Tender Love (10 page)

“We should be getting the children in bed,” Alice said.

“I hope I haven't offended you,” Mark said.

“You know better than that,” Alice whispered. “I can't give way to my real feelings. I'm still trying to put the welfare of others before what I want. Kristin and Eddie aren't ready to share you yet.”

He nodded and released her hand. She nudged Eddie awake. “Time to get in bed, Eddie. We have to get up a little earlier to get ready for church. Remember, we're going to the church I attended when I was a little girl.”

Eddie stirred, sat up, and dangled his feet over the edge of the swing. “Is Daddy going with us?”

“I don't know—you'll have to ask him.”

 

Mark helped Eddie dress for church, and Alice wondered if he might go with them, for instead of shorts and knit shirt like he'd worn yesterday, he came to breakfast in dress slacks and a blue sport shirt, but she didn't ask. Since the Wilcoxes' only vehicle was a pickup truck, they were all going in the van. Mark stood on the porch and watched as the others climbed into the vehicle. Although she'd decided Mark couldn't be pressured in the important spiritual decisions he must make, before she got into the driver's seat, she walked back to the porch where he leaned against one of the pillars.

“I could use a chauffeur.” She held out her keys.

He wouldn't meet her eyes, and she thought he would refuse. When he finally reached out and took the keys, she wanted to throw her arms around him, but conscious of the four sets of watching eyes behind them, Alice turned and took the rear seat in the van beside Kristin.

“I'm glad Daddy's going with us,” the girl whispered.

“So am I.”

The church was located two miles away, in a shady grove along the same river that flowed through the farm. “We used to have picnics once a month during the summer, and the kids looked forward to them,” Alice said.

Although Alice was pleased to have Mark attend church with them, she couldn't help fear that someone might drop a remark that would reveal her financial status.

So, instead of saying that she was the children's nanny, she introduced the Tanners as “Mark Tanner and his children—friends of mine.” Even that introduction caused a few raised eyebrows, but at least no one would be saying, “A nanny—what happened to your money? I didn't suppose you'd ever have to work again.”

To forestall any speculation among her former neighbors, Alice arranged to have Mark sit beside Landon, with the two children beside him, and for Margaret to sit between her and Kristin and Eddie.

Before they'd left the farm, she'd told Kristin and Eddie that they wouldn't have a separate service, but would have to sit in the sanctuary with the adults. But the minister did have a story time for the children, and with Mark's encouragement, his two children went forward with the others.

Alice's hands clenched during the hymn preceding the sermon, and her heart wept for Mark's anguish, when the congregation sang, “I've Wandered Far Away From God, But Now I'm Coming Home.” And when the minister read the text for his sermon,
“‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no more worthy to be called your son,'” she knew Mark was in for a rough morning. But she believed this service was part of God's plan to bring Mark back to his ordained place in the ministry. Perhaps the gentle wooing of the Spirit would come more easily to Mark from this stranger than from one of his former colleagues.

When the services ended, Landon directed Mark to drive back to the farm on a circuitous route that led past a waterfall and an abandoned gristmill. The chatter of Margaret and the children as they passed these sites covered Mark's silence, but Alice, sensitive to all of his moods, was convinced that the morning's message was speaking to his heart.

W
hen they drove into the farmyard, a compact car stood behind Mark's station wagon. Alice recognized it at once, and glancing at the porch, she saw her parents coming down the steps to meet them. Alice looked quickly at Margaret.

“Did you know they were coming today?”

Margaret smiled wryly. “No, but they did know you would be here this week, so I'm not too surprised.”

She meant to convey a message to Mark when she said, “Well, kids, you're going to meet my mother and father.”

“It's fun to meet so many new people,” Kristin said.

Alice wasn't pleased with her parents' presence, for they hadn't wanted her to take the nanny position, and she was sure they'd come to see what she'd gotten herself into. And short of coming to the Tanner house, how else could they have found out?

“Hi, Margaret,” Harley Taylor called. “Got any extra fried chicken for two hungry people?”

“Not chicken, but we've got plenty of meat loaf,” Margaret replied. “You're welcome.”

Attempting to hide her annoyance, Alice greeted her parents, wishing as she often had since they'd moved away from the farm that they'd stayed more active. Retirement hadn't been good for either of them—they'd become sedentary and were gaining too much weight.

She turned to Mark, and the two children who watched curiously. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet the Tanner family. This is Mark, Kristin and Eddie,” she said, laying an affectionate hand on Eddie's curly hair. Meeting Mark's glance, she added, “Norma and Harley Taylor.”

With uncommon jollity, Harley shook hands with Mark and the children. “So, our Alice has become your nanny. Has she paddled you yet?”

“No, sir,” Eddie said, his blue eyes sparkling. “Alice is good to us. She lets us play games on her computer, and she fixes us real good meals.”

“She took me to camp, and she plays games with us when Daddy's late getting home from work,” Kristin added.

Alice flushed at their praise.

“We're fortunate to have Alice—she's done wonders with the children,” Mark added.

