In Good Company (7 page)

“There is if he’s here to ask me to work for him.”

“Of course he’s here to ask you to work for him,” Lucetta said. “But that has absolutely nothing to do with calling him by his given name.”

Millie opened her mouth, but before she could respond, something that looked remarkably like mud began seeping through the paper wrapped around the flowers she was holding. Moving to the closest table, she unwrapped the paper before setting her sights on Everett again. “Did you pull these flowers right out of the ground, Mr. Mulberry?”

Everett smiled. “Please, call me Everett since Lucetta was kind enough to point out we’re friends, and of course I didn’t pull those right out of the ground.”

Millie held up the flowers, exposing the roots still clinging to dirt. “You would have me believe you purchased these from a flower shop?”

“It’s after ten. There are no flower shops open, but if you must know, I had Rosetta pluck those out of the ground for you.”

A little girl of about five raised an incredibly dirty hand and waved at her right as Everett cleared his throat, drawing Millie’s attention.

“I think you should view it as a mark in my favor that I remembered the flowers, especially since, again, I’m a little sensitive to them, but . . . you were quite vocal about what it would take to get you to work for me.” He sent her a far-too-charming smile.

Ignoring the charm, Millie lifted her chin. “You might as well tell me what disaster struck your household now.”

Everett shot a glance to the children and seemed to shudder. “Why would you assume something disastrous happened?”

Setting the flowers, roots and all, aside, Millie crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Everett. You wouldn’t be bringing me flowers or children if something of a disastrous nature hadn’t occurred.”

“The children
are
adorable, aren’t they?”

“Of course they’re adorable, dear, which I’m sure you were hoping to use to your advantage,” Abigail said as she arrived in the drawing room, pushing a cart that seemed to be heavy with treats. She brought the cart to a stop. “Mr. Kenton is currently making us some tea, since both the housekeeper and chef have retired for the night.” She smiled at the children. “I didn’t want your hot chocolate to get cold, though, and I thought all of you might like a few cookies.”

The three children were on their feet in less than a second, but before they reached the cart, Millie stepped in front of them. “You’ll need to wash up first—especially you, Rosetta.”

Three pairs of eyes narrowed on Millie, but when she didn’t budge, the oldest girl took her two siblings by the hands and met Millie’s gaze. “I don’t know where the washroom is located.”

“I’ll show you,” Abigail offered, and a moment later, with the children by her side, she disappeared through the door.

Millie watched them leave before looking at Everett. “What happened?”

For a second, she didn’t think he was going to answer, but then his shoulders sagged. “They glued Miss Dixon to a chair and ruined one of her new dresses in the process.”

Lucetta smothered what sounded exactly like a laugh behind her hand before she made a mad dash for the door, vanishing from sight a second later.

“It wasn’t funny,” Everett said shortly.

Millie pressed her lips firmly together and watched as Everett
began pacing around the room, bracing herself when he suddenly stopped and sent a scowl her way.

“Miss Dixon is demanding I hire on a nanny immediately, and since you’re the only nanny who seems to be available . . . you’re going to have to do.”

Millie blinked. “Do you honestly believe that little speech will have me accepting your offer?”

Before Millie had an opportunity to so much as blink again, Everett was right beside her, dropping down on one knee even as he pulled her hand into his. “
Please
. I’m begging you. Come to Newport with me.”

Looking down into eyes that truly did seem to be desperate, Millie considered him for a long moment. “No.”

Her hand was dropped in a split second as Everett rose to his feet. “Why not?”

“Because I’m a very good nanny, and I don’t like hearing you say differently.”

“I brought you flowers and begged you on bended knee.”

“That was just for show and you know it.”

“I’ll pay you that two thousand dollars I offered Mrs. Smithey.”

“How incredibly generous of you, Everett,” Abigail said, walking back into the room with the children trailing after her.

“It’s not generous at all,” Millie argued. “He offered that same amount to a woman who had a very sour disposition and was probably a horrible nanny.”

“I seem to have forgotten napkins,” Abigail said before she headed for the door again, bustling through it rather rapidly.

Glancing to the cart, Millie noticed a stack of folded napkins and felt her lips curl. Shaking her head at the antics of Abigail, yet having no idea if the older woman was up to something at the moment or had simply not wanted to witness an argument, Millie began placing cookies on the small plates that were also
on the cart. She turned and found the oldest child standing right next to her.

“You must be Elizabeth,” she said, earning only a nod in return as Elizabeth took the plate Millie offered and handed it to the younger girl hovering behind her. “And you, of course, are Rosetta, and you . . .” She looked at little boy. “Well, you must be Thaddeus, twin brother to Rosetta.”

Thaddeus took the plate she offered. “How do you know I’m a boy?”

“I’d be a very sorry nanny indeed if I couldn’t tell the boys from the girls, wouldn’t I?”

“I’m wearing a dress.”

“And I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for that, but we’ll discuss it at another time . . . if I decide to take up Everett’s offer of employment.”

“They’re really very good children, when they put their minds to it,” Everett said as the children got resettled on the fainting couch with their treats. “They’re also very sorry about what they did to Miss Dixon and have promised not to glue anyone else to any chairs.”

By the mutinous expressions on all three little faces, Millie was fairly sure they weren’t sorry at all, but she saw absolutely no benefit in pointing that out.

“And they’ve agreed,” Everett continued as he looked directly at the children, “to be on their very best behavior if you’ll agree to become their nanny.”

The mutinous expressions disappeared to be replaced with three angelic smiles.

