The Nanny Clause

Chapter 1

The crack of a ball hitting a bat is a welcome sound at Wrigley Field. I've been to more Cubs games than I can count and I always enjoy it. This game was supposed to be an opportunity to rub elbows with some potential clients but the meeting fell through. The crowd's cheers echo through Wrigley Field, drowning out my thoughts as I steal glances at Grace. I find my attention divided between the announcers' sports banter and Grace, her beauty captivating me.

I nudge Nick and force myself to focus on anything other than his sister. Nick Reynolds--my right-hand man at work and also my best friend--invited his sister who now entertains my six-year-old. "Can't believe Bellinger is on track to get a hundred RBIs this year already." I'm not a huge baseball fan but Nick is, so I try to keep up on stats so I don't look like a fool at these things.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either. His career took a dip after that 2019 season but he's back on track." Nick goes on with so many stats my head swims but I find myself staring again. Grace is so good with Ava, kind and patient. I can see why she chose teaching as a career. Her finesse with children rivals my ability to schmooze new clients. She has a gift and I'm addicted to watching her.

When Nick asked if he could invite her to the game I learned that despite her rank straight out of college, she's struggled to land a full-time job and she's just subbing at local schools while she waits for a good opening. Whoever hires her will be making the best decision of their career.

"Daddy, more Dippin' Dots!" Ava has had three dishes of the creamy confection so I try to steer her toward something with a bit less sugar.

"How about a pretzel, or a hot dog?" Leaning past Nick to see my daughter on the other side of Grace, I can't help but catch Grace's eye. She smiles at me and blushes. It isn't the first time we've met but it's the first time we've been out socially. Our company picnic isn't exactly an intimate event, and I'm usually so busy with investors and clients I hardly have time to socialize with employees and their families.

"That's a good idea, Ava." Grace slaps her knees and stands. "I'm going for a hot dog. Want to come with me?"

Ava jumps to her feet with a cheer and takes Grace's hand, and I lean back and admire how Grace can command such excitement and obedience from the little girl I know to be a handful from time to time. "Here let me get you some cash." I reach for my wallet but Grace waves me off.

"No thanks. I've got this." She winks at me in a playful manner which I'm certain is only because I'm being a dad and she's planning to buy Ava whatever manner of junk food she requests. I chuckle and lean back in my chair and watch them climb the stairs out of the stadium to the concourse where food is sold.

"Grace is really great with kids." The off-handed comment falls from my lips and Nick nods in agreement.

"She really is. It's such a shame that she can't seem to nail down a job. She is such a great teacher." He picks up his giant soda cup and slurps through the straw just as one of the Cubs' basemen hits one out of the park. Then entire crowd lurches to their feet in cheers and I join Nick standing. "Incredible!" he shouts, and I clap my hands though I'm uninterested.

My mind is on her still, wondering if maybe I can find a way to put her talents and gifts to good use. She is so good with Ava, and though I don't have any need for a nanny or babysitter in my day to day, there is a very real possibility I will need someone in a week or so if this event I have coming up pans out.

"You know, I've been nominated to create plans for a library expansion out east. I'll find out this week if I've been awarded the honor." It's a huge thing too, a multi-million-dollar donor has arranged for a new children's education wing at the town's library and they want only the best architect to handle its design. Thus, my name in the hat.

"Wow, that's awesome." Nick seems genuinely impressed. "So you'll need me to help? I can clear some time, maybe push some of my projects off on Hank."

The crowd begins to die down as the runner rounds home plate and joins his teammates in the dugout. We sit down and Nick returns to slurping his soda. He's one of the best architects I've ever hired, which is why he quickly became my right-hand man and best friend despite being five years younger. One day he'll be my partner if he keeps at it.

"Actually, I can handle the design portion myself. What I will need is some help with Ava." I've been wrestling with the idea of how to handle things. It makes the most sense to travel to Cape May over her spring break. It's two weeks of no school, so I'd only have to keep her out of her classes for a week at most. The problem is I will never just hire a random stranger to watch her. There are way too many weirdos out there. My parents live on the west coast where I was born and raised, and my ex-wife is a ghost in the wind ever since she left me for another man.

