Anna Kelley held her breath as she slid open the envelope from University of Idaho, the last of the law schools that she was waiting to hear from. She’d applied to five others, with U Idaho being her ‘safety’ school. It wasn’t her first choice, but she had the best shot of getting into it in case the others said no. And they’d all said no. U Idaho was her last chance. She opened the letter and breathed a sigh of relief.

“What are you looking so happy about?” Her stepmother, Elise Cummings, walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She was on her way to work as the office manager of Powers and Thompson, Riston’s largest law firm. As usual, she looked like she’d just walked out of a fashion magazine. Her pale blonde hair fell sharply to her chin, and her royal blue dress and high heels showed off her perfect figure and showcased toned calves. A strand of icy pearls completed the look.

Anna glanced down at her own faded sweats and pushed back a wavy piece of hair that had escaped her messy ponytail. Today, of all days, she was not going to allow Elise to make her feel less-than. She lifted her chin and smiled.

“I just got some good news. University of Idaho accepted me to law school. I’ll be able to commute from here, which will save money. I’m excited.”

“Hmmm. You may want to open your other letter. Looks like it just arrived today.” Anna followed Elise’s gaze to the white envelope that sat next to the one from U Idaho. Anna hadn’t even noticed it. She turned her attention to it now and recognized the return address.

“It’s from the law firm where you work?”

Elise nodded. “Yes, they are handling your father’s estate and drew up his will.”

Her father had died several weeks ago after a long illness. Anna was still grieving his death, but he’d been sick for so long that when he finally passed, there was a sense of relief, too, that his suffering was over.

Anna relaxed a little. “It’s just a formality, then? I know what’s in my father’s will.”

“You may want to take a look. Your father revised his will shortly before he died.” There was a gleam in Elise’s eye that Anna didn’t like. She’d seen that look before and it was never good news. Elise was not a good person, and she’d never hidden the fact that she hated Anna. She had what some might consider a good reason, but Anna had always hoped that eventually, Elise would forgive her. With a pit in her stomach, she ripped open the envelope. And when she looked up, there were tears in eyes as she faced Elise.

“How could you do this?”

Elise stirred some sugar into her coffee before saying, “Whatever do you mean? Your father just did what he thought best. For all of us. But, it doesn’t look like there will be any money for law school. And I think it’s best if you move out. I want to turn your bedroom into an office. But, I’m not completely heartless. I’ll give you thirty days.”

“How did you convince him to do this?” Anna’s father had been very sick for years, and the past six months he’d been bedridden and confused as his memory deteriorated.

“It wasn’t hard. I just told him that you’d received full scholarships to the schools you applied to, so you didn’t need his money, but we did. After all his medical expenses, there’s really not much left. Just enough to keep the house going and to pay for school for Tommy and Hayley when it’s time for them to go.”

“I could fight this. He wasn’t in his right mind.” Anna knew her stepmother hated her, but she’d never known how much.

“You could,” Elise agreed. “But you’d need to hire a lawyer and that costs money. And do you really want to deprive your siblings of the chance to go to school? You once told me that you’d do anything to make up for what you did. Do you remember that?”

Anna had said that, and she’d meant it. “Yes, I remember that.”

“So, it’s settled, then. I have to run or I’ll be late. Have a great day.” She smiled sweetly and then breezed out the door.

Anna felt a hard cramp sweep across her stomach and made it to the bathroom just in time. Once she was done dry-heaving and crying, she went back to the kitchen, poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and tried to figure out what to do next.

* * *

“Do you want scrambled with cheese or over easy?”

Ben was deep into the problem he was trying to work out and his housekeeper, Betty Higgins, interrupted his train of thought.

“I’m not hungry,” he said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. His stomach betrayed him by growling a moment later.

Betty smiled and he could tell she was trying not to laugh. He was lucky to have her. She was a retired schoolteacher and her children lived all over the country. Being a live-in housekeeper kept her busy and he could tell she enjoyed the work, having someone to look after.

“Fine. I’ll have scrambled with cheese.”

He was sitting at the expansive, marble-topped island in his kitchen. There was a soft cooing sound coming from the chair next to him and he leaned over to take a peek. His eleven-month-old niece Taylor was sleeping peacefully. One of her feet poked out of the baby blanket. Even though she was wearing soft cashmere booties, he readjusted the blanket and tucked it securely around both feet. He rubbed his eyes and gratefully nodded when Betty came over with more coffee.

“Late night?” she asked as she set down a plate of eggs, potatoes and toast in front of him.

“I didn’t sleep much last night,” he admitted as he tucked into the breakfast.

“I picked this up for you.” She handed him a tube of gel.

He looked at the label and raised his eyebrows. “Baby Teething Gel?”

