LITMIR.BIZ

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with children.” If she wouldn’t open up voluntarily, he’d ask specific questions. For a moment he wondered why he pushed. Was it only curiosity, or was he trying to stop thinking about two toddlers waiting to meet him? He’d negotiated multimillion-dollar deals. Why was he growing more and more nervous at the thought of facing two small girls?

      The silence stretched. Cassandra slowly turned and looked at him assessingly. She didn’t like to talk about her past. All her life she’d wished for a fairy-tale family, something like the Brady Bunch—a dream far from her reality. She guessed it wouldn’t hurt to explain why she hadn’t wanted to come on this trip.

      “My mother died when I was seven. I had no other family, so I ended up in foster care. The home I was assigned when I was ten had lots of young children, mostly other foster kids. I baby-sat constantly over the next eight years. Once I turned eighteen, I split. No more kids for me, I vowed.”

      “Until today.”

      “I wish. When I got to college, I needed money. Only job I was qualified for was watching children. So I was a prime candidate for professors’ families looking for baby-sitters. Another four years of watching other people’s kids.”

      “Now mine.”

      “Right.” She frowned. “It’s not what I expected when I hired on with the firm. I have a degree in marketing, not child care. I want to use my mind, not be a baby-sitter.”

      “Nor did I ever think I’d need a baby-sitter. But then I had no idea MaryEllen had delivered twins.” Jared lapsed into silence, again wondering how MaryEllen could have kept such an event from him. After all, he couldn’t have made her return to San Francisco to live. He should have known about his daughters.

      

      The law offices of Sattler, Randall and Peabody were located on the thirty-third floor of a skyscraper on East Fortieth Street. A high-speed elevator whisked them quickly to their destination. Jared located the door to the offices, pushed it open and stood aside to allow Cassandra to enter. Stepping inside, he immediately stopped, his eyes on the two toddlers playing by a maroon-colored crushed velvet sofa. Dark hair caught up in wispy ponytails, matching overalls, a pink shirt and a yellow shirt on the two little girls—other than those shirts, they were identical. Both stopped playing when Jared entered, turning toward him and Cassandra, bright blue eyes staring.

      Jared stood more than six feet tall. Did he seem like a giant to these little creatures? They were so tiny. For an instant he stared in fascination, wondering what they thought. Neither said a word, just stared.

      “Hello, there.” Cassandra greeted the little girls and moved closer. They were precious. Her heart went out to them. Things must be so scary. Cassandra remembered how scared she’d been when her mother died and she had gone to live with strangers. Nothing had been familiar, nothing comforting. And she’d missed her mother so much.

      Smiling, she knelt before the girls and slowly reached out to touch each one on her hand. “Hi, I’m Cassie. What are your names?”

      Jared heard the warmth and softness in her voice. It broke the spell. The twins smiled and shifted their gaze to Cassandra. When she knelt before them, they launched into babbling that had Jared’s head spinning. Would she understand anything they were saying? He’d forgotten how small two-year-olds were. They didn’t even talk well.

      “Mr. Hunter?” The woman behind the reception desk greeted him. Her smile was friendly.

      “That’s right.”

      “Cute kids you have,” she said with a glance at the twins. “I’ve been watching them for the last two weeks. They’re as sweet as can be. I’m so sorry about your wife.”

      Jared nodded, feeling totally out of his element. He knew nothing about children—knew nothing about his own daughters! Fortunately, Cassandra appeared to know all that was needed. The twins took to her like ducks to water. Laughing and talking, the three of them, all the same height with Cassandra kneeling, seemed to mesh perfectly. For a moment Jared was envious. He watched them while the receptionist notified the attorney of Jared’s arrival.

      “Mr. Randall will be with you in just a moment,” the receptionist said, seemingly unaware of his hesitation.

      Nodding, Jared moved slowly across the reception area toward his children. One look at them and all doubts fled. They looked just like he had as a child—though feminine versions. He could see nothing of MaryEllen in either child except for her blue eyes. Had they inherited her temperament or ambition?

      “Hello,” he said.

      Two pairs of identical eyes swiveled to him. The little girl in yellow put her thumb in her mouth, watching him warily.

      “I think you are a bit too tall for them. Either pick them up, or get down on their level,” Cassandra suggested, leaning on her heels. She brushed the hair off the face of the child sucking her thumb.

      Jared stared at the unwavering eyes regarding him. Slowly he sat on the edge of the sofa, totally at a loss. He didn’t like the feeling. Over the years, he’d perfected his ability to fit in with different cultures, different societies as he expanded Hunter Associates in Pacific Rim countries. Now he was floored by a pair of babies.

      “Smile,” Cassandra said, the lilt in her voice one of amusement. “This is your daddy. Tell him your name,” she prompted the twin in pink.

      “Asslee,” she said proudly, her gaze steady.

      Popping her thumb from her mouth, the other twin piped up. “Me Bitnee.”

      “Ashley and Brittany,” Cassandra repeated, smiling at them. “And this is your daddy. Can you say Daddy?”

      For a moment Jared was struck by the change on her face. He wished she would smile at him like that. For the first time he realized how lucky he was that she had responded when he’d yelled for Helen yesterday. He couldn’t have handled these children by himself. They stood by Cassandra, shaking their heads. Then Ashley began talking nineteen to the dozen. Cassandra listened as if she understood every word, nodding and smiling. Maybe she did. But he didn’t.

      A father should be better able to cope. What was he going to do? Dealing on an international level in business was one thing. The thought of dealing with these toddlers scared him half to death.

      Cassandra stayed in the reception area with the twins when Jared met with MaryEllen’s attorney, Thomas Randall. The girls had warmed up to her, and she thought it best to have as few disruptions as possible. They already had experienced a lot of change. She would try to make things easier for them.

      Sitting on the sofa, she enticed them to sit beside her, one on each side. “Let me tell you a story. It’s about two big girls who just met their daddy...” Trying to explain the coming changes in a story, Cassandra told the tale in simple terms. She made flying sound like a grand adventure and moving to San Francisco as normal as brushing their teeth.

      When Thomas Randall offered to read the will aloud, Jared asked if he could skim it himself. It took only a few minutes. The will was short and simple. The half interest MaryEllen owned in the company was left in trust to her daughters, to be administered by her husband, the children’s father. Jared looked at the attorney when he finished.

      “She was a young woman. Her death caught me by surprise,” Jared said. He wondered how much the man knew about their marriage.

      The attorney nodded. “The children’s baby-sitter called us when MaryEllen went into the hospital. I went to see your wife just before she died. She was very sick. I think she pushed herself too hard and had no reserves when the end came.”

      “The girls will miss her,” Jared murmured.

      “Not as much as you might suspect,” Randall said. “Apparently there have been a series of baby-sitters and housekeepers over the last couple of years. I don’t believe the girls are strongly attached to anyone—even their mother. My receptionist reported they adjusted well to staying with her.”

      “I’ll

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