Texas #4_Texas Christmas (3 page)

“Jack Campbell-Hayes,” he heard Jack introduce himself.

“Carol Griffin,” the wannabe-nanny answered.

“Welcome, come in.” Riley heard footsteps, and then Jack and the woman entered the good room. Riley immediately extended his hand.

“Riley Campbell-Hayes,” he said.

“Carol Griffin,” Carol replied. While most people were shorter than Riley, she couldn’t be more than five four, and both he and Jack dwarfed her. She had curly red hair that fell to her shoulders, freckles across her nose, and sparkling green eyes. Her handshake was firm, and she looked Riley directly in the eyes. He liked that.

“Would you like coffee? Tea? Water?” Jack asked.

“Water, please,” she said with a smile. Jack left to get the drink, which meant Riley was alone with her. His polite side searched for something to say that wasn’t anything to do with
nannying
.

“So how do you know Marcus?” He finally decided that was a neutral question.

“He didn’t tell you?”

“He hasn’t told us a lot,” Riley admitted. “Just enough to have us speak to you.”

“I was his nanny for a short while, when he was tiny. I moved away with my husband to start my own family, and we kept in touch.”

“Here you go,” Jack passed her the water and a mug of coffee to Riley.

“Carol was just explaining how she used to be Marcus’s nanny.”

“Really?” Jack sounded surprised. “You don’t look old enough to have been Marcus’s nanny.” Riley recalled Marcus was twenty-nine, so he tended to agree with Jack’s statement. Carol looked to only be about forty.

“Thank you, Mr Campbell-Hayes,” she began.

“Jack,” Jack interrupted.

“Jack.” She inclined her head. “I’m fifty-five, and I was with Marcus and his twin Marcie from when they were born up until they turned five. I am returning to
nannying
after losing my husband three years ago and having both my children away at college.”

She said the words calmly as if there was nothing that needed questioning, but empathy had Riley having to say something.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said gently.

She smiled. “Thank you…”

“Riley, call me Riley.”

“Thank you, I will. So Marcus hasn’t told me much either, but he encouraged me to speak to you.”

Riley didn’t hesitate. There was no point in wasting time with polite talk. If he laid everything out on the table to start then there would be absolutely no miscommunication or issues later down the road.

He took a moment to sort the words, but then they all came tumbling out. “We’re looking for someone to live in as a nanny to our twins and to a boy, five, that we are in the process of adopting. We also have a daughter Hayley, she was twelve last week. We are a gay married couple and the twins are genetically Jack’s, and Max, the five-year-old is, we believe, on the autism spectrum. I am one of two siblings who own a large part of Hayes Oil, and we take security and privacy very seriously.”

Carol nodded as he talked, and Riley exchanged quick looks with Jack, who smiled approvingly. He exhaled as he finished at the relief that he’d got everything off his chest.

“My son is gay and the thought that one day he will find someone he can call husband is something that fills me with hope, and yes, Riley, I know exactly who you are. And you, Jack, I know you; I’ve read your story, the official and unofficial versions, in various papers and magazines. I know Riley is often a victim of being followed and photographed, but Jack seems to escape most of it. I saw the photos posted of your visit to the nanny agency.”

“Oh” was all Riley could summon up.

“Nice kiss in the photo by the way,” she said with a smile.

Riley opened his mouth, then shut it again. Had Carol made a joke at their expense? He liked that, as did Jack who snorted a laugh alongside her.

“We try,” Jack said dryly.

“Forgive me, my sense of humor doesn’t have boundaries sometimes. Anyway, my credentials. I don’t have a degree, but I have training, and I was a nanny before I had my own children. I love babies and I also have experience with language disorders from my daughter’s own fight with dyslexia. While this is not autism by any means, I do have patience and I want to learn. I have very strong beliefs in how I think children should be raised. To be respectful and kind and to be part of a family that loves them.”

“And you have no issues living in?”

“None at all. My house is an empty nest, and if we are happy after the three-month trial that Marcus mentioned to me, then I would probably look to rent the house out. I would love it if I was part of your lives and those of your children. That may come across as forward, but as I said, I’m not getting any younger, and I won’t say nothing if something needs saying.”