“She’s teething. That’s why she’s crying as much as she is. It hurts. Rub a little of that along her gums and it will ease the pain.”

“Thanks. I will.”

“Any luck finding some nanny candidates?” Betty had been after him since the day he’d hired her six weeks ago to get a live-in nanny as soon as possible. She’d said he couldn’t do it all himself and he knew she was right. He’d had part-time help in Silicon Valley and was still exhausted. He knew he needed someone full-time, but wanted to wait until he was all settled into the new place in Riston.

“Yes, I have four I’m going to set up interviews with.”

“Good. I have another suggestion, if you don’t mind.”

He chuckled. He knew she was going to share her opinion whether he minded or not.

“Don’t interview them here.”

That surprised him. He’d planned on having them out to the ranch. It was an impressive property with several hundred acres, a sprawling five-bedroom main house and a caretaker’s cottage, which is where Mrs. Higgins lived. It was a gorgeous home, with white columns out front and a wrap-around porch. The office where he’d planned to interview the nannies was plush, with a working fireplace, built-in mahogany wood cabinets and the entry way was the same rich marble used in the kitchen countertop.

“You don’t want them to know how wealthy I am?”

She nodded. “You’re not just wealthy. You’re a billionaire, Ben, and you’re in your early thirties and not half-bad looking. I’m just looking out for you. You want a nanny that is here for her, not for you.”

“Smart thinking. That didn’t even cross my mind. I suppose it should have.” Ben still wasn’t used to the word billionaire. It didn’t seem real. Yet, he wasn’t just a billionaire, he was a multi-billionaire. He’d started out as a lawyer for a venture capital firm. Then the entrepreneurial bug bit and he left to help grow a start-up social media company with cutting-edge technology his college roommate developed. Ben came on as CEO and helped take the company public. Once they figured out how to monetize the technology, through online advertising, it was like they turned on a money faucet with no off switch.

“So, where do you think I should meet them?”

It was clear that Betty had thought this through. “Why don’t you meet them at that cute coffee and ice cream shop at River’s End Ranch, Sadie’s Saloon?”

Ben hadn’t been there yet, but had heard the coffee and ice cream was outstanding. Still, it seemed like an odd, out of the way place. He’d expected her to say somewhere along Main Street.

“Why there?”

“You can kill two birds with one stone. It’s a short walk to the Kids’ Korral. You can stop in there and check it out. It’s an excellent day care and they do babysitting, too. You need an emergency back-up plan for Taylor in case your nanny or I am not around. Plus, if you schedule them in the afternoon, it’s not busy then, so you won’t be bothered. You’ll be taking Taylor, of course.”

He nodded. “Yes, I thought they should meet her and see who they’ll be caring for.” They were quiet for a minute and then he laughed, realizing another reason she’d picked that spot. “If she gets fussy, she won’t be bothering too many people. That’s brilliant.”

Mrs. Higgins looked pleased by the compliment.

“Finish your eggs. You’ve got some interviews to schedule.”

He winked at her. “Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

Anna’s best friend, Tammy Burns, was already sitting at a table at Sadie’s Saloon when Anna arrived. Anna joined her at the table and Tammy pushed a tall to-go cup of coffee towards her.

“I ordered for you. Caramel nut, black, one sugar.”

“Thank you.” Anna looked around the cozy shop. There were a few people in line for coffees and only one other table was occupied. It was the table next to theirs and there was just one man, with his back to them, and a baby carrier on the chair next to him.

“You’re right, this place has the best coffee. I’ve been coming here just about every afternoon since I started at Melissa’s shop.” Tammy was the assistant manager for the bookstore at the ranch, since the owner, who was also a published author, wanted to spend more time on her writing.

“How’s it going so far? Do you still love it?” Tammy graduated the year before Anna and as an English major, she’d had a hard time finding interesting work in Riston. She wasn’t able to leave Riston for several years due to family issues and had almost given up and was about to take a waitress position when the opportunity came up to work with Melissa. Anna was thrilled for her.

“I do. I’m going to miss our current assistant though. She’s been great, and she was with Melissa since she opened.”

“She’s going to graduate school?” Anna thought that was what she remembered.

Tammy nodded. “She’s going to UCLA to get her MBA.”

A thought occurred to Anna. “Will you need to hire someone to replace her?”

“No. I’m sorry. I wish we could. But Melissa hired me knowing Anna was leaving. I’ll just be working more shifts than she did and Melissa will be in the rest of the time.”

“Okay.” Anna took the lid off her coffee to help it cool more quickly and leaned over to inhale its aroma. It smelled like comfort, warm and toasty. She took a sip and tried not to think about her situation, which was growing more distressing by the day.

“How are you doing? Anything look promising?”

The concern and worry in her voice made Anna’s eyes well up. Tammy was truly the only person left who cared about her.

