Книга - Bringing Up Babies

Bringing Up Babies
SUSAN MEIER


Lily Andersen only wanted to be the best nanny possible to the adorable Brewster triplets, but Chas Brewster was difficult to ignore. He was handsome, fascinating, and the way he loved the babies called to her most basic instincts.But he was also off-limits! No matter how Lily longed to grow closer to Chas, it was not a good idea to get involved with the boss. Yet as the light-night cuddles led to grown-up kisses, Lily had a hard time remembering her place wasn't in Chas's arms….







“We’re looking for a nanny,

but we plan to interview a lot of people,” Chas Brewster said, gently discouraging her because he couldn’t imagine this woman caring for triplets who required round-the-clock care.

Lily Andersen nodded.

Gazing at her, Chas acknowledged that nature had truly outdone itself when it created this woman. Lily was the kind of beautiful that stopped traffic. For a good ten seconds, Chas wished she really did want to play mother to three motherless children, but he squelched that wish because it was selfish. Right now his top priority had to be the health, safety and well-being of the children. Besides, this gorgeous blue-eyed blonde was about the furthest thing from a nanny he’d ever seen.

He couldn’t have a relationship with her. First, if he hired her, she’d be his employee. Second, if he hired her, she’d be living in his house.

Both spelled trouble.






Evan: The Baby Bequest

Chas: Bringing Up Babies

Grant: Oh, Babies!


Dear Reader,

Not only is February the month for lovers, it is the second month for readers to enjoy exciting celebratory titles across all Silhouette series. Throughout 2000, Silhouette Books will be commemorating twenty years of publishing the best in contemporary category romance fiction. This month’s Silhouette Romance lineup continues our winning tradition.

Carla Cassidy offers an emotional VIRGIN BRIDES title, in which a baby on the doorstep sparks a second chance for a couple who’d once been Waiting for the Wedding—their own!—and might be again…. Susan Meier’s charming miniseries BREWSTER BABY BOOM continues with Bringing Up Babies, as black sheep brother Chas Brewster finds himself falling for the young nanny hired to tend his triplet half siblings.

A beautiful horse trainer’s quest for her roots leads her to two men in Moyra Tarling’s The Family Diamond. Simon Says…Marry Me! is the premiere of Myrna Mackenzie’s THE WEDDING AUCTION. Don’t miss a single story in this engaging three-book miniseries. A pregnant bride-for-hire dreams of making The Double Heart Ranch a real home, but first she must convince her husband in this heart-tugger by Leanna Wilson. And If the Ring Fits…some lucky woman gets to marry a prince! In this sparkling debut Romance from Melissa McClone, an accident-prone American heiress finds herself a royal bride-to-be!

In coming months, look for Diana Palmer, a Joan Hohl-Kasey Michaels duet and much more. It’s an exciting year for Silhouette Books, and we invite you to join the celebration!

Happy Reading!






Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor




Bringing Up Babies

Susan Meier





www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)




Books by Susan Meier


Silhouette Romance

Stand-in Mom #1022

Temporarily Hers #1109

Wife in Training #1184

Merry Christmas, Daddy #1192

* (#litres_trial_promo)In Care of the Sheriff #1283

* (#litres_trial_promo)Guess What? We’re Married! #1338

Husband from 9 to 5 #1354

* (#litres_trial_promo)The Rancher and the Heiress #1374

† (#litres_trial_promo)The Baby Bequest #1420

† (#litres_trial_promo)Bringing Up Babies #1427

Silhouette Desire

Take the Risk #567




SUSAN MEIER


has written category romances for Silhouette Romance and Silhouette Desire. A full-time writer now, Susan has also been an employee of a major defense contractor, a columnist for a small newspaper and a division manager of a charitable organization. But the greatest joy in her life has always been her children, who constantly surprise and amaze her. Married for twenty years to her wonderful, understanding and gorgeous husband, Michael, Susan cherishes her roles as a mother, wife, sister and friend, believing them to be life’s real treasures. She not only cherishes those roles as gifts, she tries to convey the beauty and importance of loving relationships in her books.


Chas:

Because you seem to have a little difficulty understanding the wisdom of your heart, I’m going to pass on the advice of my own father. Opposites will always attract. Not just because there’s fun in trying to figure out how to get along, but also because opposites complement each other. Stop looking for someone who is as smart as you are or as determined as you are, and start looking for someone who knows how to relax and let life lead her where she’s destined to go—someone who knows how to be as happy with a little as she can be with a lot.

And let her into your heart. Don’t just give her money and the promise of a position and power—show her the enormous capacity for love that you guard like a buried treasure. Because it is a treasure to be at the same time vulnerable yet strong. A good woman will understand and appreciate that.

If you find that woman, don’t ever let her go.

Love,

Dad




Contents


Chapter One (#uef8020fe-abc8-5e8b-b296-eca36a51836a)

Chapter Two (#u7b44ca0d-2014-5705-b74f-5c6691d899b9)

Chapter Three (#u51068dea-fb9b-5605-8588-1e8793a524ad)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)




Chapter One


“Hi, I’m Lily Andersen. You advertised for a nanny?”

Chas Brewster stared in amazement at the woman standing at his front door. The gorgeous blue-eyed blonde was about the farthest thing from a nanny he’d ever seen.

“Yes. Come in,” he said, then swallowed hard. With her big, bright sapphire eyes and bounty of luxurious yellow curls accenting the peaches and cream complexion of her face, Lily Andersen had the kind of beauty that could stop traffic. She wore a baby-blue sweater that wasn’t designed to accent her bosom, but did anyway, and modest jeans covering a perfect derriere and long legs.

“We’re looking for a nanny, but we plan to interview a lot of people,” he said, gently discouraging her because he couldn’t imagine this woman caring for triplet babies who required nearly round-the-clock care. “For first interviews I’m only asking a few preliminary questions. Suitable candidates will be called back for a second interview.”

Lily nodded her understanding. Chas motioned to the right, directing her down the hall to the den, praising the heavens as he followed behind her. Watching her hips move he acknowledged that nature had truly outdone itself when it created this woman. For a good ten seconds he wished she really did want to play mother to three motherless children, but he squelched that wish because it was selfish. Right now his top priority had to be the health, safety and well-being of the children.

Besides, he couldn’t have a relationship with her, anyway. First, if he hired her, she’d be his employee. Second, if he hired her, she’d be living in his house. Both circumstances spelled trouble.

Taking another look at the subtle swing of her hips, Chas sighed. It was a fun fantasy while it had lasted.

“Second door on the right,” he said.

She turned and smiled. “Thank you.”

Chas instructed Lily to take a seat as he rounded the old, worn desk that had once been his father’s to sit on the battered burgundy leather chair behind it. Professionally, as if he had interviewed nannies a million times, he reached for his legal pad and pen. “You said your name was Lily Anderson,” he said, writing the information at the top of the page.

