The Nanny's Secret Baby. Lee McClain Tobin

      “You’re not just that, you’re my former brother-in-law. And Sammy is my nephew. Jack, we don’t have to hash out every single detail, nor get everything down in writing. We can make it happen with a handshake.”

      He pointed his mechanical pencil at her. “You’re way too trusting. People will take advantage of you.”

      To his surprise, she nodded. “It’s happened before,” she said. “But should I let that change me into a suspicious person?”

      He really wanted to know who’d taken advantage of her, because he wanted to strangle that person. Some guy, most likely. “Not a suspicious person,” he said, “but maybe a cautious one.”

      “You’re probably right,” she said with a shrug. “But for now...I’m super excited to be working with Sammy. I know I can help him.”

      Jack had to admit that her attitude was enormously appealing. If a stranger he was interviewing had acted so enthusiastically, he’d have hired her immediately. Well, after checking her résumé and background, of course. Unlike Arianna, he wasn’t impulsive.

      And there were a lot of details to straighten out. “Now, as far as where you’ll stay,” he said. “I have plenty of room in the house, but I’m afraid that would raise a few eyebrows. I wouldn’t want your reputation to suffer.”

      “Or yours,” she said, sipping her drink. “But actually, I’ve got it covered. Penny offered me the use of her upstairs apartment if I’ll clean it out and decorate it so she can rent it in the fall.”

      “That’s perfect.” Another thing that was working out better than he expected. Not what he was used to. He often expected the worst.

      He plowed on through his list of things to discuss. “How do you feel about organizing the TSS schedule? Is that something you can handle?”

      A smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “I can be organized, Jack,” she said with exaggerated patience. “I’m just not when it doesn’t matter.”

      It’s important to sweat the small stuff, he heard in his mind. Chloe’s voice. The same as his mother’s and father’s. Chloe had gotten along so well with them, partly because she’d tried so hard to do everything right.

      Guilt suffused him. Chloe hadn’t trusted Arianna and wouldn’t think that hiring her was doing things right. She’d never sanction this arrangement.

      Arianna fumbled in her oversize bag and brought out a tablet computer. “I can print this out for you later, if you want,” she said. “It’s my résumé.” She enlarged it so he could see. “I’ve taken two classes focused on kids with special needs. They were a little older than Sammy, but the principles are the same.” She scrolled to another section. “And I did an internship in an early-childhood program. I love babies.” For just a moment, her eyes went wistful.

      Jack studied those eyes as questions he’d never thought to ask before pressed into his awareness. Had Arianna wanted to have kids? Did she ever think about it? Was there a boyfriend in the picture?

      Around them, the buzz of conversation indicated that the coffee shop was getting crowded. But Jack couldn’t seem to look away from Arianna.

      She didn’t seem nearly so affected. “This section is my coursework,” she continued on, scrolling down the tablet’s screen and highlighting a section to show him. “We did a lot of psychology, life-span development, counseling work. Here, take a look.” She handed him the tablet.

      He scanned it quickly, then read more closely, impressed. “You have so much coursework in special education.”

      She laughed, a sunny, lilting sound. “Don’t look so shocked, Jack. It’s part of most art and music therapy programs.”

      He met her eyes over the tablet and couldn’t avoid smiling, almost as big as she did. “There’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, isn’t there?”

      “You haven’t scratched the surface.” Was there a tiny bit of flirtation in her tone, in her expression as she looked at him over the rim of her cup?

      He took a long pull on his own drink, sucking up frothy sweetness. “You know,” he said, “these are actually good.”

      Again, their gazes tangled.

      “Son!” The deep voice penetrated his awareness at the same time a familiar, beefy hand gripped his shoulder.

      He glanced up as the usual tension squeezed his chest. He knew exactly what his father was thinking. “Hi, Dad. Do you remember—”

      “Arianna Shrader. How could I forget.” His father didn’t extend his hand for shaking and neither did she, instead inclining her head slightly, as if she were a queen and he, a lowly peasant.

      The attitude wasn’t lost on Dad, Jack could see. But looking at Arianna, he could tell his father’s attitude wasn’t lost on her, either.

      “What brings about this meeting?” Disapproval dripped from his father’s voice.

      “I’m going to be working for Jack,” Arianna said. “Taking care of Sammy for a while.”

      “You’re what?” Dad’s voice squeaked, and his face reddened. He looked at Jack as if he’d just committed a federal crime. “Was this your idea?”

      “It was my idea,” Arianna interjected before Jack could open his mouth. “It made sense, given my background and Jack’s needs. Is there a problem?”

      “Sure seems like a problem to me, you moving in with your sister’s husband.”

      Arianna gasped.

      At the same moment, Jack stood and stepped forward so that he was in between his father and Arianna. “Arianna is Sammy’s aunt,” he said, “and there’s nothing inappropriate about her caring for him.”

      “Perceptions mean a lot,” Dad said, but his voice was quieter. He stepped sideways to look at Arianna. “It’s your reputation that would suffer the most. This is a small town.”

      “I won’t be living in.” Arianna’s normally expressive eyes were cool and flat. “Your son’s virtue is safe with me.”

      His father’s face went almost purple, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish.

      “It’s under control, Dad.” Jack put a hand on his father’s arm. “Nothing to worry about.”

      Dad looked at their half-empty cups, pursed his lips and shook his head. “I hope so,” he said abruptly and walked away, weaving through the coffee shop’s small tables.

      “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