she said, as she turned a small circle, surveying the complete and total destruction of the room that, until seven days ago, had been a sitting room and now was supposed to be a nursery. Even Nate knew that it wasn’t a nursery, not yet. It was a hellhole. He couldn’t tell if she was finding what she was looking for or not.
His mind tried to work, but that was like trying to open a bank vault where all the tumblers had rusted shut. He was so tired but Trish was here. He’d never been so happy to see a woman in his entire life. “You’re here about the nanny position?”
That got him another look—but there was more pity in her eyes this time. “Mr. Longmire,” she said in an utterly calm voice. She snagged a blanket and, with the screaming baby still on her hip, managed to smoothly lay the cloth out on the floor. “We had an appointment in your office at five today to discuss a matching grant to my charity, One Child, One World.”
Oh, hell. “You’re...not here about the nanny position?”
Trish located a diaper and then fell to her knees in an entirely graceful way. She carefully laid Jane out on the blanket. “Oh, dear, yes,” she soothed in a soft voice that Nate had to strain to hear over the screaming. “You’re so cold, sweetie! And wet, too? Oh, yes, it’s so hard to be a baby, isn’t it?” Trish changed the diaper and then looked up at him. “Does she have any clothes?”
“Why are you so calm?” he demanded.
“This is not difficult, Mr. Longmire. Does she have any clothes?”
Nate turned and dug into one of the suitcases Stanley had loaded onto his private plane. “Like a dress or something?”
“Like jammies, Mr. Longmire. Oh, I know,” she said in that soothing voice again. “I know. I think he’s trying his best, but he doesn’t know how to speak baby, does he?”
For a blissful second, Jane stopped screaming and instead only made a little burbling noise, as if she really were talking to Trish.
Then the screaming started right back up with renewed vigor.
Nate grabbed something that looked like it could be jammies. Orange terry cloth with pink butterflies and green flowers, it had long sleeves and footies attached to the legs. “This?”
“That’s perfect,” Trish said in that soothing tone again. Nate handed over the clothes and watched, stunned, as Trish got the wriggling arms and kicking legs into the fabric.
“How do you do that? I couldn’t get her into anything. And I couldn’t get her to stop screaming.”
“I noticed.” Trish looked up at him and smiled. “How are you feeding her?”
“Um, my mom sent some formula. Down in the kitchen.”
Trish rubbed Jane’s little tummy. Then, like it was just that easy, she folded the blanket around Jane and tucked in the ends and suddenly, Nate was looking at a baby burrito.
“One second, baby.” Then, to Nate, she said, “Don’t pick her up—but watch her while I wash my hands, okay?”
“Okay?” What choice did he have? The baby was still crying but, miraculously, her volume had pitched down for the first time since Nate had seen her.
“Bathroom?” Trish asked.
“Through that door.” As he stared at Jane, he tried to think. For a man who had done plenty of thinking while pulling all-nighters, he was stunned at how much his brain felt like the sludge at the bottom of a grease trap.
Trish Hunter. How could he forget her? Not even a funeral or a solid two weeks of sleep deprivation could erase the memory of her talking with him in a coffee shop. She’d been smart and beautiful and he’d—he’d liked her. He’d gotten the distinctive feeling that she’d been interested in him—not just his money.
Crap. He must have forgotten about their appointment entirely when his world fell apart. Which—yes, now he remembered—had occurred moments after his conversation with Trish in the coffee shop.
The woman he’d felt a connection with was the same woman who had just walked into his house and changed his niece’s diaper.
Wait.
A woman he’d felt a connection with had just changed his niece’s diaper. And gotten her dressed. And wrapped her into a burrito. And, if the indications were to be believed, was about to go down and fix a bottle of formula.
He’d been expecting a candidate for the position of nanny.
Maybe she had arrived.
Trish came out, looking just as elegant as she had before. “There now,” she said in that soft voice as she scooped Jane up and cuddled the baby against her chest. “I bet you’re hungry and I bet you’re sleepy. Let’s get some milk, okay?” Jane made a little mewing sound that came close to an agreement.
Trish looked at Nate, who was staring. “Kitchen?”
“This way.”
Nate felt like he needed to be doing something better here—but he was at a loss. All he could do was lead the way down stairs and into the back of the house, where Rosita was looking like the last rat on the ship. When his maid saw Trish cuddling the slightly quieter baby, her face lit up. “Oh, miss—we’re so glad you’ve come.”
Trish managed a smile, but Nate saw it wasn’t a natural thing. “Any clean bottles and nipples?”
Rosita produced the supplies, babbling on in her faint accent the whole time. “I tried, miss, but I never much cared for children.” She got out the tub of formula and a gallon of milk and started to mix it.
“Wait—stop.” Trish’s voice was one of horror. Then she looked at Nate and then around the room again, just like she had in the nursery. When she settled upon the breakfast bar with the stools, she said, “Mr. Longmire—sit.”
He sat.
“Hold out your arms like this.” She slid Jane down into a cradled position. Nate did as she asked. “Good. Now. Don’t drop the baby.” Trish set Jane into his arms and then ran her hands over him, pushing his arms tighter here, looser there. Even in his exhausted state, he didn’t miss the way her touch lingered on his skin.
He looked up at her. Her face was only inches away from his. If possible, she was even prettier today than she’d been in the coffee shop.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said. It came out quiet and serious.
She paused and met his gaze, her hands still on his bare skin. Heat flashed between them, that attraction he’d felt before.
She didn’t say anything, though. She just kept arranging his body until—for the first time—Nate felt like he had a good grasp on his niece.
Although he still didn’t have a good grasp on the situation. Well, one thing at a time. Baby first. Attraction second.
“All right,” Trish said, sounding very much like a general about to engage in battle. “Dump that out, please. Do you have any other clean bottles?”