“That’s right. Lily Andersen. A-N-D-E-R-S-E-N, not O-N.”

Chas glanced up and smiled. “E-N,” he repeated, making the note, though he knew the record would be worthless. When she discovered the job was caring for triplets, not one child, she would probably run in the other direction, but more than that, he’d already figured out he couldn’t seriously consider her a candidate to care for Taylor, Cody and Antoinette, whom they called Annie, unless she had excellent credentials. Tamping down the thought that it would be nice to simply look at this woman twenty-four hours a day, he knew her ability to attend to the children was the real bottom line.

“Where are you from, Lily?”

“Wisconsin.”

That stopped him. “You’re an awfully long way from home.”

She shrugged carelessly. “I know. I was feeling stifled by my family and decided to get away.”

“To Pennsylvania?” he asked incredulously.

She grinned charmingly, innocently. “Why not?”

Confused, Chas only stared at her. If she were running away, he’d expect a woman of her good looks to choose a place like Los Angeles or New York, a place where she might be able to put those good looks to work as an actress or model.

“I love Pennsylvania,” she continued. “You have beautiful mountains and fabulous trees. For a mid-Atlantic state, Pennsylvania has kept a lot of its rural appeal. I could probably live here happily forever.”

The flowing, melodious tones of her lovely voice lulled him into a warm, comfortable state and he found himself gazing at her like a love-sick puppy. She was beautiful, her voice was soft and sexy, and she had an absolutely perfect figure….

Call him a chauvinist, but a man had to know the limits of his endurance, and Chas knew his. Having this woman living with him in this house wasn’t going to work.

He almost felt bad for rejecting her for a problem that was his, not hers—then he realized the problem could be hers. Rather than believe she wanted to live in the middle of nowhere, it made more sense to think she was on her way to the big city, needed money, saw the Brewster ad, decided she could make quick, easy cash and stopped to try to get the job.

Well, that was the end of that. He didn’t have to worry about being overwhelmingly attracted to her anymore. Not only was she too beautiful to run after three screaming, hungry babies, who demanded full-time attention, but she was a transient. There was no way he’d introduce the children to a nanny who would desert them after a few weeks, or even a few months. Given the way they’d been shuffled around, these kids needed someone more permanent.

He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, I certainly love Pennsylvania, too,” he said, then pretended to consult some notes. He would ask a few more general questions as a formality, then, with a clear conscience, he’d send her on her way. “Tell me about your child-care experience.”

“Who cares about her child-care experience?” Grant, Chas’s oldest brother, said from the door of the den. Cradling their baby brother and two sisters in his well-muscled forearms, dark-haired, bearded Grant walked into the room. “For some reason or another, Chas, I get the impression you’ve forgotten we’re desperate. At this point, I’m willing to take anybody.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Lily exclaimed, jumping from her chair. “Aren’t they the most adorable babies!”

All three of the kids wore one-piece rompers. The girls’ were solid pink with a bunny appliqué on the chest. Cody’s was gray with a multicolored train. Cody and Annie had sandy hair and light green eyes, but Taylor had dark hair and brown eyes. Looking at the eight-month-old triplets the way a stranger would, Chas had to admit that, yes, they were adorable.

“Don’t let their looks deceive you,” he said, aware that he was behaving like a man dousing water on the fire, but also knowing it was for the best. These kids needed more than a temporary nanny. “At three o’clock in the afternoon, well rested from their naps, they seem adorable. At three o’clock in the morning, hungry and wanting to play rather than sleep, they are as far from adorable as you can get.”

“Oh, they are not!” Lily said, taking Taylor from Grant’s outstretched arms. “Look at you,” she said, brushing her cheek against Taylor’s in a gesture of complete fascination with the little girl with the dark hair and eyes like Grant’s. “You’re just precious.”

“They’re all precious and wonderful,” Grant said as he slid Cody and Annie into the play yard set up in the den for Chas’s convenience when he had to work. “And surprisingly easy to care for.”

Chas’s eyes bugged out in astonishment. “You’re lying,” he said without thinking.

Grant glared at him. “These children are a joy to have around.”

“These children are family,” Chas said. “And I love all three of them dearly, but they are not always a joy to have around.”

Grant thrust his chin in Lily’s direction, then tried to send Chas a message with his eyes.

Chas frowned and shook his head.

“Well, they’re beautiful children,” Lily said, stroking Cody’s cheek while she balanced Taylor on her hip. “And they appear to be very well behaved.” She smiled at Grant, then Chas. “Whose babies are they?”

Chas looked at Grant. Grant looked at Chas. Finally Chas said, “They belonged to our father and stepmother, both of whom died recently. Grant and I, along with our brother, Evan, were granted custody.”

“Oh, so the three of you live in this house?” Lily questioned innocently.

“No, our brother Evan got married over the weekend. He’s on his honeymoon,” Grant said.

“Which leaves the two of you as guardians for the kids,” Lily surmised, glancing from brother to brother.

Chas shook his head. “No. We recognized that each child needed individualized attention, and we’ve all more or less adopted a child to be our own. The kids stay together all day, then in the evening I take care of Annie, Evan and Claire will have Cody, and Grant gets Taylor.”

Lily shot him a confused expression, but Chas decided that was good. She might be sweet, she might be nice, she might even have honorable intentions about trying to care for kids, but he suspected she was only here temporarily. He wasn’t about to hire somebody who wouldn’t stay around.

“So, what you’re telling me, then, is that the job is more of a daytime thing?”

“And we’re planning to hire a housekeeper,” Grant said encouragingly.

“You simply want someone to care for the children?”

“Absolutely,” Grant said, grinning charmingly.

“Eventually,” Chas contradicted sternly. “For now the nanny will have to do basic housekeeping, and the job is at least ten hours a day,” Chas reminded, again bringing everything back to reality. “Because you’d be the primary care giver, there will be times we’ll expect you to baby-sit in the evenings. There will also be times you would be responsible for overnight duty. Grant’s in the process of bringing his construction company north and once it’s here he’ll need a full night’s sleep. I’m setting up my law practice. I won’t always have to get up first thing in the morning, but when I do, I’ll also need my sleep.”

“But the nanny will have a room upstairs for convenience in caring for the kids,” Grant put in immediately. “You’ll live here. Room and board is part of the package. Afternoons or mornings that you’re not needed will be your free time. We’ll try to work out advance schedules,” he added, skewering Chas with a look that dared him to try to throw water on that one.

“It sounds like exactly what I’m looking for,” Lily began, but Chas stopped her.

“That’s great,” he said, rising from his seat to walk around the desk. He placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the door. “Like I said, once I’ve completed all the first interviews, I’ll begin calling people back for second interviews. I do have a number where you can be reached, don’t I?”

“I’m staying at the bed and breakfast on Main Street,” Lily said, handing Taylor to Grant. “If you want me for a second interview, just call Abby, I guess.”

