A Home for Haley (2 page)

He should say something, let her
know he was here, but he was enjoying watching her too much. He was glad he
could be home today to make her feel welcome. He was also glad he had offered
her the job. Not only did his family like her, but she seemed desperate for
work. He wasn’t sure why, because she should be drawing her husband’s pay. Maybe
he was a private and his salary wasn’t enough now that she had a child to take
care of. No. She’d said he was a pilot. Plus she’d left the base, an unusual
move and one that would increase her monthly expenses if she weren’t a live-in
nanny.

She pushed the white eyelet curtain
to the side and pulled in a deep breath, a soft smile on her lips. He felt his
own lips turn up. Haley Donahue would be good for Kayla. She was loving and
tender-hearted, which was just what his daughter needed in her life.

Ethan cleared his throat, and Haley
whirled around, her blue eyes wide.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.
I hope everything’s okay.”

“It’s fine. Wonderful in fact.”

“Well, if you want new curtains or
anything else, just let Mom know. She loves to decorate.”

“I can see that. This room is
lovely. It doesn’t need a thing.” Haley ran a delicate fingertip over the
artificial vine of tiny pink roses that trailed down one side of the window. “I
would never have thought to do this.”

“Hang around with Mom and there
won’t be anything you won’t think of doing as far as decorating. And probably
other things,” he added dryly.

Haley arched her eyebrows. “Maybe
I’ll be a good influence on her.”

He chuckled. “I’m counting on that.
Although experience tells me it might not work that way.” One corner of Haley’s
mouth tilted up. He liked that he had made her smile, even just a tiny bit. He
had a feeling she needed to smile a lot more often.

“I’ll try and resist any bad
influence,” she said. Her blue eyes twinkled and it lightened his heart.

“Good luck with that,” he said.
That barely-there smile of hers surfaced again.

“Your mother is a strong-willed
woman,” she said. “Good thing I don’t bow to peer pressure.”

Ethan grinned. “She’s hardly your
peer, so she might be a bigger influence than you think. She tends to be the
leader of the pack wherever she goes. My guess is you’re a follower, but
hopefully a cautious one.”

“Hmmm,” was her only response. She
turned and flipped open her last suitcase, then quickly slammed it shut, but
not before Ethan caught a glimpse of satin and lace lingerie in an assortment
of colors. He couldn’t even remember what they’d been discussing. Maybe Miss
Donahue wasn’t as demure as he’d thought. He couldn’t help but be intrigued.

“How does Ryan like his room?” he
finally asked, looking toward the open door of the adjoining bedroom where the
toddler napped.

“It’s hard to tell with a
nineteen-month old, but he loves looking out his window and seeing the birds in
the tree. And he took a nap without a fuss, so I think he feels safe here.”

“Good. I hope you do, too.” A warm
feeling of something he couldn’t name swept through him. “So,” he said,
bringing his hands together in front of his chest and rubbing his palms. “I was
surprised—but glad—that you could move in so soon. Your old employer didn’t
need notice?”

“No. Their oldest child just got
his driver’s license. My days were numbered so to speak. That’s one of the
reasons I needed this job so badly.”

“Their loss. My gain. I’m glad
you’re here. We all are.”

“So am I. Very glad.” She looked
around the room and let out a contented sigh. “It feels good here. Like I fit.”

Her sweetness and vulnerability
struck a protective chord in Ethan. “If you hadn’t come along, I’m not sure
what I would have done, so let’s just say everybody’s a happy camper.” He
smiled at her. She smiled back, a smile that didn’t quite seem to reach her
eyes, and Ethan found himself wishing she felt as happy on the inside as she
looked right now. But he knew only too well the insidiousness of grief.

“Your mother is taking Ryan and me
on a tour of the area this afternoon, when she gets back from having her hair
done.”

“Oh, damn. I forgot her.” Ethan
grimaced. “She’ll be spitting mad, making her wait and all.” He started out of
the room.

“I’m supposed to drive her around,”
Haley said to his retreating back. “Let me go pick her up.”

He turned and shook his head. “Get
settled in first.” He glanced into the adjoining room. “Besides, Ryan’s
sleeping and you don’t want to pick Mom up late your first time. She looks for
excuses to be mad about the chauffeuring, because she hates that I insist on
driving her everywhere. I worry she’ll fall though. She’s supposed to have
knee-replacement surgery but keeps putting it off.”

