The Nanny Solution Read Free

vermin for the first time. Then, with a short sigh, she strode to the settee and sat down.
    â€œHave a seat, Mr. MacLeod.” Victoria offered him a fussy chair while she chose to sit beside her mother. “Do you drink tea?”
    â€œI can.” Mitch hadn’t come to fiddle with dainty teacups and tiny biscuits, but if it was needed to secure help, so be it. He glanced over at his children, who hovered at the door to this fancy room, lost little souls that they were. With a short nod, he indicated for them to enter and sit, although Matthew, his oldest, remained standing, as if on guard. Mary shared a nearby armless chair with her brother, John, while the youngest in tow, Ralph, sat cross-legged on the floor in front of them, his dark brown curls bouncing as he looked around. Their eyes widened to saucers when the tea and biscuits arrived. But when the older woman offered them nothing, they thankfully stayed silent.
    Following his gaze, Victoria looked over at the children. Mitch knew she’d caught the very small shake of his head that warned them not to beg. Her attention darted back to her mother, who, ignoring all else, supervised her maid as she filled each cup.
    Clicking her tongue, Victoria snatched the tiered silver tray of sweets and marched over to the children. “Your hands.”
    They gaped at her. “Hold out your hands,” she revised.
    They all obeyed. Mitch shut his eyes. Ralph’s grubby paws would need a good scouring. The boy could find dirt in heaven, he was sure. But, ignoring the state of the children’s hands, Victoria dropped two biscuits into each outstretched palm.
    In turn, each child whispered a polite thank-you.
    â€œMiss Templeton, I need help,” Mitch said when Victoria returned the tray to the table between them and sat down again. “I have to return to my ranch, and as good as my children are, they need a woman while traveling out there, especially considering two of the five are girls.”
    Victoria glanced again at the children. Even her mother, who’d been busy looking down her nose at the whole situation, also turned. It was Victoria who spoke. “You have four children, and only one of them is a girl.”
    â€œThe baby, Emily, is in the care of a nurse right now.”
    â€œAnd your wife, Mr. MacLeod? Where is she? Is she still in her confinement?”
    Mitch’s jaw tightened. “She died in childbirth a month ago. September 4, to be exact. I’m hoping to take the children to our ranch, the one I’ve been building for my family.”
    It was all he would say on the subject. For, no matter what, he would not reveal the truth about Emily’s unknown paternity.
    Your pride will be your downfall, Mitch. Don’t go thinking it will serve you well. When pride cometh, then cometh shame.
    The pastor of the church in Proud Bend, the town closest to his ranch, had spoken the warning before Mitch had left for Boston to collect his family, now that his new ranch was ready. Mitch had also boasted that he would pay off his mortgage within two years, and that he would then have the finest beef cattle within view of Castle Rock. What awaited him here—his wife’s death, the unexpected child—had brought the pastor’s words into sharp focus.
    He pushed aside the memory. It would serve no good purpose to dwell on things that brought shame.
    â€œNo mother?” Her eyes widening, Victoria interrupted his thoughts. “Poor things.” Her brows then knitted together as she looked over at him. “My condolences.”
    â€œThank you. Yes, it has been difficult on them.” And me, in a way you’ll never know. Mitch tightened his jaw, holding himself back from saying something that might reveal the betrayal still coursing through him. “Lacewood is seeing to my late wife’s final affairs, for I need to return to my ranch. And I can’t do so without a woman to assist me. Are you