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“How did you end up here?”
“I wanted to escape the memories and raise my daughter away from the gossip and the painful past. Texas was an accident.”
Dax watched as she twisted her hands over and over again until the whiteness reddened. Whatever she’d left behind had hurt her badly. He knew that kind of pain and the need to escape. Jenna Garwood was a kindred spirit, someone who understood the hurt that came from loving too much.
His voice gentled. “How was Texas an accident, Jenna?”
“I thought I had more time to find a place and get settled before Sophie’s arrival.”
“But Sophie had other plans.”
Her face went soft, full of love for her child. “Yes. Once she arrived, I had to find work and a place to live immediately. A baby changes everything.”
How well he knew. But at least, he’d had the ranch and a job and plenty of money to take care of Gavin. He could hire help. Jenna was alone with a newborn to support and no place else to go.
But one thought nagged him. “You’re not the type to do this kind of work.”
“Not the type?”
“Too educated or refined or…I don’t know how to explain it but it’s pretty clear you don’t fit.”
A determined glint flickered through her eyes. “I will do whatever is required to care for my daughter. At this point in time, domestic work allows me to be with her while earning a living. That’s important to me. Regardless of my background, I am more grateful for this job than you can ever imagine.”
His respect for the tough little mama ratcheted higher. What an amazing woman. He burned with an irrational need to pull his housekeeper into his arms and promise to care for her and Sophie.
Dumb. Real dumb.
Yet he had plenty of money. He could assure they lacked nothing. He could support and protect and befriend. He could take care of them both while Jenna mothered her child and his son.
Don’t be an idiot, Dax. Women are trouble. Remember?
Finally, to quiet the noise in his head, he muttered, “I’m sorry for all you’ve been through.”
Her chin hitched higher. “Don’t be. Sophie and I are delighted with our new environment. It is absolutely perfect. That is, if maintaining my employment and residence here will be a satisfactory arrangement for you and Gavin.”
Dax’s mouth quivered. She was really cute when she talked like that. Cute and sexy.
Blast his brain! He bit down on the inside of his cheek to punish himself. She wasn’t sexy. She was a kid. A new mother in need of help.
But somewhere in the back of that blasted brain a voice laughed at his protestations.
Before he could blurt something foolish and regrettable Gavin came around the corner of the cabinets. A hint of cheese rimmed the boy’s lips. He took one look at the adults and slapped his hands onto his hips. “Are you two gonna talk all day or eat dessert? A kid could starve around here.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“MISS JENNA, are you gonna read me a story?”
Jenna sat in the padded rocking chair next to the baby crib, soft lamplight glowing golden around her and Sophie. She glanced up at the small, dark-haired boy standing uncertainly in the door of the nursery.
“Come in, Gavin.”
Clad in cartoon image pajamas, the child crept closer. “I got a book in my room.”
Jenna’s arms and back ached as never before but she couldn’t refuse Gavin’s request. After all, she was his employee. Caring for him was her responsibility. More than that, she felt an empathy with the child that she couldn’t articulate. And she had promised a story.
“Do you mind if I bring Sophie along? She’s having her dinner now.” She dipped her chin to indicate the bottle in the baby’s mouth.
He edged closer, hands behind his back, watching in fascination as Sophie’s mouth tugged greedily at the nipple. “Is that all she eats?”
“For now. When she’s older she’ll take cereal and baby food.”
“Babies don’t got no teeth, do they?”
Jenna hid a smile at the atrocious grammar but intentionally emphasized the correction. “No, babies haven’t any teeth.”
“Can’t you buy her some from the dentist? My Grandpa Joe got some there.”
The inner smile moved outward. “She’ll grow her own in a few months. Just wait and see.” Assuming she and Sophie were still here in a few months.
So far her mother hadn’t discovered her whereabouts, and on a ranch this remote, perhaps she wouldn’t. Someday Jenna hoped to be strong enough to stand up against her parents, but she never had been before. Even now, with hundreds of miles between them, she went weak and shaky at the idea of going head-to-head with the formidable Elaine Carrington.