“Why?”

“Good question.” Ask her about it
sometime. I’d be curious to know what she says.”

“What if she tells me in
confidence?”

“Ah, a woman of integrity. That’s
one of the reasons I hired you.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his
arms. “Ask her anyway. I’d bet money her answer will be entertaining, and
laughing is good for the soul.”
Especially yours
, he thought, knowing
she had been through hell this last year or so.

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

“I
know
it is.” Ethan needed
to find more of it in his own life. This last year of his life had been sorely
lacking in the laughing department.

She studied him as if seeing way
beyond the surface, and he felt exposed. “Your mother strikes me as quite a
character. Are the two of you much alike?”

Her question surprised him. “I’m
afraid to answer that. Might run you off.” He turned to go, but stopped when
Haley’s light laughter floated around him. He glanced back at her, saw her wide
smile and his heart did a flip. “See? Laughter is definitely good for the
soul,” he said with a wink.

He hurried out of the room,
grinning in spite of the fact that he knew his mother would be irritated as
hell by the time he finally got to her.

****

“I cannot believe you’re thirty
minutes late, Ethan Richardson. Thirty three minutes to be exact. I tried to
call numerous times but you didn’t answer.”

Ethan patted his pockets. “Actually
I don’t even have my phone with me.”

“What has gotten into you?”

“Too much to do I guess.”

She scowled and rolled her eyes,
but he refused to let himself get riled. He had too much on his plate to let
his mom get to him. He helped her to the car and got her settled, then strode
around to the other side and got in.

“You know I don’t like to wait,”
she said the minute he’d fastened his seat belt. “I also don’t like to be
carted around like an invalid.”

“If you drove yourself, I’d be
worried sick you’d have a wreck driving with a right knee that barely bends.”
He loosened his tight grip on the steering wheel and tried to stay calm,
because he knew his mother wasn’t normally irritable like this, which meant she
probably hurt far worse than she let on. “I’m trying to take care of you,
Mother. That’s one of the reasons I invited you to come live with Kayla and me.
Sorry I was running behind today.” He started the suburban and pulled out of
the parking lot. “I’ve been helping the new nanny get settled in, making sure
everything’s okay.”

“In other words, you’ve been lollygagging
around staring at your pretty young nanny. You can’t fool me, Ethan Richardson.
You’re a rescuer, just like your brother, and Haley Donahue could sure use
that. Better be careful, though. She’s married.”

Ethan groaned and swallowed back a
curse. “I should have left you at the beauty salon.” Dottie crossed her arms
and shot him a mutinous glare. Ethan held in a sigh. “The woman is very much in
love with her husband. Anybody with eyes and ears can see that.”

“True. Let’s hope he’s alive
somewhere. That poor woman has had to get through a long time not knowing if
her husband is alive or dead. Anyone would eyes can tell she’s overwhelmed with
sadness. She sure is a pretty though.”

His mother was right. Haley was a
beautiful woman and if he were honest he’d admit he found her attractive.
That’s not why he’d hired her though. She felt trustworthy and Kayla liked
her.  “She’s a very pretty woman,” he admitted.

Dottie shot him a smirk. “I figured
you’d noticed.”

“I’m not dead, Mother, but I want a
nanny, nothing else.”

“And a companion, or shall I say
watchdog, for me.”

Ethan blew out a sigh of
frustration. “My only concern is that you not fall and hurt yourself. You know
that, even if you’re giving me a hard time.”

“I know no such thing, except that
I’m only sixty four, but I feel like I’m eighty four some days.”

“Being kicked by Francie’s horse
didn’t help your knee, that’s for sure.” He sliced her a look. “You may feel
ancient but you don’t look a day over fifty five.”

“Fifty five! Last month you said I
didn’t look a day over fifty.” She patted her freshly cut bob. “I need to find
me a boyfriend. Put some sparkle back in my eyes. Of course, no man wants a
woman who hauls a cane around. They’re scared I’ll whack them with it if they
misbehave.”

Ethan laughed. “Only because it’s
exactly the sort of thing you would do.”

She grunted. “If that’s so, I would
have whacked you a minute ago.”

“Nah. You’d never make a scene in
public.”

She waved a hand toward him.
“Always a smart mouth. At least I raised you to do something right.”

