Nanny Dearest (2 page)

"Looks like you won't be reading those books." He closed the folder. Terry had some impressive credentials, including certificates in child CPR and lifeguarding. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three," Terry replied. "I'm in my final year in college where I'm majoring in child psychology and nutrition."

The beautiful scene before him reminded Hunter of the Madonna and child. "Let me show you to his room."

Hunter rose and Terry followed him up the stairs, still cradling the sleeping child as they made their way into Chase's room. Terry placed the baby into the crib and then crept back out with Hunter who led him down the stairs and into the living room.

"Help yourself to anything you want in the refrigerator except the beer."

Terry chuckled. "I don't drink beer."

Hunter smiled. "That's good to know. It's the non-alcoholic anyway. There are movies in the den and snacks in the cabinets."

"No thank you. I'll just sit down here and study. I can listen for Chase in case he wakes up."

"You sound like a very responsible young man and you have flawless skin."

"Mr Becall told me you were a cosmetician."

"May I?" Hunter asked, stepping toward Terry.

Terry nodded as Hunter examined his face.

"No makeup or zits. You're too gorgeous."

Terry blushed.

"What's your secret?"

"No snacks, plenty of water, moisturizer and plenty of rest."

"Someone like you could put me out of business," Hunter teased as he ran a finger down Terry's silky skin. "And you have beautiful straight teeth and a good build too. Have you ever considered modeling?" Hunter moved away quickly as his body responded to Terry's cuteness.

"No," Terry replied once Hunter removed his hand. "School is enough for me at the moment."

"I'll be home around eleven."

"I'll be here," Terry said, walking him to the door.

"I left emergency numbers taped to the refrigerator."

"Relax," Terry said. "Everything is going to be fine."

Hunter grabbed his car keys and opened the door. "I'll see you when I return."

Terry smiled. "Have fun."

* * * *

"You could have told me the sitter was a male," Hunter said to Adam as he worked on an actor's face. Pockmarks and moles were difficult to cover but Hunter was an expert and did his best to give the man the appearance of near perfect skin.

"Does being a male matter?" Adam asked as he observed Hunter working. "Terry is very good with kids and very responsible."

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

Adam chuckled. "Hey, the fact he's cute is just a little added incentive."

"For what?" Hunter asked.

"To get you out of the dating rut."

"I am not in a dating rut," Hunter said, both of them ignoring the fact that others were listening.

"Then can you explain why you showed up tonight to the awards presentation without a date?" Adam asked as he admired Hunter's work.

"That does not mean I'm in a rut. I'm just choosy about my peanut butter."

Both Adam and the actor chuckled.

"Anyway, I just have it in my head babysitters are supposed to be teenaged girls."

"That's a very chauvinistic way of thinking," Adam replied. "It's almost as bad as saying a woman is a better parent than a man just because she can give birth."

Hunter frowned. He knew from experience that wasn't true.

"And besides, he can use the money. He was orphaned at an early age and he's been supporting himself financially with babysitting and other odd jobs until he graduates."

"Orphaned?" Hunter asked. "Poor kid."

He finished off the actor's makeup and sent him out to meet his public. Hunter wouldn't have to worry about Terry too much longer once he hired a full-time nanny for Chase. "Okay, I'll give him a shot for a while. He seems like a pretty nice young man and Chase fell in love with him at first sight."

"The demon baby?"

Hunter wasn't offended by Adam's nickname for Chase. Adam was Chase's godfather and had been privy to several of the baby's award winning tantrums, refusal of food and projectile vomiting. His teeth were starting to come in and Hunter wasn't looking forward to the experience. "Yeah, he just reached for Terry and said mama."

"What?" Adam asked chuckling.

"You heard me. He called the kid mama, not once but about three times and kept reaching for him."

"Maybe it's the hair. My Becky thinks Terry looks like a pop-star." Becky was Adam's eight-year-old daughter. He laughed again. "I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. After all, he's just a baby."

"Chase's first spoken word," Hunter replied.

"Oh!" Adam said, clasping his hands against his face in mocked shock.

"Yes, you're right. I think we better finish up here and get out front to our seats." He put away his things, checked his appearance in the mirror and followed Adam out of the door.

* * * *

Two hours later he arrived home to find Chase fast asleep and Terry still in the living room doing his homework.

"I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"No, sir, he was great. Chase slept most of the time and only got up for a diaper change and then went back to sleep."

"Did he call you mama again?" Hunter asked, eyeing Terry up and down as he dug into his wallet and paid him.

"Yeah. I think his confusion of gender is kind of cute. He's going to die from embarrassment when he's fifteen and you tell his friends about it."

Hunter laughed. Terry had a great sense of humor. He walked him to the door. "Can I call on you again if I need a sitter?"

"Sure," Terry said, retrieving a business card from his bag and handing the card to Hunter. "It has my full name and cell phone number. I'm usually home most evenings."

"What about in the day?"

"Most days too. I'm taking my last few classes online, but I occasionally leave my dorm room to eat."

Hunter didn't know if being housebound was a good thing or not. Kids his age should be going out every once in a while with their friends. The fact he still thought about Terry long after he'd gone plagued him. He was just a young man with beautiful skin and nice hair.

Chapter Two

"What do you mean they want to fight me for custody of Chase?" Hunter glared at his attorney, Matthew Brown, who sat across from him in the legal offices of Brown, McDermott and Hingle. Matthew had represented him with his original custody case.

"Rebecca's parents feel they can do a better job of raising Chase than you can."

"They're almost sixty and they didn't do a very good job with their own daughter."

"They don't see it that way," Matthew said, ruffling through some pages of the legal document. "For some reason they think you're not a responsible person. Do you have any idea why they would think that?"

Hunter sighed. "They're still holding me responsible for Rebecca's death."

