Chapter Five
Tamara went back to the house and did up the breakfast dishes before exploring the house more thoroughly.
The second door off the kitchen led into a conveniently located laundry room, two hampers full of dirty wash waiting. She got a load going then checked out the downstairs play area before wandering back through the living room. All the pictures she admired the night before were slightly familiar now, which meant she could look closer. Some of Caleb and his brothers and sister when they were growing up. A few with a couple who had to be his mom and dad.
Lots of Sasha and Emma when they were young.
The house was cozy, but well lived in, and most definitely not clean to the corners.
It was tidy, though, and comfortable, and Tamara couldn’t find very much to complain about. She added a few things to her chore chart, along with a few questions for Caleb.
She poked her head into the girls’ rooms, just to get the lay of the land. Sasha’s room was a bit of a bear pit, clothing strewn everywhere—it looked as if she’d tried on three or four outfits before getting dressed, like some miniature fashion diva.
Emma’s room was tiny, with a smaller-than-normal bed and dresser. Her closet was open, and the toys were arranged in neat rows on the shelves, as far from the mess in her sister’s room as imaginable.
The hall bathroom that the girls shared was somewhere between messy and neat, and Tamara smiled as their unique personalities began to stand out.
That’s all there was on that side of the house, and she crossed the living space to the wing that extended to the west. Another bathroom—this one filled with the scent of Caleb’s soap, woodsy and sharp in her nostrils.
The next door opened on an office. She supposed there was a desk somewhere under all the paper and rubbish. A filing cabinet in the corner had a couple doors that couldn’t close because of the paperwork sticking out of the top. There might’ve been a credenza, and a number of chairs, but mostly piles of paper and an astonishing collection of dirty coffee cups.
Obviously Caleb spent time in here. How he found anything, though, she had no idea.
She collected the cups without disturbing anything, pulling the door shut with difficulty. Then she hesitated.
“Ahh, fuck it.” She gave in to the devil of curiosity, pushing open the final door and peeking inside.
Unlike the previous room, this one was neat as a pin. Bed made as crisp as if he’d been in the military, the entire room was spartan. A dresser as small as Emma’s was topped with a picture of the girls, their arms wrapped around each other, bright faces beaming with a field of wildflowers behind them.
It was the only decoration in the room.
The only other thing in the room was a bed, bigger than a single, but nowhere near large enough for a man the size of Caleb.
She closed the door and backed away without peeking any further, feeling somewhat guilty that for whatever reason he’d given her the master suite, including his king-size bed.
Another thing to include on the list of topics to be discussed.
Tamara worked until lunch then decided it was time to explore the rest of her environment. May as well check to see how her horse was settling in. She pulled on a pair of boots and a warm coat, dropping a hat on her head.
She glanced in the mirror by the back door and all but froze.
A week ago she’d been garbed from head to toe in nursing scrubs. Today she looked more like her older sister than ever, Karen’s cowgirl gear as much a part of her as breathing.
It felt—strange. Tamara hadn’t dressed like this on a regular basis for over ten years. She still put in her time and helped out with the Whiskey Creek ranch when necessary, but it hadn’t been her life, the ranch business. And yet now, it was, in a way.
She’d missed it. More than she wanted to admit.
She strolled outside, saying hello to the couple of dogs who rushed to greet her before guiding her toward the main barn. There were at least a dozen trucks parked near a long low building to the south that she suspected must be the bunkhouse.
To the north was a lake, and she found herself intrigued. That was one thing that was different from the territory where she’d grown up. Tamara stopped and pivoted in a slow circle, looking over the land. The mountains were much closer here, sheer and dangerous, the craggy peaks already painted with white, and the cold wind that blew toward her warned Dan’s prediction was right.
It was nearly Halloween. She could count on one hand the number of times there hadn’t been snow by that point growing up.
Past the ranch house was a small cottage she assumed was Dare’s, and she wondered if one of the boys would move into it. Just like her cousins did at home, constantly rotating houses so that everyone was as comfortable as possible.
Her gaze drifted over more outbuildings then danced back to the lake, the shining surface tempting Tamara forward. Not that she needed another dip in icy water, but it was pretty, and she promised herself a chance to walk along the bank, maybe with the girls, that evening.
