When she reached the fantasy kitchen, she wished Julia Child had been with her so she could hear her go into ecstasy. Now there was a chopping block befitting a piece of veal she could slap down and pound the life out of before she turned it into mouthwatering escalope de veau.
While Reese was still in a bemused state, the house phone rang. It sounded so loud, she jumped in surprise and hurried to pick it up for fear it would wake Jamie, who was probably asleep by now.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Chamberlain? This is Albert, the concierge.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you for your help yesterday, Albert.”
“That was quite a collection of things you bought. How’s the nursery coming along?”
“We’ve got it all put together.”
“That sounds like Mr. Wainwright. Does the work of ten without thinking about it. I’m calling because his in-laws have arrived and want to come up. Is he available to talk to?”
Reese was pretty sure Nick wasn’t expecting anyone, but that wasn’t for her to decide. “Just a moment and I’ll tell him to pick up the phone.” She put the receiver down and hurried through the apartment to the nursery.
The baby had finished his bottle and lay against Nick’s shoulder with his little eyelids fluttering. Reese hated to disturb them, but she had no choice. She walked around in front of him. He raised those dark eyes to her face in question.
“Albert is on the phone. He says your in-laws are downstairs and want to come up,” she mouthed the words.
Nick brushed his lips against the baby’s head before getting to his feet in one lithe male move. “I’ll talk to him from the phone in my bedroom.”
After he left with Jamie, she walked back to the kitchen. The second she heard Nick’s deep voice, she hung up the phone.
The bottles were still waiting. She removed the packaging before loading them in the dishwasher. The lids and nipples fit inside the little basket.
Beneath the kitchen sink she found a box of dishwasher detergent that hadn’t been used yet. She undid the seal and poured some in the dispenser. Pretty soon she had the machine going on the wash/dry cycle.
While she waited, she opened the canister of powdered formula and read the directions. Once the items were dry and sterilized, she measured enough instant formula into each, before adding the required amount of water.
Nick chose that moment to bring an attractive, well-dressed older couple into the kitchen. “Sorry. I was just making up Jamie’s formula.” She wiped her hands with a clean cloth.
Nick’s eyes glimmered with some emotion she couldn’t put a name to. “No problem. Reese Chamberlain? I’d like you to meet Jamie’s grandparents, Anne and Walter Hirst. They wanted to be introduced.”
“Of course.” She walked over to shake their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
REESE had once seen the original oil painting of Grant Wood’s American Gothic in Chicago. It depicted a farmer and a woman with stern faces standing in front of a white farmhouse. In the man’s hand was an upturned pitchfork.
Though Nick’s in-laws were good-looking people, they could have been the models for the painting. Mr. Hirst wore an expression of dislike in his eyes as he said hello. She could imagine him coming to life to poke her with his farm implement. His wife remained stiff and mute. Reese felt for the brunette woman who’d lost her daughter so recently. Lines of grief were still visible on both their faces. Pain, pain, pain.
This had to be brutal on Nick, who was still trying to deal with the loss of his wife, too. He shifted Jamie to his other shoulder. Looking at Reese he said, “I explained that the three of us are still getting acquainted. Leave what you’re doing and come with us while I show them the nursery.”
There was enough authority underlining his words for Reese to know he expected her to join them. Why, she didn’t know, but she did his bidding without question. When they reached the nursery she heard a sudden gasp from Jamie’s grandmother.
“What a surprise!” his grandfather said. “Where did your office go?”
“It’s dismantled in another bedroom. As you can see, we’re coming along thanks to Ms. Chamberlain, so you don’t need to be concerned about the baby’s welfare. Sit down in the rocking chair and hold Jamie. He just had his bath and a bottle. I doubt he’ll be hungry for another couple of hours.”
Nick handed her the baby. Reese held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t start to cry having to leave Nick’s arms. To her relief he just looked up quietly at his grandmother. It was a sweet moment. Jamie had a wonderful nature.
“I’ll get a chair from my room for you, Walter.” Nick was back in a second. “Now you can enjoy him together.” With wooden movements, he sat down next to his wife.
By tacit agreement Reese left the nursery with Nick and they headed for the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”
Aware of his body close to hers, she was all thumbs. “I just need to finish off making up these bottles.” Nick found the lids and tops and before long the task was done and eight fresh bottles had been put in the fridge.
“I had a feeling they’d make a surprise visit,” he murmured, “but not before tomorrow.”
What he meant was, he knew they’d show up when Reese was alone to see how she was handling their grandson. But by their appearance today, it was clear they hadn’t been able to wait that long.
“They’re missing Jamie,” she said. “Who wouldn’t? He’s as good as gold. Not one tear yet.”
Nick nodded. “I know. I’ve been waiting.”
“Not all babies have his wonderful disposition. It should ease your mother-in-law’s mind that he’s adapting so well to the change in surroundings.”
He trapped her gaze. “That’s because you haven’t given him a chance to get upset. When I put in for a nanny, I never thought Mary Poppins would actually pop inside the limo.”
Reese’s mouth curved upward. His comment took the chill off the remembered moment when his in-laws had first looked at her as if she was an alien. “I’m afraid there’s only one of those.”
Better that Nick saw Reese as a fictional character.
Unfortunately she couldn’t say the same thing about him. Meeting him had caused her to view him as someone very real and charismatic in spite of his deep sorrow, or maybe even because of it. Not for a second could she afford to forget this was a man who’d just lost his wife. It hadn’t even been three months. Reese needed to focus on Jamie and nothing else.
“To be honest, I was afraid I’d pop in that limo and find Captain Von Trapp surrounded by seven precocious children all needing individual attention at the same
