LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Next to your garage. You didn’t notice it?”

      “I was preoccupied. Let me go tell the children that you’ve agreed to take the job. They won’t go to sleep until they know. I’ll be back in just a couple of minutes.” He extended his hand, as his children had. “Thank you.”

      “I’m very happy we came to an agreement.”

      Her handshake was firm, one sign of her character. She seemed straightforward. She obviously could and would speak her mind.

      The Falcon household was about to change.

      As Tricia stepped outside with Noah ten minutes later, the chilly late October evening cooled her warm face and cleared her eyes and mind.

      So. It was official. She was employed. She would have enough money to tide her over until she started her new job.

      Peace settled over her at the thought, then the quiet around her struck her. Country life. It was going to take some getting used to. No. A lot of getting used to. But she was probably noticing the quiet even more because Noah hadn’t spoken since they’d left the house.

      “Have your children always called you Father?” she asked.

      “Yes. Why?”

      “You just don’t hear it much these days. Did you call your father that?”

      “No. Most of the time I called him a son of a bitch.”

      Tricia stumbled. He reached for her, caught her. She grabbed hold, steadying herself, then looked at his face, as he held her upright by her arms. At odds with the coldness in his eyes, his hands were warm, his heat leeching through her sweater. “Thank you,” she said quietly, sorry when he let go. There was something comforting about his large and gentle hands. “Your words caught me off guard.”

      “No sense hiding the truth. I made it my goal to live as differently from him as possible.”

      “And you called him Dad, so you don’t want your kids to call you that?”

      They’d reached her SUV. She pressed the alarm button to unlock it.

      “You haven’t been here long enough to criticize,” he said coolly. “Or analyze. I grew up in total chaos. It’s not what I want for my children.”

      She opened her car door, wanting to escape. He was right. She should mind her own business. “I apologize, Noah. I was just curious. Everything seems kind of formal between you and your children.” She didn’t add what she wanted to—that they were all distant from him, physically and emotionally. And that they were starving for his affection. Anyone’s affection, which was probably why they’d latched on to her so easily.

      “Is there anything you’ll need to start the job?” he asked, very directly changing the subject.

      She sensed in him deep, unrelenting pain, and she wondered if he would ever break through it to embrace life again. Or maybe he never had. She shouldn’t presume what she didn’t know. Maybe she could carefully ask other people how he was before his wife died.

      “If I think of something, I’ll let you know or just go ahead and buy it in Sacramento,” she said, getting into the car and sliding the key into the ignition. “I’ll review their classroom work Sunday night so that I’m ready to go on Monday.”

      “You have my phone numbers?”

      “Yes, thank you.” She started the engine then glanced up at him as he rested an arm on the top of her door and leaned toward her a little. He really was an extraordinarily attractive man, even tightly wound as he was. She wanted to tell him that things would get better, that his life was going to change, that she would see to it, especially for his children. But did he want to hear that?

      “Do you space out often?” he asked, his voice laced with surprising humor. “Should I worry for my children’s safety?”

      Her eyes were dry from not blinking. “You won’t regret that your brother hired me,” she said, wondering if it was true.

      “David may have done the prelims, but I hired you. And my children. If any one of us had objected, you wouldn’t be coming back.”

      “Of course,” she said, then shifted into reverse. “Until Sunday.”

      He backed away, but he was still standing in the driveway when she looked in her rearview mirror before she turned onto the road. Maybe she’d been lying when she’d told him he wouldn’t regret hiring her, because he may well be sorry. She was pretty sure she was different from any other teacher he’d hired before.

      And she knew he was different from any boss she’d had.

       Chapter Three

      Standing in the kitchen, Noah watched his children say goodbye to Jessica, who had been their nanny for several months. Usually a changing of the guard, as Tricia had called it, was cause for moping and silent recrimination from the kids, but not this time. This time they said their goodbyes and let her leave, rather than following her outside to wave to her as her car pulled away.

      They always liked their nannies. That was never the issue. The problem was that the nannies didn’t usually like him. It hadn’t been any different with Jessica, apparently, although she’d never indicated any problem before quitting. Even then she’d told his brother, not him, that she was leaving.

      Noah knew he had a problem dealing with his help. He’d been giving it a lot of thought the past couple of days, analyzing the situation, trying to figure out how not to lose another nan—teacher. He should get used to calling Tricia that, since she seemed to prefer it.

      He wondered why none of the other nannies had said anything about the job title. Maybe because they’d just graduated from college and hadn’t taught in a classroom yet. He liked that Tricia had classroom experience. If she could handle twenty kids at one time, she must be able to handle four. Especially four, quiet, easygoing, uniformly bright children.

      Not that he was biased or anything….

      Margie would’ve liked her. Probably would’ve been a little intimidated by her, too, but his late wife would’ve liked Tricia’s easy way with the kids and her refusal to back down—something he wasn’t sure he liked. He was used to being in charge, at work and at home. There was room for only one boss in any situation. He didn’t tolerate clashes of authority.

      “She’s gone,” Adam announced, looking out the window as the car disappeared, then he glanced at Noah. “When will Miss Tricia be here, Father?”

      Father jarred Noah now, since Tricia had brought it up. “She said five o’clock.”

      Which meant he had to figure out what to do with his children until then. Well, technically after then, too, since she wouldn’t be on the clock. He hadn’t even planned dinner.

      He realized all four children were watching him, waiting. “Did you have something to say?” he asked, his gaze sweeping across them then landing on Ashley.

      “We would like to have a family meeting,” she said, her expression serious.

      He shifted into head-of-the-family mode. “All right. Why don’t we go into the family room?”

      Their footsteps sounded behind him, seeming loud in their conversation-free trek. Even Adam was quiet, a rarity.

      Noah sat in what was considered his chair, an oversize lounger that faced the television he rarely had time to watch. Each child took his or her usual seat on the sofa and other chairs.

      “What’s on your mind?” he asked the room at large.

      “We think it’s time for some changes around here,” Ashley answered, all business.

      “What kind of changes?”

      “We

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