Now she headed toward the barn, stepping cautiously as she entered to make sure she wasn’t interrupting.
The sweet smell of hay struck her like a memory, and she closed her eyes and leaned against the nearest wall, using her other senses to experience the moment. Animals moved slowly, the sound of creaking boards. Somewhere someone was dragging a rake, the scratching sound far more soothing than nails on a blackboard but just as distinctive.
Yeah, she’d missed this a hell of a lot.
“I didn’t hear anything about the Stones hiring another woman hand, so you must be the nanny.”
Tamara snapped her eyes open to come face-to-face with dark brown eyes set in a very young face. The woman wore her brown hair in two tight braids, her cheeks tanned from the sun. She was short, at least six inches shorter than Tamara who was modestly tall for a woman at five foot eight.
“I am. Tamara Coleman.”
The woman shoved a hand forward and shook Tamara’s with a grip worthy of a man twice her size. “Kelli James.” She looked Tamara up and down once before wrinkling her nose. “Those clothes look brand-new. When Ashton said you’d brought a horse, I was hoping you’d actually know which was the working end of a shovel.”
Tamara let out a snort of amusement. “The clothes are new, but trust me, I know shit when I see it. I can clean it up or dish it out along with the best of them.”
The irritation in Kelli’s expression vanished between one breath and the next. “Good. I couldn’t take another prissy princess in here, prancing around like some high-strung filly. You want me to show you where we stashed your horse? Ashton found a spot where you can access her without getting in the way of the ranch operations.”
“That would be great.” She eyed the other woman, then made a judgment call of her own. Kelli seemed the type to appreciate plain speaking, “You don’t look old enough to work here during the day. You playing hooky?”
Kelli gave her a dirty look. “Twenty-six, thanks so much.”
“Bullshit. Dustin looks older than you.”
“Ha. The kid turned nineteen a few weeks ago and figured that meant he was old enough to ask me for a date.” She glanced at Tamara. “He’ll probably ask you too.”
“Even though I’m so old?” Tamara teased.
“Now who’s slinging the bull?” They stopped beside a stall, and Stormy came forward, sticking his nose over the gate to bump Tamara affectionately as Kelli came around the side. “He’s a pretty creature.”
“Stormy is a sweetheart and exactly what I need when I ride.” Tamara brushed her hands on her jeans. “You’re right. All my gear is new. I’ve been working a job off the ranch for long enough it’s been important to have a trustworthy ride for the few days I did get to ride. My sister Karen knows horses, and she picked Stormy out for me a number of years ago.”
“She picked well.” Kelli ran a hand over Stormy’s nose, petting him affectionately before sneaking a carrot from her pocket and feeding it to him. She turned back to Tamara. “I’ll show you where we put your saddle and the rest of your gear, then if you want, I can take you on a little tour.”
“I don’t want to keep you from your work,” Tamara protested, wondering how quickly she could get in more trouble with Caleb, stealing away his workers.
Kelli waved off her protest. “I’m not working right now, I just like to hang around the place. Acting tour guide gives me an excuse.”
Within a few minutes it was clear Kelli wasn’t exaggerating—she loved Silver Stone, and she knew all its history, and everyone who’d worked there, and all the animals.
“That one is Cherry Blossom. Ashton figures the last owners were either fat and lazy, or mean and lazy because the horse gets damn skittish when you try to put more than a blanket on her back.” Kelli folded her arms and rested them on the cross post outside the arena where an older man with silver in his hair was walking a horse in circles. “She’s going to be a great ride. I look forward to getting up on her.” She glanced at Tamara before gesturing to herself with a hand. “Me with all my massiveness works well as a starter package for the jittery horses.”
“You’re not scared?” Tamara knew the answer, but she was interested to see how Kelli would respond because the other woman was turning out to be an absolute crackup.
Sure enough, Kelli made a rude noise before shining a wide grin Tamara’s direction. “Hell, it’s fun to get up on big things that buck.”
She winked, and Tamara outright laughed. “We’re going to get along well, you and I.”
Kelli punched her good-naturedly in the arm then gestured toward the gate. “Want to meet Ashton?”
Tamara glanced at her watch. “I’d better save it for the next time. I got a few things to do before the bus arrives, and I should do a little more unpacking.”
