Nanny and the Professor (6 page)

Rolling over, Cassie gazed across the water. Something about the way Andy clung to his inner tube made her frown. She immediately kicked her feet underwater in order to get closer to him.

"Andy," she called, and he stopped mid-paddle to glance her way. "Can you swim?"

His face flamed, but he looked her directly in the eye. "No," he admitted. "But it's okay since I have this." He thumped the rubber tube with his fist.

"Is that really smart thinking?" she asked archly.

"Andy wouldn't be allowed to swim, anyways," Eric commented, coming to the defense of his new friend. "His dad would rather see him drown than for him to do something as fun as swim."

"Eric!" Cassie stood up in the shallow end of the pool and stared aghast at her brother. "I can't believe you would say such a horrible thing. Now, get out of the pool until you can apologize."

"Aw, Cassie. But Andy's dad isn't even here. He doesn't even know I said anything."

"Now, young man."

"He's right, Cassie," Andy said, his voice soft. "Dad doesn't let me do nothing. I never knew how much I'm not allowed to do until Eric showed me."

"Dad doesn't let me do anything," she automatically corrected, but her heart constricted at Andy's sadness. "But it's because of your asthma," she explained. "You know your father's only concerned for your health."

She turned to face Eric, who had pulled himself out of the water and was sitting on the pool's edge, his feet dangling in the water. "We talked about Andy's asthma and how he needs to stick to quiet activities." She frowned and shook her head at him. "I'm surprised at you, Eric. I'm disappointed you would hurt Andy's feelings by talking about his father like that. You know better."

"Gosh, Cassie, I'm sorry." Eric's head dipped dolefully. "I'm just used to playing ball and
runnin
' and
sweatin
'. And I've been playing card games and tiddlywinks for
two days
."

He made it sound like a lifetime.

"I'm not used to this stuff."

Cassie sighed hard in an effort to suppress her amusement at his description of normal play. Eric was right, though, he
was
used to playing like a normal eight-year-old boy, and he had been playing quiet games all weekend. She looked from Eric to Andy and felt torn over how to solve the problem.

"Well," she finally said, "how about if I speak to Andy's father when he comes home and see if maybe he'll lift some of the limits?"

"Would you?" Andy asked.

"All right!"
Eric shouted.

"I'm not promising anything, now."

"Wow, Cassie, if I could just play catch with Eric, I'd be happy." Andy's tone spoke volumes on the exciting prospect of getting a ball in one hand and a mitt on the other.

Cassie shushed him with a waggling, upraised finger. "All I can do is talk to your dad, Andy. I don't want you to get your hopes up for something that will probably never happen. Do you understand?"

Andy nodded somberly.

Cassie felt badly about reining in his excitement. In an effort to make up for it, she rubbed her hands together and smiled, saying, "But there's no reason I can't teach you to swim. In fact, I think it downright necessary if we're going to be spending time in the pool."

"You mean it?" Andy asked, his smile once more beaming.

"I can help him too. Can't I, Cassie?" Eric pleaded.

"You sure can," she said. "Andy, when we're through with you, you'll be swimming like a fish."

"And," Eric piped in, "I'll show you how to dive, like this." He pushed off from poolside and
ker
-splashed
awkwardly. When he surfaced, embarrassment turned his face as red as the belly flop had turned his stomach. Andy laughed and Cassie promised Eric that they'd work on his diving technique.

"But first, I need to show you a few safety pointers," Cassie said. "First and foremost, whatever happens when you're in the water, remember,
don't
panic."

Eric puffed his chest out and said, "Never swim alone."

"Good, Eric," Cassie praised her brother. "Now, Andy, tell me what you'd do if you accidentally slipped out of your inner tube."

"Well...I..." Andy's eyes brightened and he blurted, "I wouldn't panic." Cassie chuckled at his quick thinking.

"I'd grab for the tube," he tried again. "And paddle for the side."

"What if you fell into the water and didn't have the inner tube?" Cassie asked.

Andy's eyebrows raised and his mouth worked, but no words came out. He was thoroughly stumped.

Eric sniggered and gave Andy a friendly shove. "You better hope someone's around to call the rescue squad."

Andy giggled nervously. "Well, you better teach me what I should do then."

As serious as water safety was, Cassie didn't reprimand the boys for their silliness. This was a scary subject, and a little humor would help Andy through it.

"You needn't worry about sinking, you know," Cassie told him. "Why does your tube float?"

"It's full of air," Andy answered with a shrug.

"And if you inhale?"

Andy's eyes lit. "Then I'm full of air!"

Cassie nodded, chuckling.

"And I won't sink?"

Again she nodded.

"Show him the dead man's float!" Eric shouted.

"Yes, yes, the dead man's float," Andy chimed in. Then he grinningly added, "I don't know what it is, but it'd be great to see a dead man float."