“I'm sure she has,” Norma spoke for the first time.

“Come on in the house,” Landon said.

“I'll see that the children change clothes and pack their suitcases if you need to help Margaret,” Mark said to Alice.

“I'll leave right after lunch and take the children with me, so you can have the rest of the day with your family.”

“Thanks,” she answered, not sure she wanted to be left to face her parents' inquisition.

Mealtime went very well, thanks to Landon, who had the knack of putting everyone at ease. Mark had recovered from the reflective mood that had gripped him since the morning's sermon, and he knew how to meet people at their own level by discussing what was important to them. Even Norma Taylor, whom Alice suspected had made up her mind not to like Mark, seemed impressed with him. No wonder Mark was so successful in the ministry—he loved people and was sincerely interested in their lives and aspirations. Alice thought of the song they'd sung this morning: “I've Wandered Far Away From God, But Now I'm Coming Home.” She longed for the day when Mark would sing those words and mean them.

The only unpleasant part of the meal was when Eddie overturned a glass of tea into Alice's lap. His lips puckered, and Alice put her arms around him.

“Never mind, Eddie. That could have happened to any of us.”

“But, Alice, I've ruined your pretty dress.”

“No, you haven't!” She kissed Eddie on the forehead. “Here, help me soak up what's on the table and floor with these napkins, and then I'll change into something dry.”

“You're still just a baby, Eddie,” Kristin said.

“That's enough, Kristin,” Mark said sternly. “I'll help Eddie clean up, Alice—you go ahead and change.”

 

As soon as the meal was finished, Mark went upstairs for their luggage and packed it into the station wagon. As they prepared to leave, Eddie and Kristin both held a puppy, looking wistfully at their father. The subject of adopting a puppy had come up several times during the weekend, but Mark had been noncommittal to his children's pleas.

“Can we have one of the puppies, please?” Kristin asked.

Eddie didn't say anything, but clutched the puppy tightly, looking at his father hopefully.

“Oh, I don't know, kids.” He looked at Alice. “What do you think? It will make extra work for you. You decide.”

“Coward,” she accused him, laughing. “You can have
one
of the puppies,” she said to the children, “but you can't take it today. We'll have to make some arrangements to house the puppy, as well as lay down a few ground rules about who's going to take care of him. It'll be better for the puppy to stay with its mother for a few more days anyway. We'll come back in a couple of weeks, after the four of us have talked it over. Is that okay?”

Eddie rushed over to Alice, and still holding the pup, he threw his arms around her legs, as he often did, with such force that it staggered her. There wasn't any doubt he was becoming stronger. The puppy squealed.

“Thanks, Alice. Kristin and me'll take care of it. It won't make any more work for you.”

“Famous last words,” Mark said wryly, “but I thank you, too. They should have a pet, but the time has never seemed right.”

Without prompting, Kristin and Eddie thanked
Margaret and Landon for the good visit. Mark shook hands with the Wilcoxes and the Taylors, and Alice walked down to the station wagon with them.

“I'll be home before too late,” she said to Mark, knowing that wherever Mark Tanner was would be home to her from now on.

The kids waved gaily as Mark turned the station wagon into the roadway and headed toward Richmond.

“Nice kids,” Harley said as Alice returned to the porch.

Hoping to forestall what her mother might say, Alice said, “We'd better take care of the dishes, Aunt Margaret. That was surely a good meal.”

Margaret knew her sister as well as Alice did, and perhaps that was the reason she kept the conversation on impersonal subjects. After the dishes were washed and dried, Alice went upstairs to assemble her luggage—she intended to leave in time to be back in Richmond before nightfall. When she came downstairs, she joined the rest of them on the front porch.

“Nancy told me to tell you that she wants to take her kids to the beach house for a couple of weeks. She thought you could come, too, and Harley and I might be there some of the time.”

“She's welcome to go, of course, but ask her to let me know when she's going. Although I haven't cleared it with Mark, I intend to take the children and Gran to the beach for a week before school starts, but I won't come the same time you're there. Kristin and Eddie are so much younger than Nancy's children that they wouldn't be compatible.”

“And is Mark going to the beach, too?” her mother queried.

“I doubt he'll be able to get away. He's worked at the bank less than a year, so he doesn't have any vacation time.”

“I certainly liked Mark,” Landon said easily. “He's a fine man and a great father.”

“But why did he leave the ministry—that's what I'd like to know?” Harley said. Everyone looked to Alice for an answer.

“I'm not going to discuss Mark's affairs with you—as a matter of fact, he hasn't told me why he left the ministry. I'm only a nanny to his children, and as such, I have no right to meddle in his past.”

“Just how long do you intend to stay with the Tanners?” Norma asked.

“My contract says that either of us can rescind my employment with two weeks' notice. But I went there because Betty St. Claire convinced me I was needed, and I intend to stay as long as I can be of help.”

“Be of help!” Norma said indignantly. “It sounds to me as if you're little more than a slave.”

“I set my own workload, Mom, and I'm happier than I've been for a long time, so let's leave it that way. Okay?”