“Tomorrow, then,” Kelli said. “If you think you can get away for a couple of hours, I’ll make sure I’m free to take you on a longer tour. We can ride—I’ll take you to Heart Falls.”
No use in mentioning she’d already seen them, up close and personal like. “I’d like that.”
Kelli walked with her toward the parking lot. “You moving into the cottage, or Ginny’s room?”
Oh. That explained why Caleb wasn’t in the master bedroom. “Not the cottage—I need to be in the house to help with the girls. I’m right next to them.”
She stopped and waited because Kelli was no longer at her side but frozen in position a few steps back, her jaw hanging open. “Ginny’s room is in the basement. Seriously? You’re in the master?”
Dammit all, that means she had kicked Caleb out of his room. “I guess Caleb must’ve given it up so I could have a private bathroom.”
In a strangely unlike-her gesture, Kelli looked everywhere but at Tamara as if she were considering hard before speaking, her face contorted with pain before her obvious attempt at maintaining control failed. “Caleb sleeps next to his office. And Ginny refused to move into the master bedroom because she said the lingering scent of brimstone kept her awake.”
Okaaaay. It seemed there was a whole lot more baggage tied up in this situation than Tamara had expected. “I don’t know that I want you to explain any of that to me.”
“Which is code for you’re curious as get out, but you’re going to be polite and not go asking for all the dirt your first day on the job?”
“Pretty much,” Tamara admitted.
“You’re right. We’re going to get along just fine,” Kelli said with a grin, patting Tamara on the shoulder as she left her at the edge of the parking area. “Those kids deserve a hell of a lot better than they got when it came to their mama, but Caleb is a mighty sweet daddy. That’s all the gossip you’ll get from me for now.”
Which was more than enough. “I’ll see you after lunch tomorrow?”
“If no one’s eating at the house, come join me and I’ll introduce you to JP. Then we can ride for a while.”
Tamara spent the next hour and a half getting everything ready for the evening. She wasn’t a fancy cook, but she knew how to make tasty enough meals that would stick to the ribs and should still interest the girls.
Speaking of which—she made a batch of cookies. No reason she shouldn’t sweeten the pot at the start of the getting to know you business. Especially since she intended on rocking the boat a lot sooner than they probably expected.
Dan grinned at her as he opened the bus door, the dogs who’d found their way over to sit with Tamara barking excitedly as they waited for Sasha and Emma to descend. “Hello, new nanny Tamara. Welcome to Heart Falls. You have a good day?”
“Yes, thank you,” she responded simply. “Have a great afternoon.”
Sasha stormed past, Emma taking the steps more cautiously.
Tamara turned her attention to Emma. “Your backpack looks absolutely full. Would you like me to help carry it?”
Emma was shrugging out of the straps when Sasha came barreling back.
“Come on, Em. I need to show you something.” She caught her sister by the hand and dragged her forward.
Emma glanced over her shoulder at Tamara, but she didn’t tell Sasha to stop.
Tamara walked behind them as they stopped running not even ten paces away from her, Sasha speaking at high speed again. Everything about the situation made Tamara twitch, and she debated if her gut reaction was going to get her in trouble.
Probably, but who was she kidding? She could set all the goals for self-improvement she wanted, but right here and right now, she had to stick to her first instincts. She wasn’t going to let anyone push around the kids who were her responsibility.
Not even each other.
The girls disappeared into their rooms, backpacks abandoned in the hallway. Tamara picked the bags up and carried them into the kitchen, dropping them on the island. Then she leaned against the counter and waited.
Sure enough it wasn’t long before they both came storming into the room, the same way she and her two sisters, Karen and Lisa, used to after getting off the school bus, starving.
“Okay, guys.” Tamara brushed her hands as if preparing for action. “We don’t have a real calendar yet, so I put up a piece of paper on the fridge. We’ll write down anything that comes home from school that we need to worry about. If you want to empty your backpacks we can make sure that we’ve got anything new—”
“Daddy has a calendar,” Sasha interrupted.
“He does,” Tamara agreed. “And it’s got everything he needs for all the Silver Stone things, and I’m sure it’s got a whole bunch of your school stuff until now, but this is one of my jobs. Like your daddy said, I’m here to make sure you don’t miss anything fun because it’s not up on the calendar.”
