The Nanny's Secret Baby

“I’m sorry for that,” Jack said. “Dad can be a little...”

“Judgmental? I’m familiar,” Arianna said, and suddenly, Jack wondered what kinds of things his father had said to her on the few occasions they’d all gotten together.

Certainly, the buoyancy had gone out of her face and voice, and he continued to think about that as they agreed on a few last details and a start date—tomorrow.

But as he walked her to her car, Jack couldn’t forget what his father had said. Perceptions were important. At least a few people in their small town might start to link their names together.

Chloe would have felt that as the ultimate disrespect. If that wretched blood clot hadn’t already killed her, this would have.

Was he making a huge mistake hiring Arianna?

* * *

“The place is kind of a mess,” Penny warned Arianna that evening as they climbed the outside steps to Arianna’s new apartment. “It’s been a rough year.”

Arianna had heard bits and pieces of Penny’s story: how she and her husband had bought the ranch with high hopes. How they’d worked together—she with enthusiasm for the mission, he with enthusiasm for their pretty young office assistant. How he’d left Penny high and dry, and absconded with the funds and the assistant.

Penny was so kind and so beautiful, Arianna couldn’t imagine how anyone could do that to her.

But then again, men could quickly tire of a woman when there were responsibilities involved, or when they found a new obsession. She’d learned that the hard way from Sammy’s father.

Penny threw open the door at the top of the steps, then put a hand on Arianna’s arm, stopping her. “You’d be doing me a favor if you’d move in and fix it up, but it’ll be a lot of work. You be honest, now. If it’s too much for you, say no. I’ll understand.”

Little did Penny realize how few options Arianna actually had. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she assured the older woman. “I love a good project.” Not least because it would keep her busy and push her worries away.

“Just take a look before you say anything,” Penny said and held the door for Arianna to walk through.

Inside, hard-back chairs stood at odd angles amid boxes, a big cooler and a bike that had to date from the 1980s. The place smelled musty, and through the giant dirty window, sunbeams illuminated the dust motes that danced in the air.

Arianna looked past the surface, something she’d always loved to do. The place had great bones and amazing potential. She clasped her hands together. “This is perfect!”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No! That slanted wood ceiling is gorgeous. I love a nonboxy space. And the view from the windows... It’ll look out on mountains, right?”

“The Sangre de Cristos, once it’s clean. You can barely see them through that coating of dirt and dust.” Penny picked up a photo album covered in white lace. She grimaced at the happy couple on the cover and then dropped the album into the trash.

Arianna lifted an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Not her business.

She looked around, scoping out the space. “I’d put the bed there,” she said, gesturing to a space directly across from the big window. “Wall hangings should be big, with these tall ceilings. A sitting area over here.” As she spoke, the place came to life in her imagination. “It’s so much more than I expected in a place to live.”

Penny put her hands on her hips and stared at her. “Now, why would you say that? Where were you living before, that this place seems so fabulous?”

Arianna flushed. “Oh, just here and there.” No need to tell Penny about how unsettled the past couple of years had been, and how she hadn’t been able to commit to anything since giving up her son. “Two days ago I was out of a job and practically out of a home, and now I have both.” She bit her lip and shot up a prayer of thanks. “God’s so good.”

Even as she spoke, worry crept in. Penny was wise and saw a lot. Would she guess the truth about Sammy? Would Jack?

They worked together hauling boxes down the stairs and throwing them into the ranch foreman’s truck. “Finn said once it’s full, he’ll drive it over to the dump,” Penny said.

“Just look at the floor,” Arianna commented once a big square of it was cleared. “With a bright rug and a polish, these plank floors will come to life.”

“You’re so positive,” Penny said. “You’re going to be good for Jack.” She hesitated, then added, “In a way your sister wasn’t.”

“Oh!” Color rose in Arianna’s face. “It’s not the same at all. I’m just the temporary nanny.” Jack had made that very clear. He’d sent her a text after their conversation just to confirm that she understood that.

Penny didn’t seem to have heard her. “His parents were so rigid. His mom’s passed, rest her soul, but his dad seems to have gotten even more... What? Judgmental? Tense? Your sister had some of those same qualities.” Penny smiled at her. “It strikes me that you don’t.”

Yes, true, to her detriment. She’d been the one to get pregnant without being married and disgrace the family. While poor Chloe, always such a perfectionist—and so perfect—hadn’t been able to have the one thing that meant everything to her: a baby.

“Anyone home?” came a call from downstairs.

“We’re up here, Willie.” Penny brushed the back of her hand over her sweaty forehead and gestured toward a door Arianna hadn’t seen before. “This is where the downstairs connects. You can lock the door for privacy or come down to use the laundry machines whenever you want.”

A short, rotund but muscular man with a long gray ponytail huffed up the steps. “There you are,” he said, sweeping off his Vietnam veterans hat. He gave Arianna a quick nod, but his eyes were fixed on Penny. “Can I offer you lovely ladies some help? Before I offer to take you to lunch?” he added to Penny.

Color rose in Penny’s cheeks. “Willie, have you met Arianna? She’s going to be living here and working as a nanny for Jack.”

Willie smiled at her, his face breaking into a million creases. “I’m pleased to meet you,” he said. “That Jack works hard. He could use some help.” He turned back toward Penny. “Now, what about that lunch?”

Penny gestured at her dusty work clothes. “Look at me. I can’t possibly go out. And we wouldn’t ask you to do our grunt work.”

“I was a grunt in the service,” Willie said with a wink at Arianna. “The company’s a lot better here.”

“No, thanks, Willie,” Penny said. “Another time.”

“Maybe tomorrow night?” he asked. “I’ve got a gift card for the Cold Creek Inn. You could wear that red dress you have.”

Penny’s cheeks went pink. “I... We’ll see,” she said and turned back to the box she’d been sorting through.

“Talk her into it, will you?” he asked Arianna. “You know where to find me,” he added to Penny and then descended the stairs.

“Looks like you have an admirer,” Arianna said, waggling her eyebrows at Penny.

“Oh, he’s just lonely because his friend Long John is off on his honeymoon,” Penny said. “Those two have been best friends forever and lived next door in the ranch cabins until just recently. Long John married a woman from town, Beatrice Patton, just as soon as her chemo treatments ended. I think they kind of bonded over their health issues, since Long John has Parkinson’s.”

“Wow.” The older woman’s matter-of-fact words put Arianna’s own problems into perspective.

“Anyway,” Penny continued, “Long John getting married and moving down to town is an adjustment for Willie.”

“I don’t know if the invitation is all about missing his friend,” Arianna teased. “I doubt he’d want Long John to wear a red dress to lunch.”

“Oh, stop it!” Penny said, laughing a little. “Willie’s a nice man, but...”

“He’s older than you are. By kind of a lot.”

“It’s not that. It’s that I’m not ready.” Penny sighed. “Truth is, when my husband left me, he took that part of me that used to trust people. Or trust men anyway.”

“I can understand that.” Arianna hadn’t dated anyone since Sammy’s father for that very reason. But while her own loneliness felt well deserved, Penny’s made her sad. “Sounds like he just wants to take you to dinner. Maybe you should go.”