Daddy and Daughters

“As long as you realize you have to pull your own weight,” she said, disengaging herself and rising. “Come on, munchkins, time to go home. Brittany, you come with me. Ashley, you go with Daddy.”

He almost didn’t recognize the appellation. He was the daddy of these children.

Cassandra picked up Brittany and propped her on her hip. She looked at Jared, her dark, solemn eyes behind her glasses. Was there a hint of a challenge in her gaze?

Jared reached down and picked up Ashley. She was light as a feather. Holding her against his chest, he stared into her eyes. She patted his cheek and smiled. Something tugged in his heart. She was precious. Small and alone and totally dependent upon him to care for her. Panic nipped at his heels. Could he do it? What if he screwed up? He knew nothing about parenting. Had thought to work up to it, if ever he’d decided to take the plunge. Read books while his wife was pregnant, learn as they went along. Not be an instant father with no warning and no time to prepare.

“Let’s go, Daddy.” Amusement danced in Cassandra’s eyes, but she kept the smile from her lips. No point in letting Jared know she found his uncertainty touching. He was a dynamo in the office. Now he looked as awkward as a teenager on a first date. She blinked and led the way from the reception area. Why in the world had she thought about dating? She was a baby-sitter, that’s all. He was dumping his children on her and taking off for the New York office, abdicating all responsibility for a day. Sometimes it didn’t pay to open your mouth!

Adding the small bag for the twins to the others, he followed. Cassandra waited by the elevator, allowing Brittany to press the buttons. Both were lit, but she didn’t care. They’d just wait for a down elevator. Children liked to experiment and try things. She may be mad at their father for insisting she accompany him, but she would never take that anger out on these children.

MaryEllen Hunter’s apartment came as a surprise. It was large, formally decorated in delicate Queen Anne furnishings and located in a prestigious neighborhood only two blocks from Central Park. When they entered, Jared placed Ashley on the floor. She didn’t move. Cassandra deposited Brittany beside her. The two girls looked at the adults.

“Where’s your room?” Cassandra asked.

Ashley pointed down the hall.

Crossing into the living room, Jared dropped their bags on the floor beside an ornate credenza that took up most of the wall. Surveying the room, he wondered when MaryEllen had decided to go for the elegant look. Their place in San Francisco had been comfortable with sturdy furniture and few knickknacks. Maybe this style fit with her idea of living in New York. He didn’t like it much, but he was more interested in comfort at home.

“No, no,” Brittany said when Cassandra started to follow.

“What?”

“No, no.” Brittany shook her head, warily eyeing the living room.

The phone rang.

Jared crossed to answer it, puzzled by Brittany.

“Jared Hunter.”

“Mr. Hunter, this is Annie Simmons. Mr. Randall called a little while ago and suggested I get in touch with you. I was the twins’ baby-sitter. The most recent one, I should say. I understand you’ll be taking the children back to San Francisco with you, but if I can help in the meantime, please let me know. I don’t start another job for a week.”

“We plan to leave tomorrow.” Jared glanced at Cassandra. “But if you could come by today, that would be great. You could help us pack their things, maybe suggest where I can dispose of what we don’t take with us.”

“Surely. I could stop by around one.”

Jared checked his watch. It wasn’t even noon. “That will be fine.”

“I’ll be there.”

Cassandra and the twins had disappeared. He followed the sound of voices drifting down the hall and stopped at the door to their bedroom. It was large, with two cribs, a highboy dresser and more dolls and stuffed animals scattered around than most toy stores carried. MaryEllen hadn’t stinted on gifts for her daughters.

Brittany stood near the wall, watching Cassandra and Ashley, thumb firmly in her mouth. He wondered why one sucked her thumb and the other didn’t. Of course in the short drive from the attorney’s office, he’d noticed the difference in the personalities of the two. Ashley was outgoing and friendly. Curious and fearless. Brittany seemed to watch carefully, shy and quiet. Interesting with identical twins. Or was that the norm? He had so much to learn.

“That was the girls’ baby-sitter. She’ll stop by at one to help pack.”

