Samhain Publishing

Meagan couldn’t concentrate on the movie. Adam was due any minute. All she could think about was the reluctant promise she had given Patty and the children to discuss the nanny position with Adam. She clung to the fact that Adam probably wouldn’t hire her. He was so ordered that he would undoubtedly be more comfortable with someone else.

Twisting a strand of hair around her finger, Meagan recalled his chagrin when she informed him that she hadn’t referred to his schedule since he left. She popped a kernel of buttery popcorn in her mouth and felt it dissolve on her tongue. No, Adam definitely did not like her unscheduled approach to life.

He didn’t understand the need for variation in the routine of life. Jason and Mandy did. They told her often how much more fun she was than Mrs. Peer. The feeling was mutual. Her growing affection for them was the main instigator for her rash promise to apply for the position of nanny.

The fact that Adam’s voice over the phone turned her insides to jelly played a part in both her reluctance and her desire to stay. How could she be so affected by a stodgy professor? Adam was everything she wasn’t, but that didn’t stop her heart from beating a quick tattoo when she played his messages on the answering machine. Even when she played them the second time…to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.

Meagan was barely aware of the sound of tires crunching gravel when Jason and Mandy sped by her to the front door. “Daddy’s home!”

Meagan sprang off the couch and followed the children. She stood behind Mandy as Jason threw open the front door. Adam had just stopped his Volvo. The driver’s door swung open and he stepped out. He stretched. The floodlight illuminated taut muscles as Adam reached above his head.

Jason and Mandy sprinted off the front porch and across the small patch of lawn to Adam’s side. “Hi, guys.” He swept them both into a bear hug. “Boy, I missed you.”

Crickets sang in the stillness as Adam embraced his children, the look of rapture on his face testimony to how deeply he had missed them. Familiar feelings of longing curled through Meagan. In a flash of insight, Meagan realized that she didn’t just want her own children. Right now, she wanted to be part of the scene before her. She wanted to be held tightly to Adam’s chest and have Mandy clinging to her legs.

Her mind was going. She barely knew Adam and his children. The desire to become a mother was so strong that she was projecting her feelings onto Adam’s family. Unable to deal with her irrational emotions, Meagan turned around and made her way back into the living room.

She moved around the room, straightening the soft blankets, picking up stray kernels of popcorn and tidying the pile of stuffed animals Mandy had wanted to bring to her campout. What was the matter with her? If she was going to stay on as Adam’s nanny, she would have to get control of her hormones.

A sexy voice was one thing. Being tempted to throw herself at a near stranger and share in a joyous family reunion was something else entirely.

She could hear Adam and the children calling her. Taking a deep breath and expelling it, Meagan prepared to greet Adam.

“There you are.” Adam looked rumpled from his travel, but no less appealing. If anything, his tousled hair and wrinkled trousers made him more approachable.

Stop it, Meagan mentally chided herself.

“Where did you go, Miss Meagan? You were right behind us.” Jason spoke from next to her.

“I thought I’d pick up a little bit.” She ruffled his hair. “I didn’t want your dad to think we’d torn apart the living room for our campout.”

“Daddy wouldn’t care. He’s nice, Miss Meagan. He never yells at our nannies.”

Meagan smiled at Mandy’s pronouncement. She was fairly certain that their previous nannies would not have dreamed of turning the sofa into a makeshift tent either.

“Mandy’s right. I wouldn’t mind. I don’t mind. I’m just glad to be home.”

Meagan’s gaze met Adam’s. His happiness was palpable. She felt a smile spread across her face. “I can tell.”

He returned her smile and Meagan’s breath caught in the back of her throat.

“This is our campout,” Jason announced. Adam seemed to take in the white sectional draped with bedding, the popcorn bowl that was nearly empty and the water bottles full of ice water with one sweeping glance.

“Looks like fun. What movies did you watch?”

Meagan listened with half an ear while Jason and Mandy chattered excitedly with their father. How was she supposed to bring up the issue of her staying? She’d never applied for a domestic position before. Was there a different type of application process? After her reaction to the scene between Adam and the children, maybe she should forget about it. Still, a promise was a promise. Her mind was in too much of a muddle to deal with it right now. She’d wait until tomorrow.

Suddenly aware of the silence around her, Meagan looked up to find three sets of eyes focused on her face. Jason and Mandy looked expectant and Adam looked like someone had just punched him in the stomach.

“What? Why are you all looking at me?”

Adam cleared his throat. “Mandy just said… I mean Jason thinks…”

He was speechless. What had she missed?

“We just told Dad that you’re going to stay and be our real nanny.”

Meagan stared at Jason. “You said what?”

“Miss Meagan, you promised.”

Mandy sounded near tears. Shoot. If she didn’t get things under control soon, she was going to ruin Adam’s homecoming.

“I promised to talk to your dad about it and I will.”

Mandy’s smile returned. Jason nodded with approval, but Adam still looked like he’d been blind-sided. She smiled at him apologetically. “I couldn’t help it. Patty and the children can be very persuasive.”

He blinked. “Patty?”

“Yes. She seems to think that it’s the ideal solution for both of us.”

“She does?” The puzzled look on Adam’s face was almost comical. Meagan wanted to reassure him that she wouldn’t insist on staying, but she couldn’t say much more in front of the children.

She just nodded and then turned to speak to Mandy and Jason. “Okay, troops, the agreement was you’d greet your dad, hug him silly and then go to bed. How are you two at keeping your promises?”

Jason and Mandy immediately threw themselves at Adam and gave him more enthusiastic hugs. He scooted them upstairs to brush their teeth before escorting them back to their “camp”. Meagan listened to Adam praying with his children from the doorway of the living room.

He kissed them and tucked their blankets around them before turning off all but one small light.

“Night guys.”

“Good night, Daddy. I’m glad you’re home.”

Adam brushed his fingers against Mandy’s forehead. “Me too, squirt.”

Mandy smiled and snuggled deeper into her blankets. He walked by Meagan and she followed him to the kitchen.

“Want anything?” he asked as he got himself a glass of water.

She shook her head. “No thanks.”

He sat down at the table and she joined him, sliding onto the cold wooden seat. “I’m sorry you got put on the spot like that. I guess I should have realized they wouldn’t leave it to me to tell you.”

Adam played with his water glass, turning it in his hands. “To say that I’m surprised would be to put it mildly. I was under the impression that you were here on a mini-vacation, not looking for a job.”

“I was. Like I said, Patty can be pretty persuasive, not to mention Jason and Mandy.”

“I still don’t understand this thing with Patty. She’s never made a recommendation before about my nannies.”

He obviously didn’t know Patty as well as she did. “You may as well get used to it. Patty likes to meddle.”

“You’ll have to forgive me. I’m having a hard time taking this in.”

Meagan felt bad. “I can imagine. We don’t have to discuss this tonight. As a matter of fact, I would rather wait until tomorrow.”

Adam’s shoulders relaxed. “That would be great.”

Meagan stood up. “I’ll go to bed then.”

As she went to open the kitchen door, Adam’s voice stopped her. “Meagan.”

She turned her head. “Yes?”

“You’ve told me that Patty wants you to stay and I can see that Jason and Mandy want you as their nanny, but I’m not sure what you want. Do you want to stay?”

Meeting Adam’s eyes, Meagan saw the question there. She needed to make a decision. Suddenly, it all seemed very clear. Life was full of risk, but it seemed to her that the greatest risk of all was to miss out on living it.

“Yes, Adam. I do.”