Annie needed a few minutes of peace before she was introduced to the rest of Ian’s children, especially after that incident with Joshua. “I think I can handle this. Thank you for your help.” She grinned. “Try not to hurt each other on the way down the stairs.”
When they left, Annie sat on the tan couch and laid her head against the cushion. Quiet. Tranquil. She’d better cherish this moment because tomorrow she officially started her new job. The memory of Joshua standing on the railing revved her heartbeat again. Then she remembered Ian leaning over her and clasping his son. Remembering the brush of his arms against her gave her goose bumps.
Ian was strong. Capable. Caring.
Annie quickly shook the image from her thoughts. They were employer/employee, and that was the way it would stay. She remembered the scars on her body, a constant reminder of the tragedy that had taken her mother away.
If only I could relive...
But there were no do-overs. She had to live with what was left. She was damaged goods.
A knock at the door roused her from her thoughts. Annie pushed off the couch and weaved her way through the stacked boxes to the entrance. Maybe having quiet time wasn’t the answer right now. When she let Ian inside, she spied a very contrite child trudging behind his father. Head down, Joshua chewed on his thumbnail.
She wanted to scoop the adorable little boy into her arms and tell him everything was okay, but she wouldn’t. Ian’s stern expression spoke volumes about a serious talk with his son, and rightly so. But he was so cute with blond curly hair, big dimples in his cheeks, the beautiful brown eyes and long, dark eyelashes that any girl would want.
“Joshua, don’t you have something to say?”
The child mumbled something, but Annie couldn’t make out what it was. She knelt in front of the boy. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you.”
Joshua lifted his head enough that she had a peek at those beautiful eyes that told the world what he was thinking. “I’m sorry. I promise I won’t do it again.”
She hoped not, but she knew Joshua still had to be watched carefully until he developed a healthy respect for dangerous activities. “I’m glad to hear that. I noticed some cushions on the ground. Did you put them there?”
He nodded. “They’re soft.”
“But not soft enough to break your fall.”
“I know. Daddy told me. I have to put the cushions back—by myself.”
Annie rose. “That makes sense.” She glanced at Ian and saw that, like his son’s, his eyelashes were extralong, framing crystalline green depths. She took in his disheveled dark brown hair that looked as though he’d raked his fingers through it when he’d talked with his child. She could just imagine how he’d felt when he’d seen her gripping Joshua’s leg, his only safety line. Her heart went out to him. In the past two years Ian had buried two loved ones, and she suspected he was still dealing with his grief like Jeremy.
“Joshua, I’ll watch you from the landing,” Dr. McGregor said. “You need to put the cushions back exactly like you found them.”
“Yes, sir.” With slumped shoulders, the little boy made his way out of the apartment. The sound of his footsteps on the stairs resonated in the air.
Annie went out onto the landing with the doctor. Looking at the ground twenty feet below reminded her all over again about how tragic today could have been. She saw a flower garden with stones around it that Joshua could have hit his head on.
“Thanks, Annie, for grabbing Joshua. I went into the kitchen to make sure I had all the ingredients for dinner tonight. When I returned to the den five minutes later, he was gone. At first I’d thought he’d gone to his room, then I remembered all his questions about when you were going to show up. Something told me he went to see you. I was coming to bring him back inside so you could get settled without stumbling over him. He can get underfoot.”
While Joshua wrestled with a two-seat cushion from the lawn furniture, finally deciding to drag it, Annie took in the beautifully landscaped yard with spring flowers bursting forward in their multicolored glory. The air smelled of honeysuckle. She leaned over and saw a row of bushes below the staircase. “I like your yard. Is gardening a hobby of yours?”
“More like a means to keep my sanity. When I’m troubled, I go outside and tinker in the yard. My wife got me hooked on it. She started this, and I’m just keeping it going. How about you?”
“Can’t stand to garden, but I love to look at a beautiful one. I’m a great spectator—not such a good participant.”
Ian turned toward her, not a foot away, and smiled.
“How about your children?” she asked. “Do they help outside?”
Watching Joshua finish with the last cushion, Ian pressed his lips together as though weighing what he said. “Joshua loves to, but his assistance isn’t quite what I need. Jasmine helps often. She takes after her mother, but Jade and Jeremy will do anything to get out of work—whether outside or inside.” He frowned. “In fact, if Jeremy joins the family at all it’s an accomplishment.”
“Will he be at dinner?”
“Yes, for as long as it takes for him to eat. I used to make him sit there until we were all ready to get up. Finally, I decided the hostile atmosphere he created wasn’t fair to the other children.”
“How was Jeremy with the other nannies?”
“He had as little to do with them as possible. The only one who seemed to get through to him was Aunt Louise. When she died, he took her death doubly hard.”
“He’s old enough to understand the losses he’s had,” Annie said over the stomping of Joshua’s feet as he came up the stairs. “Can I help you with dinner?”
“Nope. You aren’t officially on the clock until tomorrow.”
“What time do you want me to come to eat tonight?”
“Six-thirty, and I hope to have the food on the table shortly thereafter.” Dr. McGregor clasped his son’s shoulder to keep him from going into her apartment. “No guarantees, though. Joshua, we’re leaving. You have a room to clean.”
“Do I hafta? I told Annie I’m sorry.”
“Yes, but it has nothing to do with your room. It’s Sunday, and it’s supposed to be done before you go to bed.”
Joshua huffed and raced down the stairs, jumping to the ground from the third step.
“If he doesn’t give me a heart attack, I’ll be surprised,” Ian said with a chuckle.
But Annie had spied the tense set to his shoulders and the clamp of his jaw as his son had made the leap. “I imagine my parents felt the same way about some of my brothers.”
“But not you?”
“Well...probably so.” Some of Annie and Amanda’s antics could rival her siblings’. “But nothing like my younger brother.”
