The Nanny’s Temporary Triplets

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Ephraim wiped his golden-brown brow on his shirtsleeve before placing his hat back over his dark curls. “Cutting feed cost?”

“Yep.”

Ephraim nodded his agreement. David glanced across the thirty or so cattle they had corralled in search of his foreman. “Hey, Joaquin, what do you think about weaning early this year?”

Joaquin tipped back his hat to eye the calves in the bunch. “They look good. I think they can handle it. Want us to separate them out?”

“Yes, as soon as we get a final tally.”

Far in the distance, Isaiah headed their way, returning from a scouting mission with a couple of strays. Catching sight of a limping calf, David rode out to meet him. “Have you checked the injury?”

“Not yet. This red-spotted steer has a mind of his own.” As if to prove Isaiah’s point, the steer bolted left.

“I’ll doctor the calf. Have fun with the steer.” He grinned as Isaiah grimaced and redirected the steer.

Joaquin cantered over as David doctored the calf’s leg. “What’s the matter with him?”

“Looks like he got caught up on some barbed wire.” David untied the calf and watched him lope back toward his mother. “If so, his mother might be scratched up, too, even though she isn’t limping. Once we’re done counting calves, let’s bring them into the corral by the barn. Examine the mother. Keep an eye on the calf.”

“Sure thing, jefe.” Joaquin tipped his hat back. “Do you want us to check the fence? It might be damaged.”

David remounted his horse. “I’ll ride over now and take a look, since I wanted to check on the crop anyway. Meanwhile, y’all keep looking for nursing cattle.”

“We’ll take care of it.”

With a nod of thanks, David rode the hay field fence until he found the spot where the cattle had tried to break through. Oddly enough, a large branch blocked the opening. It had to have been put there after the cows had broken in. Had one of his men coaxed the cow and calf from the field and placed the branch here as a temporary fix?

It seemed a strange thing to do when fixing the breech was a relatively simple task with the right tools. Stranger still was the fact that none of them had mentioned it. No. His men hadn’t done this. They’d started rounding up those heads of cattle two days ago. That meant whoever had helped them out by blocking the fence was long gone.

Shrugging off the matter for now, David set about mending the break. He was nearly finished when he spotted Jamie Coleman riding toward him. They’d missed each other yesterday when David had returned the puppy to the Coleman ranch. Tug, Jamie’s father, had promised to send his son out to apologize for giving Maggie the dog without David’s permission. David had insisted it wasn’t necessary.

Apparently, Tug hadn’t agreed, because the nineteen-year-old in question greeted David with a wave of his hat. “Howdy, Mr. McKay! I came to apologize. My pa is right. I should have checked with you before I gave Maggie that puppy.”

“It was only a misunderstanding. Don’t worry about it.”

Jamie nodded, though worry entered his hazel eyes. “I hope Maggie wasn’t too upset by it all.”

Oh, she’d been plenty upset. The fact that Caroline was coming to live with them had been the only thing to save the evening. “She’ll be fine. I softened the news by telling her we’d get a dog someday when everything calms down. Right now adding an untrained puppy to the mix is just too much.”

“I understand.” Jamie hesitated. “What if I kept the dog for a little while and trained him for you? That way you and Maggie both get what you want and I’ll feel a whole lot better about the whole thing.”

David stopped wrestling with the barbed wire fence to consider the offer. “That would be a huge help. I’d be happy to pay you for the training.”

Jamie grinned. “Great! No need to pay me. Would it be all right if I bring him around now and then so Maggie could have a hand in training him?”

“She’d love that. Thank you, Jamie.” David held out his hand and they shook on it. “You’ve just made my daughter’s day.”

“Happy to help. I’d better get back to work. I’ll be by with the dog in a couple of days.”

“See you then.” David let out a sigh of relief. With the dog training out of the way, he’d still have to deal with its day-to-day care, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem now that Caroline was caring for the triplets. Maggie would help out, too. He’d hold her to the promise.

He’d tell her the news when he tucked her in tonight. For now, he had a fence to finish repairing. With that done, he rode the fence to check for other breaks in it. That took David well to the north side of his spread, so he took the road back around toward the house.

He hadn’t gone far before he spotted two children riding a mule ahead of him on the road. Neither of them seemed to notice David’s approach as they talked to each other. David called out, “Hello there!”

The children startled. The girl kicked her heels into the mule’s side and sank low to its back as though she expected him to gallop away. Instead the mule brayed in stubborn protest and continued its plodding progress. David easily caught up with them. Up close, the children looked so much alike that they had to be siblings. The girl seemed to be around Maggie’s age with brown hair and serious brown eyes. The boy matched her in coloring but looked to be several years younger. Noting their wide eyes, David spoke in a friendly, gentle tone. “Evening, folks. My name is David McKay. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

The two exchanged a look rife with meaning before the boy answered for them. “My name is Gil. This is my sister, Jo.”

“Do you two have a last name?”

“Satler.”