“Okay. Fine. That’s great,” Chas said as he directed her out.

He got as far as the door before Grant said, “What in the hell are you talking about first interviews and second interviews for? We are desperate. Desperate. I want somebody here tomorrow. I’m supposed to be in Savannah on Thursday. I’m not going to make it if we don’t get some help soon.”

Chas tried to silence Grant with a glare, and Lily took a step forward out of the way of the two tall, angry, obviously disagreeing men. Dressed in a plaid work shirt and jeans, Grant was frightening and imposing, but Chas was majestic. His sandy-brown hair was straight but cut short and styled in such a way that not even one strand was out of place. His green eyes were clear, direct. Even wearing casual tan slacks and an open-necked yellow shirt, tall, whipcord-lean Chas had the look of a person in power. It could have been the way he carried himself. It could have been the fact that he didn’t back down from his older, brawnier brother. Or it could have been because he seemed to be the one calling the shots.

Lily also wasn’t surprised Chas didn’t want her. She’d seen disapproval in his pale gray-green eyes the minute he opened the door to her. Men always had one of two reactions to her. They either thought she was a bubble brain or they thought she was riffraff.

Dignified, stately Chas apparently thought she wasn’t good enough for his family.

“Grant, why don’t we let Ms. Andersen go, and you and I will discuss this privately?” Chas asked.

“Why don’t we let Ms. Andersen wait in the living room while I convince you you’re an idiot, and that way I won’t have to drive to town to apologize to her and beg her to take this job,” Grant quickly countered.

Because Lily had been down roads like this one many times, she stepped in before the dispute became ugly. “Okay, look, I’m not going to pull any punches here.” She faced Chas. “You think that because I’m blond I’m stupid,” she said, opting for the nicer of the two choices for why Chas immediately disliked her. “Since I know I’m not, and since I know I’ll do a very good job as nanny for your children and you’ll be glad you hired me, I would be more than happy to work out some sort of a trial period.”

Lily watched Grant smirk cockily and cross his arms on his broad chest as if he knew her argument had won the battle, but she nonetheless held her breath waiting for Chas’s reply. She might be staying at the B&B tonight and maybe tomorrow night, but basically that was all she could afford. She had to find a job today. Because it was already three o’clock, nanny to the Brewster children might be her salvation.

Chas sighed heavily. “Ms. Andersen, it isn’t that I don’t think you’re capable of caring for the kids. I’m afraid you’ll only be temporary.”

She gave him a puzzled frown. “What do you mean?”

“Well, your home is awfully far away. What’s to say you’re not going to get homesick and just pick up and leave?”

Lily answered without a second’s hesitation. “I won’t.”

When he didn’t immediately respond, Lily knew her first guess was right on the money. Though he might truly question whether or not she’d stay in this town, that wasn’t the real reason he didn’t want to hire her. Since she couldn’t defend his possible opinion of her social status, she chose to defend her abilities.

“My sister is ten years older than I am, and she had three babies in three years. Not only did I live with her after our mother died, but I baby-sat while she worked.” She caught Chas’s gaze and held it. “I can handle three kids. I’ve already done it.”

“She’s got you, Counselor,” Grant said with a laugh.

“All right, a trial period,” Chas said as if he were doing her a supreme favor. “But these babies are very important to us,” he warned soberly. “If you don’t do an excellent job and I do mean excellent, you’re out. Do you understand me?”

“Oh, I understand you very, very well, Mr. Brewster,” Lily said, giving Chas a pointed warning look of her own, before she turned to walk out of the den. “I’m going into town to get my things from Abby’s. Please have my room ready when I return,” she said, then left.

“I guess she told you,” Grant said with a laugh after Lily was gone.

“I should punch you for getting us into this mess,” Chas said, striding back to his chair behind the big desk.

“Punch me? Punch me? You were about to let the only nanny to answer our ad walk out the door. We’ve had that ad in the paper for months, and not one person answered it until Lily.”

“Someone will come along eventually.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Grant said and fell to the seat in front of Chas’s desk. “No one wants this job. Face it, Chas, you are in rural Pennsylvania now. This isn’t Philly. Nannies aren’t flocking here in droves.”

“Still, that doesn’t mean we have to take the first person who comes along, either. Do you know you hired her before I had a chance to get references?”

“So, we’ll get references when she returns.”

“And what if we find out she’s wanted for a felony in Wisconsin? What do we do then?”

“Then we let her go. That’s what trial periods are for.”

Chas dropped to his chair in exasperation. “All this is so easy for you because you’re going to be out of town. What if she’s careless or persnickety? What if she can’t handle all three kids alone?”

“She’s not going to be alone. It was never our plan to leave the nanny alone with the kids for long stretches of time. That’s why you’re setting up shop at the house, Counselor,” Grant reminded archly. “You volunteered to be the watcher and helper so that Evan would have the freedom to take over the mill.”

“Yeah, and what are you supposed to be doing while I’m the watcher and helper?”

“I’m supposed to be bringing my very successful construction company up from Savannah, remember?” Grant said, reaching out to lift Taylor from the play yard when she began to cry. He snuggled her against his neck, then sighed and said, “Come on, Chas, we need her. Period. End of story. At least until Evan gets back from his honeymoon. When Evan gets back we’ll hold another meeting, maybe regroup and change our plans, but for now it’s just you and me. And I have to go to Savannah.”

“So, go. I’ll take care of the kids.”

“I’m not leaving you with three babies and no helper. Besides, Lily looks very capable to me.”

Chas gave him an incredulous stare. “Oh, yeah. She looks capable, all right.”

“What? You think because she’s pretty she can’t take care of kids?”

“No, I think that because she’s pretty she’s got bigger fish to fry than being nanny for the children of two bachelors in the wilds of Pennsylvania. Use your head, Grant, she’s probably going to New York and we’re a convenient stop along the way. A place where she can rest and earn some extra cash.”

Having settled Taylor, Grant rose from his chair. “I don’t care if she is only temporary. She’s solving an immediate problem. As far as I’m concerned that’s good enough.”

He turned to walk out the door, but Chas called him back. “Grant, one of these days you’re going to have to start thinking about the future.”

Grant laughed. “Not as long as I have you around.”

Lily got into her car and drove down the winding road that led into town, not even noticing the September breeze that rippled through the multicolored leaves of the dense forest around her. She couldn’t stop thinking about Chas Brewster and had to struggle not to close her eyes in frustration, wishing for the one millionth time in her life that she’d gone to college as her sister had advised. At the time she’d thought Mary Louise had only been trying to be a good guardian, pointing out all Lily’s options before Lily committed to helping her sister with her boys. Now she knew Mary Louise understood that pretty blondes didn’t always get the respect they deserved. At least if she had a degree, no one could argue her abilities.