“I’m hanging in there. But no one seems to be hiring and I’ve been applying for anything and everything. There just isn’t much out there.”

“How much time do you have left?”

“Two weeks before I’m supposed to be out.”

“Well, I talked to my mother, and she said you’re welcome to stay with us for as long as you need to.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” Tammy lived with her mother and their place was a tiny two-bedroom. If Anna stayed there, she’d be sleeping on their living room sofa and she didn’t mind, but she didn’t want to disrupt their house. She’d do it if she needed to, but it was a last, though very welcome, resort.

An older woman with silvery white hair and dancing blue eyes stopped by their table. She’d just bought a coffee and looked like she was on her way out.

“I thought that was you, dear. Who is your friend?”

Tammy’s face lit up when she saw the older lady. “Hi, Jaclyn. This is Anna. We’ve been best friends since third grade.”

Anna held out her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Jaclyn held onto her hand and looked deep into her eyes as if she was searching for something. She finally nodded and let go of her hand.

“Lovely to meet you dear. The fairies were right again. They always are. Enjoy your coffee and may I suggest you get a refill and relax a spell. You are where you are supposed to be.”

Anna’s jaw dropped. Tammy had told her about Jaclyn, the eccentric older woman who lived by the RV park in a yard filled with garden gnomes and dozens of white rabbits that followed her everywhere, even into the house. She also said she was very sweet and perfectly normal except for the messages she received every now and then that she said came from fairies. The legend also went that Jaclyn and her fairies had a hand in match-making all of the Weston siblings, and many of their cousins and friends.

“I have to run. Simon won’t be happy if his coffee is cold when I get there.” Jaclyn headed off to deliver the coffee. But before she left, she had one parting comment. “I hope we’ll see you at trivia tonight?” She turned Anna’s way. “You should come too, dear. It’s a lot of fun and will get your mind off things. Bye, now.”

“So, that’s Jaclyn,” Anna said.

“The one and only. You really should come to trivia tonight. Jaclyn’s right. It will get your mind off everything.”

“Maybe I will. How does she know that, though? I couldn’t make sense of half of what she was talking about.”

“That’s just Jaclyn. Maybe it will become more clear, or not. One never knows.” Tammy laughed, and then glanced at the clock and stood up.

“I have to get back to the shop.”

Anna stood to go, too, and went to put the lid back on her coffee.

“Don’t rush out on my account. Why not take Jaclyn’s advice and stay and relax? Sadie makes awesome ice cream. Treat yourself to the sea salt caramel fudge ripple. It’s to die for.”

“Maybe I will. That does sound good.” Anna got in line to get an ice cream as Tammy left.

* * *

Ben watched as Taylor stretched, yawned and then fell fast asleep again. He’d fed her when he first arrived here, so if all went well he’d have at least an hour or so to talk to four nannies before she woke up. He scheduled them fifteen minutes apart and stressed that it was important that they show up at their exact designated time, not five minutes before or after. According to his watch, nanny number one was due to arrive in one minute.

“Ben Turner?”

He turned at the brusque voice. A woman in her early fifties stood before him, with mostly gray hair that was scraped into a severe bun. Thick black glasses, a gray cardigan, black pants and sensible shoes completed the outfit. He stood and held out his hand. “You must be Abigail Green? Please have a seat.”

She sat across from him and folded her hands together in front of her, like a steeple.

“Thank you for coming. So, Miss Green, your resume is impressive. You’ve worked with children for many years. I’ve noticed that your recent positions didn’t last for more than a few months?”

“That is correct. How do you young people say it? We weren’t on the same page regarding disciplining the children.” Abigail pressed her lips together in a firm line as if she found the line of questioning distasteful. Too bad.

“Could you explain that please?”

“I don’t believe in babying children. I do believe in structure, rules, and consequences if those rules are broken.”

“Okay. Here’s a situational question. If a baby cries, what do you do?”

“Assuming I know that nothing is wrong—well, I let the baby cry, of course. Eventually, they stop.”

“Are you saying that if my baby, Taylor here, cried, you would not pick her up to comfort her?”

Abigail scoffed. “No, probably not. Unless I suspected something was wrong with the child. Otherwise, I don’t believe in spoiling them.”

“I see. Well, I thank you for coming. I will be in touch.”

“Thank you for your time as well.”

Abigail left and Ben ripped her resume in half. Whoever he hired would cuddle his Taylor whenever she needed to be comforted. He had a few minutes before the next candidate, so he decided to get a refill on his coffee. On his way back to his table, he noticed the pretty blonde woman sitting behind him. He hadn’t seen her come in before as his back was to her, but he’d overheard her talking to her friend about looking for a job.