Both boys burst into uproarious laughter.

Andy pulled himself from the water and sat, dripping, next to Eric.

"Okay, watch closely," Cassie said. "You inhale deeply, put your face in the water, and relax your entire body."

Eric leaned toward Andy. "It's important that you inhale before putting your face in the water," he cautioned with a wry chuckle.

Cassie made a production of sucking a great deal of air into her lungs,
then
she relaxed into the water, stretching her arms wide. She remained in position for several seconds before standing and shaking her head, spraying the boys.

"See how easy it is?" she asked. "You want to try?"

Andy was quiet, looking at the water, and Cassie saw a spark of fear in his eyes. Eric noticed Andy's silence and quickly glanced at Cassie.

"Show us again, Cassie," Eric said. He nudged Andy. "My sister makes a great dead man, doesn't she?"

The corner of Andy's mouth ticked up, and Cassie's heart warmed to see her brother trying to stifle Andy's fear.

"Dead man's float!
Dead man's float!"
Eric began to chant, clapping his hands to emphasize each word. Andy quickly joined him, and Cassie laughed.

"Okay, okay, already!" she yelled over the din of their voices.

She inhaled and let her body float. Her feet lifted off the bottom of the pool. She could hear the boys' cries of encouragement, muffled by the water. Their shouts and squeals made her laugh, the air in her lungs bubbling from her mouth.

When all the air had expelled from her body, Cassie lifted her face sideways to inhale. But before she could, a great splash startled her and a weight pushed her under the water's surface. Instead of inhaling the expected air, she took in a mouthful of water and choked. She instinctively shoved herself away from whatever had her in its clutches, but it was a failed effort.

She needed oxygen. Now!

Her head flashed above the surface for an instant and, through the heavy curtain of hair plastered across her face, she quickly gulped in half a lungful of precious air before she found herself once again floundering below depths.

She opened her eyes under water and saw the sunlight glinting off a pair of shiny black dress shoes.

Chapter Three

Cassie went perfectly still in his arms and a knot of panic balled in Joshua's gut. Dear God, she'd blacked out.

Firming his grip on her warm, wet skin, he hauled her out of the water with all his might.

"Cassie?" Fear clawed his throat, making his voice tight and harsh. "Cassie!"

She stood up, sputtering and coughing.

He hauled her off her feet and staggered over to the steps with her. Water cascaded off them both, pooling onto the concrete patio as he pulled her from the pool.

"Andrew," he barked, "
bring
a towel."

"Yes, sir," Andy replied, scurrying out of the pool to obey.

"Are you all right?" Joshua asked Cassie.

She nodded and swiped at the hair clinging to her cheeks as she continued to cough. Joshua wrapped the large beach towel around her shoulders and noticed that his hands were shaking.

This was a hell of an end to an already nerve-racking weekend. He'd worried about getting back into the swing of speaking before a large audience after such a long sabbatical; he'd worried about leaving his son; he'd worried about the summer graduate courses he was in the midst of teaching. But even though all these things had weighed heavily on his mind, he'd had to admit that thoughts of the new nanny he'd hired had crept into his brain more times than he could count. And images of Cassie Simmons had pushed all his worries aside often enough to become troubling. Joshua had been unable to comprehend it. His reaction to this woman, his thoughts of her, had sparked a curiosity in him, a craving to know more about her, a desire to discover why and how a woman he barely knew could stir him so deeply.

Seeing Cassie floating in the water, still as death, had scared the hell out of him. The shouts of panic coming from the boys had only increased his alarm.
Joshua hadn't thought, he'd only acted.
He knew he was impulsive in emergency situations. Most often it was a trait he didn't care to have– to be unthinkingly reactionary. But in this instance, he thanked the stars for his panicky nature.

He listened intently as her choking coughs subsided. Her deep, ragged breaths were a relief to his ears. Joshua lowered his eyelids and sighed; he could feel the adrenalin that had been coursing through his body wane as his sanity slowly returned. He heaved a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes, he looked from Cassie to his son to the other boy by the pool. His gaze took in the wet towels draped over the lawn chairs and the multitude of pool toys littering the patio. More than one of the restrictions he'd given the new nanny was being broken at this very moment. The idea that Cassie Simmons had disregarded his wishes acted as a flickering match that ignited his anger.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded.

Cassie inhaled jaggedly and gave herself over to another fit of coughing in an effort to expel the water from her lungs.

She looked at Joshua Kingston's handsome face and the dark frown she saw there made her silently mutter a couple of four letter words. The distinctive sound spurting aerosol had her glancing at Andy, who was sucking on the inhaler that had somehow magically materialized in his hand. Where on earth had that come from? Looking back at the professor, she saw the crease in his brow deepen to a black scowl and she wondered how in the world the pleasant day had changed so suddenly.