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“And once he semiretired?”
“I hired someone who knew what he was doing and gave him a little capital. In three years he’d increased our profits by fifty percent.” Liam led Hadley on a tour of three different bedrooms. “This one is mine.”
“I think it would be best if Maggie is across the hall from you.” Hadley had chosen a cheerful room with large windows overlooking the backyard and soft green paint on the walls. “That way when she wakes up at night you’ll be close by.”
While Liam wasn’t worried about being up and down all night with the infant, he preferred not to be left alone in case something went wrong. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to live in?”
“You’ll do fine. I promise not to leave until I’m sure Maggie is well settled.”
That was something, Liam thought. “If you have things under control for the moment, I need to get back to the barn. I have several calls to make and an owner stopping by to look at his crop of yearlings.”
“Maggie and I will be fine.”
“Candace should be back with supplies soon, and hopefully we’ll have some baby furniture delivered later today. I’ll have a couple of the grooms empty this room so it can be readied for Maggie.”
Hadley nodded her approval. In her arms, the baby began to fuss. “I think it’s time for a change and a little something to eat.”
“Here’s my cell and office numbers.” Liam handed her his business card. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you, I will.”
The short drive back to the barn gave Liam a couple minutes to get his equilibrium back. Kyle was a father. That was going to shock the hell out of his brother.
And Liam had received a shock of his own today in the form of Hadley Stratton. Was it crazy that she was the one who stuck out in his mind when he contemplated past regrets? Granted, they’d been kids. He’d been twenty. She’d barely graduated high school the first time she’d made an impression on him. And it had been her riding that had caught his attention. On horseback she’d been a dynamo. Out of the saddle, she’d been quiet and gawky in a way he found very appealing.
He’d often regretted never getting the chance to know anything about her beyond her love of horses, and now fate had put her back in his life. Second chances didn’t come often, and Liam intended to make the most of this one.
* * *
The grandfather clock in the entry hall chimed once as Hadley slipped through the front door into the cold night air. Shivering at the abrupt change in temperature, she trotted toward her SUV and slid behind the wheel. An enormous yawn cracked her jaw as she started the car and navigated the circular drive.
In order for Hadley to leave Liam in charge of Maggie, she’d had to fight her instincts. The baby was fussier than most, probably because she was premature, and only just went to sleep a little while ago. Although Liam had gained confidence as he’d taken his turn soothing the frazzled infant, Hadley had already grown too attached to the motherless baby and felt compelled to hover. But he needed to learn to cope by himself.
Weariness pulled at her as she turned the SUV on to the deserted highway and headed for Royal. Her last few assignments had involved school-age children, and she’d forgotten how exhausting a newborn could be. No doubt Liam would be weary beyond words by the time she returned at seven o’clock tomorrow morning.
This child, his daughter, was going to turn his world upside down. Already the house had a more lived-in feeling, less like a decorator’s showplace and more like a family home. She wondered how it had been when Liam and his brother were young. No doubt the old Victorian had quaked with the noisy jubilance of two active boys.
Twenty minutes after leaving the Wade house, Hadley let herself into her one-bedroom apartment. Waldo sat on the front entry rug, appearing as if he’d been patiently awaiting her arrival for hours when in fact, the cat had probably been snoozing on her bed seconds earlier. As she shut the front door, the big gray tabby stretched grandly before trotting ahead of her toward the kitchen and his half-empty food bowl. Once it was filled to his satisfaction, Waldo sat down and began cleaning his face.
The drive had revived her somewhat. Hadley fixed herself a cup of Sleepytime tea and sipped at it as she checked the contents of the bags a good friend of hers had dropped off this afternoon. After seeing what Candace had bought for the baby, Hadley had contacted Kori to purchase additional supplies. She would owe her friend lunch once Maggie was settled in. Kori had shown horses when she was young and would get a kick out of hearing that Liam Wade was Hadley’s new employer.
Hadley had a hard time falling asleep and barely felt as if she’d dozed for half an hour when her alarm went off at five. Usually she liked to work out in the morning and eat a healthy breakfast while watching morning news, but today she was anxious about how things had gone with Liam and Maggie.
Grabbing a granola bar and her to-go mug filled with coffee, Maggie retraced the drive she’d made a mere five hours earlier. The Victorian’s second-floor windows blazed with light, and Hadley gave a huge sigh before shifting the SUV into Park and shutting off the engine.
The wail of a very unhappy baby greeted Hadley as she let herself in the front door. From the harried expression on Liam’s face, the infant had been crying for some time.
“It doesn’t sound as if things are going too well,” she commented, striding into the room and holding out her arms for the baby. “Did you get any sleep?”
“A couple hours.”
Liam was still dressed for bed in a pair of pajama bottoms that clung to his narrow hips and a snug T-shirt that highlighted a torso sculpted by physical labor. Hadley was glad to have the fussy baby to concentrate on. Liam’s helplessness made him approachable, and that was dangerous. Even without his usual swagger, his raw masculinity was no less potent.
“Why don’t you go back to bed and see if you can get a little more sleep?”
The instant she made the suggestion, Hadley wished the words back. She never told an employer what to do. Or she hadn’t made that mistake since her first nanny job. She’d felt comfortable enough with Noah to step across the line that separated boss and friend. For a couple months that hadn’t been a problem, but then she’d been pulled in too deep and had her heart broken.
“It’s time I headed to the barn,” Liam said, his voice muffled by the large hands he rubbed over his face. “There are a dozen things I didn’t get to yesterday.”
