Daycare Mum to Wife / Accidental Father: Daycare Mum to Wife / Accidental Father

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

What fun I had taking the lovely Jess Baker, and her baby daughter Ella, and throwing them into the middle of a single-dad family.

There is such richness and fulfilment to be found in ‘stretching our borders’ to embrace and love those who cross our paths—be that a baby, a bride, a wonderful man, a ready-made-family or all of the above. When we fall in love at the same time there can be challenges aplenty—but, oh, they can be worth it!

When Jess and Dan meet, they both believe they are better off by themselves. But Fate has another plan for them—one that involves five children, a baby, and eventually wedding bells and a wonderful (if noisy, busy, sometimes scary and definitely challenging) happy-ever-after.

I hope you enjoy my plucky, independent Jess and her down-to-earth Dan as they figure out their journey and eventually take their leap of faith into all that life has for them.

With love and hugs from Australia,

Jennie

About the Author

Australian author JENNIE ADAMS grew up in a rambling farmhouse surrounded by books, and by people who loved reading them. She decided at a young age to be a writer, but it took many years and a lot of scenic detours before she sat down to pen her first romance novel. Jennie has worked in a number of careers and voluntary positions, including transcription typist and pre-school assistant. She is the proud mother of three fabulous adult children, and makes her home in a small inland city in New South Wales. In her leisure time Jennie loves long, rambling walks, discovering new music, starting knitting projects that she rarely finishes, chatting with friends, trips to the movies, and new dining experiences.

Jennie loves to hear from her readers, and can be contacted via her website at www.jennieadams.net.

For my babies and for my rent-a-kids.

I am so blessed.

My life is the richer for each and

every one of you.

CHAPTER ONE

‘AFTER WE VISIT THE DUCKS, there’s got to be more knocking on doors for you and me, Ella. I know you’d probably rather be crawling around the furniture at home, but this is how it has to be for this morning.’ Jessica Baker spoke the words to her daughter as she pushed the baby stroller over a rough patch of grass and let her glance rove around Randurra’s memorial park.

Not that Ella could understand, but it made Jess feel better to speak out loud, to remind herself she did have a plan.

Ahead on the wide knoll beside the duck pond children were playing. A tall, dark-haired man watched them from beneath a gum tree. He was talking on his mobile phone.

Life went on whether people were trying not to shake in their boots or not. Jess didn’t want to be someone who shook in her boots. She might wobble just a little here and there, but Jess was a single mother supporting her daughter. She couldn’t afford to shake.

Any more than you can afford that enormous back bill of overdue rates and interest payable on the house.

Ten years’ worth that Jess hadn’t known existed, thanks to Ella’s con artist father and the agreement he had made when he purchased Jess’s small cottage, in exchange for Jess signing herself and Ella out of his life for ever.

Jess stiffened her spine and took one hand off the stroller to smooth it over her gold sleeveless top and down over the splash-dyed orange and black skirt. ‘We’ll be right, Ella. We’ll sort this out somehow.’

In the stroller, Jess’s daughter made a crowing noise. ‘Du! Du!’

‘Yes, indeed. We’re going to see the ducks. You’ve earned that for being such a good girl this morning.’

Ella’s vocabulary had a lot of ‘Du’ words in it, but in this case Jess was quite certain that her one-year-old knew exactly what she was talking about. Ella wanted to see the ducks before Jess finished her door-knocking and went home.

Jess’s gaze moved ahead to the children. Two teen-aged boys wrestled each other on the grassy bank. A studious-looking girl of around ten had hold of a smaller girl’s hand and was warning her not to go too close to the water. A third little girl had plonked down on the grass to pick blades of it. As a potential offering for the ducks?

‘Let’s go add our bread crusts to the offering, Ella.’ Jess wasn’t afraid of bunches of children. She looked after five regularly to bring in income. She’d had four more but that family had left Randurra at the start of December.

