needed a haircut, she noticed. His dark hair was beginning to curl over the collar of his expensive shirt. Standing safely in the open doorway, Ella was free to study him without his knowledge or permission. She had little fear he would feel her gaze upon him. It appeared the entire house could fall down around those football shoulders of his without him losing focus.
That such a gorgeous hunk was in actuality a computer nerd would no doubt disappoint Phoebe, but Ella wasn’t about to argue with the facts before her. Or acknowledge the increase in her heart rate as she covertly admired her employer’s physical attributes. The ability to concentrate entirely upon one’s work was something Ella understood and respected. She had just never realized that business could hold the same all encompassing allure for someone as art did for her. Deciding it would be best not to disturb Hawk when he was so wrapped up in his work, she silently continued on with her search for Billy and Sarah.
Drawn to their playroom by the electronic sounds of alien destruction, Ella unearthed them at last. They were sitting slack-jawed in front of a video game, nimbly maneuvering their respective joysticks and mumbling incoherently.
“I think you’ve done your part to save the universe for today,” Ella said, getting their attention by shutting the game off.
They reacted as if she had cut off their oxygen supply.
“We were in the middle of a game!” Billy protested, an unpleasant whine tingeing his voice.
“Yeah!” Sarah reiterated, placing her little hands defiantly on her hips.
Billy reached over to reactivate the game. He was perplexed when the screen remained blank. Swinging the disconnected cord around in her hand like a modern-day lariat, Ella was determined to let them both know from the get-go who was in charge.
“Hey!” they hollered.
“Straw!” she rejoined with a grin.
Determined to limit the amount of time the children spent in front of a glowing screen, Ella informed them both that she needed their help unpacking. They groaned. Sarah threatened to “tell my daddy on you” if Ella didn’t plug the set back in immediately.
“Go ahead,” Ella told her, not in the least nonplused. She wasn’t about to be manipulated by two small children, no matter how precocious they were. Of course, she didn’t want to start her tenure off with an angry confrontation either. Hoping to avert a power struggle, she tried distracting them from the crisis of the moment.
“I brought you both a surprise,” she said.
Two pair of curious eyes studied her with sudden interest.
“What is it?” Billy wanted to know.
“A toy?” Sarah inquired.
“No, not a toy.” Ella laughed, thinking of all the discarded playthings strewn throughout the house. Without giving it a thought, she plopped down on the floor beside them to meet them at eye level. “It looks to me like you have more than enough toys than are good for any boy or girl. Tell me, do you like animals?”
They both nodded their heads enthusiastically.
“What do you think about taking on the responsibility of a pet? A living, breathing creature that would be dependent on you for its care?”
“Really?” Sarah asked in delight.
“Really,” Ella assured her, pushing a golden lock of the girl’s disheveled hair away from her face. “That is, if you two think you’re big enough and responsible enough to take care of them.”
Unable to contain their inquisitiveness a moment longer, they jumped to their feet demanding to know what manner of creature their new nanny had brought them. Billy said he hoped it wasn’t a fish because he’d had some of those once and they all had died on him. Grabbing Ella by both hands, they pulled her up from the floor. The next thing Ella knew, Billy was dragging her battered suitcase up the front steps and Sarah was helping bring her art supplies into her new bedroom. She didn’t so much as have time to check out her new surroundings before they were pulling her back outside, demanding to see what was making all the noise in that curious cardboard box in the cab of her pickup.
Ella knew full well that she should have obtained Hawk’s permission before bringing a litter of kittens into his home. She rationalized the oversight by telling herself every boy and girl should have a pet to love and care for. Besides, what would she have done had Hawk said no? She couldn’t very well dump the kittens on somebody else’s doorstep as had been done to her. Considering how much easier it often was to obtain forgiveness rather than permission, she planned on using the desperateness of Hawk’s situation to smooth things over.
Just watching the children giggling and playing with their newfound friends made Ella feel better about her decision. She may not have been raised with all the financial advantages these children had, but before she died, her mother had cultivated Ella’s imagination and planted the seeds of kindness in her daughter’s heart. There was no denying that money could buy many material things, but one look at those children’s excited faces reaffirmed something it couldn’t procure. The joy received from a real live kitten was better any day of the week than all the video games in the world.
Hawk glanced at the clock on the wall in surprise. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so much pressing work done without the usual interruptions that had him pulling his hair out by the roots. Pushing himself away from the computer, he strained to hear the reassuring noise of his children at play—even if that meant they were bickering again. When nothing but the sound of silence reached his ears, his heart tightened in his chest. What was wrong? Where were his babies? And what in the world were they up to now?
Hawk checked his watch. The young woman he’d hired as their nanny should have been here quite some time ago. Though she had struck him as a flaky sort the instant he’d set eyes on her, something about her direct gaze, self-righteous attitude and firm grasp had given him the distinct impression that her word was good. The fact that her references had indeed checked out merely confirmed his gut feeling that she was a rare find. Where could she be?
He hurried from his office into the living room and was stopped by what he saw—or rather by what he didn’t see. It took Hawk a moment to figure out what was different. The toys were picked up, the laundry was off the floor and the big-screen television set was off. Hawk found the children’s bedrooms and playroom in a similar state of order. Since it seemed unlikely that a kidnapper would stop to tidy up, he could only assume that Ella had arrived like some fairy godmother to wave a wand over his life.
The calm for which he’d so often wished was nothing short of eerie as he realized that without his children this was what his life would be. Silent, still and empty.
Hawk suddenly felt the need to surround himself with the sound of his children’s laughter. Where were they? Glancing out the front picture window, he spied them at last. With bright handkerchiefs tied to the end of sticks, they were marching dutifully to a spot of shade beneath the old apple tree. Trailing behind was a parade of kittens. One even had a tiny flag attached to its swishing tail. It was almost as cute as their new nanny’s trim derriere swaying in time to the music they created with pots and pans and an old kazoo.
Hawk wished he had a camera handy to capture the moment on film. Sarah and Billy looked like little hobos following a red-haired pied piper. She was in the act of spreading a blanket upon the ground for this joyful, impromptu picnic. They all were smiling broadly, laughing and having a grand time. Something uncomfortably