“Three months,” Riley said softly. He glanced at Jack who nodded imperceptibly. He and Riley were on the same page. There was something about Carol that had both of them relaxed. “Would you like to meet the twins?”

He led Carol to the twins’ room, and she had such a look of happiness on her face when she held first Lexie, then Connor.

“Beautiful babies,” she whispered before expertly tucking them back in their cribs.

“Would you like to see where you would be living if this went ahead?”

“Please.”

Jack went first, and Riley indicated Carol should follow as they made their way through a maze of construction to a set of two rooms at the end. There wasn’t much to do in the rooms that Riley recalled. Just some finishing work and then Carol would have her own room with an attached full bath and a small seating area. There was also a tiny kitchen area to one side in case she wanted her own space. She looked at the place approvingly and glanced out the large window to the D land beyond.

“Where would I be eating?” she asked curiously.

“With us? With the kids?” Riley offered. “The people who work the ranch, you’ll meet them, Robbie and Liam and Robbie’s partner Eli, they all come over and eat and we take turns cooking. That isn’t to say this is every night. I guess we would need a schedule.” He said all this out loud and really wished he’d kept the thought process to himself when she patted him on the arm.

“Everything will work out,” she said firmly. “You’ll see.”

“When could you start?” Jack was the one to ask the vital question.

“If you think we would be a good fit I could be back in a few days. How far are you away from finishing the rooms here?”

“Do you think you would fit well here?” Riley asked curiously.

“I could be happy here,” she said softly. “I would enjoy the twins.”

“A few days would work well. Eden is furnishing the place for you, so it will be ready by Saturday.”

“I can be here for Sunday if the job is mine.” Carol held out her hand to Riley, and he knew this was the moment he made a decision about whether Carol was the one. He glanced at Jack who didn’t say a thing but instead just smiled. Finally Riley shook her hand.

“Sunday, then.”

Jack and Carol shook hands, and both of them saw her to the car with the promise of any assistance she needed to move in.

They watched together as the sedan made its way down the long drive and out of sight.

Jack spoke first. “I liked her. Irreverent, funny, caring…”

Riley gripped his husband’s hand. “Me too.”

“Now we just need to get Max here.”

“Soon I hope. Real soon. You want to get going to pick up Max now?”

Riley frowned as he saw a car making its way toward them down the road. Had Carol forgotten something? Was she coming back to tell then it was all a terrible mistake? He tensed and Jack obviously saw the car at the same time. Riley only relaxed when he realized it wasn’t Carol coming back, but Marcus who was visiting. Jack chuckled. Marcus used every excuse under the sun to visit the D.

“Hey, guys.” Marcus waved as he stepped out of his car and brushed at his black pants. “Thought I’d check in to see how you got on with Carol.”

“She just left,” Jack offered helpfully.

“We’re taking her on for the three months like you said,” Riley added.

“She’s awesome; she’ll be good for you.”

“We’re out in a few spending the rest of the day with Max, but do you want to come in for coffee?” Riley asked. He knew exactly what the answer would be.

“I can’t stay,” Marcus said as expected. “I was out this way and wanted to see how it went.” He paused, then leaned back on his car door. Riley hated to think of the Double D dust that clung to the metal and was now on the back of Marcus’s pants. “Is Liam around?”

“Probably,” Jack said. Riley could hear the laugh in his voice, but Marcus was clearly oblivious.

“Is he in the barns?”

Jack shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Can I go check? I have to…uhm…yeah.”

“Go for it.”

Marcus sketched a wave and disappeared from view to the barn.

“He’s got it bad,” Riley observed. He let out an
oomph
as Jack pulled him in for an all-consuming kiss. They separated only when one of the twins let out a pleading cry.

Riley sighed, then smiled. “
Now
they wake up, when the nanny has gone.”

“Are we sure we’re doing the right thing?” Jack had been steadfast in the need for help ever since it dawned on both him and Riley that they weren’t able to do it all.  They needed someone who could buffer them when they needed to work. Now Riley heard doubt in his husband’s voice, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“I liked her. We need her.”