Jess had been trying since then to get more work. She was a qualified daycare mum. This morning when her financial situation had shifted from ‘already uncomfortable’ to ‘downright scary’ with the arrival of that notice about the overdue rates and interest, Jess had taken her efforts directly to the people of Randurra. She’d knocked on a lot of doors. She’d offered to do anything. It didn’t have to be childcare so long as she could keep Ella with her.

Breathe, Jessica.

Jess and Ella were drawing closer to the duck pond area. The man had his gaze fixed on the children in that way that said ‘father'. Were they tourists going somewhere for the long school summer holidays and had stopped here for a breather?

Jess’s heart did a funny flip as the man turned his head and she caught a good look at his face. He appeared to be around thirty-six or thirty-seven. He was tall, with tanned skin and a firm jaw and thick, wavy, dark brown hair that just touched the collar of his white polo shirt. He had jeans on. Tan lace-ups on his feet. It was a warm day, but not killer hot as it had been in the few days straight after Christmas. Jess wanted to see his eyes.

No, she didn’t.

All those children meant he must be married.

Jess wasn’t looking for a man anyway. After the fiasco of Peter, Jess couldn’t trust in that sort of relationship any more.

‘No. You’re a key client and the financials have been under my care for a long time. I want to be the one to do this work.’ The man’s voice was low, deep and utterly calm as he spoke into the phone.

But his posture had stiffened and as Jess drew closer she caught a glimpse of very genuine stress as his gaze roved over those five children before he asked for a little time to ‘get things in place', and abruptly ended the call. In that one moment, he looked as Jess had felt this morning when she read the notice saying the house would be sold up if she didn’t pay all the costs in thirty days or less.

The man looked out of his depth.

As though he was asking how he could fix this.

What had happened? Jess wondered.

She watched the man suck it all inside, paste on his previous expression and just stand there. But inside, his mind was racing, searching for those answers. Jess knew because Jess had done this.

‘Can I help you somehow?’ She spoke the words before she could stop herself, and made a gesture with her hand. The row of wooden bangles on her arm clanked. ‘It’s just that you were on the phone and you looked…’

She didn’t want to say he’d looked panicked. Truly he looked far too strong to give in to outright panic.

Strong and appealing and manly.

All entirely irrelevant, Jessica Baker, and you’re just as strong.

Occasional very justified bouts of the wobbles notwithstanding!

Jess cleared her throat. ‘I’m a local. Did you need directions, or information about services or anything?’ She might sound like an animated travel brochure now, but that was better than noticing the man as, well, as a man.

‘Uh, hello. Thanks…’ Deep hazel eyes fringed with thick black lashes searched her face, and then dropped to Ella where she sat in the stroller crowing in delight to see so many children playing near her.

He had beautiful eyes. Eyes that showed his age and maturity, and that made Jess’s breath catch.

Did his eyes hold a hint of consciousness within them, too? Jess was twenty-two, a lot younger. She’d never noticed a man this age quite so much. She didn’t really understand her reaction and…she wondered if she was correctly reading his.

He seemed to give himself a mental shake before he responded. ‘That’s kind of you. We just moved here so I don’t have a good grip on everything about Randurra yet.’ He extended his hand. ‘Dan Frazier.’

Well, that was all about business so maybe Jess had imagined the other.

‘Jess Baker. Jessica, really, but I prefer Jess. I moved here about fourteen months ago.’ Just in time to settle into the cottage before she made the short trip to the local hospital to give birth to Ella. ‘So I know pretty much everything there is to know about the town.’

She tried not to stutter over the words, because the touch of Dan’s fingers closing around hers gave her the strangest feeling of…comfort. And made her too aware of him. She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to check that the green band in her hair was straight, its enormous bow sitting firmly. Did Dan Frazier think she was an airhead because of that bow? Jess wasn’t. The clothing and accessories were part of keeping her head up, of showing her determination in her own way.

Life had thrown a major curve ball today, but she hadn’t let that stomp her. She’d put on her bright clothes and had marched to the town council building. She’d done her best to calmly and rationally discuss the situation with that nasty man who’d delivered the overdue notice, Lang Fielder. It had been to no avail today but she wouldn’t stop at one go!

