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Jill Gordon as a nanny? The idea made him hide a chuckle as he sauntered over to her car. He’d had his doubts about her ever showing up. But here she was, dressed as if she was ready for a beach party.
“Hello. You must be Mrs. Gordon,” he said politely as she turned around, clumsily grasping the handle of the carrier with both hands.
Her eyes widened with surprise and obvious relief. “Are you—?”
“Kyle Stone,” he answered, smiling as he quickly made a mental assessment of her. Her makeup was artfully applied to enhance her delicate features and deep liquid-blue eyes. Full lips were carefully traced with a pink, kissable lipstick, and shoulder-length, wavy, honey-blond hair framed her face. Tight jeans cupped her thighs and legs in a provocative fashion. At the moment tiny lines of a frown marred her forehead, and the skimpy summer blouse she wore didn’t hide the rise and fall of her fast breathing.
“Did you have trouble finding the ferry to the island?” he asked politely. Nervousness stood out all over her.
“No, not at all.” Her smile was quick and superficial. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I would like to get the baby settled at the house as soon as possible.”
“Of course. It’s only about a fifteen-minute drive across the island.”
She wished now that she hadn’t taken the baby out of his car seat. Maybe the movement of the car would lull him back to sleep. It wasn’t time for another bottle, and it would be just her luck to have Davie shrieking his head off when they arrived at the house.
“I think you’ll find everything you need in the nursery,” Kyle said. “Mr. Vandenburg gave orders that it was to be completely equipped. What’s the baby’s name?” he asked politely.
“Davie.”
“He’s a fine fellow. So bright. Look at the way he’s looking around.”
Instead of smiling or responding to the compliment as he had expected a new mother would, she gave her attention to returning the baby to his car seat.
When she had trouble locking the baby in, he said, “Here, let me.”
Without any argument, she stepped back and let him do it. “I don’t know why I have trouble getting that fastened,” she said nervously.
Motherhood wasn’t sitting well with her. Her uneasy, inept handling of the baby made him suspect that she’d turn over the baby’s care to hired help the first chance she got. Any maternal instinct she had didn’t show, he thought. It was a good thing that Lily McKee had been hired to help out with the kids. Jill Gordon must have been in desperate financial straits to accept Hugo’s offer. Kyle certainly didn’t put much faith in Mrs. Budge Gordon’s ability to be any kind of a nanny.
“There you are, fellow,” he said to the wide-eyed baby. Davie had golden hair fuzz and the same deep blue eyes as his mother. He wondered how any father could run off and leave his son the way Budge had.
“I guess you don’t remember how to get to the house from your other visits?” Kyle said when the baby was in place and the back door closed. “Mr. Vandenburg sent his car for you on those occasions, didn’t he?”
She nodded without looking at him.
“Well, just follow me. There are lots of small roads that snake through the thick stands of moss-covered oak and cypress trees. If you take the wrong one, you can wander around in a confusing maze. The Vandenburg acreage is one of the largest estates, and it’s easy to get disoriented. Just stay close behind me.”
Kyle walked back to his car, but before he started up the engine, he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number.
When he got his connection, he briskly told the party on the other end, “The pigeon is in the coop. I’ll keep you posted.”
THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT Kyle’s practiced manner that put Ashley on edge. Even though he’d indicated that he hadn’t met Jill, he had given her the impression that he’d been around when her twin and Budge had visited Hugo Vandenburg. She didn’t like the clear assessing sharpness in his eyes, and his smile had held a subtle mocking criticism when she’d been so clumsy handling the baby carrier. She wondered what his position was at the Vandenburg estate, and hoped to heaven that she wouldn’t have much contact with him.
Ashley was grateful for the red Jaguar moving ahead of her on a narrow road snaking through heavy stands of ancient live oaks hung with gray moss. Like a dark surrealistic painting, a tracery of sunlight filtered through thick branches of pine, cedar, and magnolia trees. Heavy undergrowth of myrtle bushes and palmettos masked hidden marshes and, except for the wild flight of birds disturbed by the cars’ engines, Ashley couldn’t see any sign of man or beast. Being used to the wide-open spaces of Colorado, she felt a tightening of claustrophobia as she drove through the dark tunnel of trees and vegetation.