He doubted she’d be interested in a live-in nanny position, though. She didn’t look the type. She had long, stylish hair, and was wearing trendy jeans, well-worn cowboy boots and a very flattering light blue sweater that showed off her shapely curves. It was just as well. Having a live-in nanny that looked like that would be too distracting.

“You the guy looking to hire a nanny?”

Ben turned at the laid-back voice and almost dropped his coffee.

“Angel Givens?”

“That’s me.”

Ben asked her to sit down and tried not to stare at the piercing in her nose, or the one in her eyebrow or the one in the middle of her lip. It was hard to know where to look. Her blonde hair was shaggy and fell to her shoulders. The last inch of her hair was dyed green which helped to give her an overall otherworldly look. Denim overalls and a rainbow tie-dyed shirt added to the colorful picture.

“So, tell me about yourself,” he asked.

Angel shrugged. “Not much to tell. You need someone to watch your kid. I can do that.”

“You’ve worked as a nanny before?” Ben ruffled through his papers and found her resume. She didn’t have a lot of experience but she had worked at a daycare center and for a private family, though now that he looked more closely he saw the red flags that he’d missed earlier. She was only at the day care center for about six months and the private family’s last name was also Givens.

“I have. I sent in a resume.” Her tone was slightly defensive and prompted Ben to ask, “Why did you leave the day care center?”

She scowled. “They let me go.”

“Oh? why?”

“They said I called out sick too many times and was late too often. I really wasn’t, though.” She lifted her chin defiantly and Ben sighed. He had one final question before he ended the interview.

“Are you related to the Givens family on your resume?”

Angel smirked. “That’s a good guess.”

“So you didn’t really work as a nanny for our own family?”

Angel shrugged. “I watched my younger sister now and then. Close enough right? I had to put something on my resume.”

“How old was your sister? Have you ever cared for an infant?”

Angel wrinkled her nose. “My sister is ten now. And I don’t do diapers. Never have, never will.”

“Okay. Well, my niece is a baby. She needs a little help still. I’m afraid this isn’t a good fit.”

Angel stood and shrugged again. “Fine by me. See ya.”

As Angel walked off, Ben felt a bit of panic rising. He hoped that nanny number three would be better. If she was relatively normal, he was inclined to hire her on the spot. These three were the best resumes he’d received. He’d been sure that he’d be able to cross hiring a nanny off his to-do list. Even though he’d stepped down as CEO, he was still the largest shareholder and an adviser to the company he helped found, and there was a steady stream of work and phone calls involved with that.

“Well, hello there.” A gorgeous, petite blonde woman stood before him. She wore a tailored cream-colored dress that fit her maybe just a little too snugly so that it was very clear that she had not an ounce of extra fat on her very toned figure. Her hair was shoulder length and styled into a fluffy mane of curls. Her heels were so high he wondered how she managed to walk in them.

“Nadine Johnson?” She looked like she was ready for a date instead of an interview.

“That’s me!”

“Please, have a seat.” He found her resume and went through her experience with her. She had the best experience so far. It appeared that she’d worked for several local families during school and summers. But something about her just seemed not quite right.

“We’re so glad that you’ve moved here,” she gushed.

“Oh, why’s that?”

“Well, you’re so famous and you’ve done so much. I hear that you bought the old Wellington Ranch. That is a beautiful property. Is that where we will be living?”

She sounded very, very eager to move in. And now Ben knew what bothered him.

“Yes, this is a live-in position. Do you think your boyfriend would have a problem with that?”

She leaned forward and smiled. “I’m totally single, so that won’t be a problem.”

Ben was desperate, so against his better judgment, he gave her another chance to prove herself, but he was fairly sure of how she’d answer.

“I think Taylor needs a diaper change. Would you mind taking her into the rest room and changing it for her? I have a diaper right here.” He went to reach in Taylor’s bag for a diaper, but Nadine was already on her feet. She looked as though she was going to be sick.

“I’m sorry, but I have to run. I hope to hear from you soon.”

He sighed with relief as she tottered out on her high heels, going so fast he was sure she’d fall over.

“Mr. Turner?” A polite voice enquired. Ben turned and smiled. Finally, a proper nanny had arrived.

“You must be Emily Pearson. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please have a seat.”

But instead, the preppy young woman with the navy skirt, white sweater, matching headband and a perky ponytail bit her lip and looked uncomfortable.

“I’m so sorry. I got the phone call on my way here to meet you so wanted to tell you in person. I’ve just received and accepted a job offer, so I won’t be able to interview for your nanny position. I’m moving to Manhattan—this is my dream position. I hope you understand.”

Ben sighed. He did understand. All too well. “Of course, and I thank you for telling me in person.” He smiled. “You don’t by any chance know any nannies you could recommend?”

Emily bit her lip again. “I’m so sorry. I don’t. Good luck, Mr. Turner.”