Ethan grinned. “I’d say you did
several things right. I obviously can’t turn away a damsel in distress. That’s
why I have a new nanny who’d take off like a Thoroughbred out of the starting
gate if and when her husband returns.”

Dottie tapped her freshly-painted,
bright red fingernails on her cane. “It’s sad, isn’t it? If she doesn’t find
out what happened to her husband, she may never move on with her life. I’ve
seen it happen all too often.”

Ethan hoped his mom was wrong for
once. “She’ll have to move on at some point,” he responded.

“Not necessarily. It’d be easier if
she knew her husband was dead. Much easier.” Dottie clasped her hands together
in her lap and stared out her window for a few minutes. Ethan knew what she was
thinking and it made his heart ache for her.

When she finally spoke, her voice
was laced with sadness. “When your dad passed, I thought I might shrivel up and
die with the pain of losing him. And your Aunt Jo had a terrible time after
poor Wally was killed in the war, but she said to me more than once that in one
way she was lucky. Lots of women never found out what happened to their
husbands and spent their entire lives waiting on them to come home.”

“I think you and Aunt Jo would have
both moved on at some point no matter the circumstances.”

Dottie thought a minute. “Maybe. But
Jo and I are a different type than Haley.”

“No kidding. I’m hoping she’ll have
a good influence on you.”

“No, you’re not. You’re hoping I’ll
have a good influence on her, help her get on with her life.”

Ethan shrugged. His mother was
nothing if not perceptive. “If anybody could do it, it’d be you.”

“Ordinarily I’d agree, but in this
instance you might be the one with the most influence on her.”

“How so?” Ethan asked before he
thought, then wished he’d kept his mouth shut. He pulled onto his street.

“Well.” His mom drew out the word
until Ethan gritted his teeth. “She’s pretty vulnerable. If she found out her
husband was gone, you’d be there for her. She could lean on you, and we both
know she would need to lean on someone. Someone strong who understands about
grief. You’re a good man, and you would be a good friend to her.”

“Nice to know you think I’m a good
man.”

“Of course you’re a good man. I
raised you.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Good
man or not, I don’t plan on rescuing my nanny, except to pay her for a job well
done.” He pulled into his driveway and parked the car.

Dottie unbuckled her seatbelt. “You
should keep an open mind. After all, look at your brother. Matt wasn’t looking
for anyone either, and now he’s crazy in love with Francie and that baby.”

“Francie wasn’t married.”

“Point taken.” Dottie thought for a
minute. “She had a lot of baggage though. So, what are you going to do about
your interest in Haley?”

“I have no interest in Haley.”

“I’m only suggesting friendship. At
least for now.”

Lord he needed a night out with the
guys. Desperately. “Listen up, Mom. She’s not available. And, even if she were,
she’s not my type. End of discussion.”
Beam me up, Scottie
. Tomorrow
he’d head out to his dude ranch and get a break from all this. Ride through the
lush pasture land. Have a beer or two with Hank and just chill. God he needed
it.

Dottie pursed her lips and narrowed
her eyes. “Just remember what I’ve said, because eventually she’ll find out
what happened to her husband, and if he’s gone, she’ll need a friend more than
she’s ever needed one.”

Ethan sighed. “I’ll be there for
her if she wants to talk, but she’s a lot more likely to come to you.”

Dottie pursed her lips. “She will
need us both. Let’s just pray she gets some closure about her husband.”

“Yeah, not ever finding out what
happened to him would make her life a continual hell.”

Dottie sighed. “She’s going to need
us. That’s all I’m saying.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
He pointed a finger at his mom. “I hired Haley to take care of Kayla and be a
companion for you. And once she’s settled in, I plan on taking advantage of
that and stepping out a lot more, which includes spending more time getting the
dude ranch up and running.”

And having some much-needed fun
.
With a nanny to ease some of his pressure, he might even want a date here and
there. Nothing serious. Just fun and maybe some mind-blowing sex. He certainly
wasn’t looking for love. Another reason to stay away from a lady like Haley.
The last thing he ever wanted was to fall for someone who was in love with
another man, especially if that man was dead. Beloved dead husbands were
perfect. He’d seen his aunt turn his uncle into a living shrine after his
death. And if someone like Aunt Jo would do that, then a quiet, sentimental
woman like Haley would be even worse.