at the same time. One of the women broke away from the group and he was taken by surprise as his chest tightened when he recognized her under the streetlamp.
“Sir Tyler?”
“Yes. Miss Marshall, how are you this evening?”
“I’m fine. We’ve all been to the soda shop for ice cream. It’s getting warm enough now to enjoy it.”
“I took the girls there a few days ago and they loved it. I’ve been out for a walk while they are being put to bed.” He’d been introduced to some of Mrs. Heaton’s boarders at the wedding reception he’d attended, but there appeared to be new people in the group heading into Heaton House.
“Good evening, Sir Tyler,” the one he knew as Joe said.
“Good evening. It’s a nice night for ice cream, isn’t it?”
“It is. Georgia, are you coming in?”
“Yes, of course.” She turned to Tyler. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
She turned to where Joe was waiting for her and then back to Tyler. “Have a good evening.”
“You, too.” He tipped his hat as she hurried up the steps to Heaton House. Then she disappeared inside, leaving Tyler suddenly feeling lonelier than ever.
Tate opened the door as soon as Tyler’s foot hit the top step. “Good evening, sir. Did you have a nice walk?”
“I did, Tate. Thank you. I’m going up to look in on the girls. I’ll be back down in a few minutes. Would you bring me some coffee?”
“Certainly.”
Tyler headed upstairs, wondering if Joe was Miss Marshall’s beau. He’d seemed quite protective of her, but then, so did Mrs. Heaton. The thought that Miss Marshall might have a suitor didn’t sit well with him and that unsettled Tyler. He shouldn’t even be wondering about her personal life. It was none of his business. She’d agreed to help him out and for that he was very thankful. As long as his girls were taken care of, that was all that mattered. He had no business even wondering about Miss Marshall’s social life—none at all.
Tyler slipped into the room his daughters shared, even though there were plenty of rooms and each one could have had their own. However, since their mother’s death, they’d wanted to be together at night. He kissed them each on the forehead, softly so as not to wake them. Oh, how he loved them.
Tyler hoped all would go well with Miss Marshall until he could find a permanent nanny—and that the girls didn’t try to run her away as they had the last one. But they knew Miss Marshall was only temporary, so surely they wouldn’t.
Tyler slipped out of the room, leaving the door cracked open so he could hear them if they called out in the night, and went down to his study to find Tate just pouring his coffee. The butler must have waited until he heard his footsteps.
He sat down in his favorite chair and took the cup Tate handed him.
“Cook sent you a piece of cake, sir. She seems much better after you spoke to her.”
Tyler wasn’t all that hungry but he wasn’t about to hurt his cook’s feelings, especially when he was trying to keep her on. He took the dessert plate from Tate. “I’m glad to hear it. I hope she’s changed her mind about staying.”
“It appears so, at least for the moment.”
“I suppose we’ll have to be happy with that. Thank her for the cake, will you?”
“I will, sir.” Tate gave a nod and quietly took his leave.
Tyler finished the dessert he really didn’t want and took a sip of coffee, and then he leaned his head back against his chair. This time of night was never easy for him. It’d always been the time that he and Ivy had enjoyed together, talking over their day after the girls had been put to bed. She’d tell him funny stories about the things Polly and Lilly had said and done that day, and then she’d update him on their upcoming social engagements and family commitments.
It hadn’t taken Ivy long to win over his parents. A second or third cousin to one of his best friends, she’d come to visit her relatives and they’d fallen in love. At first Tyler’s family had voiced disapproval, but as he wasn’t the heir apparent of their estate, he was more able to obtain their blessing than his older brother would have been.
That Ivy came with a substantial wealth of her own certainly helped, although it’d had nothing to do with how he felt about her. He would have loved her had she been a pauper.
But tonight his thoughts weren’t just on Ivy. Instead they were also on Georgia Marshall. He wondered if hiring her was the right thing for his daughters. What if they became too attached to her before he found someone permanent?
And he really didn’t know anything about her personal life. What if she did have a beau who wouldn’t like her spending so much time here? Tyler hoped that wasn’t the case—for he had no idea what to do if she changed her mind. Something about her calmed him, made him believe that his girls would be fine in her care. They liked her and had talked of little else all afternoon.
She was quite appealing, of that there was no doubt. Her smile was contagious and he’d actually been aware of smiling that morning, seeing Polly and Lilly’s excitement about her coming to help out. Had it been that long since he’d smiled—that he’d noticed he was?
Did the girls see him as serious all the time? Now that he thought about it, the times he heard them laugh and saw them smile were mostly when they were alone together playing, talking, just being with each other. Oh, they smiled at him when he came into a room, and occasionally giggled, but—
Dear Lord, please help me. I don’t want to be an unsmiling, unhappy father to them. I want them to be untroubled and to know how much I love them. Please show me how to bring those grins about that Miss Marshall seems to do so effortlessly. And if hiring her was not best for my daughters, for Miss Marshall, for all of us, please help me to know.
* * *
“Papa! Papa! Wake up, please! Lilly’s crying again!”
Tyler pulled himself out of a deep, depressing sleep to find his oldest daughter tugging on his pajama sleeve.
“What? What is it? Lilly is crying?”
“Yes, Papa. Hurry!” With that, Polly ran out of the room.
Tyler threw on his robe and rushed across the hall to the girls’ bedroom. Soft sobs drew him to Lilly’s bed, where Polly was trying to comfort her.
“Lilly? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He sat down on the bed and pulled the tiny figure up and onto his lap. Her sobs didn’t stop. “Lilly, it’s Papa. Tell me why you’re crying.”
“I m-miss Mama!” She sniffed and hiccuped before the sobs started again. Tyler rocked her back and forth, trying to hold back his own tears. Did she do this often? If so, why hadn’t the nanny awakened him?
He looked at Polly, but found she was sniffling, too. He held out an arm to her and pulled her up close, glad it was dark so that they couldn’t