Lily sighed. But she hadn’t wanted a degree. She’d wanted babies. She’d wanted to marry Everett, settle down in a suburban home and be a mom. She’d wanted to car pool to Little League games and ballet recitals. She’d wanted to sew Halloween costumes and give out candy to children for trick or treat. She’d also wanted to be the respected confidante of a man who would be her best friend, her partner, her companion and her lover. She’d wanted to give advice, talk out difficulties, plan the futures of her children and enjoy every second of her life—good or bad. Because she had genuinely believed there was nothing better, nothing more wonderful or more important than spending your life giving love, receiving love and teaching others to love.

Lily sighed heavily and maneuvered her car around a particularly sharp curve.

What a fool she’d been.

Betrayal had quickly stolen all her dreams, and time hadn’t given her the opportunity to come up with an alternate plan. But she did know one thing, she would never base her dreams on something so delicate as another person’s affections. Not ever again.

She would take the job as the Brewster nanny and begin squirreling away her money, because eventually she was going to have to make some decisions about her life, some real decisions. If nothing else, she was going to have to find a way to support herself, because she didn’t think Chas Brewster was going to keep her forever.

In fact, she knew he wouldn’t.

Lily arrived at Brewster Mansion about two hours later. Her car was packed with every single thing she’d collected in her twenty-three years. Holding a suitcase in one hand and balancing a box on the other, she rang the doorbell.

Chas answered. “Come in, Lily,” he said, sounding more resigned than glad to see her, though at least he was polite. He led her through the marble-floored foyer, through the immaculate all-white kitchen with the butcher-block counter in the center and to the door of what was probably maid’s quarters.

He opened the door to a room that was twice the size of any living space Lily had ever had. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said before she had a chance to temper her reaction.

“I’m glad you like it. Go in, get settled, then come back to the den whenever you’re ready, and we’ll discuss salary.”

Smiling brightly, Lily nodded. With one curt bob of his head Chas turned to leave and ran smack-dab into his older brother’s broad chest.

“Why are you putting her down here?” Grant asked incredulously.

Lily watched as Chas directed Grant out of the small alcove in front of her room and closed her door, but he and Grant apparently didn’t get any farther than the kitchen because she could hear them talking.

“This is where we agreed she’d stay.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’m leaving, remember? I need my sleep tonight, which means you’ll need help with those babies.”

“I’ll take care of the kids.”

“I’m sure you’ll try,” Grant agreed, “but I’m also sure you’ll fail. So put her upstairs, as close to those kids as you can get her.”

Obviously exasperated, Chas sarcastically said, “What do you want me to do, put her in my room?”

There was a pause, a long one. When Grant replied, there was laughter in his voice. “Do you want to put her in your room?”

“Absolutely not,” Chas insisted angrily, and though all of Lily’s nerve endings began to crackle with indignation, Chas’s older brother burst out laughing.

“You’re afraid of her.”




Chapter Two


Chas pushed Grant out of the kitchen and into the foyer, not sure how much of their conversation could be heard by the woman in the maid’s quarters, and unwilling to take any chances.

“I am not.”

“Of course you are!” Grant insisted, laughing. “Look at you, you’re all but shaking in your shoes.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Chas said, and strode past his brother toward the den. “Why the hell would I be afraid of a five-foot, ten-inch woman?”

“I don’t know,” Grant admitted, following closely on Chas’s heels. “Let’s see. Why would you be afraid of her? Could it be because you find her irresistibly attractive?”

“No woman is irresistibly attractive,” Chas said, focusing his attention on straightening up the desk to get ready for his discussion with Lily about salary. To his horror, Grant burst out laughing again.

“Oh, Chas. Who do you think you’re talking to here? I know firsthand that you’re more susceptible than the rest of us to a pretty girl. But this time you’re not alone. All of us are like putty around someone as gorgeous as Lily.”

Chas pinned him with a look. “Then I guess I don’t have anything to worry about, since you’ve just admitted you find her attractive, too.”

“Of course I do,” Grant acknowledged with a hearty laugh, then he leaned over the mahogany desk and smiled cunningly. “But I’m not going to be the one alone with her tomorrow night.”

After dinner the following evening, Chas understood exactly what Grant meant. His brother didn’t even have to allude to the other mistakes Chas had made in his life. This situation had enough trouble of its own. With the kids fed and happy, the house was unusually quiet. The sun had begun to set, and sporadic lamps made cozy yellow arches of light and cast odd shadows.

All in all the whole place was too intimate.

He paced the living room, knowing he should go up to the nursery and start bathtime, but feeling it was far too dangerous. He convinced himself that Lily could handle the job alone, since Grant had taught her last night to bathe one child at a time while keeping the others entertained in the play yard.

Sighing, Chas sat on the worn office chair and leaned back. In a good many ways he was glad he’d been wrong about Lily. Like Evan’s wife, Claire, she certainly had a way with babies. Though Claire had gotten her experience by helping with her younger siblings, Lily hadn’t volunteered where she’d garnered her information about raising kids except for her one statement about babysitting for her sister. Chas hadn’t asked her to elaborate on the situation, though he supposed he should have since that would have been a normal question to ask on an interview…if his brother had let him interview her. But, now that she was here and working, if he asked for details, his probing could be construed as interest in her personal life, and Chas didn’t want Lily to think he was interested in her personal life.

Because he wasn’t. He really wasn’t in the market for a wife. If anything, a casual relationship was about as high on his agenda as a woman could get until his law practice was established and he had a better handle on being Annie’s guardian. Since Lily worked for him, a relationship with her was completely out of the question.

So that meant everything had to be aboveboard. Nothing personal between them. She was his employee. He was her boss. And that was that.

Oddly enough, Chas suddenly felt better, maybe more in control. Satisfied that he’d resolved this whole issue in his mind, he rose from his seat. He supposed he could help Lily after all.

Exactly as she had been instructed to do, she’d placed Cody and Taylor in the play yard. When Chas walked into the nursery, he immediately pulled Cody out of the colorful pen and stepped into the bathroom where Lily was bathing Annie.

“Hey, pumpkin,” he said, bending to tickle Annie’s chin. “You like the water, don’t you?”

Annie rewarded him with two swift splashes.

“She certainly is a water baby,” Lily agreed, reaching behind her for the towel she’d strategically placed so she wouldn’t have to leave Annie’s side.

Though Lily wasn’t struggling, Chas slid Cody to the floor, pulled Annie from the tub and placed her in the towel Lily held.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Anything I can do to help?”

Lily pointed to Cody with her chin. “How about undressing that one for his bath while I dress this one?”

“Sounds good to me,” Chas agreed, but as if Cody understood what had been said, he crawled around Chas’s legs and out of the room. Chas turned and tried to grab him, but he missed Cody’s T-shirt by a millimeter, and the little boy zipped off, giggling.

“Oh, great! We’ll be lucky to catch him now. He might only be crawling, but he’s a slick one.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I should have known better than to talk so openly about his b-a-t-h in front of him.”