Oh. The Satler siblings. He’d never met the pair, but he’d heard enough about them to make sympathy stir in his chest. Their widowed mother had died recently, leaving them orphans. The last David had heard they’d been taken in by some friends of their family who lived in town. However, that didn’t explain what they were doing way out here by themselves.

“It’s nice to meet you both. What brings you to these parts?”

“We’re out for a ride, sir.”

“I see.” That sounded innocent enough, but they had the same look on their faces that he saw on Maggie’s whenever she had something to hide. “Do your guardians know you’re out here by yourselves?”

Gil shrugged. “Don’t reckon they much care, sir.”

“Hmm.” David hoped that wasn’t true, but he couldn’t help taking a closer look at the pair for signs of neglect. They were both a mite thin. Otherwise, they appeared to be well taken care of. Sometimes appearances only went surface deep, though.

Jo poked her brother in the ribs, loosening his tongue a bit more. “I mean, they let us do what we like so long as we stay out of trouble and make it back in time for supper.”

Jo nudged the mule’s side again. This time the mule picked up speed. Gil waved. “We’ve got to go now, Mr. McKay. Don’t want to miss supper. Bye!”

David watched them take the turnoff toward town and shook his head. It was a shame that the Satlers didn’t feel cared about at home. David had every intention of following up with their guardians to see if there was anything he could do to help support the siblings. Even so, he wished there was something more he could do for them. Something like what exactly? Take them into his home? He’d expanded the former Windy Diamond homestead into the ranch house it was today. Even after adding a second floor with three bedrooms, the McKay house was full up to the rafters. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. He could ask Maggie to share her room or he could clear out the study, which operated as his business office. But he was already struggling to care for the children under his protection now.

The sad fact was he simply couldn’t take in every orphan in the county—no matter how much he might want to. No matter how much they needed a home and not just a transient one, either, but a permanent place where they could grow up or stay until they found new families.

“Wait a minute,” David whispered to the quiet woods. “That’s it. That’s the answer.”

A children’s home would provide the town’s orphans a permanent place to stay where they knew they would be safe and cared for. It was the perfect solution. Not just for the children, either, but for him. He wouldn’t need a nanny. He wouldn’t need a wife. Not if the children had a permanent place to stay. Selfishness aside, the children needed this, too. The triplets needed stability. The other children in the community, children like the Satlers, should have a place to go where they knew they would be cared about. This was the perfect solution. He simply needed to develop it more.

He said a quick hello to his family when he entered the house, then all but locked himself in his study to do just that. Once he ran out of ideas, he switched his focus to pinning down the feed order. Before he knew it, his mother was calling him for supper. He took one look at the table and asked, “Ma, did you find the table leaf?”

She shook her head. “I’m still looking. Sit down, son. Supper is getting cold.”

He hesitated only a second, then took his seat. Maggie extended her hand to him. Caroline’s fingers slid across his palm to rest in his grasp. He stole a quick glance at her only to find her watching him expectantly—just like everyone else.

Grace. He was supposed to be saying grace. Clearing his throat, he kept his prayer brief and released Caroline’s hand even faster once it was over. No romantic entangles. Not even the merest possibility of one. That was what he’d said. That was what he’d meant. End of story.

Chapter Five (#u8f3ff10c-0215-5668-8f60-d56f37867ba8)

Caroline sang one last lullaby as she watched to make sure Jasper’s droopy eyelids stayed shut. With her three little charges snuggling together in their crib, she silently padded toward the door. She pulled it open as quietly as possibly only to hear a grunt as Maggie tumbled into the room and landed at her feet. Caroline’s eyes widened. Putting a finger to her lips, Caroline helped the girl stand. A quick glance at the crib showed her the babies hadn’t been disturbed. She ushered Maggie out of the room and closed the door behind them. She spoke softly as they walked down the stairs. “Are you all right, Maggie?”

“I’m fine,” Maggie mumbled.

“How’d you end up on the floor?”

“I was listening to you sing. The door opened. I fell in.” Maggie paused at the base of the stairs to cross her arms and pout. “How come you never sing to me?”

Caroline’s eyebrows lifted. “Do you want me to sing to you?”

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know. I just like hearing you is all.”

“Well, that’s very sweet, Maggie. I’d be happy to sing for you anytime you like.”

“Now?”

“Oh. Well...” She glanced back at the nursery. Too much noise would awaken them. She had a feeling Maggie wouldn’t particularly appreciate Caroline using that as a reason to refuse.

“Can we? We still have a few minutes before Pa has to tuck me in.”

“Pa” had been locked away in his study since shortly after dinner. Honestly, in the three days that Caroline had been living with the McKays, she’d hardly seen the man. That meant Maggie hadn’t, either. The more time Caroline spent with the girl, the more she noticed how much Maggie wanted to spend time with her father...and how often those requests were denied. Determination filled Caroline. “Let’s make an adventure of it, Maggie. We can go a little away from the house and serenade the moon. Maybe your pa would like to join us.”