His Potential Wife

Willow Tyler was as perspicacious as she was plain.

And she had survived a day that would have sent any of his previous five nannies running for the hills.

So after all, though Ms. Tyler had certainly got off to a bad start this morning, there was still a hope—however small that hope might be—that she would turn out to be the one person who could make his small family functional again.

“You certainly don’t pull your punches,” he said. “But I did ask for your opinion so I can’t complain. I hope you’ll always be as forthright with me. If there’s one quality I appreciate in a person, it’s honesty…and the flip side, of course, is that I can’t tolerate deceit!”

He saw an odd expression flicker over her eyes—he thought for a moment it was fear, but he quickly dismissed the idea. She had told him the truth, so what did she have to be afraid of? Puzzled, he tried to figure out what it could have been…but before he could come up with an answer, he heard his storming troops thunder ever closer. With a wince, he forgot all about Ms. Tyler’s odd expression and shoved himself up from the table.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he said hurriedly, “I have to go out. I’ll be back in the early afternoon.”

Feeling like a commander deserting on the eve of battle, he swiveled around and strode to the back door. Wrenching it open, he stepped outside and slammed the door shut just as his children erupted into the kitchen.

He stood on the stoop, leaning back against the door and sending up a prayer of gratitude for his timely escape.

Then inhaling a deep breath of the morning-scented air, he was about to leave when through the open window he heard the nanny say, in a clear and decidedly no-nonsense voice, “Before we make any plans for the day, I want you to know how upset I was last night when I discovered that one or more of you had snuck into my room and destroyed some of my treasures.”

He froze where he stood. They’d sneaked into her room? They’d not only gone through her private things, but they had destroyed some of them?

Anger swelled up inside him. This was intolerable. He’d march inside right now and sort the little devils out. But good!

Wheeling around, he reached for the door handle. No way should she have to put up with—

He stopped himself just as he touched the knob.

And told himself to calm down.

Think it through.

And when he did, he realized it would be a major mistake to insert himself into the situation. He couldn’t run interference every time the children misbehaved. It would ruin any hope Ms. Tyler had of gaining their respect.

In the long run, it would do more harm than good.

So he stood there a little while longer, listening, then he turned away from the door and made his way to the three-car detached garage that sat on the grounds at the westerly side of the house.

“So…is that understood?” Willow stood over the children, who were clustered in a hostile group by the kitchen table. “We all have our own areas of privacy, and those areas are sacrosanct.”

“What’s sacrosanct?” muttered Amy.

“It’s what she said.” Lizzie sounded sullen. “We don’t go there. It’s private. We don’t touch stuff that belongs to other people. Just like you should never have touched my book and ripped out the page!”

“I didn’t!” Amy cried. “I told you last night, it just fell out and I put it in Mikey’s crib so you—”

“Children.” Willow gritted her teeth. “Let’s move on, shall we? Let’s start over. It’s a new day.”

Lizzie avoided looking at her. “Where’s Dad?”

“He went out.”

Lizzie frowned. “Where did he go?”

“He didn’t say,” Willow responded lightly. “But since it’s such a lovely day, we’ll all go out, too.”

“Don’t wanna go out!” Amy fisted her hands on her hips. “Wanna watch TV!”

“Me, too!” Mikey dumped himself solidly down on his bottom, his attitude screaming I’m on strike!

“We’ll go for a swim.” Willow opened the fridge and took out a jar of peanut butter. Scooping a bag of buns from the bread bin, she said, “We’ll pack a lunch and have a picnic after.”

Lizzie finally raised her eyes and fixed her with a scornful gaze. “We can’t go for a swim. Dad says it’s too late in the season to bother opening up the Summerhill pool!”

Willow slit the buns and began spreading them with peanut butter. “We’re not going to be using your pool.” She rummaged in the cupboard, found a jar of honey and screwed off the lid. “Now would you run upstairs, Lizzie, and fetch all the swimsuits?”

“How do you know we’ve got any!” Amy screwed up her freckled little nose. “We might not!”

“Not!” bawled Mikey.

“If you don’t have any swimsuits,” Willow said in an airy tone, “then you’ll all have to skinny-dip!”

Lizzie gaped. “You can’t make us!”

Willow slathered honey atop the peanut butter. “You’ll have the choice of skinny-dipping or going into the water with your clothes on. It’s up to you.” She focused her gaze on the buns as she sliced them into neat quarters.

“We’ve got swimsuits.” Lizzie’s tone was dour.

“Good!” Willow packed the sandwiches in a plastic bag.

“But,” Lizzie sneered, “we won’t be using them today because we’re not allowed to go in public swimming pools! Our last nanny said that’s where people pick up all sorts of things like athlete’s foot and…other dangerous bugs!”

“So there!” Amy was triumphant. “We’re not allowed.”

“Not!” echoed Mikey.

“We won’t be going to a public pool.” Willow arranged the bag of sandwiches in her backpack.

“Then where are we going?” Lizzie’s chin had a belligerent jut.

“It’s a surprise.” Willow regarded her charges with a pleasant smile. “But I think you’re going to enjoy it.”

Scott got home around two and as soon as he walked into the kitchen, he spotted the note propped against the fruit basket on the harvest table.

Dr. Galbraith,

I’ve taken the children to the creek, to play in the shallower water down below the swimming hole.

How was his new nanny coping? he wondered. He could just imagine the protestations she’d been subjected to when she’d suggested a swim. No matter what she’d suggested, the arguments would have been the same. And if the kids hadn’t objected in so many words, they’d have expressed their hostility in attitude. He’d seen them in action untold times, with the previous five nannies.

It might be interesting, he reflected, to take a stroll through the forest, and sneak a peek at the situation.