clashed inside Annie when she turned into the McGregors’ driveway and drove to the large white stone house set back from the road on the outskirts of Cimarron City, Oklahoma. She was excited for a new opportunity to help children in need, but it had been several years since she’d been challenged with a grieving child. The Hansen kids’ drama had been normal teenager or preteen stuff for quite some time. What if she’d lost her touch?
Annie glanced in her rearview mirror and saw her brothers’ vehicles at the entrance of the driveway. Parking in front of a three-car garage, she inhaled a deep breath, then climbed from her red Honda, hefted a large box with her pots and pans from the backseat and headed toward the stairs on the side. Dr. McGregor had told her yesterday he would leave the apartment unlocked.
She carefully started her climb up the steps, her view partially blocked by the carton. A giggle from above drifted to her. She lowered the box and gasped.
Grinning at her, Joshua stood on top of the upstairs railing wearing a red cape that flapped in the breeze.
“I have special powers. I can fly.” The four-year-old spread his arms wide as though he was going to demonstrate.
“Don’t!” Annie shouted as Joshua wobbled.
I shouldn’t have shouted. Annie sucked in a breath.
Joshua regained his balance.
Heart thumping, Annie dropped the box on the stairs, jumped over the cardboard box and scrambled up the steps. “Joshua, it’s great to see you again,” she said in the calmest voice she could muster. “I sure could use a big, strong superhero like you to help me bring my stuff upstairs. How about it?”
By the time she reached the landing, the four-year-old had turned his body so he could see her better, but the motion caused him to wobble again on the six-inch-wide railing. He flapped his arms to catch his balance. This time, Annie lunged toward him as an ear-piercing scream from below split the air.
She grasped his ankle as the little boy fell backward and held his leg with both hands. Annie leaned over the railing as she heard footsteps behind her and the wailing sound still coming from the bottom of the stairs. While Joshua dangled two stories above the ground, someone pounded up the steps.
Muscular arms came around her and gripped Joshua. “I’ve got him. Let him go, and I’ll bring him up.”
Relief washed over her as she released her fingers. Annie dropped down between Dr. McGregor’s arms and moved to the side so he could hoist his son up to the landing. While she watched, she took deep, fortifying breaths to calm her racing heartbeat.
Giggling, Joshua hugged his dad. “That was fun. Can I do it again?”
“No.” Thunder descended over Dr. McGregor’s features as he put down his son and glanced at Annie. “Thanks. One second he was playing in the den and the next he was gone. I figured he’d come out here since I told him to give you and your family time to unload your possessions.” He picked up Joshua and held him tight as though afraid the child would somehow wiggle free and try again to fly from the railing. “Young man, you and I are going to have a talk in the house about following directions.”
“But, Dad, I wanna help Annie. That’s why I’m here wearing my cape.”
The first time Joshua had seen her when he had awakened from his nap a few days ago, he’d called her Annie, which was fine with her, but Dr. Hansen and his wife had insisted on “Miss Annie” when she’d worked for them. She was quickly sensing the McGregors’ household was much more laid back.
Her employer started down the stairs. “I’ll return in a while, Annie. And by the way, you can call me Ian.”
As her brothers mounted the steps with boxes, including the one she’d dropped, and furniture, she watched Ian and Joshua exchange a few words with Ken and Charlie, then disappear around the corner followed by a little girl, who had to have been the one who’d screamed.
“That one is going to be a handful.” Ken waited for her to open the door. “Reminds me of someone I know.” Her eldest brother looked pointedly at Charlie, who was bigger and more muscular than Ken.
“I grew out of wanting to be a daredevil.” Her youngest sibling poked Ken in the back with two cartons he held.
“Boys, let’s try to be good role models for the McGregor children.” Annie trailed them into her new apartment. “And, Charlie, the only reason you quit, no doubt temporarily, was because you broke an arm and leg performing that death-defying skateboard trick.”
The bantering between her brothers continued as they brought up all the boxes and furniture from the three vehicles while Annie tried to decide which boxes to open first and where to put the ones she wouldn’t have time to empty today. Annie paused to look at her first real apartment. When she’d gone to college, she’d lived at home to save money, then she’d moved into the homes of her employers after that.
Excitement bubbled to the surface as she walked to a door and discovered her bedroom with a double bed, a chest of drawers and one nightstand. Her grandmother’s cushioned chair would look good in here. She checked the closet and smiled when she found it was a walk-in with plenty of storage space.
Then Annie moved on to the only other door and went into the bathroom, a pale-green-and-ivory color scheme. It had a tub with a showerhead, so she had a choice. She liked that because sometimes a hot bath worked the kinks out of her body on a particularly active day, and with Joshua she’d probably have a lot of them. She wouldn’t have to exercise much with him around if that stunt was any indication.
When she went back into the main room with a living area at one end and a dining table with four chairs and a small kitchenette taking up the other half, her brothers stood in the middle of the stack of boxes, arguing.
Annie put two fingers in her mouth and gave a loud whistle. They stopped and stared at her. “Are you all through bringing up my belongings?”
“Yes. We were just waiting to see if you want us to do anything else. We were discussing the merits of our favorite basketball teams and as usual our little brother has it wrong. The Thunder will win the NBA championship. If you’re from Oklahoma, you have to root for them.” Ken shot Charlie a piercing look.
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.
