“You’re hired. How soon can you be ready to leave?”
“Almost immediately—I didn’t unpack last night. What time is your flight?”
“Change of plans. I’m not flying the triplets back to Red Rock, we’re driving.”
“Oh.”
“Give me your address and I’ll pick you up as soon as I have the car loaded.”
Charlotte quickly recited her mother’s address and said goodbye. For a moment, she stared at her pink cell phone.
Have I just made a colossal mistake?
At the sound of his deep voice, she’d felt shivers of awareness race up her spine and tingle down her arms to her fingertips.
Then she remembered Barry, and her body instantly calmed as if the reaction to Nicholas had never happened. She wasn’t ready to be attracted to another man. All she had to do was remind herself of her poor judgment and disappointment with Barry and she was safe, she realized with relief.
Reassured, she set her nearly full suitcase on top of the bed and tucked her pajamas into it. A quick trip into the bathroom to collect her toiletries, and she was ready to face her mother and Lloyd.
Squaring her shoulders and drawing a deep breath, she slung her purse over her shoulder, picked up her two bags, and headed downstairs.
Across town, Nick wrestled with the complexities of fastening three car seats into the SUV the rental company had delivered. Fortunately, the vehicle was big enough to have a third seat section and had enough room for an adult to sit between two of the triplets, if necessary.
At last, the babies’ car seats were securely locked in place and the bags and boxes filled with the triplets’ clothes, toys and food were packed into the back of the SUV. The girls were buckled into their seats, each with a treasured blanket and a favorite stuffed toy in her arms, and their foster mother tearfully kissed them good-bye. Nick had a brand-new appreciation for the details of traveling with three babies when he finally pulled away from the curb.
Fortunately for him, the girls all fell asleep within minutes of driving off.
The motion of the car must lull them to sleep. Good to know.
If they had trouble sleeping at his house, he realized, he could always drive them around his neighborhood.
But he knew figuring out this clue about the babies wasn’t enough to make him a reliable substitute parent. If he and the triplets were going to survive until the attorney located Amy’s sister, he’d need all the help he could get.
Charlene London was his ace in the hole. He was convinced she had the expertise that he knew damn well he lacked.
He hoped to hell he was right, because he was betting everything on her ability to handle the triplets. If he was wrong, this road trip was going to turn into a nightmare.
Nick’s relief at the triplets falling peacefully asleep didn’t last long. The girls all woke when he reached the address Charlene had given him and the SUV stopped moving. They immediately began to loudly protest being buckled into their car seats. Charlene said goodbye to her mother and friend in the midst of chaos.
Ten minutes after pulling away from the curb, Nick was no longer convinced he’d found the magic bullet to lull the babies asleep. They cried and fussed nonstop, despite the motion of the SUV.
Several hours of driving south and many miles later, Nicholas turned off the highway into a rest stop and parked. The sun shone brightly, but the afternoon air was still chilly. He left the engine running and the heater on to keep the interior as comfortable as possible for Jenny and Jackie while Charlene changed Jessie’s diaper. The little girl lay on the leather seat, kicking her bare legs with obvious delight while Charlene stood in the open V of the door. Despite the churning little legs, Charlene deftly removed, replaced and snugly fastened a clean disposable nappy.
“I’ve done my share of tailgating at football games, but this is a new experience,” Nick commented as Charlene pulled down Jessie’s knit pants and snapped the leg openings closed.
“You’re in a whole new world, Nick.” She lifted the little girl into her arms, tickling her. Jessie chortled and Charlene laughed. They both looked up to grin at him.
Nick shook his head. Crazy as it seemed, he could swear their faces held identical expressions of feminine wisdom and mystery. “I’m not sure I’m ready for a new world,” he murmured as he took the diaper bag from Charlene and returned it to the storage area in the back of the SUV. “I’m getting some coffee,” he said, louder this time, so Charlene could hear him. “Want some?”
“Yes, please, I’d love a cup.”
Nick crossed the patch of grass between the curb where he’d parked the SUV and the concrete apron surrounding the low-roofed building housing the restrooms. Volunteers manned a small kiosk on one side and offered weary travelers coffee and cookies.
By the time he slid behind the steering wheel again, Charlene had Jessie fastened into her car seat and was buckling her own safety belt. She took the foam cup he held out to her and sipped.
“How bad is it?” he asked, unable to look away from the sight of the pink tip of her tongue as she licked a tiny drop of coffee from the corner of her mouth.
“Not too bad.”
He lifted an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
“Okay, so it’s not Starbucks,” she conceded with a chuckle. “But it’s coffee and I need the caffeine. I was awake late last night and up early this morning. I really, really need the jolt.”
Nick glanced at his watch as they drove away from the rest stop. “The attorney told me the girls are in bed and asleep by seven every night. You’re the expert, but I’m guessing it might be a good idea to find a motel earlier rather than later so we can keep them on schedule, if possible.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea.” She glanced over her shoulder at the triplets’ drowsy faces. “If we stop earlier, we’ll have time to feed them, give them baths, and let them play for a little while before tucking them in for the night.”
The motel Nick pulled into was just off the highway. Behind the motel, the tree-lined streets of a small town were laid out in neat blocks, and fairgrounds with an empty grandstand were visible a dozen or so blocks away. Nick was familiar with the motel chain and, as he’d hoped, the staff assured him they could accommodate the needs of three babies.
With quick calculation, he asked for two connecting rooms—one for the girls and Charlene, and one for him. He hoped the babies would sleep through the night.
Not for the first time, he thanked God Charlene had agreed to be the girls’ nanny. If he could manage to ignore the fact that she was a beautiful woman, she made the perfect employee.
“If we both carry the girls in first, I can transfer the luggage while you keep an eye on them in the room,” he told Charlene when he returned to the SUV. “We’re on the ground floor, just inside the lobby and down the hall.”
He handed her a key card. “Why don’t you carry Jessie, I’ll take Jackie and Jenny.”
After unhooking the girls and handing Jenny to Nick while he held Jackie, Charlotte lifted Jessie and followed Nick into the motel.
“Our rooms are through there.” He led the way toward the hallway on the far side of the lobby.
Distracted by her view of his back, Charlene forgot to reply. Beneath the battered brown leather jacket, powerful shoulder muscles flexed as Jackie and Jenny squirmed in his hold. The jacket ended at his waist and faded Levis fit snugly over his taut backside and down the long length of his legs.
Get a grip, she told herself firmly. Stop ogling the man’s rear and focus on the job—and the babies.