Mother in Training. Marie Ferrarella

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СКАЧАТЬ it came to dealing with the under-fifteen set, especially with small beings who barely came up to his belt buckle, he was at a complete loss as to what to do.

      Not so Zooey, he thought. Being with the children seemed to be right up her alley. As a matter of fact, she appeared to be as fresh as she always was when he walked into the coffee shop each morning.

      He had no idea how she did it. His children had worn out three nannies in the last eighteen months, and seemed destined to wear out more.

      Unless his instincts were right.

      Slipping his arms free, he nodded at the short duo. “Did they give you any trouble?” he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

      Zooey looked at him, wide-eyed. “Trouble? No!” she replied with feeling.

      The way her green eyes sparkled as she voiced the denial told Jack that today had not been a boring one by any means.

      Though he didn’t spend all that much time with them, he knew his kids, knew what they were capable of once they were up and running.

      “Should I be writing out a check to anyone for damages they or their property sustained?”

      She grinned. “You really do sound like a lawyer. No, no checks. No damages. Emily and Jackie were both very good.”

      He stared at her. The trip to the parking structure that faced his office building and presently contained his car was temporarily aborted. “You sure you’re talking about my kids?”

      She laughed, and it was a deep, full-volume one. “I am sure,” she assured him. “We went to the park, then saw that new movie, Ponies on Parade, had a quick, late lunch and here we are.”

      Ponies on Parade. He vaguely remembered promising Emily to take her to that one. He guessed he was off the hook now. And damn grateful for it. He looked at Zooey with awe and respect. “You make it sound easy.”

      “It was, for the most part.”

      Zooey thought it best to leave out the part that while she was taking Emily to the ladies’ room, with Jackie in tow, the latter had gotten loose and scooted out from under the stall door. He’d managed, in the time it had taken her to leave Emily and go after him, to stuff up a toilet with an entire roll of toilet paper he’d tossed in and flushed.

      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 СКАЧАТЬ