Davie was growing fussy in his car seat. She knew he would be howling at the top of his lungs in a few minutes if she didn’t tend to him. That’s all I need, she thought as her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
When the landscape changed from heavy forest to low marshes bordering white beaches, she let out a grateful breath. Almost immediately, tall palmetto palms marked the entrance to a beautifully landscaped estate, and an iron gate swung open easily at Stone’s light touch on his horn.
At the end of a short driveway, a southern mansion appeared almost magically in an emerald setting of trees, vines and brilliant tropical flowers. Ashley felt as if she’d just turned the pages of a fantasy book, and she had a feeling that if she just closed her eyes, the whole scene would disappear. Only the insistent, escalating cries of the baby assured her that this was no dream.
More like a nightmare, she thought as she parked behind Stone’s car in front of the house and hurried to get the baby out of the back seat. She somehow managed to get him settled in the hand carrier before Kyle Stone could offer his help.
“Let me carry him,” he said.
“Thanks, but I can handle him.”
“Don’t be silly,” he chided and quickly took the carrier from her.
She wanted to protest his high-handed way of taking over because for some perverse reason she didn’t want to be indebted to this self-assured, attractive man. She hated to admit that without his help, she didn’t know how she would have managed her purse, diaper bag and the carrier. She had a feeling that he was deftly managing her in some fashion. Used to holding her own with the president of her college and prestigious faculty members, she chafed at being treated like an inept employee.
“I’ll have Joseph bring in your luggage and the rest of the things,” he assured her as she sent a questioning look at the packed car.
She managed a thank-you smile. Luckily, Davie had ceased his wailing long enough to blink his round blue eyes in the sudden sunlight, and Ashley took advantage of the moment to glance at the southern mansion.
This was a summer home? Tall white pillars graced a long veranda spanning the front of the house. Large mullioned windows dotted the first and second floors, and a pair of embossed front doors identified the entrance. Even as Ashley wondered how she would find her way around such a place, the doors flew open and two children burst out on the veranda. Stopping at the top of the stairs, they stared down at her with unsmiling, belligerent frowns.
The oldest was a ten-year-old girl, Jill had told Ashley. She had a lean girlish build and was a head taller than her sturdy eight-year-old brother. Both had dark hair, strong features and an air of superiority about them. They were staring at her with the guarded animosity of the enemy. Her teaching experience had been limited to college students who were dedicated to passing her classes. She knew nothing about appeasing youngsters who looked as if they had taken an instant dislike to her. Ashley felt her stomach take a sickening dip down into her toes.
Kyle quickly waved for the children to come down the steps. “Pamela. Benny. Meet Mrs. Gordon. This pretty lady’s here to see that you have a good time this summer.” He lowered the carrier so they could see the baby. “And this is Davie. I bet he’s got a smile for you when he knows you better.”
“Hello,” Ashley said, making certain that she smiled directly at each one of them. “I’m glad to meet you.” She knew Jill would have said something like, “Hi, guys, how goes it?”
Kyle tried to break the stiff moment by ruffling Benny’s dark hair, winking at Pamela. “These kids are the greatest. Benny has a fantastic model airplane collection that he’d love to show you, and Pamela’s going to be an Olympic swimmer, aren’t you, hon? I bet Mrs. Gordon likes to swim, don’t you?”
Fortunately, Ashley didn’t have to lie to get in good with the little girl. Both she and Jill had been on the swim team in high school.
“I love to swim,” she said quickly. “And I bet Pamela could teach me some strokes.” Then she smiled at Benny. “And I would like very much to see your airplane collection.”
As they walked up the steps into the house, Kyle kept up a running monologue, praising the kids and giving Pamela and Benny the impression that their new nanny was in awe of all their accomplishments.