Realizing that Everett had evidently resorted to bribery to get the children’s cooperation, Millie swallowed a laugh as she nodded toward the door. “Before I give you my answer, Everett, I’m going to need a minute alone with the children.”

Everett’s eyes went wide. “I’m not sure that’s exactly wise.”

“Wise or not, I’m afraid I’m really going to have to insist on this.”

With a look of skepticism on his face, Everett quit the room, closing the door ever so slowly behind him.

Placing her hands on her hips, Millie regarded the children, who were now sending her looks of deepest dislike. Arching a brow, she decided her best option was to let them start the conversation.

It didn’t take long for them, or at least Elizabeth, to speak up.

“We don’t want a nanny, and we only said we did because each of us will get a dollar if we’re friendly.” Elizabeth lifted her chin and glared at Millie.

The defiance spoke volumes.

“I must admit I, too, would have been hard-pressed to refuse such a generous offer, but . . . tell me . . . what is it that you really want, since it’s clear you don’t want anyone looking after you?” Millie said softly.

For a second, Elizabeth’s lip trembled, but only for a second. “We just want things to go back to the way they were—before . . . well . . . before.”

Right there and then, Millie knew she had no choice but to accept Everett’s offer. It didn’t matter that he’d injured her pride, or that he really was far too attractive for his own good. All that mattered was sitting right in front of her, trying not to cry, and looking more pathetic than Millie had seen a child look in a very long time.

“Fair enough,” she said before she made for the door, pulling it open only to discover Everett standing remarkably close to it, as if he’d been doing his very best to eavesdrop.

“So?” he asked.

“I’ll do it, but it’s going to cost you twenty-five hundred dollars.”

“That’s flat-out robbery.”

“True, but you were the one who mentioned not that long ago that I needed to work on my negotiating skills, and . . . since you’re obviously desperate, I do believe this is the perfect time for me to try my hand at negotiating.”

Everett narrowed his eyes. “And if I agree to your outlandish demand?”

“I’ll come to Newport with you.”

His eyes narrowed another fraction. “Fine, it’s a deal, but tell me, are you doing this strictly for the money?”

Millie narrowed her eyes right back at him. “It’s never about the money, Everett. It’s only about the children. Maybe with time, you’ll understand that.”

4

T
he next day, Everett urged Titan, one of his favorite horses, down the cobblestone path that led to the back of his Fifth Avenue mansion. He pulled the horse to a stop directly in front of a groom already waiting for him. Climbing from the saddle, he handed the reins to the groom, gave Titan a pat, and headed for the house. Pulling out a pocket watch, he stopped dead in his tracks when he took note of the time.

“It cannot be only a little after noon.” He peered closer at the watch, disgruntlement settling over him when he realized that it was, indeed, just past twelve.

After all the events he’d squeezed in since he’d stumbled out of bed that morning, it seemed to him as if entire days had passed, not simply hours.

When he’d returned home the night before, after securing Millie’s agreement to work for him, he hadn’t been surprised to find Caroline still firmly ensconced in his library. She’d immediately demanded to learn the outcome of his quest, and when he informed her he’d found them a nanny, if a slightly
questionable one, a genuine smile had spread over her face, the first he’d seen from her in days.

His delight over seeing that smile didn’t last long. Once he got Caroline into a carriage to escort her home, she’d taken to turning a little bossy.

She’d told him, in no uncertain terms, that she wanted to be on her way to Newport early the next morning. The only problem with that, though, was she did
not
want to travel in the company of the children, proclaiming that the children’s recent fascination with the whole walking the plank business gave her heart palpitations. Since the best way to get to Newport was over a vast amount of water, and Everett was fairly certain the children hadn’t exactly put aside their mischievous ways just yet, he actually thought her concerns held some merit. Because of that, he’d decided the only way to placate her was to offer her the use of his private yacht the next morning, complete with a full staff to wait on her every need, while offering to bring the children to Newport on a different day.

Caroline had quickly accepted his offer, but then she’d continued to voice additional demands—demands that went from seeing her to the docks the next morning, to promising to be in Newport a day after that in order to watch her play tennis. She’d even gone so far as to suggest he leave the children behind in New York with their new nanny, proclaiming that leaving them behind would be beneficial to all involved.

Caroline had not been pleased when he’d immediately rejected that particular suggestion, but she’d rallied quickly. Evidently realizing she’d annoyed him with her less than compassionate attitude toward his wards, she’d batted her lashes in a very attractive manner, and told him that she’d only suggested such a thing because she missed the comradery they’d shared before the children had come into their lives. He’d felt slightly
mollified by that, until Caroline mentioned the bothersome little fact that she’d left a long list of what she believed were appropriate boarding schools on his desk. By the time they’d arrived at Caroline’s residence on Park Avenue, he’d been rather relieved to bid her a quick farewell.

His sense of relief, however, had been short-lived, because when he got back to his house, he discovered the children had not cooperated with Mr. Macon and gone to bed but were waiting for him to see them settled.

Getting three children into bed had turned out to be a very difficult task indeed. Glasses of water were requested—and not at the same time—and then Elizabeth had decided to launch into a very long speech about why she and her siblings didn’t need a nanny. That had gone far in explaining why they’d waited up for him in the first place.

By the time he’d finally gotten them settled, without the nanny issue resolved to anyone’s satisfaction, it had been after midnight. Stumbling into his bed, he’d immediately fallen asleep but had been rudely woken up at the unheard of hour of six by the children. They’d claimed they were ravenous and needed him to find them some breakfast. Why they hadn’t simply sought out the cook on their own was still beyond his comprehension.