Sunny's Love (3 page)

A short time later, she arrived at the airport in Des Moines, slightly nervous, but very excited about this new chapter in her life. She was met by a chauffeur who transported her to the Dupont home. He was a friendly man and he welcomed her warmly.

“It’s nice to have you with us, Miss Drake. The children speak highly of you, as does Mr. Dupont.”

“Thank you, George, is it?” She tried to remember the names of the staff. Chase had filled her in prior to her trip.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m George and my wife is Alma. She’s Mr. Dupont’s housekeeper. We’ve been with the family since Mr. Dupont and his wife were first married. We worked for Mr. Dupont’s parents before that. A tragic loss, losing the missus the way we did. Alma is hoping someday Mr. Dupont will marry again. Those little ones need a mama and Mr. Dupont needs a wife. He’s too good a man to spend his life alone.”

“Yes, he seems like a very generous man. And he loves those children. That
’s very obvious.”

“You won’t find anyone any better than him. That’s for sure
,” George agreed. They arrived at the house, pulling into the driveway of a spacious Tudor-style home with a circular driveway in the front. It was in a very impressive neighborhood and Sunny thought to herself, she could be very happy in this love-filled home
.

The children were waiting anxiously as she entered the foyer. They both ran to her and gave her a hug.

“Oh my, what a welcoming committee, I’ve missed you two.” Sunny laughed as she bent down to hug both children.

“Welcome, Miss Drake. I’m Alma. These two have been underfoot all morning waiting for you to arrive.” Sunny smiled as she shook the hand extended to her. Alma was an attractive, middle-aged woman with a warm and friendly smile.

“George, dear, will you take Miss Drake’s bags up to her room for her. I’ll get her a cup of coffee, or tea, before I show her around.”

“I sure will. Brice, would you like to help?” The man
handed the smallest bag to the eager little boy.

“I’ll help, too.” Allison picked up another bag and trudged up the stairs with her brother and George.

“Now, dear, let’s go into the kitchen and get you something to drink after your flight.”

“Thank you, coffee will be fine if you already have a pot going. I usually prefer coffee to tea, but I’ll drink either one. And please, call me Sunny.”

“Sunny, I always have a fresh pot of coffee on. Anytime you want a cup, or a friend to talk to, just come on into the kitchen. That’s where you’ll find me most of the time. I do the cooking and the running of the household, with George’s help. I have a couple of girls that come in twice a week to clean.”

“The house is beautiful,” Sunny remarked as she looked around. The furnishings were exquisite. The home was tastefully and warmly decorated.

“Yes, it is. Mrs. Dupont did most of the decorating, but Mr. Dupont helped her.”

“They certainly did a good job. The house is so welcoming, it’s a real home.”

“It would be more of a home if he’d find himself a wife. It’s been two years, time for him to move on. She’d have wanted that for him and those two babies upstairs. She would never have wanted him to be alone. That one has too much love to give to be alone the rest of his young life.”

“I’m sure
, when the time is right, he will.” Sunny was anxious to change the subject. She didn’t really care to hear about Chase Dupont’s love life since it didn’t include her.

Alma placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of Sunny who was seated at the bar in the spacious kitchen. “Would you care for cream or sugar?”

“Cream, please.”

Alma placed a cream pitcher in front of her
.  “A boyfriend back home, Sunny?” she asked curiously.

“No, not anymore, we had a parting of the ways some time ago. He’s married to someone else now, so there’s no chance of reconciliation.”

The two women shared conversation over coffee
. A short while later they were joined by a giggling Allison and soon after Brice came bouncing into the kitchen excitedly.

“We put all your stuff in your room. Alma’s been making it nice for you all morning,” Allison said as she put a chubby little arm around Sunny’s waist.

“And your room is right between Daddy’s and mine. Alma picked it out just for you,” Brice added with a grin that melted Sunny’s heart. “I used to sleep in Daddy’s room with him, after Mommy went to be an angel, but I’m a big boy now,” he stated proudly.

“My room is across the hall from you. We can have a slumber party sometime, maybe,” Allison offered.

“Maybe we can, sweetie, maybe we can.”

“Why don’t you two give Sunny some space? Let’s let her go to her room to rest a while. She can start with you two munchkins tomorrow.”

“Oh,
all right, George said he would take us for a walk, so we better go find him. Bye, Sunny. I’m so glad you’re finally here.” Allison gave her another hug. Brice waved to her as they left to search for George.

“George loves them as though they were his own grandchildren. We were never able to have children of our own.”

“I’m so sorry, but it’s good that you’re so close to the Duponts.”

“Yes, we love them as our own. Chase’s mother, Martha
, is very nice. Most folks call her Marty. You’ll meet her soon I’m sure. Now let me show you around.”

Alma gave her the grand tour of the beautiful home
. At the end of the tour, she opened the door to an upstairs bedroom.

“This is your room, my dear. Chase is on that side of you
, in the master bedroom. Brice is next door, on this side. And as you know, slumber party gal is over there.”

Sunny’s stomach was doing somersaults knowing Chase would be sleeping as close as the next room. She
’d figured he would be in a different wing of the house.

“Mr. Dupont moved the children’s rooms close to his after Mrs. Dupont’s accident. He wanted them close by if they were frightened during the night
,” Alma explained, as if she’d read Sunny’s mind.

“He’s a good daddy.”

“
He’s the best. Now you rest, Sunny. We’ll make sure you don’t miss dinner.”

“Thank you so much for the warm welcome, Alma. I believe I’m going to like it here.”