Jack cradled Riley’s face and this time the kiss was softer. The plaintive noise indoor ratcheted up a little. “Time to get to work, poop-boy.”

“You first,” Riley returned.

“I get Connor.” Sweet, quiet, gentle Connor who lay still on the mat and didn’t wave his arms and legs while he was being changed.

Riley pushed past his husband with a snort, “In your dreams.”

As soon as Marcus was out of sight of Jack and Riley, he stopped and smacked a hand to his forehead. What the hell did he just say? That he was in the area? They could probably see right through him. What must they think of him and his stupid teenage crush he had going on. He couldn’t help it, he was a man addicted to Liam’s smiles. Something about the young guy set off a million warning bells inside Marcus’s head. Too young, eight years younger than him, too emotional, too scared. Yet, when it came down to it, Marcus wanted to get to know Liam in ways not altogether innocent.

He found Robbie first, who, with his back to Marcus, was fiddling with a tap in the wall to the horse barn.

“Hi,” Marcus said and smiled back at Robbie when he grinned up at him.

“In the barn,” Robbie said by way of explanation. Marcus dipped his head in acknowledgment of the suggestion and the element of teasing.

He walked into the cool of the barn and the scents of horses assailed him. He inhaled—his rationale for getting a lung full of the smell would be that he wouldn’t then spend the next hour gagging whenever he caught a whiff of horse shit and hay. He waited until his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, then casually walked past each stall until finally he found Liam shoveling in one of the last stalls. For a second he stood and watched.

Liam was taller than his own five eight, but then most men were, he was used to that. He was probably just short of six foot but skinny with it. In the weeks since he’d first seen Liam, Marcus had noticed that Liam had filled out a little, but the man still needed to pull his belt tight to keep his pants in place on narrow hips. His back was kinda broad and the muscles in his arms bunched and released as he shoveled and dumped, then shoveled and dumped again. His dark hair was ruthlessly short, and sweat made his skin glisten even in this softly lit space.

Marcus hooked one foot on the lower rung of the stall gate and leaned over it. “Hey, cowboy.”

Liam yelped and turned so suddenly that shit flew off his shovel and missed Marcus by inches.

“Shit!” Liam exclaimed. He pressed a hand to his chest. “What the fuck?” he cursed. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Marcus said nothing, simply waited until the initial shock died down. There had been real fear in Liam’s expression, and he wanted to let Liam deal with that before they moved on to the general talking part of this meeting.

“What do you want?” Liam finally asked. His tone was quick and impatient. “I’m busy.”

“I was just driving by,” Marcus begun.

“The hell you were,” Liam snapped. “You live hell knows how far that way.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the city and beyond where Marcus lived. He turned back to the pile of shit and hay and who knew what else. All of it needed moving to the barrow next to him that was nearly half full.

“You can keep working,” Marcus said. He was trying to be helpful but knew he’d failed in that when Liam frowned at him.

“And you’re gonna do what? Stand there and stare at me?”

“Can I help it if I like what I see?”

Liam very deliberately hooked a pile of mess onto his shovel and hefted it into the waiting barrow. Marcus grinned at the combined sensations of sight of the muscles and the fact that Liam thought turning his back was going to work. They stood this way for a good ten minutes, and Marcus watched every move until finally he couldn’t really justify standing and staring any more.

“Dinner?” he asked.

Liam didn’t hesitate with his answer. “No.”

“One day you’ll say yes.”

Liam muttered a reply. “When hell freezes over.”

“See you soon,” Marcus added cheerily.

“Not if I see you first,” Liam snapped. He stood up and suddenly Marcus was near enough to kiss Liam. They stood so close that it would only take one movement from either of them and they would be kissing the hell out of each other. Marcus wasn’t sure who moved first but assumed they both leaned in. No hands but lips crashed and tongues tasted. There was nothing soft about the kiss, and it ended as soon as it began.

Liam stepped back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What the fuck.”

Guilt consumed Marcus. He’d just gone into Liam’s personal space and near forced a kiss on the guy. No wonder Liam looked so shell-shocked.