two days ago Gretchen tripped and fell—over Jake. The little boy was fine, but Gretchen had four broken bones in her right foot. At seventy and now on crutches, Keely’s aunt was no longer in any condition to be chasing after little ones. Daniel needed another nanny, and he needed one now.
And that was where Keely came in.
She knocked back the rest of her scotch. It seared a bracing path down her throat as she plunked her glass on the counter. “Okay, so here’s the thing...”
Daniel gazed at her almost prayerfully. “Tell me you know a real-life Mary Poppins. Someone with excellent references who can’t wait to move in here and take care of my kids.”
“‘Can’t wait’ might be a little strong, and Mary Poppins I’m not. But as for references, your mother-in-law will vouch for me. In fact, Aunt Gretchen has asked me to take over with the kids for a while, and I’ve said yes.”
Daniel’s mouth went slack. “You? You’re kidding.”
Should she be insulted? She answered tartly, “I am completely serious. The kids know me, I love them dearly and I’m happy to step in.”
He pinned her with that too-pale stare. “It’s just not right.”
“Of course it’s right. Lillie was my sister in all the ways that matter. Jake and Frannie need me right now. I know you and I aren’t best friends, but you’ve got to have someone you can depend on. That would be me.”
“You make it sound like I’ve got something against you, Keely. I don’t.”
She didn’t believe him. But how he felt about her wasn’t the point. Jake and Frannie were what mattered. Yes, he could probably hire yet another nanny from the service he used. But the kids deserved consistency and someone who loved them.
“Great.” She plastered on a giant smile. “Daniel, It’s going to be fine, I promise you. Better me than yet another stranger.”
His brow wrinkled to match the turned-down corners of his mouth. “You’re busy. You’ve got that gallery to run and those quilt things you make.”
Quilt things? Seriously?
Keely was a successful fabric artist as well as the proud owner of her own gallery, Sand & Sea, down in the historic district of their small Oregon town of Valentine Bay. And whatever Daniel chose to call textile arts, he did have a point. Taking care of Jake and Frannie on top of everything else she had going on would be a challenge.
She would manage, though. Gretchen had asked her to help. No way would she let Auntie G down.
“I’m here and I’m willing,” she said. “The kids need me and they know me.” She raced on before he could start objecting again. “Honestly, I have a plan and it’s a good one. This house has seven bedrooms and only four people live here now—including the twins.”
After his parents died, Daniel and Lillie had raised his seven surviving siblings right there in the Bravo family home. All the Bravo siblings had moved out now, though. Except for Grace. A junior at Reed College in Portland, Grace still came home for school breaks and between semesters. She had the only downstairs bedroom, an add-on off the kitchen.
Keely forged on. “I can take one empty upstairs room for a bedroom and one for my temporary studio—specifically, the two rooms directly across the hall from the twins’ playroom and bedroom. It’s perfect. And most nights, once you’re here to take over, I’ll probably just go home.” She had a cute little cottage two blocks from the beach, not far from her gallery. “But if you need me, I can stay over. With a studio set up here, I can work on my own projects whenever I get a spare moment or two. I have good people working at Sand & Sea, trustworthy people who will pick up the slack for me.”
He leaned back against the counter, crossed his big arms over his soft flannel shirt and considered. “I don’t know. I should talk to my sisters first, see how much they can pitch in.”
Besides Grace, who would be leaving for Portland day-after-tomorrow, there were Aislinn, Harper and Hailey. Aislinn worked for a lawyer in town. She couldn’t just take off indefinitely to watch her niece and nephew. As for Harper and Hailey, who’d been born just ten months apart, they were both seniors at U of O down in Eugene and wouldn’t be back home until after their graduation at the end of the semester.
And what was it with men? Why did they automatically turn to their sisters and mothers-in-law in a childcare emergency? Daniel had three brothers living nearby. Keely almost hit the snark button and asked him why he didn’t mention asking Matthias, Connor or Liam if they could pitch in, too?
But she had a goal here. Antagonizing Daniel would not aid her cause. “Well, of course everyone will help out, fill in when they can. But why make your sisters scramble when I’m willing to take on the main part of the job?”
“It just seems like a lot to ask.”
“But, see, that’s just it. You’re not asking. I’m offering.”
“More like insisting,” he muttered.
“Oh, yes, I am.” She put on a big smile, just to show him that he couldn’t annoy her no matter how hard he tried. “And I’m prepared to start taking care of Frannie and Jake right away. I’ll move my stuff in tomorrow, and I’ll take over with the kids on Sunday when Grace leaves to go back to school.”
He scowled down at his thick wool socks with the red reinforced heels and toes. Daniel always left his work boots at the door. “There’s still Gretchen to think about. If you’re busy with the kids, who’s going to be looking after her until she can get around without crutches again?” Keely’s uncle, Cletus Snow, had died five years ago. Auntie G lived alone now.
“She’s managing all right, and I will be checking in on her. And that’s not all. She’s called my mom.”
One burnished eyebrow lifted toward his thick dark gold hair as Daniel slanted her a skeptical glance. “What’s Ingrid got to do with anything?”
It was an excellent question. Ingrid Ostergard and Gretchen Snow were as different as two women could be and still share the same genes. Round and rosy Gretchen loved home, children and family. Ingrid, slim and sharp as a blade at fifty, was a rock musician who’d lived just about all her adult life out of her famous purple tour bus. Ingrid had never married. She claimed she had no idea who Keely’s father was. Twenty years younger than Gretchen, Keely’s mother was hardly the type to run to her big sister’s rescue.
Keely said, “Mom’s decided to change things up in her life. She’s coming home to stay and moving in with Aunt Gretchen.”
Daniel stared at her in sheer disbelief. “What about the band?”
Pomegranate Dream had had one big hit back in the nineties. Since then, all the original members except Ingrid had dropped out and been replaced, most of them two or three times over. “My mother pretty much is the band. And she says she’s done with touring. She’s talking about opening a bar here in town, with live music on the weekends.”
He just shook his head. “Your mother and Gretchen living together? How long do you think that’s going to last?”
“There have been odder odd couples.”
“Keely,