Instead of reaching for her backpack, Sasha folded her arms over her chest.
So. The battle was engaged.
Tamara turned to Emma. “If you empty your—”
“Emma doesn’t want to empty her bag either.”
Tamara raised a brow. “I wasn’t asking you.”
Sasha’s voice rose in volume. “Emma doesn’t talk. I talk for her, and she doesn’t want to empty her backpack. And she doesn’t want you to write anything on the calendar, and she doesn’t want a nanny. Neither of us do.”
“Well. Thank you very much for sharing your opinion. Now you need to wait your turn because I’m talking to Emma.” Tamara turned her back on Sasha and focused on the little blonde-haired darling who was chewing madly on her lower lip. Where Sasha had gone louder, Tamara spoke with quiet authority.
“You’re a very smart little girl, and if you don’t want to talk out loud, I figure that’s your business. But that means when somebody asks you a question, or you want to tell another person something, you have to use the smarts you have up here”—Tamara tapped a finger against her forehead—“and make it clear what you’d like. You can write a note. You can draw a picture. You can act it out, but I’ll warn you I have never been good at charades, so that one might take a long time.”
Emma folded her arms over her chest, lower lip sticking out in a frustration, and for a split second she and Sasha looked like mirror statues. Stubborn, not very happy statues.
“Emma doesn’t like being bossed around—”
Tamara snapped a hand toward Sasha. “Please don’t interrupt. Your sister and I are having a conversation.”
Sasha’s jaw dropped in shock, giving Tamara just enough time to pick up where she left off, looking Emma in the eye. “Your sister is lovely, but she’s not you. If you want her to answer for you, tell her that. Poke her, throw something at her, use sign language. I don’t care how, but when I’m around she’s not allowed to simply talk for you unless you tell her she can.”
Sasha bristled. “I know what she wants.”
“You just interrupted again,” Tamara pointed out. “But fine. Let’s talk about that. I’m sure you do know what Emma wants—sometimes. Maybe even most of the time.” Tamara eyed Emma and crossed her fingers, hoping for the best. “All the time? Does Sasha get it right all the time? Does she always know what you would ask for? What you’d like to eat, or what you’d like to be for Halloween?”
A slow reluctant shake of blonde curls followed.
Thank goodness for truthful little girls.
Tamara raised a brow at Sasha, speaking even softer. “You need to be more polite to your sister, and not assume as much. I know you love her, and I know you’re just trying to help. I have zero problem with you delivering the message if Emma asks you to, and I don’t care if she uses telepathy to ask.”
Sasha’s face wrinkled in confusion, but she refused to ask what that meant.
Fine—Tamara had never believed in pandering. “Starts like telephone, turns into the word path with a y at the end. Look it up.”
She ignored them for a moment and turned to the counter, bringing forward the cookies she’d made earlier and glasses of milk. “Hungry? Want a snack before you empty your backpacks then get started on your homework?”
This was the moment where it could all go wrong. Emma reached for a cookie with one hand and a glass of milk with her other.
Sasha…
Her lower lip trembled for a second before her entire face contorted. She folded her arms on the countertop, buried her face in the crook of an elbow, and began crying at the top of her lungs.
It was pretty impressive.
Only this wasn’t the first temper tantrum Tamara had seen—she’d spent a lot of time on the children’s ward at the hospital and had seen crying and upset tears for far better reasons than having the law laid down.
Which is why it was fairly easy to ignore the fuss and reach for a cookie. She enjoyed the sweet treat as Emma glanced back and forth between the two of them, her eyes growing wider and wider as Tamara did nothing to try to settle the shrieking Sasha.
Tamara wiped her mouth daintily before speaking to Emma. “She’ll be okay. She’s just feeling a little emotional. Do you want me to help you with your backpack?”
Emma took another nibble from her cookie as Sasha wailed even louder. Finally, with amazing fortitude, she patted her sister on the back then pushed her schoolwork towards Tamara, freeing both hands for her glass of milk.
So be it. They might go deaf, but Tamara figured this was an acceptable first step in the nanny process. She popped the rest of her cookie into her mouth and did the next thing.