They entered a spacious foyer decorated in white-and-black marble, and Ashley scarcely had time to view numerous doors opening off of a wide hall before Kyle whisked them up a beautiful staircase to the second floor. A spacious sitting room furnished with lounge chairs and a large television was in an open area at the top of the stairs. Ashley could tell from the childish clutter that the two children spent a lot of time there. No doubt the downstairs living rooms were off-limits.
Benny rushed over to a table, picked up a video game and held it out to Ashley. “Let’s play. It’s a neat airplane war game. You can have the Tomcats.” Then he added with all the dictatorship of an eight-year-old, “Pammy won’t play so you have to.”
“She’s not playing that stupid game,” flared his sister. “Mother said she was supposed to keep me company in this horrid place.” Her blue eyes held the hint of tears. “Grandfather had no right to make us come here.”
“You’re a baby…baby…baby.”
“I am not.” Pamela clenched her fists.
Ashley knew that if she wanted to get off on a good footing, it was important not to slight either Benny or Pamela, but at the moment she had no choice. Davie might be the smallest of the three, but his loud protests could no longer be ignored. She felt as if she were being pulled in all directions at once, and she sensed that Kyle was waiting to see what she was going to do.
“We’ll play later, Benny,” she promised, and caught Pamela’s eyes with a reassuring smile. “I have to tend to the baby now, but there’ll be time later to do the things you want.”
Neither of them responded to her promises. Both of the children were staring at her with their original belligerent frowns, and she knew that she had lost the first round by default.
“The nursery is this way,” Kyle said, leading the way down the hall. Pamela and Benny didn’t follow but remained in the sitting room. “I hope you’ll be very comfortable here,” he said as they reached the nursery, with a connecting bedroom and bath. “We want to make certain that you have a very pleasant and entertaining summer.”
Something in his tone didn’t quite match the look he was giving her. She’d seen the way he’d managed the children, and she wondered if somehow he was manipulating her in the same fashion. Right then and there, she decided that she’d warn Jill about him. Ashley’s intuitive sense had always stood her in good stead when dealing with people, and something about Kyle Stone did not ring true. There was a secret remoteness about him that wasn’t hidden by his pleasant smile or his accommodating manner.
He set the carrier down in the nursery. “I think your little fellow’s tired of traveling. I’ll send Mrs. Borsch, the housekeeper, up to see if there’s anything you need. She told me that she thought the nursery was pretty complete, but I’m sure you’ll want everything to your own liking.”
To my own liking?
“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Ashley said, seeing diapers, a bottle warmer and other baby paraphernalia ready and waiting. Thank heavens, someone had anticipated the demands of caring for a baby twenty-four hours a day. If she could just get through the next few hours, things would surely smooth out.
Kyle had seen her eyes narrow as he spoke, and he knew she’d picked up the edge of sarcasm in his tone. Even though her reputation as the rather spoiled wife of a notable sports figure had preceded her, he’d have to be more careful. He didn’t want to antagonize her. If Jill Gordon got her back up, she could cause a lot of trouble for everyone.
“Well, then, I guess I’ll leave you. Mrs. Borsch will answer any questions you have about settling in. I’ll take Pamela and Benny downstairs and keep them busy in the library until dinnertime. I’ll see you then.”
As he paused in the doorway and looked back at her, he was struck by the awkward way she was handling the crying baby. Instead of putting the infant over her shoulder and patting his bottom to soothe him, she held him so that he was lying on his back, kicking his feet and waving his arms.
He sighed inwardly. Some nanny. It’s a good thing Pamela and Benny are old enough to manage most things themselves.
As he herded Benny and Pamela downstairs, his thoughts centered on what he was going to tell Hugo when his boss called him that night.
Nobody played Hugo Vandenburg for a fool and got away with it. All that illegal betting money was supposed to come home to him. All along, he’d used Budge to cover his behind-the-scenes involvement in the scam, but the basketball star had double-crossed him. Not only had Budge gotten away with Hugo’s money, but he had the information that could put the wealthy team owner behind bars. The missing Budge was a loaded cannon that could go off at any minute. Hugo needed to get to him before the law did, and the whole story came out.
