Karen Smith – The Nanny Clause (страница 1)
Three kids. One pregnant cat. And one perfect nanny...
When Daniel Sutton’s daughters rescue an abandoned calico, the hardworking attorney doesn’t expect to be sharing his home with a litter of newborns! And the adorable kittens aren’t his only houseguests. Animal shelter volunteer Emma Alvarez is transforming the lives of Daniel and his three girls. The first-time nanny is a natural with kids and pets. Will that extend to a single father ready to trust in love again?
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The Nanny Clause
Karen Rose Smith
ISBN: 978-1-474-09097-1
THE NANNY CLAUSE
© 2019 Harlequin Books S.A.
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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To my dad, who brought me my first pet.
Contents
Daniel Sutton studied the stack of file folders on his desk. Since he was the only lawyer in Spring Forest now, he hardly had time to schedule all of his appointments, let alone interview prospective nannies.
If only his wife and his law partner hadn’t run off together. It had been over two years and that amount of time certainly should have settled any regrets he had.
Raina Clark, his secretary, knocked softly on his office door and then opened it. Raina kept his schedule on track. A widow in her late thirties, she was a good role model for his girls. She was always pleasant even when he added to her workload.
In the doorway, she announced, “Your daughters are here.”
The next second Paris, Penny and Pippa burst into his office. Even his oldest, Paris, who was hitting puberty and was usually moody and sullen, seemed to be bubbling with excitement. Since he was standing, she made a beeline for his office chair and swung herself around into it. Her dark brown ponytail swayed across her shoulder.
Penny, his middle daughter who hated school and loved softball and soccer, announced with her arms spread out before her, “We’re done, Dad! We’re done. School’s over for three whole months and I can go outside as much as I want.”
Penny’s light brown hair was always disheveled when she wasn’t wearing her baseball cap. Yes, their private school was over for the summer, but he would have to remind Penny that she would have to choose a summer camp to keep her occupied during the day.
His youngest, Pippa, ran to him with her blond pigtails flying and wrapped her arms around his legs. “Can you come home now, Daddy, can you?”
Pippa had finally stopped crying herself to sleep at night, but she still needed a night-light. Their mother’s abandonment had affected his sweet girls in so many different ways. He had to start interviews to find another compassionate nanny/housekeeper who was willing to deal with all of them. It was hard to hire a nanny who could keep up with his daughters.
In the meantime, he was becoming an expert at negotiation and compromise with his kids. They were all staring at him, waiting to see if he would leave work for them. He wished the decision was that easy.
Since all three were focused on him, he had their attention. That was rare. “How about if you give me five minutes to make a call before we go home?” Immediately he could see the disappointment on their faces so he added, “You can hang out with Raina or go outside to the yard.”
The choice was easy for Penny. “Let’s go to the yard. Come on.”
A door at the back of the offices led outside. Penny opened it and ran down the three steps. Pippa quickly followed her. Paris begrudgingly went along.
As Daniel made the call and waited for his client to come on the line, he considered Paris and her sullenness. She was eleven. Were hormones her problem? He certainly hoped not. And Penny, at nine...when would her tomboy days end? Or would they? And darling Pippa, at seven, just seemed lost sometimes. He never thought he was doing enough. He felt he had to be a mom
Fifteen minutes later, he was ending his call when Penny rushed in. “Dad, you have to come. You have to come right now.”
He jumped to his feet and ran to the door. “Has someone gotten hurt?”
“No, but come on.” She took his hand and dragged him outside and around the side of the porch of the craftsman-style house where his offices occupied the first floor. On a side street, he was a short distance from everything in the historic district of Spring Forest. His daughters—even Paris—were on their knees trying to stretch inside the broken latticework surrounding the porch.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice louder than he intended. If there was a raccoon or something worse under there—