Nanny and the Professor (8 page)

He smiled, easily imagining Aunt Mary offering to petition on Cassie's behalf. His aunt was one lady who was always ready and willing to go to bat for the underdog.

"Please, Mary," Cassie stressed. "I want to do this my way. Don't worry about us. I'll think of something." She hesitated. "Mary," she said, "can I leave my stuff in your storage building awhile longer?" Cassie gave a relieved sigh. "Thanks so much."

When he heard Cassie winding up her conversation, he jogged up the staircase. After closing his bedroom door, he tugged off his trousers and tossed them over the brass clothes butler. Don't become involved in this woman's problems, he told himself. He peeled off the rest of his wet things, tie, shirt, socks, briefs, and quickly toweled himself dry. But as he pulled on dry socks, Joshua had to admit there was a part of him that was interested–
too
interested– in helping Cassie Simmons. And he could find no logical reason for it.

Just as he'd finished dressing, there was a soft tap on his door. "Come in," he called.

Andrew
entered,
his shoulders rounded, and took one step into the room. "Dad," he said, "can I talk to you?"

"Sure. Come on over here." Joshua raised one eyebrow quizzically when Andrew took only one step closer and then stopped.

"Come here, son," Joshua gently coaxed. "After what happened out at the pool, it's no wonder I didn't get the chance to give you a proper hello. Come sit on my lap."

"Aw, Dad," Andrew lamented. "You know I'm too big for that."

It didn't seem all that long ago that Andrew would have raced to accept such an invitation. Joshua pinched at his chin a couple of times. Why could he do so few things right when it came to raising his son? "I guess you're right. But at least
come
sit next to me." He patted a spot on the bed.

Andrew climbed up, settled himself on the mattress and immediately began to gnaw on his thumb.

"You know," Joshua said, "your mother used to do that when she was nervous or upset about something."

"She did?" Andrew's eyes grew round.

Joshua nodded. "And you know something else?" he asked. "She was very proud of you."

"She was?" Now the boy's gaze filled with awe and pleasure. "I miss her."

Joshua nodded again, but his son didn't see it as silent memories settled around them both. Finally, Joshua smoothed a palm over Andy's hair. "So," he said, "what's troubling you?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Cassie and Eric."

Sensing the return of his son's earlier apprehension, Joshua softly replied, "I see."

"Dad, it wasn't Cassie's fault that we went swimming. She asked me if I was allowed and I told her I was. She checked the list and asked me if I was sure, and I told her I was. It was
all my
fault. I wanted to go in the pool. Dad, please don't make Cassie and Eric leave." Andrew spoke all the sentences as though they were one. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "
Me
and Eric played quiet almost all weekend. We played cards and marbles and checkers and pick-up sticks and board games. We read comic books.
And watched a movie.
Cassie stopped us every time we started
runnin
' around." He stopped to inhale again. "I like having Eric here. And Cassie took real good care of me. She remembered my medicine every morning. She cooks real
good
. She even made me try broccoli. Please, Dad, please don't fire Cassie. Don't make '
em
go away."

Tears welled up in Andrew's eyes, and Joshua's frown deepened. Never had his son come to the defense of any of his previous nannies. In fact, when each of the women had quit for one reason or another, Andrew had actually seemed relieved.

Joshua rubbed his fingers back and forth across his jaw. Cassie Simmons and this little Eric had certainly come to mean something to Andrew over the past two days.

He rested his palms on top of his knees. "And did you like it?"

Andrew blinked. "Like what?"

"The broccoli."

His son hesitated,
then
he gave a small shake of his head. "But please don't tell Cassie. She smiled really big when I ate it."

"Well, Andrew," he said gently. "I didn't let Cassie go. But I am certain she intends to leave. She was just on the phone with Aunt Mary about renting an apartment."

"But, Dad, we
gotta
stop her! Eric's my friend. I don't want them to go." Emotion got the best of the boy and he scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand.

The desperation in his son's voice squeezed at the very heart of him. After his mother had died, Andrew had been inconsolable. The sound of him crying had wrenched Joshua to his very core. He'd have gladly borne any amount of pain and anguish to have relieved Andrew's grief back then, and to this day he couldn't stand to see his son upset. Suddenly the most important thing in the world was to comfort Andrew, make his distress disappear.

"Look, son," Joshua said, clasping Andrew's knee. "Let me go down and talk to her."

The child sniffed and turned his red-rimmed gaze up to his father's face. "You'll do it, Dad? You'll get them to stay?"

For one quick moment Joshua felt doubt
niggling
the fringes of his mind. Was he about to do the right thing?

He was taken off guard when Andrew threw his arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. Closing his eyes, Joshua let the love he felt for his son fill him to the brim with heart-stirring warmth. He'd persuade Cassie Simmons to stay if it was the last thing he did.
For Andrew's sake.