Cassandra nodded, took off her suit jacket and tossed it across the rails of one of the cribs. The soft material of her blouse draped over her trim figure, Jared noticed. His eyes skimmed over her curves. Again he wondered what she would look like in lacy, frilly dresses. It was probably something he’d never see. She was an employee, here under protest to help him with his newly discovered daughters. Nothing else.

He shook his head. Who was he kidding? Only himself. Because he was the only one who knew about the attraction he felt around Cassandra Bowles. And it had better stay that way. A passing fancy. Once he caught up on sleep, got into the routine of work, he’d move beyond any such awareness.

Or so he hoped.

“If you find the suitcases, I’ll start packing,” Cassandra said, opening a drawer in the high dresser. Might as well make the most of the situation. She could get started on packing, then sort favorite toys and books when the baby-sitter arrived. She’d also make sure she found out as much as she could about the twins’ habits, likes and dislikes. Poor babies needed all the help they could get, moving to an entirely new life-style. She glanced at Jared, startled to find his gaze traveling over her body. Heat flushed through her. Swallowing hard, she shifted and turned her back. The unexpected tingling was not a sensation she’d felt before. She wasn’t getting sick, was she? No, it was the constant state of awareness she felt around Jared Hunter.

Clearing her throat, she thought longingly about her bag. She had jeans and a shirt in it. Maybe she should change before she did anything else.

“It may take me a while to find them.” Jared went into the hallway and entered the second bedroom.

Find what? Oh, the suitcases for the children. Cassandra pressed her hands against her cheeks, feeling the heat. She was acting like an idiot. She was here to take care of his children, nothing else. And she had better remember that every minute!

She trailed after Jared and found him in what must have been his wife’s bedroom. MaryEllen’s things still lay strewn about. The bed was unmade, as if she’d risen only that morning to head for the hospital. A pang hit her. MaryEllen had been alone at the end. If his trip to Bangkok had been postponed, if the typhoon hadn’t struck, Jared could have been with her.

“I’m sorry you didn’t make it back in time,” she said softly, watching the bleak look in his eyes.

“I didn’t even know she was sick. She should have told me.”

“Maybe she didn’t think it was serious until too late. Maybe she didn’t know how serious.”

“I would have insisted the doctors try everything in their power to keep her alive.”

“I’m sure they did all they could.” She longed to offer comfort, but was unsure what to say. Did he want to talk about it? Knowing human touch could help, she reached out and clasped his hand, squeezing a bit, just to let him know he wasn’t alone.

“I don’t know a thing about taking care of babies,” he said, looking around the room. But the tight grip of his hand let Cassandra know he didn’t want to be alone.

“You’ll learn what you need to know. And you can afford competent help to take care of a lot of the routine things.”

A shriek of laughter came from the twins’ room.

“I guess I’d better check on them,” Cassandra said, squeezing his hand one last time before she slowly let go. For a moment he held on, then released her.

“I’ll hunt up those suitcases.”

Jared opened the closet door. Clothes filled the space. In the back, to the left, sat a matching set of expensive leather luggage. He drew the suitcases out, brushing against the clothes. He realized they still carried the faint scent of MaryEllen’s perfume. He couldn’t believe he wouldn’t see her again, wouldn’t go toe-to-toe with her over some business decision. Wouldn’t hear her wild dreams, most of which had a basic, strong concept they usually implemented. Wouldn’t argue about the rate of expansion and the cost-cutting measures he always demanded.

Shaking his head, dispelling memories, Jared returned to the children’s room.

“The water is too cold to swim in. When you walk outside it will be windy some days, cool from the bay, but that’s good for flying kites.” Cassandra chatted with the children as she stacked clothes on one of the cribs.

“What are you telling them?” Jared asked, looking for a place to put the suitcases.

“About their new home. I think they’ll feel more comfortable knowing about the change,” she said. “Just put them on the floor. There’s no room anywhere else.”

“Here, Ashley, you put this in the suitcase.” Cassandra handed the toddler two folded shirts. Ashley walked to the suitcase and dumped them in.

“Great technique, kid,” Jared muttered.

Cassandra laughed. “It doesn’t matter. They just want to help,” she said as she handed a similar stack to Brittany.