Lily grinned. “Doesn’t like the water?”

Chas thought a second. “Actually, I don’t think that’s it. I think Cody’s just stubborn, like my brother Grant.”

As he dashed out of the bathroom after Cody, a perverse part of Chas knew he’d added the afterthought because he didn’t like the idea of Grant being attracted to Lily. It hit him that he was jealous of his brother being attracted to a woman neither one of them could have, and he almost groaned. No! No! He couldn’t have lost his control this easily…and without warning. For Pete’s sake, he’d hardly looked at the woman!

He found Cody cooing to Taylor through the mesh of the play yard and scooped him up. “You’re a bad boy today.”

Cody giggled, playfully slapped Chas’s cheek and said, “Baboy.”

Though he knew the child didn’t understand what he’d said, Chas sighed. “You won’t get any argument out of me.” He swung Cody up to the changing table and began removing his clothes. When Cody remembered he’d been running because it was bathtime, he let out a high-pitched squeal.

“Shush!” Chas scolded softly. “Do you want the women to think you’re a coward?”

Cody stopped squealing and blinked up at his brother.

“Worse,” Chas said, not sure why his little impromptu heart-to-heart talk had caught his brother’s interest, but mightily glad that it had. “You’re making me look bad. Which means you’re making both of us look bad.”

Cody only peered at him skeptically.

“Trust me, Cody, most of the things you do in life you’ll be doing to please a woman….”

“What are you telling that poor, innocent child?”

Caught, Chas felt all the blood drain from his face, but when he peeked behind him and saw Lily smiling, he concluded she hadn’t heard enough of his conversation to grasp the real meaning, and he shrugged carelessly.

“I decided it’s never too early to start him on the facts of life.”

“Then at least tell him both sides of the story,” Lily said. After lifting naked Cody off the changing table, she nuzzled his cheek with her nose, then in her most earnest voice said, “Women do a hundred more things to please men than men would even think to do for women. We ask for a few basics like cleanliness,” she said, indicating the bathroom to the little boy who looked at her as if he really was trying to understand. “And honesty. Everything else is a matter of personal opinion.”

Chas actually thought about that, wondering if she meant what she’d said. He could be clean. He could certainly be honest. It would be the easiest relationship of his life….

Lord, what was he doing? Daydreaming about a relationship with her again? This was crazy. Sure, the woman was pretty, and she seemed to be easygoing and nice. But for the love of Heaven, he’d only met her yesterday. He didn’t even know her…and, more important, he didn’t want a relationship. He’d already had three that were the absolute pits. Besides, he had things to do…

Like get his sister ready for her bath, Chas thought, pulling himself out of his reverie. Then they could put the kids to bed and get into separate rooms before he drove himself crazy.

Chas saw to it that bathing the kids was accomplished quickly. He said good-night to each of the babies and tiptoed out of the room, leaving Lily to wait for the children to fall asleep.

Glad to be alone, he went to the den and opened a bottle of scotch and a file for a case sent to him by a large Philadelphia firm that had agreed to employ him long-distance for research and document writing. Since he needed sustenance until his own practice took off and since he knew nobody could ever have too much experience, Chas was more than willing to take on the low-level job.

“Excuse me, Mr. Brewster…Chas?” Lily said, sheepishly stepping into the den.

Flustered by her unexpected presence, Chas bounced out of his seat. “What’s wrong? Is something wrong with one of the kids?”

“No, no,” she said, laughing a little and batting her hand in dismissal. “They’re all asleep.”

“Oh.” Chas sat again. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Well, you said we’d discuss my salary and your expectations for me last night, but we never got around to it.”

He remembered. After she’d gotten settled, Grant announced that it was bathtime and that he would show Lily what to do. Together they’d gone to the nursery, and though Chas had determinedly stayed away, laughter had floated down to him until he rushed upstairs to chaperon.

Chas scowled at the memory.

“I’m sorry,” Lily said, obviously responding to the expression on his face. “If this is a bad time, I can come back.”

“No. This is a good time,” Chas said, putting the bottle of scotch back in the drawer. He was thirty years old and starting his own law practice. Three bad relationships had taught him several good lessons—lessons a man couldn’t toss aside for a pretty face. And over a year had passed since the last one. He’d finished law school, paid most of his debts, and kept himself out of trouble the entire time. If he couldn’t get a hold of himself long enough to have a conversation with the woman who was caring for the triplets, then he needed his head examined.

“In fact, I should apologize for not remembering to talk with you last night.”

“That’s okay,” she said, meekly making her way into the office. She took the seat on the chair in front of his desk, while Chas organized his thoughts, jotting down a few things on paper so he wouldn’t forget them.

As he calmly explained her salary and the Brewster expectations, Chas felt another stab of attraction, but he controlled it by reminding himself of the valuable lesson that he learned with Charlene—good looks were only part of the package. Absorbing that, really taking in the full meaning of that lesson, he realized this conversation could actually work to his benefit because he could use it to strengthen his resolve.

Sitting across the desk from him, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, Lily Andersen was still more attractive than most women dressed for an evening on the town. Her sunny blond hair had been pulled into a loose knot at her nape and pointed out how beautiful, how perfect her face was. High cheekbones, bright with color, accented her large blue eyes. Even unpainted, her pink lips were full, generous. If this were any other place, any other situation, he probably would roll the dice one more time and try for a relationship with her. But because she was his employee and this was his house, having a relationship with her was out of the question. Since his libido couldn’t seem to understand that, Chas decided to try to get it under control by reminding himself that looks were frequently deceiving. In the past Chas had made the three biggest mistakes of his life after leaping into relationships with pretty girls, without first gathering enough information about them.

It was time to cure his libido of this affliction once and for all.

“So, Lily, I didn’t really get a chance to interview you yesterday, and there are still a few questions I’d like to ask you.”

She smiled. Her face lit with pleasure. Her blue eyes sparkled.

Chas’s libido went on red alert. There was no way a man could find anything wrong with that face…with that smile.

“Like what?”

Chas cleared his throat, telling his libido to cool its heels for a few seconds and he’d find a flaw, a reason not to like her. “Well, you talked about caring for your sister’s children, but I was curious about other child-care experience you’d had.”

“None, really,” Lily answered easily, truthfully.

Chas waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. She sat with her hands on her lap, her soft smile firmly in place and her blue eyes clear and direct.

Chas’s libido laughed. She was honest and unpretentious. She didn’t try to fake or fudge her résumé. She was quite definitely a take-me-as-I-am person. No pretense or artifice here. Strike one on trying to make her unattractive.

“College?”

She shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I never wanted to go to college, I only wanted to get married and have a family.”

Chas mentally snickered at his libido.

“Really?” he said, getting comfortable in his chair, thinking he was finally on the road to proving his point. There was nothing more unattractive than a woman who needed a man to complete herself.