Thanks to a letter that Budge had written to Jill before he disappeared, Hugo was using Jill as bait to get Hugo. In the letter, Budge had declared his love for his wife and promised not to leave the country without her. Budge had given the letter to one of his player friends to deliver to Jill, but the friend had betrayed him and given the letter to Hugo instead.
Hugo had offered the deserted Jill Gordon a nanny’s job in order to have her under surveillance. He’d put Kyle in charge of keeping close tabs on her. Kyle’s orders were to carefully monitor any contact that Budge might make with his wife so that any plans the couple made to leave the country together could be foiled.
But relating to Jill Gordon was going to be a harder job than Kyle had thought. She was less than competent caring for her own baby and having her handling two more children was likely to result in a fiasco. Unfortunately, there was too much at stake to let her sink or swim on her own. Hugo had really hoodwinked her into thinking that he considered her another one of Budge’s victims and wanted to make it up to her out of the goodness of his heart.
Chapter Two
After she’d diapered Davie and heated the last bottle of formula, Ashley collapsed in a rocking chair with the baby in her arms. Fighting his little fists away from his mouth so she could stick in the bottle, she soothed him and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally recognized the rubber nipple. At first he almost choked on the flow of the warm liquid, but after a moment, he settled into a quiet nursing rhythm.
As she sat there in the quiet room, the silence broken only by Davie’s contented slurping, some of the stiffness went out of her body. She leaned her head back against the chair. I can do this. It’s only for a few days. Jill had always been able to take life at a gallop. She’d probably thrive on all the commotion and excitement of living in a grand southern mansion.
The baby was almost finished with his bottle when Ashley realized someone was standing in the doorway watching her.
“May I come in?” the woman asked briskly.
Ashley nodded. “Please, do.”
“Mr. Stone told me you had arrived, Mrs. Gordon. I’m Ina Borsch, the housekeeper.” Her unsmiling eyes flickered over Ashley and the baby.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Borsch,” Ashley said politely to the large-boned woman, obviously stiffly corseted under a plain navy blue dress. She recognized her voice; this was the woman who had answered the telephone.
“I trust you have found everything to your satisfaction. Mr. Vandenburg left instructions that you were to be made comfortable. I have done my best to carry out his orders.”
“Thank you for your concern, Mrs. Borsch,” Ashley responded in the same formal tone. The woman’s manner indicated that she didn’t share the same concern about Ashley’s comfort. It was hard to judge the housekeeper’s age—fiftyish, Ashley guessed. Her broad face held an expression of disapproval that reminded Ashley of a general looking over new recruits and finding them wanting. One thing was clear. Ina Borsch expected everyone to acknowledge her position and authority as housekeeper and behave accordingly.
It wasn’t Ashley’s nature to knuckle under anyone, but the whole situation had put her off-balance. At the moment, she had little choice but to play the role that Jill had forced on her.
Mrs. Borsch glanced around the nursery. “I think you’ll find all the supplies you need. Even though it’s been some time since we had a baby in the house, I made sure that all the necessities are here.”
“Yes, I found the diapers and bottle warmer.” Ashley told her, hoping she sounded more motherly than she felt. “I’ll be needing to sterilize some bottles for Davie and make some more formula for his next feeding.”
“Lily will see to those needs,” the housekeeper said with a dismissing wave of her large hand.
“Lily?”
“One of the housemaids. Mr. Vandenburg has left instructions that Lily is to be assigned to the nursery while you are here.”
Once again, Ashley could tell from the woman’s tone that this decision wasn’t hers. Obviously the welcome mat wasn’t out for Jill Gordon as far as Ina Borsch was concerned. Was it a personal prejudice, or was there something deeper at the root of her simmering hostility? Ashley decided to play the innocent and see what she could find out about the household from this martinet housekeeper.