And then she’d knocked on half the doors in Randurra, looking for work. Jess still had the other half to knock on. She wasn’t stomped yet.

‘Da-a-ad.’ A girlish voice came their way. ‘Rob and Luke are going to fall into the water.’

‘Are not.’ A voice halfway to his father’s deepness replied. ‘We’re just playing, Daisy.’

‘Well, stop it. Don’t you know there’ll be approximately fifty thousand different kinds of germs in that pond?’ The girl called Daisy pushed a pair of glasses up her nose in a knowing and disapproving way.

Jess stifled a smile.

‘Maybe you can point me in the direction of childcare facilities in Randurra, if anywhere exists here that caters for a family group with this age range.’ Dan’s hand reached down to touch the silky hair of the youngest child, who’d come running to wrap her arms around his legs.

He met Jess’s gaze again as he pushed his mobile phone into the breast pocket of his polo shirt. ‘I thought I’d have time to check out various childminding possibilities. I didn’t expect to need this kind of care more than rarely, anyway, but it appears the Frazier family’s two-days-old sea change just ran into a typhoon.’

Randurra wasn’t on the coast, of course. It was inland from Sydney. Apparently that phone call had produced a metaphoric typhoon that meant Dan Frazier needed urgent childcare for the whole family.

Could Jess be so lucky? ‘I may be able to help you. What exactly do you need?’

‘Oh, I don’t need much.’ He gave one short bark of laughter. ‘Just the equivalent of Mary Poppins to fly down with her umbrella and volunteer to mind all my children while I travel to and from Sydney for the next few weeks, and for me to know they’ll all be safe with her when she’s a total stranger and I don’t like leaving them with anyone.’

He frowned again. ‘My sister used to cover the times when I had to work away from home, but I weaned right off needing that, and she’s got her own life to focus on now.’

There was no mother in the picture? Was Dan a widower? Jess’s mind boggled at the thought of him raising five children by himself. Peter hadn’t even been prepared to be a part-time father to Ella from long distance.

Some other part of Jess that really should know better also insisted on pointing out Dan’s single status.

A single status and almost twice your age, Jess!

‘So you moved here, you didn’t need childminding, and now something’s exploded?’ Better to ask about that. ‘Is it to do with your work? Did it make a very big splat as it hit the wall?’

‘That’s a creative analogy.’ He didn’t smile, exactly, but the creases at the corners of his eyes did.

Dan went on. ‘One of my clients needs to go through a potential change of ownership audit, and the prospective buyers want it done fast. I’m the company’s accountant so I have to be on hand to help answer all the number-crunching questions, and supply the necessary information and explanations to go with it. This is a large key client for me, and they want this change of ownership. It’s going to benefit the company tremendously and I need to hold on to their business, so I can’t afford not to help.’

His gaze shifted over her hair and returned to her eyes. ‘I moved the children here to get us all out of Sydney, into a decent-sized home that we could own ourselves. I thought I’d have all of January without having to think about work at all.’

‘You can’t blame yourself for the unforeseen.’ She touched his arm briefly.

She only meant to express understanding and perhaps a little of the compassion that Mary Poppins might have extended when she finished folding her umbrella.

But it didn’t end up feeling like only a touch. Dan’s skin was warm and…manly. A tingle shot up Jess’s arm.

Beneath her fingers, Dan’s muscles locked as though he, too, had perhaps been startled by the contact. For a moment their gazes meshed and a consciousness passed between them.

Jess hadn’t expected to feel such a strong connection. They had only just met. He was heaps older. She wasn’t going there again with any man after the way Peter had hurt her. She withdrew her hand.

Over by the pond, one young Frazier after another fell still and silent.

Four sets of hazel eyes locked onto Jess, and baby Ella, and their father.

One whisper drifted to Jess on the summer breeze. ‘Daddy’s talking to a girl.’

