From Nanny To Wife (3 page)

"Daddy."

"What is it, baby girl?"

"Stay," she whispered.

Ryan returned to the bed and lowered himself onto it. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."

"Not sleepy," she mumbled.

Ryan knew better. Zoe was stalling because she didn't want to go to sleep. He did what he always did when she was refusing to sleep. He stroked her hair. There was something about the feel of his hand in her hair that made her sleepy. Like all the times before it worked like a charm. In no time, Zoe was out like a light. Smiling to himself, Ryan rose from the bed and quietly left the room. He headed downstairs to the living room where he found Maggie dusting an end table. "I would like to speak with you, William and Gordon."

Maggie set the feather duster on the table. "William is in the kitchen with Gordon."

"Then follow me," Ryan said, moving in the direction of the kitchen.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Maggie asked as she followed him.

"No," Ryan said. "Everything is fine." He marched into the kitchen. William and Gordon were sitting at the table talking over cups of tea.

"Do you need something, sir?" Gordon asked Ryan.

"I wanted to talk with you all," Ryan said. "It will only take a few minutes."

"We are listening, sir," William declared.

Ryan glanced at the staff. "I have decided to hire a nanny for Zoe. You have taken great care of her, but she needs someone who can devote all their time to her. There is a woman coming in the morning, Hope Landry is her name. I haven't hired her yet. Tomorrow is just a trial period. I want you to watch her, see how she interacts with Zoe, and help her if she needs it. You will be my eyes and ears. If you don't approve of her I won't hire her."

"We've had nothing but bad luck with nannies," Maggie said. "Are you sure you want to hire another one? It's really no trouble taking care of Zoe. We are happy to do it."

"I appreciate everything you all do for Zoe and me," Ryan said, "but I have made up my mind."

"Then we will help you any way we can, sir," William stated.

"Do you think she's the nanny you've been looking for?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know," Ryan said. "Only time will tell."

Chapter 3

"Daddy, wake up…wake up…wake up."

Ryan felt Zoe's small hand pat his cheek. He opened his eyes and stared at the little girl who was standing beside the bed. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt with a picture of Belle and the Beast from the Disney cartoon
Beauty and the Beast
on the front. Her hair was up in pigtails, the left side was slightly lopsided. Taking his eyes off her, Ryan glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw it was a few minutes after seven-thirty. He reached out, grasped Zoe gently and lifted her onto the bed. She curled up next to him and he kissed her forehead.

"Good morning, baby girl."

"Good morning, Daddy," she said.

"Does Maggie know where you are?" Ryan asked.

Zoe shook her head.

"I didn't think so," Ryan said dryly. He brushed Zoe's bangs out of her eyes. "Daddy needs to get up and get dressed."

"I help," Zoe announced.

Ryan groaned inwardly. The last time he let her help, he ended up wearing a gray suit, purple dress shirt and a red tie. Unable to deny his daughter anything he set her on her feet and followed her into the large walk in closet. "All right, baby girl. Let's find Daddy something to wear. Start with the suit."

Zoe stood in front of the racks of suits and titled her head back to look at them. "That, Daddy," she said, pointing at a black one.

Ryan removed the suit from the hanger and draped it over his arm. "Good now I need a shirt."

Zoe studied the dress shirts for a moment and then tugged on the sleeve of a blue one.

"Now go pick a tie out," Ryan told her. He watched as she ran her hands through his ties and jerked a black one free from its hanger. "Thank you."

"You welcome," Zoe mumbled.

Ryan bent down and kissed Zoe's temple. "Run along and let Daddy get dressed."

"Okay." Zoe turned around and ran out of the room.

Ryan entered the kitchen a short while later. "Good morning, Gordon."

The cook turned from the oatmeal he was stirring and looked at Ryan. "Good morning, sir. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"No rush." Ryan crossed the kitchen and took a cup out of the cabinet. He poured coffee into it and carried it to the table. Sitting down, he took a sip of the hot liquid and set the cup down.

Just then, Maggie came into the room with Zoe. "Go sit next to your Daddy."

