“That day is a long way off,” Sam said, frowning at the idea that Marie had been anything but the perfect mother. Did everyone think he was too overprotective? Was he? Was he hurting Mindy?
“Um, think I’ll go help get the kids ready to go home.” Susan walked off, shoulders squared and back straight.
Daisy glared up at Sam. “What’s your problem, anyway? Susan said her interview with you didn’t go well.”
“Did she tell you she couldn’t stop questioning my abilities as a father? I hardly think that’s what I want in a summer nanny.”
“Come on, let’s walk up to the house,” Daisy said, coming out through the gate and putting an arm around him. “Sam, everyone knows you’re the best dad around. You stepped in when Marie got sick and you haven’t taken a break since. If you’re a tiny bit controlling, well, who can blame you? Mindy’s not had an easy road.”
“You’re using your social worker voice, and I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there.” He put his own arm around his little sister. She definitely drove him crazy, but he didn’t question her wisdom. Daisy was the intuitive, people-smart one in the family, and Sam and his brother had learned early on to respect that.
“The thing is, you’re looking for a clone of your dead wife. In a nanny and in a partner. What if you opened your mind to a different kind of influence on Mindy?”
“What do you mean, in a partner?” He’d kept his deathbed promise to Marie a secret, so how did Daisy know he was looking for a new mom for Mindy?
Daisy laughed. “I’ve seen the women you date. They’re all chubby and blonde and worshipful. It’s not rocket science to figure out that you’re trying to find a replica of Marie.”
The words stung with their truth. “Is that so bad? Marie was wonderful. We were happy.” He’d never been like Daisy and Troy, adventurous and fun-loving; he’d always been the conventional older brother, wanting a standard, solid, traditional family life, and Marie had understood that. She’d wanted the same thing, and they’d been building it. Building a beautiful life that had been cut short.
“Oh, Sam.” Daisy rubbed a hand up and down his back. “It’s understandable. It was a horrible loss for you and Mindy. For all of us, really. I loved Marie, too.”
Reassured, Sam could focus on the rest of what Daisy had said. “You think I need to be worshipped?”
“I think you’re uncomfortable when women question your views, but c’mon, Sam. You’re Mensa-level smart, you’re practically a billionaire and you’ve built Hinton Enterprises into the most successful corporation in Rescue River, if not all of Ohio. It’s not like you need reassurance about your masculinity. Why don’t you try dating women who pose a little bit of a challenge?”
“I get plenty of challenge from my family, primarily you.” He squeezed her shoulders, trying not to get defensive about her words. “My immediate problem is finding a nanny, not a girlfriend. And someone like Susan has values too different from mine. She’d have Mindy taming pit bulls and playing with hoodlums.”
“She’d let Mindy out of the glass bubble you’ve put her in!” Daisy spun away to glare at him. “Look, she’s the one with coursework in special ed, not you. She’s not going to put your daughter at risk. She’d be great for Mindy, even if she does make you a little uncomfortable. And you did kind of contribute indirectly to her getting fired from her waitressing job.”
A hard lump of guilt settled in his stomach. He didn’t want to be the cause of someone losing their livelihood. He’d always prided himself on finding ways to keep from laying off employees, even in this tough economy.
She raised her eyebrows. “Think about it, bro. Are you man enough to handle a nanny like Susan, if it would be the best thing for Mindy?”
* * *
Susan sat at the kitchen table with Angelica and the new baby while Daisy warmed up the side dishes she’d brought and ordered her brothers outside to grill burgers.
“Do you want to hold her?” Angelica asked, looking down at the dark-haired baby as if she’d rather do anything than let her go.
“Me?” Susan squeaked. “No thanks. I mean, she’s beautiful, but I’m a disaster with babies. At a minimum, I always make them cry.”
Of course, Sam came back into the kitchen in time to hear that remark. She seemed to have a genius for not impressing him.
“I used to feel that way, too,” Daisy said, “but I’m great with little Emmie. Here, you can stir this while I hold her.” She put down her spoon and confidently scooped the baby out of Angelica’s arms.
Susan walked over to the stove and looked doubtfully at the pan of something white and creamy. “You want me to help cook? Really?”
“Oh, never mind, I forgot. Sam, stir the white sauce for a minute, would you?”
“You don’t cook?” he asked Susan as he took over at the stove, competently stirring with one hand while he reached for a pepper grinder with the other.
In for a penny, in for a pound. “Nope. Not domestic.”
“You’ll learn,” Angelica said, stretching and twisting her back. “When you find someone you want to cook for.”
“Not happening. I’m the single type.”
“She is,” Daisy laughed. “She won’t even date. But we’re going to change all that.”
“No, we’re not.” Susan sat back down at the table.
“Yes, we are. The group at church has big plans for you.”
“My singles group? Who would run it if I somehow got involved with a guy?” Susan pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, taking in the large, comfortable kitchen with appreciation. Old woodwork and gingham curtains blended with the latest appliances, and there was even a couch in the corner. Perfect.
She enjoyed Daisy and enjoyed being here with her family because she’d never had anything like this. Her family had been small and a little bit isolated, and while Donny was great in his way, you couldn’t joke around with him.
She watched Sam stir the sauce, taste it, season it some more. This was another side of the impatient businessman. Really, was there anything the man wasn’t good at?
He probably saw her as a bumbling incompetent. She couldn’t succeed at waitressing, at cooking, at holding a baby. He thought she’d be bad for his daughter, that much had been obvious.
Too bad, because she needed the money, and Mindy was adorable. Kids were never the problem; it was the adults who always did her in.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Xavier rushed through, followed closely by Mindy. “Give it back. Give it back!” she was yelling as she grabbed at something in his hands.
“No, Mindy, it’s mine!”
Mindy stopped, saw all the adults staring at her, and threw herself to the floor, holding her breath, legs kicking.
Sam dropped the spoon with a clatter and went to her side. “Mindy, Mindy honey, it’s okay.”
The child ignored him, lost in her own rapidly escalating emotional reaction.
“Mindy!” He scolded her. “Sit up right now.” He tried to urge her into an upright position, but she went as rigid as a board, her ear-splitting screams making everyone cringe.
Sam was focused on her with love and concern, but at this point that