Another. ‘They’re practically holding hands. He hasn’t been near a girl since Mummy died.’

‘Shut up, Rob. Shut up, Mary.’ This came from the eldest boy. ‘Whoever that is, Dad’s not interested like that!’ The boy sent a sharp stare Jess’s way before he turned away, shoulders tensed beneath his T-shirt.

Jess felt put in her place, a woman far younger than this man and, indeed, why would Dan be interested?

You don’t want him to be interested, Jess.

And perhaps the boy hadn’t meant to sound so aggressive? He was probably used to dealing with all his younger siblings and occasionally got frustrated with them…

Had Dan heard those whispers? How long ago had he lost his wife? Had Jess misread his reaction when she touched him?

Had he wished she hadn’t touched him? Or reacted…as Jess had reacted to him?

‘Sorry about them. They’re a little excitable thanks to the move.’ Dan’s neck had reddened slightly.

So he had heard. At least some of it.

‘No need to apologise.’ She ignored the neck. Well, other than the tanned, muscled appeal of it. Jess had to ignore that, too. Because widowed didn’t necessarily mean emotionally available, even if the red was a result of consciousness of her, not simply embarrassment thanks to his children.

Not that it mattered to Jess one way or another, of course. Jess was very much not ready to jump into that particular pond again herself. She really needed this work and couldn’t afford to let anything so foolish as a sudden attraction mess it up, if she could actually get Dan Frazier to employ her.

She had knocked on half Randurra’s doors. She’d got nowhere. She had tried not to worry that she might get nowhere with the other half. Folks all seemed to have their childcare and other needs sorted out.

And perhaps Jess and Dan Frazier could help each other. ‘Dan, I realise we’ve only just met and I haven’t flown down with an umbrella like Mary Poppins. Actually, my brolly’s black with pink polka dots and half the spokes are bent out of shape because I got it jammed under the seat of the car one day.’ Jess drew a breath.

‘But I’m a qualified, practising daycare mum.’ An underemployed one at the moment. ‘I care primarily for younger children but I am trained to take school-aged children as well.’ If those opportunities came along. Jess spared a thought for the surly expression of Dan Frazier’s eldest a moment ago, but if there were any problems she could win him over, surely? ‘There aren’t any official “Before and After School” style of care facilities in Randurra for school-aged children.’

Jess didn’t want to tell Dan any more. She wanted to stick with ‘I think I can help you', be Mary Poppins for him, Jess style, and they’d both benefit.

Instead, she drew a breath. ‘There are two women older than me with grown-up children of their own who’ve recently become unemployed because the meatworks outside of town downsized. They haven’t been in childcare professionally before but they’re great women. I’m looking for more work, but I saw from the noticeboard at the supermarket that they’re both looking for work in that line, too, or a combination of that and housekeeping. So you’ve got some choice and I too would be happy to help out with housekeeping duties.’

‘If you have training with children…Are you saying you’re available?’ Dan’s gaze seemed to travel over each feature on her face.

When his gaze rested briefly on her mouth, her lips wanted to soften. Instead, she forced a bright smile. He was probably just thinking she was way too young for the job. ‘What exactly is it that you need for your children, Dan?’

He seemed to drag his gaze from her mouth and his brows drew together.

Dan Frazier was a little attracted to her. And from that look, he didn’t want to be.

Well, there you were. Jess didn’t want that, either. They were on the same page, even if she didn’t know his reasons for that fact.

He was heaps older than her, a widower and father of five and a potential employer. Did he even have to have any other reasons? Jess didn’t need any other reasons to stifle her consciousness of him out of existence than those she’d just listed. And that was without mentioning Peter.

‘I need someone to watch the children up to five days a week at my home for somewhere between the next three to six weeks or so. It would help a lot if that person could also take care of laundry and meals and some other basic housekeeping.’ Dan drew a breath. ‘This work I have to do is going to mean long hours at home for a while for me. As well there’ll be trips to Sydney maybe up to three days a week until it’s sorted.’ His hand rose to rub briefly at his breastbone before he dropped it back to his side.