“Mr. Vandenburg is such a nice man,” Ashley said in her sister’s bubbly tone. “He’s always been so good to Budge and me. I just know I’m going to love being here. Benny and Pamela are such darlings. And that nice Mr. Stone, meeting me the way he did and all. Is he related to Hugo, too?” Her chatter sounded so false in her own ears that Ashley was secretly embarrassed by it.
“No, Kyle Stone is an employee like the rest of us. Mr. Vandenburg leaves him in charge when he’s away on business.” Then her heavy chin lifted. “The house and staff are my responsibility, and I handle them as I see fit.”
“It can’t be easy,” Ashley said, sinking so low as to try and soften her up by the use of flattery. “You must have an awfully big staff to run this house.”
“Only when Mr. Vandenburg is in residence, then the staff is doubled. When he’s away, there are two maids, a cook, my husband, Joseph, and Mr. Stone…and now you,” she added. Once again, her disapproval was obvious. “This is the first time the grandchildren have required a nanny. Usually they travel in the summer with their parents.”
Ashley remembered Pamela’s remark that it was their grandfather’s fault that they were spending the summer here. “Then the children are not used to a nanny?”
“Not at their grandfather’s house. You’re the first.” And her tone inferred that she hoped she would be the last.
“Have you been here a long time, Mrs. Borsch?” Ashley prodded. She wanted to relay all the information she could to Jill, so her twin wouldn’t have to start from square one learning about the staff.
Surprisingly enough, Ina Borsch seemed willing to talk about herself. “Up until five years ago we were in Mr. Vandenburg’s Atlanta household. When his wife died, he bought this place. My husband enjoys the island more than I do,” she said flatly. “Joseph is the groundskeeper and helps me in the house when there are extra duties. He’ll be bringing up your luggage. And as soon as Lily finishes her chores in the kitchen, she can tend to your needs.” Her tone made it clear that a nanny’s presence in the house caused everyone more work. “You will be responsible for making your own bed daily and for keeping your room and the nursery in presentable order. Once a week, one of the maids will clean.”
Ashley nodded. Keeping the nursery, bedroom and bath in presentable condition wouldn’t be any hardship. She wasn’t used to hired help, but she didn’t know about Jill. Housekeeping wasn’t one of her twin’s strong suits.
Apparently, Mrs. Borsch had decided that she’d wasted enough time in chitchat. She took a sheet of folded paper from her pocket and placed it on a small table near the rocking chair where Ashley was rocking the baby. “Mr. Vandenburg left this for you. It’s a daily schedule for the children. You are to spend from nine until twelve every morning in the library with them, supervising organized activities such as reading, art and music. They have all the materials they need, and he assumed that you would be able to manage such educational supervision.”
“I believe I can handle it,” Ashley said, smothering a smile. She was quite practiced in lecturing a theater of college students on those subjects. She was certain she could manage the studies of an eight- and a ten-year-old.
“Mr. Vandenburg has requested that you spend two to three hours in the afternoon on outside activities. These could include swimming, hiking, outdoor games, beach walking and any other activities that seem appropriate.”
Ashley nodded. The schedule seemed deceptively easy, and mingled with a sense of relief was a suspicion that the formidable housekeeper was holding something back.
“During your morning and afternoon activities, Lily will tend the baby and also, during the lunch and dinner hours. You will eat in the small dining room with Mr. Stone when he’s present, and alone when he’s away from the house.”
“And the evenings?”
“The children will amuse themselves with television, games or other chosen activities. Lily will make certain that lights are out by eight-thirty. Are there any questions?”
Mrs. Borsch’s authoritative manner did not invite any discussion, and Ashley wondered how soon it would be before the two children rebelled against such a regimented routine. If Pamela and Benny had never stayed here without their parents, she doubted that this rigid daily structure was one they were used to.
“The schedule seems workable,” Ashley lied.
Mrs. Borsch surveyed the contented baby in Ashley’s arms, and for a moment Ashley thought she might say something soft and gentle, but instead she frowned. “I hope you can keep him quiet during the night. None of us want to lose our sleep listening to a crying baby.”
“I’ll do my best, but he’s had a touch of colic that makes him fretful at night.”