“Really,” Lily said, and gave Chas another pretty smile. “Frankly,” she said with a self-deprecating sigh. “I fell in love in high school. Everett was good-looking, smart and loved his family. He was everything a woman could possibly want in a man. I was so enamored I couldn’t see straight. I would have sacrificed anything for him.”

Chas’s libido didn’t say a word. It didn’t have to. Only a fool would have missed the sincerity in her explanation. She hadn’t needed a man to complete herself, she’d fallen in love. And she’d been loyal and trustworthy. If only one of his women had been loyal or trustworthy….

Strike two.

“So what happened?” Chas asked quietly.

“I waited for him while he went to college, forgave a couple of indiscretions, then suffered public humiliation when he left me at the altar a couple of weeks ago—white dress, bridesmaids, impatient minister and all.”

Chas and his libido tried to picture it and couldn’t. It didn’t make any sense that a normal, red-blooded man would leave this beautiful, charming, sweet, sincere woman at the altar. The man must have been an absolute fool.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Chas didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud, but deduced he must have mumbled or she wouldn’t have needed a repeat. “I said that was absolutely cruel.”

“It was cruel,” Lily agreed softly. “And painful.”

“And that’s why you left Wisconsin,” Chas said, finishing her thought for her. It all made perfect sense to him now. A beautiful woman shows up on his doorstep with no purpose or direction in life, save that of wanting to help him with his kids. He should have known. She was rebounding from another relationship.

Even as Chas breathed a sigh of relief because he knew only a blockhead got involved with someone who had two weeks ago been publicly jilted, his libido didn’t seem to have any problem with her story at all.

Though he judged himself to be an honest, honorable man who would never take advantage of a struggling, vulnerable woman, he also knew he’d lost this battle, because his intellect and integrity weren’t the problem. His libido was.




Chapter Three


A beam of bright autumn sunshine woke Lily. Slowly, contentedly, she opened her eyes to the golden warmth.

As she stretched languidly, like a cat stirring from a nap on a sunny sidewalk, she recognized she was happy for the first time in weeks. She knew it was because she’d finally found a job. Then she suddenly realized that she should have been awakened in the middle of the night to help care for the triplets, and she should probably be feeding them breakfast right now.

Bouncing out of bed, she glanced at the clock and groaned. Nine-thirty! She was late. She couldn’t afford to be irresponsible. She needed this job too much. She had less than fifty dollars to her name, and not only did staying employed mean she had a source for a paycheck for an undetermined span of time, it also meant she was going to be fed and housed courtesy of Grant and Chas Brewster.

The very thought of Chas stopped Lily dead in her tracks. She remembered his lean, athletic body and the sensual grace with which he moved. She remembered his shrewd, assessing gray-green eyes. She remembered his thick, sandy brown hair.

Unfortunately she was directly in front of the mirror and saw that her own hair was going in every direction, she wasn’t wearing a stitch of makeup, and her one-piece flannel pajamas were covered with skiing bears.

Confused, she blinked twice, waiting for her mind to refocus. Surely she didn’t care what she looked like. Because if she did, it could only mean that she cared what Chas Brewster thought of her. And she didn’t care what he thought of her…did she?

No, she couldn’t. Could she?

No. Absolutely not, she decided, drawing in a long, life-sustaining breath of air. For Pete’s sake, falling too hard for a man was what had gotten her into this predicament in the first place. She couldn’t even look at another man until she got her life straightened out.

Nonetheless, she needed to hide the bears.

Grabbing a robe from the chair on her way to the door, Lily hurried out of her bedroom. She put the robe on while still standing in the alcove, then entered the kitchen, yanking the drawstring belt.

“I’m sorry,” she said before she even said good-morning.

“That’s quite all right,” Chas said politely, scooping a bit of oatmeal from Annie’s chin and rerouting it to her mouth.

Before she could stop herself, Lily noticed how relaxed and sexy he looked in his jeans and sweatshirt. She also noted that although his haircut was neat, certain strands tumbled boyishly over his forehead. Unfortunately she simultaneously realized that she was paying attention to how handsome he was—again! Why was it she couldn’t be in the same room with him without this awareness of him?

“Everybody’s first day with the triplets is hard,” he said, still not looking at her. “I thought I’d cut you a break and let you sleep in today.”

“Because I’m going to be the one getting up with the kids tonight?” Lily speculated, walking to the coffee-maker on the counter beside the sink, telling herself to ignore her attraction to him. She was a mere two weeks out of a six-year relationship. It was too soon to think she was finding another man attractive—even though he was. In fact, that was probably the point. Chas Brewster was a commanding, regal, masculine man. He probably attracted women the same way cheesecake attracted dieters.

She found a cup and poured coffee into it, forcing her mind off Chas and on to her surroundings. The entire kitchen was immaculately white, as was a good bit of the rest of the house. From that alone, Lily surmised the place had been decorated before the triplets were born. She didn’t have a clue how the father of three grown men could end up with three infants, but she figured that wasn’t her business. When the Brewsters were ready, they would tell her the story behind their father and stepmother. If they never told her, she would consider herself lucky to be able to avoid village gossip.

“No, you won’t be handling the kids tonight. I can do it myself,” Chas said agreeably. “Mostly they sleep through the night, anyway, and if they don’t, I know how to keep them occupied until I can get each one fed, diapered or rocked.”

“But you’re not supposed to care for the kids alone,” Lily protested, realizing that not only were Taylor and Cody happily chewing on play toys, but all three babies were dressed. He hadn’t sought her help with the kids in the night. He’d taken care of morning detail. Now he was planning to assume night duty again. “I want to help you.”

“And you will,” Chas said, still agreeable, still concentrating on Annie. “I have a meeting in town in about an hour and a half. Once I get through here, they’re all yours.”

“This isn’t what I was hired to do,” Lily argued, fearing for her job now that Grant was gone. She’d completely forgotten Chas hadn’t wanted to hire her; Grant had. But Grant wasn’t here and Chas was acting as though he didn’t need her. This time tomorrow she could be back on the street. “We’re supposed to be working together.”

“We don’t have to work together,” Chas said breezily, but he stopped the spoon on its way to Annie’s mouth as if he’d suddenly thought of something. “Unless you don’t think you can handle the kids by yourself,” he said, finally turning to look at her.

Lily felt as if time had come to a screeching halt. Looking confused and shocked, he peered at her hair, her face, and the bear-covered pajama leg that peeked out from beneath the hem of her pink chenille robe. A noise sounding like a groan or a laugh erupted from the back of his throat, but before Lily could be sure, he brought his hand to his mouth and pretended to cough.

“You can manage the kids alone, can’t you?” he asked slowly, his voice shaking as if he were desperately trying to control it.

She suspected he was laughing at her, and her chin lifted. “Why don’t you just go and get ready for your meeting…or change clothes or brief yourself on your notes. I’ll take care of the kids.”