Norma didn't answer, but rolled her eyes significantly.

“Sister,” Margaret said to Norma, “I think you're overreacting to the situation. Alice certainly knows what she wants to do. She isn't a child.”

“No,” Norma agreed, “it would be better if she were. Can't the rest of you see that she's in love with Mark Tanner, and that she's become a mother to those children?” Turning to Alice, she said, “If you're already so attached to them in two months,
what's going to happen if you stay there any longer? Or are you intending to marry him? It isn't decent for you to live in the house with him. What must the neighbors think of the situation?”

“Believe me, we're well chaperoned with two children and Gran in the house at all times. In a city, it isn't unusual for a nanny to live in the home. Besides, I'm an employee—I get paid for the work I do.”

Landon laughed. “This conversation sounds like something out of the Victorian era. Norma, your daughter is a widow, in her thirties, not a teenager that you need to advise. Are you sure your concern doesn't stem from the fact that you think Alice is spending more time with the Tanner children than with Jason and Polly?”

Norma's face reddened. “Not necessarily, but I do think she should help Nancy and the children more.”

“I do help them!” Alice protested. “I've bought most of their clothing for years.”

“But you don't take them anywhere,” Harley said.

“No, and I don't intend to until their behavior improves. They've always been willful children, and entering the teen years hasn't changed that.”

“You should have taken them on a cruise or to Europe this summer. It would have been a break for Nancy.”

“Let's change the subject,” Landon said, and he asked questions about the retirement village where the Taylors lived. They were enthusiastic about their home, and Alice's situation was dropped for the moment.

Alice left the farm in early afternoon—sooner than
she had expected to, but she was reluctant to return to Richmond right away, so she drove northward and spent several hours visiting the Civil War battlefields of Chancellorsville and The Wilderness. Her mind was in such a turmoil after the scene with her parents that, when she got in the van and started toward Richmond, she didn't remember one thing she'd read on the many placards explaining the battles. It was past nine o'clock when she arrived at the Tanner home.

Mark came to the door to meet her.

“I was getting worried about you. Have a nice visit with your family?” he asked.

She laughed a little. “Not completely, but that isn't new. Mom doesn't always approve of what I do.”

He walked down the hall with her. “I've already put the children in their beds, heard their prayers, which I might add included thanks for the puppy, and looked in on Gran, so you won't need to do that. Want to sit on the patio for a while?”

“Maybe I'd better not. You need to rest.”

“What makes you think I can't rest when you're around?”

He looked at the brochure she clutched in her hand, and she blushed. “I'm tired tonight, Mark. I didn't stay at the farm long after you left, and I've been plodding around battlefields for the past few hours.”

Mark opened the door to her room, but he leaned against the doorjamb preventing her entrance. “Something has happened since I left you,” he said. “Excuse me for prying, but what are you doing that your mother doesn't approve?”

“She thinks I should spend more time and money on my sister's children, rather than taking care of Kristin and Eddie.” That was enough for him to know—she couldn't worry him with her mother's opinion of their relationship.

“I am sorry if your work here has caused a problem with your parents,” Mark said.

“Oh, this started when we were children. Since I was the oldest child, Mom thought I should always sacrifice for Nancy. If I had a toy Nancy wanted, I had to give it to her. That sort of thing.”

“You don't sound bitter about it.”

She shook her head. “No, I've always loved Nancy, so I didn't mind. And I like her children, but helping them doesn't give me the satisfaction I receive taking care of your kids. It irritates me sometimes that Mom doesn't realize I have needs as well as Nancy.” She laughed lightly. “I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems—you have enough of your own.”

He touched her cheek. “I've unloaded my frustrations on you plenty of times, so I'm here to listen whenever you need to talk.”

“Thanks, Mark. I'll be all right in the morning.”

“Good night then, Alice. The kids were so excited coming home, and they couldn't wait to tell Gran all about it. Thanks.”

She walked around him and entered her room quickly. He looked as if he wanted to kiss her, and she couldn't allow that.

 

The next evening, after dinner, Kristin and Eddie went into the backyard to play, and Mark tarried at the table after Gran went to her room. While Alice
cleared the table and filled the dishwasher, Mark fiddled with his tea glass, and was unusually quiet, so Alice knew some problem was vexing him. When she turned on the dishwasher, Alice poured a cup of coffee and sat opposite Mark at the table.

“We should make a decision about when to get the puppy,” she said, “and perhaps agree on rules to discuss with the kids, such as—does the puppy live in the house, or does he have a home in the backyard?”

“I've got a bigger problem on my mind tonight. I've decided to sell this house and move into a smaller, less expensive place. I talked to a loan officer at the bank today, and with the equity I've built up in this house, the payments on a smaller home would be in a range I could easily manage.”

“Have you looked at smaller homes?”

“Yes—there are several nice houses on the market that I can afford to buy, but they're too small for us. Most of them are two or three bedrooms. It's more important now than ever that the children have their own rooms. I suppose Eddie and I could room together for the time being until I'm financially stable.”