"Hey, you should ask Grace. She's so good with kids and I bet she'd love a vacation out east." Nick waves down the peanut guy and hollers at him for a sack of peanuts, and I try to hide a smile. I was hoping he'd say that, because the past ninety minutes watching Ava with Grace has told me they're such a great match.

"She'd give up subbing for a few weeks? Maybe three?"

"Hell yeah. Just pay her something decent. She's been a bit down about not scoring a job quickly."

Nick stands and leans over me to exchange cash for peanuts, and I spy Grace holding Ava's hand as they walk back toward the seats. Ava's face has a smidge of ice cream near the corner of her mouth, and she holds a hot dog in her left hand. Grace has a hot dog as well, and a guilty smirk on her face as she and Ava take their seats. Again I find myself smitten with how beautiful Grace is, and I can't help but think how a trip with her might be an opportunity to get to know her. I've always thought she was attractive, but never knew how good she was with children.

Since Nanette left me three years ago, I haven't even thought twice about another woman. My life has been consumed with working as much as I can while Ava is in school and raising my daughter. Grace is the first woman to pique my interest and give me hope that not all women are like my ex.

When Nick takes his seat I lean forward again, this time aiming my attention at Grace. "You know, Grace, I heard you've had a hard time locking in a full-time teaching gig." I try not to put too much of an emphasis on her and more on the system. "I hear it's a tough market out there."

"Yeah," she sighs and I watch her shoulders drop. "I interviewed a few places but they went with other people. So I'm on a sub list for five different districts. It's not very regular, but so far it's paying the rent." She smiles, but I can tell it's forced. Nick is right; she's feeling down about this and hopefully my offer will be a bright spot for her.

"Well, what would you say to a work vacation?" I lean hard on my elbow and look past Nick munching on his peanuts. I want to ask him to trade seats but I don't want to make her nervous. Nick doesn't seem to care that we're talking around him though. He's too fascinated by the seventh inning stretch show going on down on the field.

"A work vacation? Sort of need to have work to have a vacation." Her smile is so radiant I can't help but wonder why I've never been this drawn to her. Since Nanette I've easily seen Grace twice a year, but this time feels different. More personal.

"I mean, I'm going on a work trip and Ava is coming along. She'll be on spring break for two weeks and the trip may last three. I need someone I trust to keep an eye on her while I work. You two could keep up on her studies and enjoy the beach." If the nomination falls through it will be easy to cancel. Besides I see the light in her eyes and know she's interested.

"I'd miss out on subbing probably." She bites her bottom lip and glances at Ava who's tapping her knee.

"Napkin," Ava demands and I give her a stern look.

"Manners, Ava." My gentle chiding draws a roll of the eyes from my daughter and I know she is six going on thirteen.

"Here, baby," Grace says, offering her a napkin from her stash in the cup holder between her and her brother. She tries to let Ava do it herself but inevitably takes over and wipes her hands and face.

"Okay, so what if I can pay you double what you'd make subbing for those weeks?"

My offer has her head swiveling back to meet my gaze with awe in her eyes. "But I don't know if I'll be called in to sub. I may not even have work those days." Her jaw hangs slack and she lifts a shoulder in protest.

"Okay, triple." I'm not taking no for an answer, not when I've tasted the excitement of the chase. It's been three years since I've had a woman. Three years since I've dated. Three years of solitude and caring for my daughter and career and I'm suddenly craving something badly. Grace Reynolds.

"Uh..." She snickers and her head dips. Then she meets my gaze again. "Sure."

"It's settled." I smack my knee and grin like a fool. Now, I just have to secure that nomination. This is going to be exciting.

Chapter 2

It's April in the northeast and I have no clue what to pack. I can see it being warm enough at times to visit the beach but the water will probably be too cold to enjoy it at all. Still, I take my string bikini and drop it in the suitcase anyway. Nick--protective older brother--is here helping me pack for the trip which Mr. Davis confirmed was happening last night. Mira is here too--my best friend since middle school. She insists I will need three pairs of sandals. Between the two of them, I've got nothing done.

"Look, I don't think you're going to need that many pairs of shoes. You're going to nanny someone's kid." Nick removes the sandals yet again and Mira scowls at him. She's put them back in my bag no less than three times.

"So, what's Fletcher like?" I try to change the subject because I know Nick and Mira get into it at times. They always have since we were kids, mostly because he picked on her a lot when she'd come hang out with me. He's six years older and she had a crush on him.