"I'll do my best," he promised.

The two of them went out into the hall together.

"Go in and play quietly with Eric," Joshua said. "I'll talk to Cassie."

Stopping at the bedroom door adjacent to
his own,
Joshua could hear Cassie sliding out drawers and thumping them closed.

He knocked lightly three times and waited.

"Come on in, Eric," she called.

Joshua opened her door and leaned into the room. Her face was turned away as she bent over the bed folding clothes and stuffing them into a suitcase. She hadn't changed out of her bathing suit and terry robe, and the robe gaped open at the bottom to show a slice of creamy thigh. Joshua's pulse quickened, his heart thumped in his chest, and he was once again amazed by his powerful physiological reaction to the mere sight of this woman.

Damn, but she's got beautiful legs. He stared, unable to speak. Her tiny feet were perfectly shaped and Joshua pictured himself slowly massaging them as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Before the vivid image in his mind could progress further, he cleared his throat to alert Cassie to his presence.

She jerked a quarter turn to face him, her eyes wide with surprise. "Professor Kingston."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Could I speak with you?" he asked.

Curiosity flitted across her face and she nodded.
"Of course."

"Downstairs in the library," he suggested.
"Whenever you're ready."

"I'll be down in five minutes."

He closed the door between them and took his time going down the steps and into the library. He relaxed into his chair and took several deep breaths, but his heart continued its illogical, yet nonetheless furious, racing.

~
 
~
 
~

Cassie had never dressed so fast in her life. After tugging out of her damp swimsuit, she slipped on a pair of panties and threw a cotton dress over her head, her fingers flying to fasten the buttons. She ran a brush through her wet hair and braided it quickly with trembling fingers.

She didn't want another argument with Joshua
Kingston,
she had too many other things on her mind right now. Where she and Eric were going to stay tonight took precedence over everything.

Mary had rented the tiny apartment out to a college student who was in dire straits. Well, this particular college student's gain was certainly Cassie's loss.

She couldn't help regretting her quick and angry reaction to Joshua. Although she still felt he deserved to be told to take a flying leap for calling her asinine, she wished now that she hadn't quit this job. What good was saving face if you ended up sleeping on a park bench?

How was she going to tell Eric that they had no place to go? She moved out into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind her. At least Joshua owed her wages for the weekend, she remembered. Maybe she and Eric could stay in a cheap hotel for the night. Maybe she'd find an apartment tomorrow. Maybe she'd find a job. Maybe...

All these maybes were driving her crazy! What on earth was she going to do?

Cassie tamped down her rising panic. She could handle this. She'd handled worse, hadn't she? Right at this moment, facing Joshua Kingston for the last time was what she needed to focus on. She knew she had to remain calm, cool, and collected. She didn't want to become angry, because then she just might say something that could make him decide not to pay her at all. Her apprehension soared like the temperature gauge at mid-day. She needed that money!

The muffled sound of Eric and Andrew's laughter made her stop short. Looking around at the welcoming walls of this house, she wondered where she'd be later on this very evening.
In some cold, impersonal hotel?
Or worse yet, would she and Eric end up spending the night in the car? Damn, could she drag them any lower?

The questions made her skin prickle with icy fear. With no place to go and no money to get there, Cassie felt more than frightened; this whole mess left her desolate inside.

Suddenly feeling weak in the knees, she crumpled down onto the step at the top of the stairway and cradled her head in the crook of her elbow. She gulped in air to try to calm
herself
. She'd gotten through bad situations before. She'd get through this one.

Dark memories flitted through her mind, memories of herself– a young woman left with a six-year-old brother and no clue as to where to turn. And through sheer tenacious persistence and lots of luck, that young woman had survived.
So far.
But it looked as though her luck may have just run out.

Her eyes followed the heavy, solid banister that ran down the length of the wide staircase. Her gaze ran over the walls and the elaborate crown molding. This was a good house, a solid house. More than that, it was a home. It was a much better place for her and Eric to be than some cheap, flea-bitten hotel.

The professor hadn't fired her. Maybe, if she apologized, if she tried once again to make him understand what he'd walked in on, she could turn those odds around and keep this job.

But he'd called her stupid. Asinine even!

Lifting her chin, she resolved not to let her own pride get in the way of keeping this job. Especially when Joshua could provide a warm bed and a hot meal for her little brother.

So what if he'd called her names? He'd only done it because he hadn't known all the facts. What she needed to do was go down there and calmly explain things to him.

Maybe if she apologized for the mix-up about Eric, and then show him that swimming wasn't on the list of restrictions, perhaps Joshua would see she wasn't at fault and let her remain here as Andy's nanny.

She stood and smoothed her palms down the skirt of her dress, waiting for even the tiniest ray of hope to arrive. But it never did.

Chapter Four