time with his daughters before he tackled the problem of hiring a nanny.

  * * *

  Emma Alvarez loved volunteering at Furever Paws Animal Rescue. The problem was...she needed a real job that paid. She’d made an impulsive decision and recently relocated to North Carolina from Pennsylvania—a wrong decision. She’d come because of a man. But she’d stuck around because she liked Spring Forest and the people here. The other reason she’d stayed had to do with her pride.

  Emma smiled as she passed a blue-gray wall that was decorated with framed paintings from local artists. Their subjects were all breeds of cats and dogs. She headed to the front desk for a list of the latest foster parents who were available. After removing a colorful scrunchie from her shoulder-length curly dark brown hair, she refastened her ponytail. The North Carolina humidity curled her hair until she couldn’t control it. Around the shelter and working with animals, keeping it tied back seemed to be the best style.

  Glancing at the desk in the front lobby, Emma noticed the chair was vacant. Possibly the volunteer had gone into the gift shop off the lobby to help a patron.

  Suddenly Emma’s attention swerved toward the double-glass front doors. Three children charged through the door in front of a tall man carrying a carton. A tall handsome man. She diverted her attention to the holes that had been cut into the sides of the box. Emma suspected an animal was contained inside.

  The newcomer, with dark brown hair cut short and neat, wearing a businesslike white oxford shirt, had a commanding presence as his deep voice advised the girls, “Slow down until we know where we’re going.”

  His daughters, perhaps?

  Emma suspected he might be a professional man, not only because of the crisp button-down shirt—though he’d rolled up the sleeves—but also because of the pressed charcoal-gray slacks he wore along with the leather loafers. She hadn’t seen him here before.

  Two of the girls were chattering away. The middle one, who looked about nine, wore a baseball cap backward and pulled on her dad’s elbow. “What will they do with her? Where will they put her? How long will they keep her?”

  The smallest child seemed to be enamored with the paintings on the walls. “Isn’t that cool?” She was pointing to a photo of a cat that had been color-blocked with digital photography.

  The oldest child didn’t seem to be reacting to anything. Eleven or twelve, maybe, Emma guessed. All three girls were dressed in colorful skirts and blouses.

  The man raised his gaze to Emma’s. His eyes were green. To her dismay, she couldn’t seem to look away.

  Thank goodness, he finally did, as he moved toward her. “Are you the person in charge?” His gaze ran down her outfit—a white T-shirt with the red logo of the shelter that was a profile of a dog and a cat in a heart—and jeans. Her wardrobe was minimal because she’d come to Spring Forest on an impulse, a very bad impulse. When she remembered that, she knew she couldn’t let herself be mesmerized by a man’s eyes or his words or his smile. Not ever again.

  “I guess you could say I’m in charge at the moment. How can I help you?”

  The three girls crossed to her. The smallest explained eagerly, “We found her at my dad’s law office under the porch. We think she’s pregnant.”

  “It’s a cat,” the middle child explained. “She’s white with spots of black and gold and brown on her back.”

  “Then she must be a calico,” Emma suggested.

  Finally, the oldest spoke. “That’s what my dad’s phone said. I researched photos of cats.”

  The smallest one again piped up. “Paris can’t have a phone ’til she’s twelve, and that’s only if she’s ree-spon-si-ble.” The little girl drew out the word as if it was very important.

  “Girls, let’s introduce ourselves before you overwhelm this nice lady. I’m Daniel Sutton,” he said. “And these are my daughters—Paris, Penny and Pippa.”

  “I’m Penny,” the middle child added, raising her hand.

  “I’m Emma Alvarez,” Emma returned.

  “Who painted these pictures hanging on the walls?” the youngest one asked.

  Emma smiled at the child, who looked totally interested. “They’re all done by local artists. Do you like to draw?”

  “Yes. But I’m not very good. I like to look at paintings.”

  With a smile—a smile that really did make her stomach quiver a bit—Daniel Sutton asked, “Where would you like me to take the cat? I don’t know much about your facility. This is the first I’ve been here since the tornado hit in March.”

  From what Emma understood, the shelter had been renovated since the tornado. Some renovations were still in progress. “Are you sure the cat you found doesn’t belong to a neighbor?” Emma asked.

  “I checked with neighbors on both sides before we brought her in. They don’t have cats and
didn’t recognize the description of this one. You are going to take her, aren’t you? I’ve made donations over the years...”

  Donations were important, Emma had to admit, but that had nothing to do with whether they took an animal or not. “I’ll have to take her back to the quarantine area.”

  Pippa asked, “What’s quarantine?”

  Paris didn’t give Emma time to answer. “That’s a place where the animal has to stay all alone to see if she has any diseases.”

  “I don’t want her to stay all alone,” Penny said with a scowl.

  “She won’t exactly be all alone,” Emma explained. “She’s separated from the other animals so that we can make sure she’s healthy. We’ll scan her, too, to see if she’s microchipped. If she is, that would help us find her owner.”

  Daniel Sutton’s eyes held a myriad of questions, probably tough ones about what they’d do if the cat was seriously ill. Emma didn’t want to answer them around his daughters.

  “Can we go with her?” Pippa asked.

  Emma crouched down to Pippa in order to make eye-to-eye contact. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you and Paris and Penny come part of the way with me. You can look through the glass wall at the other cats we have who are waiting to be adopted.”

  “Do you have pups, too?” Paris asked.

  “We do. You can see those also. Meanwhile, I’ll take this calico back to the quarantine area and I’ll talk to our vet tech. She’ll have to check her and see what might have to be done to care for her.” Emma’s gaze returned to Daniel’s. “I have paperwork you’ll have to fill out. If you want to wait with your daughters, I’ll collect it and bring it out.”

  She reached for the box that the lawyer held in his hands. It looked as if it had once held reams of paper and it had handles on either side. After she took the box, she set it on a nearby table. “I just want to take a peek. I’m sure your girls probably want to wish her well, too.”

  Pippa, Paris and Penny all gathered around the box as Emma removed the lid. “Oh, aren’t you a pretty girl,” Emma said. Her white fur was a bit dirty but her colors were vibrant.