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As if Manny could read his thoughts, he asked, “You found a nanny yet?”
Gabe rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “There’s no daycare here. I’ve advertised, passed the word around, talked to people, but other than a couple of teenagers, no one has applied.”
Manny knew he wouldn’t hire a teenager. After Tara and her irresponsible behavior, he would take no chances with his son.
“He’s going to the mine with you?”
“What else can I do?”
“Find a young, single, really good-looking nanny.”
A quick vision of the pretty woman in the funeral car flashed through Gabe’s head. He huffed. “Try older and mature. A.J. could use a grandma type.”
Hearing his name, A.J. dropped a handful of sand and toddled to his daddy, face alight with curiosity and pleasure. He was a happy, easygoing kid.
“My juice?” He reached for Gabe’s coffee.
“No. Here’s your juice.” Gabe snagged the sippy cup from the patio table and handed the colorful, cartoon-covered cup to his son. A.J. drank deeply, then dropped the cup and went in pursuit of a black and yellow alpine butterfly. The boy moved so fast, he could be here one minute and gone the next.
Another movement, this one to his left, caught Gabe’s eye. He rotated toward the house next door. “Looks like I have a neighbor after all.”
The place had been empty since he’d moved to town a few weeks ago, but now a young woman in stretchy jogging pants and a tank top stood on the back porch. She shook the doorknob, then shook it again.
Gabe moved from his leaning post to watch. The woman gave the door a hard yank before moving around to stare up at a window.
This was getting interesting.
“Gotta go, Manny. Either my neighbor has lost her key, or some jogger is trying to break into the house next door.”
“I thought you said Clayton was too small for crime.”
“No place is that small. I said Clayton seemed a safe place to raise A.J.”
“You’re not staying down there, Gabe. Don’t get any crazy ideas.”
Gabe grinned. “Bye, Manny.”
“Is she young and beautiful? The pretty ones can be rehabilitated.”
“Bye, Manny.”
Laughing, he ended the call, his focus captured by the young, fit woman doing her level best to climb up the side of the house. She was blond, the kind of pale Nordic blond that cost a fortune to maintain, but the hair was caught up in a casual ponytail. Even from here, Gabe thought she looked pretty, and her outfit showed off curves he didn’t want to notice.
If she was a burglar, which he doubted, she wasn’t a very good one.
Hoisting A.J. into one arm, Gabe watched for another minute before crossing the lawn. Small towns didn’t afford much in the way of entertainment, and the woman was starting to entertain him. The jogger-cum-burglar had one running shoe on the side of the house and was hopping up and down on the other in an effort to catapult herself up to the window frame.
His inner smile grew wider. Yep. Highly entertaining.
She’d just gotten a handhold when Gabe decided to announce his presence. “Morning. Is there a problem over here?”
She gave a sharp yelp. The fingers slipped, rubber sole skittered against siding and the small blonde tumbled down, landing with a thud on her bottom.
“Well.”
Gabe went to his haunches. “You all right?”
“Other than the year of life you scared out of me, I’m fine.” She put a hand to her heart and Gabe got his first good look at her face. She looked familiar.
“Do I know you?”
“Is this some kind of weird come on?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Wait. I saw you in town the other day.”
The memory hit him then. She’d been the woman in the funeral car. The one with the sad eyes and lost expression. The one he’d had trouble getting out of his head.
“Maybe,” he hedged.
She was younger than he’d thought. Really young with the kind of sweet, innocent look and wide blue eyes that some men found irresistible. Considering her age, he was glad he wasn’t one of them…anymore. “Breaking and entering is illegal.”
She made a face. It was a cute face, exasperated, embarrassed.
