Ida frowned. “So you really didn’t want her to have one?”
“I don’t want to have to take care of a dog. Especially since we’re already taking care of the triplets without a nanny to help. I don’t have time for that. Not with a ranch to run and a daughter to raise.” He hesitated as Caroline looked at him with compassion, then swiped a bit of healing ointment on her arm.
Maggie’s voice sounded from the entryway. “I’ll take care of him. I promise. You won’t have to do anything.”
He glanced at his daughter’s earnest face. It was a sweet offer, but Maggie had never had a dog before. She wouldn’t know what to do. “Puppies need to be fed three to four times a day. You’d have to bathe him when he gets dirty. You’d have to train him if you want him to behave, which we do. Then there are small things like clipping his nails and cleaning his ears. You’d have to clean up after him if he has an accident and teach him to go outside.”
“I’ll do it. I promise.” There was a determined glint in her eyes. She’d gotten that from him, so he knew she’d argue up and down that she was fully capable of tending to her pup. She probably had every intention of doing so, but when it came down to it, David knew he’d be the one to bear the most responsibility for the dog’s care. Unfortunately, the dog would have to go back, but he’d save that bit of news for when they no longer had an audience.
Caroline touched his arm. “I’m sorry, but my cheek...”
One look at the redness told him it was probably stinging up a storm. Propriety aside, he caught her chin and turned her face aside to blow cool air on it. Her tension eased a bit. He put the healing ointment on it. “Sorry about that. Almost done.”
“Son, what about the lady you contacted about being the new nanny?”
David tore a strip of cotton gauze loose from the roll. He hadn’t told his mother that he’d contacted a nanny. He’d simply said that he’d contacted someone about helping them out. That was all he planned to tell her until he heard back from the Boston mail-order bride. His mother wouldn’t approve of it, since she wanted him to find another love match. He wanted to wait to break the truth to her until he was certain the lady was coming. “It’s only been two days. There is no way she’s even received my letter yet.”
Maggie stepped farther into the kitchen to watch him bandage the scratch on Caroline’s arm. “Why can’t Miss Caroline be our nanny?”
All of the grown-ups froze. David’s eyebrow lifted. Had his darling daughter just said “our nanny,” as in she’d consider herself one of Caroline’s charges?
Caroline recovered from her surprise. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t.”
Maggie’s eyes clouded. “Why not?”
“Well, I’m not going to be here very long for one thing. For another, I’ve never been a nanny before.”
“Maybe not,” Ida interjected. “But you certainly seemed to have a way with the triplets. I can tell from the quiet in this house that you finally got them to nap. Besides, we wouldn’t need you for long. Only until this nanny David’s trying to hire can get here.”
“Ma, Miss Murray is here to visit her family, not work for ours.” He tied off the bandage. “It wouldn’t be right for us to impose on that.”
“Of course, we wouldn’t want to impose, Caroline, but your family would be welcome to visit here as often as they want.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Caroline touched a hand to her throat as she glanced around the kitchen. Her gaze landed on his, soft as a butterfly, filled with questions.
Did he want her to help them? The answer was an irrevocable no. Did he need her help? Ida’s meaningful glare said yes. When he remained silent, Ida prompted, “We sure could use your help, Caroline. Couldn’t we, David?”
He swallowed hard. “There’s no denying that.”
Caroline bit her lip. “Well, I’m sure my brother and sister-in-law could spare me now and then.”
“We’d need you more than now and then.” David offered up the potential difficulties with a little too much enthusiasm. “You’d have to stay here at the ranch. The triplets need to be fed once during the night.”
“Yes,” Ida interjected, “but there is a stipend that would help compensate.”
Caroline bit her lip. “What about the piano?”
David frowned. “What about it?”
“Would y’all mind ever so much if I played it now and then?”
Ida grinned. “Honey, you can play it as often as you want.”
“In that case...” A smile slowly tilted Caroline’s mouth. “Yes! I’d be happy to help out.”
Maggie let out a whoop and reached for Caroline’s hands. Somehow Caroline seemed to know that was her cue to dance the girl around the kitchen in a tight little circle. Ida sank into the nearest chair with pure relief. David opened his mouth to remind everyone that he was the man of the house with the final say on all of this and he hadn’t agreed to anything. Since doing so would likely accomplish nothing, he closed his mouth and let out a frustrated breath.
He ought to be happy. He had a nanny to help with the triplets—one Maggie had all but promised to mind. They could use Caroline’s help. There was no denying that. There was also no denying that he’d been thinking about her almost constantly since they’d first met. He’d ridden over to Matthew’s ranch earlier today hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Of course, he hadn’t realized that until not seeing her had resulted in major disappointment. He’d been determined to put her out of his mind. That had lasted for about as long as it had taken her runaway horse to gallop across his land. Now he was supposed to be happy about the fact that she’d be living in his house? Not likely.
Still, there was no getting around it. Caroline was here to stay for now. He’d just have to get over his ill-fated interest in her. And it was ill-fated. More than that, it was inappropriate. She was recovering from a broken heart. He’d never quite recovered from his. There was also the little matter of him already having sent off a letter of inquiry to a mail-order bride. Not that he was thinking about Caroline in the context of marriage.
He closed his eyes, shutting off that train of thought before it could go any further. Caroline staying here wouldn’t be a problem. He wouldn’t let it be.
Agreeing to help David had been an easy decision for Caroline. Perhaps too easy, considering she didn’t have all that much experience caring for babies. It would be worth it to have access to the piano. Her fingers were already itching to touch those smooth ivory keys. She knew from experience that as the music flowed through her it would carry her stress and anxiety with it. She desperately needed that release, and she certainly wouldn’t get it at her brother’s ranch. He refused to allow a single instrument into his house.
Of course, she couldn’t tell him that was one of the reasons she’d agreed to move to the McKay ranch. She didn’t want him to think she was being anything like their parents by putting music above family. She wasn’t, but she couldn’t sit around twiddling her thumbs trying not to think about what had happened in Austin, either.
David answered the door the next morning looking a little bleary-eyed but otherwise ready to start the day. He offered a welcoming smile to Caroline and extended a hand to Matthew, who had accompanied her. “Good morning.