Mother in Training

Moving fast, Zooey had barely managed to snatch him away before the overflowing water had reached him.

Jack had always been very good at picking up nuances. He studied her now. “Something I should know about?”

The man had enough to deal with in his life, Zooey thought. He didn’t need someone “telling” on Jackie. “Only that they’re great kids.”

“Great kids,” Jack echoed, ready to bet his bottom dollar that that wasn’t what had been on her mind at all.

But, when he came right down to it, he knew Emily and Jackie were that. Great kids.

They were also Mischievous with a capital M. Kids who somehow managed to get into more trouble than he could remember getting into throughout his entire childhood.

Reflecting back, Jack had to admit that he’d been a solemn youngster—an only child whose father had died when he was very young. For years, Jack had thought that it had somehow been his fault, that if he’d been a better person, a better son, his father would have lived.

His stepfather did nothing to repair the hole that doubt had burrowed into his soul. He was never around during Jack’s childhood. He’d been, and still was, a terminal workaholic, laboring to provide a more than comfortable lifestyle for Jack’s mother, a woman who absolutely worshipped money and everything it could buy. Growing up, Jack supposed it could be said that he’d had the best childhood money could buy.

Everything but attention and the sense that he was truly loved.

He studied Zooey’s expression now. “You mean that?”

“Of course I do.” Why would he think anything else? she wondered. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” Truth was something she had the utmost respect for. Because once lost, it couldn’t be easily won back. Like with Connor, she thought, then dismissed it. No point in wasting time there.

About to grasp Jackie’s hand to help lead him across the street to the parking structure, Zooey saw that the little boy had both arms raised to her, a silent indication that he wanted to be carried. She scooped him up without missing a beat.

Holding him to her, she glanced toward Jack. “Nothing worse than lying as far as I’m concerned.” She would have expected that, as a lawyer, he should feel the same way. But then, she’d always been rather altruistic and naive when it came to having faith in people, she reminded herself.

Holding Emily’s hand, Jack waited beside Zooey for the light to turn green. He read between the lines. “Somebody lie to you, Zooey?”

Connor, when he said he loved me, and all the while he was in love with the family business. And the family money. She wasn’t about to share that with Jack no matter how cute his kids were.

Instead, she shrugged her shoulders. “No one worth mentioning.”

The slight movement reminded her that the uniform she had on still chafed. She hadn’t had a chance to go home and change before taking on the task of entertaining Jack’s children.

One movement led to another, and it was all she could do to keep from scratching. “I guess I’d better get out of this uniform and give it back to Milo.”

The light turned green and they hurried across the street.

Reaching the other side, Jack glanced at her. “So, you really are fired?”

Zooey nodded.

In his estimation, she didn’t look too distressed about it. Which he couldn’t begin to fathom. From what she’d told him, he knew that Zooey lived by herself and didn’t have much in the way of funds to fall back on. If it had been him, he would have been sweating bullets. But then, if it had been him, he wouldn’t have been in that position to begin with.

Jack was nothing if not pragmatic. “What are you going to do for money?”

“I guess I’m going to have to hunt around for another job.” She looked up at him brightly, tongue-in-cheek. “Know someone who wants to hire a go-getter who makes up in enthusiasm what she lacks in experience?”

He surprised her by answering seriously. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

Zooey had asked the question as a joke, but now that he’d answered her so positively, she was suddenly eager. This meant no hassles, no scanning newspapers and the Internet. No going from store to store in hopes that they were hiring.

It was nice to have things simple for a change.

“Who?”

And this was where Jack allowed himself to be impulsive. “Me.”

The parking garage elevator arrived and they got on. Zooey stared at him, dumbfounded. “You?”

He nodded, wondering if she was going to turn him down, after all. Until this moment, he hadn’t considered that option.

“I need a nanny.” He heard Emily giggling again. “The kids need a nanny,” he corrected. “And you need a job. Seeing as how you got fired doing me a favor, the least I can do is hire you.” He paused, then added the required coda. “If you want the job.” The last thing he wanted was for her to feel that he was trying to railroad her, or pressure her into agreeing. He might be desperate, but she had to want to do this.

Zooey narrowed her eyes, trying to absorb what he was saying. He’d always struck her as being a cautious man, someone who believed in belts and suspenders. Normally, she found that a turnoff. But there was something about Jack Lever, not to mention his looks, that negated all that.

“You’ll pay me to watch your kids?”

“It’s a little more complex than that, but yes.”

Zooey looked at him guilelessly. “Sure.”

He really hadn’t expected such a quick response from her. All the women he’d previously interviewed for the job had told him they would have to think about it when he made an offer. And they’d wanted to know what benefits would be coming to them. Zooey seemed to be the last word in spontaneity. Patricia would have loved her.

“You don’t want to think about it?”

Zooey waved her hand dismissively. “Thinking only clutters things up.” And then she hesitated slightly. “One thing, though.”

Conditions. She was going to cite conditions, he thought. Jack braced himself. “Yes?”

A slight flush entered her cheeks. She looked at him uncomfortably. “Could you give me an advance on my salary?” He gazed at her quizzically, compelling her to explain the reason behind the request. “I sort of owe a couple of months back rent and the landlord is threatening me with eviction.”

From out of nowhere, another impulsive thought came to Jack. He supposed that once the gates were unlocked, it seemed easier for the next idea to make its way through.

He refrained from asking her the important question outright, preferring to build up to it. “Do you like where you live?”

The elevator had reached the fourth level. Zooey got out behind Jack and Emily. A sea of cars were parked here.

Like was the wrong word, she thought, reflecting on his question. She didn’t like the apartment, she made do with it. Because she had to.

“It’s all I can afford right now,” she admitted. “More than I can afford,” she corrected, thinking of the amount she was in arrears. A whimsical smile played on her lips as she added, “But that’ll change.”

Did she have a plan, or was that just one of those optimistic, throwaway lines he knew even now she was prone to? “It can change right now if you’d like.”

Zooey’s smile faded just a tad as she looked at him. A tiny bit of wariness appeared. She was not a suspicious person by nature—far from it. For the most part, she was willing to take things at face value and roll with the punches.

But she was also not reckless, no matter what her father had accused her of that last day when they’d had their big argument, just before she’d taken her things and walked out, severing family ties as cavalierly as if they were fashioned out of paper ribbons.

“How?” she asked now.