Very.”
“How did she die?”
“Pancreatic cancer. Very quick. Very painful.”
His brief answers indicated he was done talking about it. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.” He touched the small of Tricia’s back, urging her toward the house.
That touch, that single, glancing touch through the layers of the jacket, rattled her. She was already worried about falling in love with the children and not wanting to leave in January. She didn’t want to be worried about falling for the father, too.
It’s just hormones, she decided. Long-repressed hormones coming out of years of hibernation, something she’d been hoping would happen—just not with her boss.
Inside the house, she slipped out of the jacket before he could help her, not wanting his fingers to accidentally graze her skin.
“Any questions?” he asked as they moved through the rooms to the staircase.
“Am I free to call you at work if I have any problems? Even ones that aren’t an emergency?”
“Of course. My assistant’s name is Mae. She’ll know to put you through. Better yet, just call my cell. I’ll always answer if it’s you.”
“Okay. I think that’s all for now. We’ll probably have things to talk about tomorrow. I would appreciate your letting me know if you’re joining us for dinner, so I know whether or not to wait for you.”
He looked annoyed. “I have business in many time zones. Sometimes I have to stay late for a call. I’ll try to be here. That’s all I can say.”
Based on what David had told her, and on her own observations so far, Tricia knew Noah did his best to avoid being at home. That needed to change. “Your children miss you, Noah.”
He looked about to fire back then smiled instead. Sort of. As if someone was making him. “I will try,” he said quietly but resolutely. The boss, after all.
She didn’t like his answer, but took it no further. However, she wouldn’t hesitate in a week to remind him again of his responsibility to his children.
Tricia waited to be dismissed. Since she hadn’t held this kind of position before, she wasn’t sure of protocol, but she figured he would be the one to end the discussion.
“All your questions are answered?” he asked.
“For now.”
“Then I’ll say good-night. I hope you’ll be happy here, Tricia.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun together. The children and I, I mean.”
“I know you’re used to kindergarteners, who mostly just play.”
“Please don’t insult me,” she responded. “You won’t find their education lacking because of my teaching skills.”
“I didn’t mean—” He stopped, took a step back. “Good night.”
As she climbed the stairs, she watched him walk toward his office. Sympathy rose inside her. For all that he was successful in his work and had four beautiful children, he was not a happy man. And not just because he still grieved for his wife, she decided. Maybe he’d never been happy. Obviously his childhood hadn’t been good, his father no kind of role model, although Noah didn’t seem to be anything like his own father.
Tricia shut her bedroom door and leaned against it. She was in a tough spot. Three months to help them as a family—because that had become her primary goal now that she’d met them—and still be able to walk away.
Get out now, she told herself.
The shouting in her head got louder and louder. She should heed it. She knew she should. But superimposed over it were the faces of the children, who needed her.
And Noah. Who perhaps needed her even more.
Life’s short. Make it an adventure. Her brand-new mantra began shouting even louder, reminding her of her own needs, which she’d promised herself she wouldn’t forget. She was entitled, too.
But for the moment, she needed to be here, with this family.
Having an adventure.
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