Sunny closed the door then walked to the canopy bed. As she looked around the room, she felt very privileged and special. The room was wonderful. It was decorated in a very feminine style with a beautiful mauve floral comforter and lots of fluffy pillows. There was a fireplace in one corner. A love seat, covered with mauve and gray fabric to match the comforter, would be a wonderful place to curl up on a cold winter’s night with a good book after the children were asleep. There was a bathroom adjoining her room and a huge walk-in closet. As she began to unpack and hang her clothes in the closet, she sorted her luggage and repacked what she’d be taking to Florida with her. Finally, she stretched out on the comfortable bed and soon fell asleep.

She awoke to a soft knocking on her door. “Sunny, it’s Chase, are you awake?”

Sunny hurriedly ran to the mirror in the bathroom to check her face and fluff her hair. She swished mouthwash in her mouth, spit it in the sink, and rinsed it down the drain. She ran to the door, straightening her clothes on the way. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to let him into her room.

“I just wanted to say welcome. Alma said she sent you up here to take a nap and get organized.”

“Yes, I guess I was more tired than I thought. I can’t believe I fell asleep.”

Chase
laughed as he touched her cheek. “Get all the rest you can. When you get to Florida, the kiddos will keep you hopping.”

“I’m sure they will.” She smiled up at him.

“I trust you had a good flight.”

“It was fine. And George and Alma are wonderful.”

“I’m sure they welcomed you with open arms. I’m afraid your reputation has preceded you. The children and I sang your praises several times.”

“Gosh, I hope I can live up to all that praise.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will,” he said in a soft voice. A strange expression crossed his handsome face.

“I guess I’
d better get ready for dinner. What time is it?” she asked as she nervously wiped her palms on her slacks.

“It’s a little after six. Alma will have dinner ready at seven. The children will eat with us tonight. Sometimes if I’m going to be late she feeds them early
. But tonight’s special. It’s your first night with us. I thought it’d be nice if we all ate together as a family. You, me and the children,” he said with a charming smile.

As a family, if only that were true
. Wiping the thought from her mind, she returned the smile. “That would be very nice. I’ll be ready and downstairs at seven,” she replied.

“And Sunny…
I’m really glad you’re here,” he added, flashing the million-dollar smile at her yet again.

“Thank you, Mr. Dupont. I’m very glad to be here.”

“It’s Chase to you.”

“Okay, Chase.” Her heart was beating very fast.
Could he tell?

He let himself out
, telling her he’d see her in an hour. After he’d gone, Sunny sat down on the edge of the bed.
What have I gotten myself into? Living in the same house with a man who I’m intensely attracted to and knowing I can’t pursue him because he’s my employer. Or can I?

She
hurriedly freshened up and went downstairs to join the others. They were waiting for her in the den. Brice ran to her immediately. Taking her hand, he led her to the dining room. He showed her a seat next to him. Allison walked in and sat on the other side of her as Chase laughed.

“
They were fighting over who was going to sit next to you, so I guess you’re stuck between them,” he explained.

“
That’s quite all right. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather to be right now.”

They spent the time at the dinner table telling Sunny about the Florida house
. The children were excited as they told her the things they could do while they were there. She could tell the children were looking forward to the trip.

“We can go to the beach and look for shells,” Allison said excitedly.

“And we can swim in the pool and help John work in the garden,” Brice added.

“Do you like to go to the beach, Sunny?” Allison asked.

“I haven’t been to many beaches, but I think I’ll like it very much, Allison,” Sunny replied with a smile.

“I like sand castles, Sunny. Maybe you can help me build the biggest one in the world,” Brice suggested.

Sunny laughed. “I don’t know about the biggest one in the world, but I’ll sure try to help you build one.”

Chase finally said,
“Don’t think you won’t have any time to yourself, Sunny. Alice adores the kids. She’ll be happy to take them off your hands once in a while if you’d like some alone time. You might want to spend some afternoons shopping or at the beach without these two underfoot occasionally. That’s perfectly okay with me. In fact, you’ll find Alice spoils these two rotten, the whole two months they’re there every year.”

“You
’re two lucky little cherubs with all these people to spoil you. And now, you’ll have one more, me,” Sunny told them with a smile. When her eyes met Chase’s, she quickly looked away.

“You’re going to spoil us, too?” Allison’s eyes opened wide.

“
I told you she was a nice lady,” Brice said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, Sunny, I
think you’re going to be good for all of us.” Chase chuckled, looking at her with the same expression he’d used earlier.

Alma entered the room with a dessert so the conversation quickly shifted.

“Oh, chocolate cake, my favorite.” Sunny looked at Alma and laughed.

“You don’t look like you indulge i
n too much of it,” Chase teased.

“Well, I try to watch my sweets, but
I’m a true chocoholic,” she answered shyly.

“I’ll have to remember that,” Chase said softly, almost under his breath.

Her heart and stomach were doing their funny flip-flops again. I have to stop this, she told herself sternly.

After dinner, Chase
planned to take the children into the den to read to them.

“Join us, Sunny?”
he asked.

“I’d like that,” she replied.

She followed them into the den, sitting across from the family, as the children climbed onto Chase’s lap. He read a few chapters from a book he’d been reading to them a little at a time. When he’d finished, he announced it was time for them to head upstairs to bed.

“
I can do that, Chase,” Sunny offered.

“You can come along, but I try to tuck them in every night that I’m home.”

They all had fun getting the children settled, giggling and engaging in a pillow fight
, before Chase finally told the children it was time to settle in for the night. He listened while they said their prayers and tucked them in, each in their own rooms. Sunny kissed each of them goodnight before she walked into the hallway with Chase.