In three to six weeks, working five days a week for Dan Frazier, Jess could really earn some money to help towards those repayment instalments. The money wouldn’t pay the debt off but it might convince Councillor Fielder that Jess could get the money to keep making decent-sized instalments.

Surely if she made some regular payments the man would have to give her more time to pay the debt off? Ella’s father should never have gone behind Jess’s back in the first place, but that was typical of Peter Rosche.

And she could work from Dan’s home. Of course she could.

‘I’d like to help you.’ Jess’s fingers tightened around the handles of the stroller. ‘I have some other children on Tuesdays and Saturdays, but I’d be willing to come to you the five other days, if you felt that could work for you. Ella would come with me, and I could give you a list of character referees.’

Not any family ones because Jess was alone in the world aside from Ella.

Her daughter started to fret in the stroller. ‘Du, du, du-u-u!’

Jess leaned forward to unstrap her daughter and lift her out for a cuddle. ‘Yes, sweetheart, we’ll see the ducks now.’

Dan watched Jess cuddling Ella, and then he looked at his children and he lifted his youngest into his arms and started towards the duck pond. ‘I could work around your Tuesdays and Saturdays.’

Dan told her how much he’d pay her per day. It was generous, even when he added, ‘For that amount, I’d be asking you to remain there until I got home late some nights, but you and your daughter would have all your meals at my home.’

‘It sounds very reasonable. I wouldn’t mind doing that for you.’ It sounded like a good way to save some money on her food bill, and Jess could drive the short distance back to her house at whatever time suited.

‘Come and meet the children. That will be a good start, and…thank you. For approaching me and asking if I needed help.’

‘You’re welcome. It’s nice to be able to help others.’ Jess dropped a kiss onto Ella’s head to hide the hope that wanted to force its way onto her face. Dan hadn’t said he’d employ her yet.

But maybe he would. Maybe Jess would be able to help Dan while the money he paid her would help Jess.

Maybe Jess would be able to stop worrying, just a bit, and have enough money to stave off the wolves until she figured out something better for the longer term. Like tracking down Ella’s father and making him take responsibility for setting her up for this fall?

Jess had tried to find Peter, just after Ella came along. He’d already disappeared by then.

Jess stuck her chin up. She could only try to sort things out, and she’d try with all her might. ‘Righto, Dan. Take me to meet your children!’

CHAPTER TWO

‘KIDS, THERE’S SOMEONE I’d like you all to meet.’ Dan led Jess Baker to the duck pond where his children had been pretending not to watch him talking with Jess after Luke chipped them about their whispers.

The children were quite off the mark with their speculations. Jessica Baker was a great deal younger than him, not to mention those kinds of relationships should be kept out of the workplace.

Dan frowned. He simply wasn’t interested in Jess. He might have noticed she was an attractive young woman, noticed her heart-shaped face, her slim straight nose, her honey-blond hair, those soft grey eyes, but he was not attracted to her.

And what mattered right now was that he needed to tell his brood that they’d be with a carer while he dealt with this business in Sydney. Deserting them when they’d only just arrived was the last thing Dan wanted to do, but he was going to have to do it.

Dan had a good business, but he was still a man with five children. He’d rented a house in Sydney and worked hard to save enough so they could buy their home out here, where things were cheaper and they could all enjoy a quieter lifestyle.

Jess Baker had told him her umbrella had bent bits, but something about the set of her chin suggested she might be a godsend, just the same.

‘Luke, Rob, Daisy, Mary, this is Jess Baker.’ Dan glanced at the child in the young woman’s arms. He couldn’t remember if Jess had said her daughter’s name, yet he had no difficulty at all remembering the soft touch of Jess’s fingers on his arm. He was…curious about her.

No. Dan wasn’t curious. He was a father on his own with five children and eighteen years of memories of the one love of his life, and Jess was a very young woman and potential employee. Dan forced his gaze to Jess’s daughter. ‘And this is—’