I pick up a stack of t-shirts and shorts Mira set out for me and walk toward my suitcase. She's color coordinated everything and I'll probably look like the most matchy, girly girl in Cape May. My normal boring slacks and blouses won't fly for a beach town, or so she says. She smirks at me as I put the clothes in the bag and watch her pulling jeans out of my dresser.

"Eh, you kinda saw how he was acting at the game. He's a good guy, but stern." Nick plops into the velvet chaise next in the reading nook in the corner of my room and stretches his legs out.

And therein lies the rub. Fletcher seemed stern alright, and cold at times toward Ava. She's so little and curious, and he was just "Manners please," and "Be quite I'm talking." He hardly spoke to Ava, except to correct her a number of times, leaving all the interaction to me. Not that I mind. Kids are my life. I want to have a large family, and I chose teaching because I believe children are the future and the best way to change the future is to influence a generation. I loved spending time with Ava.

I also think Fletcher Davis is about the most attractive man I've ever met. And he's single--and he's filthy stinkin' rich. I would never chase a man for his money, but it doesn't hurt his cause at all. He's successful and charming. I just don't want to marry a hands-off type of guy when it comes to parenting. Which is why if that's his true nature, I can't even date him, or think of dating him. So before I get into this one-on-one with him for three weeks in a distant town, I want my facts in order.

"I mean, what's he really like? You work with him?" I eye Nick and turn toward my closet where my host of comfy cardigans are. With all the short-sleeve shirts Mira is shoving in my bag I may need a few. I get chilled easily. Mira says it's cause I need meat on my bones, but I don't mind my slender hourglass figure.

"You don't really need to care about his personality. You're going to babysit his kid, not date him..." His words slow and then trail off and then he huffs. "No, Grace."

I yank a sweater out of the closet and hold it to my chest. It's my favorite, a light blue number with buttons all down the front. It reminds me of my Nana Rose because she gave it to me.

"Ew," Mira says, snatching it. "He's right. This is a hard no." She rolls her eyes at me and tosses it on the end of the chaise next to Nick's stockinged feet just as he swings his legs around and stands.

"I'm not talking about the sweater. Grace, Fletch is my friend and my boss. You can't date him." He glowers at me and crosses his arms over his chest indignantly. His rude insistence that I cannot do something I haven't even made up my mind whether I want to do or not is reason enough for me to want to do it even more. We've been this way since we were little and he knows it.

Once, he told me no I couldn't play piano--because he played piano--and that turned into me taking lessons and mastering the instrument. All because he said I couldn't. Turns out I'm better than him at everything he said I couldn't do.

"Give me one good reason?" I walk over to the chaise and pick up the sweater and carry it to my suitcase and fold it neatly before putting it in, drawing a scowl from Mira. She'll take it back out but I'll find a way to bring it along anyway.

"For starters he's eleven years older than you. You need someone your age. Also, he has a kid. You want your own family, not someone else's. And he's my boss. What if you dump him and he fires me?" Nick fidgets, wriggling his toes in the plush throw rug he stands on. It's a ridiculous assumption that we'd even date, let alone that the breakup would be so bad it would affect his career. But I sympathize. Stranger things have happened.

"What if I just want to know what sort of father he is so I know how to handle his daughter?" I pose the question innocently enough but Nick knows me too well to believe that. Besides, Fletcher made me blush a jillion times at the game last week. Nick has to have seen that.

I watch Mira bring a few light jackets out of my closet which have been there since the day she donated to the Grace Reynolds cause. When I first got this place and I walked to the school three blocks away and it was fall and I was freezing, she kept me clothed out of her own closet. But her style has never been mine. "No, Mira." I am whining and I don't care.

"You look cute in them. Leave the frumpy old-teacher sweaters here. I'm begging you." She continues to put the jackets in the suitcase and I relent. I'll swap them out when she leaves later. I have to feel comfortable in my own skin, don't I?

"He's not your type, okay?" Nick is hung up on this. Maybe it's because Fletcher seemed eager to have me with him. I wasn't even sure if Nick caught on that his boss seemed more excited about me going on the trip than the game. He talked about it nonstop after I agreed. Nick was right between us too, but he was absorbed in the action on the field.