“No,” he said, then coughed to clear his throat again. “That’s fine. I’m fine. Why don’t you go shower or whatever and I’ll finish up here?”

“Because we’re supposed to be working together,” Lily insisted, determined to make her point. She didn’t care if he didn’t like her hair, her lack of makeup or her pajamas. She wasn’t losing this job without a fight. “What do the kids usually do now?” she asked, walking to Taylor’s high chair. Seeing that Chas had dressed all three babies in little sweatpants, T-shirts and tiny tennis shoes, she said, “If they’re going outside, I can take them outside. If they usually watch ‘Sesame Street,’ I can take them to the family room. I’m perfectly qualified.”

“You’re also in your pajamas,” Chas said, sounding exasperated. “You can’t go outside.”

Lily glanced down at her robe. “I could still take them into the family room to watch TV,” she mumbled indignantly.

“Or you could take your shower and really be ready to care for them when I leave.”

Lily saw she was being foolish and combed her fingers through her unruly hair. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Chas said patiently. “Working with the triplets takes a while to get used to.”

“That’s not it,” Lily said, deciding she had to get this out in the open or she’d make herself crazy. It was hard enough to deal privately with her attraction to him. She couldn’t handle worrying about being fired, too. “I’m afraid you’re going to fire me, and I can’t afford to lose this job.”

Chas busied himself with Annie again. “I’m not going to fire you.”

Though it wasn’t a sweeping declaration of competency, Lily recognized that it had to be enough. She was justifiably insecure, because her ego had taken a real beating when Everett had left her at the altar. But more than that, she knew if she didn’t soon trust someone about something, she’d never reenter the real world. Chas might not be promising her a job forever, but he was backhandedly telling her he felt she was qualified to care for his three children, and that was a big, important deal. Knowing how much he and his brother Grant adored these kids, she understood they wouldn’t trust them to just anyone.

She nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll stop driving you nuts. I’ll shower and get dressed, and everything will go back to normal.”

Long after she was gone, Chas continued to stare at the alcove. He stared so long that it took two squeals from Annie before he came back to the present. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew that Lily would have some self-doubt from being left at the altar. Anybody would. But he still found her last statement incomprehensible. How could anyone as absolutely stunning as she was—a woman who brought him to groaning despair even without makeup, with sleep-tousled hair, and wearing pajamas covered with bears—ever think any house in which she lived would be normal?

Chas left the house about two hours later but not without making a big production about saying goodbye, leaving telephone numbers and giving Lily so many instructions she knew there was no way she could remember them all.

Particularly when she was having such a hard time concentrating on what he was saying.

It hadn’t occurred to her that he would have to dress for a business meeting, and when he walked down the spiral staircase, looking like someone off the cover of GQ she almost fainted. But it was the way he kissed each child goodbye, giving them individualized words of affection to make each one feel special, that really snagged her heart.

Before it was all over she could have hugged him for being so charmingly sweet to those babies. But thinking about hugging him tumbled into thinking about kissing him, and the mere thought of his lips touching hers sent a bubble of excitement through her, and she couldn’t get him out of the house fast enough.

When the sound of his car finally faded into silence, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“What is the matter with me? How could I get flustered so easily?” she asked the three eight-month-old babies who sat in the play yard staring up at her. “You’d swear I’d never seen a man in a suit before,” she added, bending to pick up a spongy ball, that had been tossed over the net railing by one of the kids, though none of them had cried or squealed for it.

She was glad they were happily settled, because she needed a minute to deliberate on this. In spite of what she’d told the kids, she understood that the problem wasn’t merely that Chas was physically attractive—though that masked the real culprit. The truth was, in a matter of two days Chas Brewster had begun to endear himself to her because he was so loving with the children.

She confirmed that conclusion when Chas returned home that afternoon and barely put down his briefcase before he reached into the play yard, stroking Cody’s hair, as he scooped Annie out and cooed to Taylor.

Leaning against the den door, Lily smiled, confident that she would be able to keep herself in line, now that she had deduced she was losing control because he was a sweetheart with the triplets. Any woman would be charmed by a man who could be so genuinely good to kids.

Grateful that her attraction wasn’t unusual, she gladly deemed this particular dilemma to be manageable. But when Chas turned and pierced her with a look, one of those uniquely masculine expressions that turns most women’s knees to jelly, Lily felt as if her stomach had fallen to the floor. She decided that for every bit as adorable as he was around the kids, and for every bit as much as she believed that was the bottom line to her attraction, she couldn’t discount the fact that he was a virile, sexy man.

“You didn’t have any problems while I was gone, did you?”

“No. Everything was fine.”

He couldn’t have hidden his relief if he’d tried. “Good. Thank God.”

Lily ventured into the room. “Mr. Brewster, I’m actually very competent with children.”

“Please don’t call me, Mr. Brewster,” Chas said, walking away from her, Annie on his arm. “You make me feel like my father.”

“I’m sorry,” Lily said. He was doing it again. Avoiding her at all costs. He didn’t want her help at breakfast, now it appeared he didn’t even want to talk with her. She wondered if it was because she was obvious in her attraction for him, and felt the heat of embarrassment rising to her cheeks. “I’ll try to remember to call you Chas, but to be honest, I’m a little awkward with that.”

He turned, faced her. “Why?” he asked curiously.

“Well, you’re my boss, and I’ve always suspected that when a person had a boss, they should be respectful.”

“You are respectful,” Chas mumbled and again turned away from her, balancing Annie on one arm while he yanked his tie off with the other. “I don’t need to be called mister or sir or any of that nonsense. If we’re going to be living together, Lily, we’re going to have to get accustomed to each other.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Lily realized that getting accustomed to each other was probably going to be as hard for him as it would be for her. As long as everything was clear-cut and professional, he was all right with her, capable of doing whatever needed to be done. But the minute things turned personal, as they frequently did since they were living in the same house, he got quiet, evasive. He never seemed to want to be in the same room with her, didn’t like sharing the chores. Because she’d been wrapped up in her own reaction to him, Lily hadn’t seen he was reacting every bit as poorly to her.

She remembered again that he hadn’t wanted to hire her and that he’d had the typical initial male response to her. He either thought she was a bubble brain or riffraff, though she hadn’t yet figured out which one. She considered being angry, considered letting him deal with the problem himself, but didn’t want to live with anyone who had such a terrible impression of her. As a part of the stronger, more powerful person she needed to become, she chose to change his opinion of her.

“I don’t think it will be so difficult to get accustomed to each other,” she said brightly. “First off we share a very important bond.”

When he faced her he looked pained, as if sharing a bond with her hurt him somehow. “And what is that?”

“Well, we both love the kids,” Lily said carefully, praying she didn’t make things worse by being so bold. “I know I’ve just been around them two days. But it would be impossible not to love such beautiful babies.”