"But you had nothing to do with her death. She drove herself off a cliff."

"She had a very high alcohol count. She and I used to do a lot of drinking and partying when we were young but she was getting high long before I met her. I've changed."

Matthew closed the folder and passed it to him. "You don't have to convince me. You have to convince them and the judge."

"Why should I?" Hunter protested. "I'm Chase's biological father, proven by a DNA test."

"A judge will take that into consideration, but sharing DNA does not make you a good parent. If the grandparents feel you've placed Chase into an unsafe environment, they have a right to file a petition."

Hunter opened the folder and read the petition, grimacing at the way they described his behavior and what they thought of him. Some of the accusations might have been true back then, but he'd given up drinking five years ago and even the beer in his refrigerator was the non-alcoholic kind, and there for guests. He'd also given up partying, except for functions given by his company and other businesses affiliated with his field. And he hadn't gone out much since Chase had been born. He'd gone home directly after the awards ceremony even though he'd been invited to umpteen after-parties. Fighting for custody of his kid? Ridiculous. "What am I supposed to do now?" he asked Matthew.

"Get all the skeletons out of your closets."

Skeletons? What did that mean
?

"Drugs, promiscuous women, fetishes."

Hunter rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "Get real."

"I am being real," the lawyer said. "Don't think you won't be thoroughly investigated just because you run the biggest cosmetic company in the United States. People are going to come into your home and search for everything from A to Z. They'll be looking to see that the child has his own bed, food and also check his immunization records."

I'll be treated like a criminal
.

"Burn your Playboy stash or turn the magazines over to a friend for safekeeping until this all blows over."

Hunter grimaced. "I don't have a Playboy stash."

"Playgirl, then."

Hunter scowled at him. "Be real. I work with some of the loveliest people in Hollywood. I don't need magazines when I have access to the real thing."

"True," Matthew said. "How about a nanny? Have you found a permanent one for Chase yet?"

"Not yet," Hunter replied. "He's still going to daycare."

"I hope it's one of the best in Malibu."

"The best money can buy but I don't really like the place, and not because there's anything wrong with it. I just want him with a nanny because she can give him personal attention."

"Then find a nanny fast. I would tell you to find a wife but not even you can work a miracle."

"I could find one if I really tried," Hunter said in his own defense. "But the Reynoldses would see straight through a quickie marriage."

"Are you at least dating a nice woman who you wouldn't be afraid to take home to meet your parents?"

Hunter shook his head. "I'm not dating anyone at the moment. I really don't have time. I go to work and then I come home to Chase. We get to spend some quality time together."

"It might help if you invite the Reynoldses to your home so they can see the interaction between you and Chase."

That might not be such a bad idea, Hunter thought. He never planned to keep their grandchild away from them but they moved away from Malibu after Rebecca died. "I'll do anything I can to make this work," Hunter told Matthew. "I have a few women coming in for interviews for the nanny job this week. One is coming later this afternoon." He rose. "Just keep me informed when you hear anything."

"Will do," Matthew said, rising and shaking his hand. "The sooner we get this settled the better."

* * * *

The potential nanny seated across from him looked strong enough to whip him. Six feet tall, bulging muscles and a face frozen in a perpetual frown. Chase took one look at Inga Swenson and started screaming.

"Give the child to me," Inga said.

Against his better judgment, Hunter handed Chase over to the woman who put him in her arm like a football.

"The child has to learn who the authority figure is."

Poor Chase screamed like a banshee. His big brown eyes widened with fear. Hunter retrieved his son and handed him his favorite sailor-dressed teddy bear.

"A child grows dependent on such object," Inga replied. "Then you'll have a problem weaning him from the bear."

"Well, thank you very much for coming over," Hunter said, suddenly rising. "I'll certainly give your application serious consideration."

Inga rose and followed him to the door.

Chase had stopped shrieking but held on to him tight with one hand and gripping the bear with the other.

Hunter waved goodbye to Inga and watched her drive away in a white Volvo. He tossed her application in the trash shortly after he shut the door. "No way," he told Chase. "She's too scary even to me."

* * * *

Applicants two and three were just as bad. Applicant two looked, dressed, and acted like a porn star. And applicant three could barely speak English. But Hunter only spoke English and he needed to communicate with her in order for them to get along.

His phone rang.
Adam
. "Hello."

"Amy Winston needs someone to do her makeup for a magazine spread," Adam told him.

"When and where?" Hunter asked his friend.

"Tonight at her home."

"I have to see who is available at this short notice." Most of his cosmeticians were pretty busy this time of year.

"She doesn't want any of your cosmeticians. She wants you."

Amy Winston was one of Adam's biggest clients and one of the hottest starlets in Hollywood. An
It
girl, but not technically a girl anymore since she was in her thirties. They'd met a few times when he'd done her makeup for several big events. "I have to get someone to stay with Chase."

"Do you want me to try Terry?"

"I have his number," Hunter replied, pulling Terry's business card out of his phonebook. Normally he programmed important numbers into his cell phone but he hadn't thought Terry would be around long enough once he found a permanent nanny for Chase. "Hold on a moment," he told Adam and dialed the number using his cell.

"Hello," a nice male voice answered, but it wasn't Terry. Terry's voice was a little softer.

"Can I speak to Terry Rayburn?"

"It's for you," the other man said.

Terry answered. "Hello."

"Terry, this is Hunter Monroe, Chase's father. Are you available to sit for Chase a couple of hours tonight? Sorry for the late notice but I just found out about a job."

"Sure," Terry replied. "What time do you need me there?"

"Sometime in the next hour."

"I'm on my way," Terry replied and hung up.

"He's on the way," Hunter told Adam, who'd been waiting on the other line.

"See, you have nothing to worry about."