"Why is he not my type? What makes him not my type?" Grace removes my comfy cardigan and places a stack of jeans and long-sleeve shirts into the bag and winks at me. I turn to Nick realizing my packing will turn to fully repacking later.

"He just isn't."

"You're really steamed up about this, Nicko." Grace smacks him on the back of the head, a move she has been doing for years now. "Lay off it. If he's available and hot, and Gracey wants to tap it, then let her tap it."

Grace, my ever-indulgent friend who loves a bit of juicy gossip, has pushed things too far. Nick glares at her and then turns to me. "There will be no tapping. Not at all." Blood rushes to his face at the thought, his forehead wrinkled in deep furrow.

"You're right. No one is tapping anything. I'm not about to go jump on the stick and have a ride; I just wanted to know what sort of guy he is." I sigh. "If I was that type of girl I wouldn't still be a virgin, and you both know that." Now humiliated, I turn toward my suitcase and yank the ugly jackets out of it. "And I'm not taking these."

Mira shakes her head at me and sits on the bed next to the suitcase as she watches me unpack the wardrobe she picked out for me. I'm not angry at them, but I do wish they'd just support me.

"I'm sorry, G. I just got upset. I care about you and I don't want you getting hurt. That's all." Nick walks over to me and pulls me in for a hug and I hug him back. "You're my baby sis, alright?"

"I get it." I don't get it sometimes though. Why is he so overprotective? And when will I meet a man who he approves of?

"You guys finish packing. I'm going to nap before I drive you to the airport." Nick sounds defeated. Probably because he knows I'm my own woman and I'll do what I want. When he's gone, Mira stands and walks over to me as I refold the jeans, tossed as I took the jackets out. She grabs my hand.

"I know you're not like that. I just like pushing his buttons since he picked on me so much when we were little." She offers a compassionate smile. "What I meant was, you're a big girl. You can make your own decisions. Tell me about this man..." In true best friend fashion, she drags me to the chaise and we sit cross-legged facing each other.

I begin to feel my cheeks warm as I think of Fletcher and everything I know about him. "Well, he's obviously really frickin' hot. And he's successful, and he's paying me three times what I'd make for the time I'm missing as a substitute." I pick at my fingernails and shrug. "He seems a little rigid with his daughter, but maybe he was stressed out about something? He seemed very interested in talking to me. We have things in common, like classic literature and nature. He was really easy to talk to. And--"

"And he likes you?"

I chuckle at Mira's interruption. "Yeah, I got the vibe that maybe he does. I've always thought he was cute, but I knew he was married. I just never thought of dating a divorcee before, especially one so much older than me."

"Yeah... that's a big one." Mira pats my knee and I look up at her. "But age is just a number once you're an adult, right?"

"As long as you are compatible, I guess. But eleven years is a big difference." Here I am talking myself out of liking him before I even know him. What is wrong with me?

Mira grins again. "Well, if you want to attract him you can't wear that ugly blue sweater. It makes you look ten years older." She sticks her tongue out and scrunches her nose.

I laugh out loud. "You mean his age? Maybe he likes women like that."

"Blech!" Mira pretends to gag herself with a single finger and we cackle like high schoolers. This is why I love her. She can take a tense moment and turn it into something to laugh about.

Now, if only I can keep this vibe going when I land in Cape May and show up at the address he gave me. I'm nervous for many reasons, the first and biggest one being, I kind of like him, despite my reservations about his abilities as a father.

Chapter 3

I've been sitting here at this dining nook, watching over the drive and the front lawn of the bed and breakfast for almost an hour and a half. Grace's plane landed just after eight thirty, and I know it always takes a bit of time to collect baggage and find a cab, but it's nearing ten p.m. and I have to be up early. Still, I assured Helen and Burt--the B&B owners--that I'd wait up for her and help her settle in. So I sip my cup of tea and watch out over the dark lawn as night's grip takes firm hold on the cape.

With three weeks to tackle this massive project, I know I'll be busy a lot. There is a good chance Ava and I will only have a few hours a day together, or even minutes if things run late at the library. It will be tough considering how much time I typically spend with her. I fully expect some pushback from her; maybe she'll rebel or be emotional. But it will be worth it when it's finished. And maybe along the way Grace and I might find a spark.