Chas smiled. “They are beautiful.”

“And well behaved,” Lily added hopefully, recognizing she had struck a cord and was making progress. “You and your brothers can be very proud of the good job you’ve done with them so far.”

“We’ve only had them three months,” Chas said with a self-deprecating grin that was so endearing and cute, Lily could have happily melted at his feet, but she didn’t because she had a mission to accomplish. She had to make this man like her, and she had to do it quickly before he lost patience and got rid of her.

Seeing small talk was working, she walked a few steps closer to the desk. “Your father and stepmother were killed in an accident, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It was a shock.”

“But at least you all had each other. It’s not like the babies went to strangers.”

“Actually, they did,” Chas said, taking the seat behind the desk and settling Annie on his lap. “My brothers and I had been estranged from our father. We hadn’t even been told about the triplets.”

“Oh,” Lily said, not knowing what else to say and not really wanting to probe, because they’d passed the boundaries of need-to-know information. Though she was anxious to help Chas grow comfortable with her, she knew what it was like to have people asking questions she didn’t want to answer—questions she sometimes couldn’t answer—and she refused to pry for information that wasn’t any of her business.

“It’s okay,” Chas said. “You’re going to hear the gossip in town, anyway. I might as well tell you the story before you hear various and sundry versions that are a little more colorful than they need to be.”

“All right,” Lily said, seeing that he meant what he said and understanding his reasoning. Usually gossip was far, far worse than the truth. He motioned for her to sit as he gathered his thoughts, and she took a seat on the chair in front of the huge mahogany desk.

For several seconds Chas didn’t say anything, and when he did speak it was softly. “My mother died suddenly. She had a heart attack, and the doctor said she went so quickly nothing could have been done for her.”

“I’m sorry.”

Chas nodded his acceptance of her condolence. “It was pretty bad. We all took it very hard. Grant was the worst. He drank himself silly and in general made a nuisance of himself in town. We were all so concerned about him that we hardly paid any attention to my father. The only thing I can clearly remember him saying was that life was short, and he felt he had wasted his.”

“That’s a fairly normal reaction,” Lily confirmed gently, leaning forward, listening to him.

Chas drew in a long breath, awkwardly aware of how good it felt to discuss the situation openly and objectively with someone. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to talk about this, and he suspected part of the reason everything seemed to want to tumble out of him was because he didn’t know Lily. She had no preconceived notions and didn’t seem judgmental. He also didn’t have to worry that things he said would come back to haunt him two years from now, because two years from now she might not be here. Whatever the reason for being able to talk to her, he was just glad to have the opportunity to get some of this off his chest.

“In our own grief,” Chas said, though he knew he was rationalizing, “we more or less ignored Dad. One day he came home with a spectacular-looking woman. A tall redhead with sad brown eyes. And we all suspected that he was going to try to set her up with Grant.”

“But he had married her,” Lily put in quietly when Chas fell silent.

He nodded.

“And they had the triplets….”

“No, we had a big fight, raised hell in the local bars for about a week, then stormed out of town as if we had every right to punish Dad.”

“Are you sure you didn’t?”

Chas smiled somberly when she seemingly took his side. “We’ll never know. We didn’t stay around long enough to hear the whole story. My brothers and I got together in Philadelphia, where I was going to school, and made a pact that none of us would ever go home. After a week or so, Grant ran into a family friend who had left Brewster County a few years before. Hunter had started a construction company but he had too much work and couldn’t handle it all, so Grant threw in his lot with him and moved to Georgia. Evan took his life savings and invested it in a company that buys and manages fast-food franchises. Because his entire future was on the line, Evan poured his heart and soul and all his time into that company.”

“And you?”

“And I made a mess of my life.”

“But you were already in law school.”

“Yeah,” Chas said, but in such a self-condemning tone he knew he had to explain himself. “Unfortunately, I also got married twice, divorced twice, was thrown in jail because my wife wrote bad checks and nearly went bankrupt.”

“You did all that in two years?”

“A little over one year. I work fast.”

Lily couldn’t help it, she laughed. “I’ll say you do. You make me feel lazy and slow for only having one relationship in six years.”

“Consider yourself lucky and smart for only having one relationship in six years.”

Lily sighed heavily. “I do, some days. Other days I just feel like an idiot because I didn’t see that Everett had completely lost interest.”

“You think that’s what happened?” Chas asked skeptically.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that one day I was planning to spend the rest of my life with the man I loved and the next I was alone and didn’t have a future.”

“Trust me,” Chas said. “You’re better off.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. You don’t want to be in a relationship with someone who isn’t committed. I’ve been there and done that.” He shook his head.

Lily giggled.

“I’ve felt stupid, looked stupid and gone broke because of it,” Chas said, then he laughed. He laughed long and hard, for the first time seeing the humor in it. “I must have seemed like a real dope to the rest of the world,” he said, then suddenly he stopped laughing and looked at Lily. “Oh, I’ll bet my brothers thought I was absolutely crazy.”

“Or distraught,” Lily suggested kindly.

He grabbed her rationale like a drowning man grabs a life preserver. “Really?”

“Sure,” Lily said encouragingly. “For heaven’s sake, you’d lost your mother, then your father. You left your home, but your brothers deserted you. You were looking for company, companionship, maybe even a sense of the future. You weren’t crazy. You weren’t even so much lonely as you probably were grasping at straws.”

Juggling Annie on his lap, Chas considered that. “I spent most of the time I was away trying to figure out where I’d be twenty years from now. I wanted a plan. No, what I really wanted was a crystal ball. I wanted someone to show me that everything was going to turn out okay. And nobody could.”

Lily stayed silent for so long that eventually Chas glanced at her. He understood that she’d waited until she had his attention before she very gently said, “Nobody can. And nobody ever will.”

“I know,” he said. But after she’d left the room, Chas leaned back on his father’s old office chair and sighed. He wondered if she would be so sweet to him if she knew he wanted nothing more than to sleep with her. He’d deliberately told his story to the bitter end, because in a sense that’s truly what it was. A bitter end. He would never marry again. Not because he didn’t want all the things he believed marriage offered, and not because he was too busy setting up his practice, but because he absolutely refused to be a three-time loser. The first time he’d married and divorced he blamed fate and stupidity for his mistake, but the second he hadn’t been quite the idiot he let his brothers believe. He’d loved Charlene. She’d loved him. In the end love wasn’t enough. He would never trust it again, so he would never fall again. It was that simple.

So he had indirectly warned Lily and hoped she was smart enough to heed his admonition, because now that he knew she was as sweet as she was beautiful, he wasn’t exactly sure how much longer he was going to be able to hide his attraction to her.

Though Lily hadn’t wanted it to, Chas’s explanation of his past had made him more attractive because it showed he was a sensitive, honest man. But, thankfully, it also opened her mind to all kinds of new vantage points on the situation.





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