Ryan pulled out a chair. "Come here, baby girl." He helped Zoe into her booster seat. "Did you wash your hands?"

"Yeah." Zoe held up her hands and showed them to Ryan.

"Good girl," Ryan told her.

Gordon placed a sippy cup of milk and a bowl of oatmeal with half a banana in front of Zoe. "Here you go, sweetheart."

"What do you say?" Maggie said to Zoe.

"Thank you," Zoe muttered.

"You're welcome." Gordon returned to the stove.

"Sit down and have some breakfast, Maggie," Ryan said.

"Thank you, but I've all ready eaten," Maggie said. "I'm going to go upstairs and make the beds before Ms. Landry arrives."

After breakfast, Ryan excused himself from the table and headed to the living room. Once there he grabbed the phone and dialed Pam's cell phone number. She answered on the fifth ring.

"Hello?"

"Pam, its Ryan Kendall. I'm not calling at a bad time, am I?"

"No, sir," Pam quickly assured him. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I just wanted to inform you that I won't be in the office until after ten," Ryan said. "I want you to cancel my morning appointments and reschedule them."

"Yes, sir," Pam said. "Anything else?"

"No that's all," Ryan said. "Thank you, Pam." He hung up the phone and glanced at his watch.

"Mr. Kendall," William said, appearing in the doorway. "Ms. Landry is here."

Ryan frowned. "I didn't hear the doorbell."

"That's because I didn't ring it," Hope said, stepping into the living room. "William was outside when I arrived. I followed him inside."

"I will be in the kitchen, sir, should you need me," William informed Ryan.

Hope smiled at the butler. "It was nice meeting you, William."

"The pleasure was all mine." William left the room, leaving Ryan alone with Hope.

Ryan gazed at her. She had on jeans that hugged her curves and a pale blue blouse, her long blond hair was in a ponytail. There was nothing provocative about the way she was dressed, yet Ryan found he was attracted to her. His pulse racing he took a deep breath and willed his body to calm down.
I need to get out more,
he thought, moving toward Hope. "You're early, again."

"Is that all right?" Hope asked softly.

"It's fine," Ryan said. He inhaled and caught a whiff of her perfume.

"I know you're a busy man," Hope stated. "I don't want to keep you waiting so I make sure to be early. Shall we get started?"

"Yes." Ryan took Hope on a tour of his home. They began downstairs and then made their way upstairs. He showed her where the fire extinguishers, first aid kits were located, and showed her which rooms were off limits to Zoe. "This is my office," he said, opening the door. "The only time Zoe is allowed in there is when I'm in there." He shut the door. "I found her in there last week scribbling on my desk calendar with a crayon. She looked up at me with those big eyes of hers and my anger melted away."

Hope smiled softly. "It's funny how children can get away with so much just by looking at you. They're manipulators."

"Daddy!" Zoe yelled from downstairs.

"There's my little manipulator now," Ryan said. "We're done with the tour. Let's go downstairs and I will introduce you to everyone."

Hope knew the minute she laid eyes on Zoe Kendall her life was never going to be the same again. This little girl would give her life meaning. She knew that as surely as she knew her own name. Smiling, she knelt in front of Zoe. "Hi."

"Hi," Zoe said shyly.

"My name is Hope. Your Daddy told me your name is Zoe." Hope pointed at the little girls t-shirt. "Do you like
Beauty and the Beast?"

Zoe nodded.

"I like it, too," Hope muttered. "It's my favorite cartoon."

"Zoe," Ryan said, squatting down to her eye level. "Hope is going to spend the day with you. Would you like that?"

Again, Zoe nodded. "We see
Beauty and Beast?"

"We'll watch
Beauty and the Beast,"
Hope promised.

"Ms, Landry, this is Maggie," Ryan said to Hope. "She's our housekeeper."

Hope smiled at Zoe and then straightened up to look at the housekeeper. "Hello, Maggie."

"Ms. Landry, welcome to our home," Maggie said.

"Thank you, and please call me Hope."

"This is Gordon," Ryan said. "He's our cook."

"Hello, Gordon," Hope said.

"Hello," he said. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you."