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Charlie reached out her arms to Chloe. “You wear pull-ups?”
“Pull-ups!” she sobbed anew. “No dy-pee! I big girl!” She flung herself into Charlie’s arms.
“Of course you’re a big girl,” said Charlie. “You’re a very big girl. Let’s get you a pull-up. We’ll take off this silly diaper. Okay?”
“Siw-wee dy-pee!” she said, with a shuddering breath, looking down for the first time and noticing the twins. Her curiosity piqued, she temporarily forgot her distress.
“I didn’t know what she was crying about. She kept trying to take off her diaper, but she’s not potty-trained yet,” Josh said.
“But she’s being potty-trained. She wears pull-ups. They’re like disposable padded panties. You hurt her feelings when you made her wear a diaper.” She asked the girl, “What’s your name?”
“This is Chloe,” said Josh. “And this is Jace.” He moved Jace to stand in front of him. “Jace, this is Aunt Charlie.”
His huge blue eyes grew wider. “You’re Aunt Charlie? I know about you. You make cookies and climb rocks and teach kids to ski. Are you gonna teach me to ski?”
Charlie tried to keep her voice casual. “You have two children you never mentioned?”
“They’re my nephew and niece. I’m keeping them for the next two weeks.”
“I didn’t even know you had siblings. Are they your sister’s kids or your brother’s?”
“My sister. But she passed away about a month ago.”
He held his finger to his lips and darted his eyes toward Jace. Of course, he didn’t want to talk about Jace’s mother’s death in front of Jace, but the boy had already heard.
“My Momma and my Daddy died,” he declared.
“Oh,” she said, her heart wrenching for the pain in his big green eyes. Her mind flew as she tried to decipher the meaning of this revelation. Was this the reason Josh was trying to rush Olivia into marriage? It explained so much about Olivia’s reticence. No wonder she didn’t think Josh was in love with her. He would have to convince her his love for her had nothing to do with needing her help with his niece and nephew. Maybe Charlie could help make that possible. Josh had really straightened out his life, and he deserved to be happy.
“Okay,” said Charlie. “Well, we’ll have plenty of fun today. They can stay with me and Ellis and Micah.”
“Jace has to go to school,” said Josh.
“I could skip today,” offered Jace, with a wistful look at Charlie. “I never learn anything anyway.”
“Sorry, buddy. You can’t skip school.” Josh’s deep dimples appeared on his cheeks.
“But I want to play with Aunt Charlie. Aunt Olivia said Aunt Charlie would teach me to ski.”
“I can teach you to ski,” said Josh. “But not until the ski trip.”
“But I want Aunt Charlie to teach me,” he pouted.
“I’ll teach you,” Charlie promised. “You look like a natural skier.”
“I do?”
“Let me see you stand with your feet together and bend your knees a little bit and lean forward on your toes.” He complied with earnest enthusiasm, and she nodded approval. “Yes, I can tell you’ll be a great skier.” She glanced at Josh who was grinning at Jace’s efforts. “Or were you going to put him on a board? I can teach either one.”
He sighed. “Right now, I’ve just got to get him to school and get to work. Come on, Jace. Let’s go.” He touched Charlie’s arm before he left. “Charlie... This means a lot... I mean, I really owe you. I hate to take advantage of you, but I’m desperate.”
Charlie felt an unexpected thrill, as she shivered from his touch. She tried to hide it, bouncing Chloe in her arms. “No problem. The boys will be glad to have a playmate today. And anyway, we’re like family. You’re practically like my big brother.”
She hoped he couldn’t detect the lie. Her reaction to his touch felt nothing like a brother’s. But she needed to remedy the awkwardness between them so Olivia would believe in Josh’s affections. He could never know how he made her heart race. No one could know.
JOSH LET OUT A BREATH as he got on the elevator with Jace. It was so hard to be around Charlie and act normal. He could tell the ski trip was going to be torturous. At the wedding, he’d covered his feelings by pretending to be hostile. But he could hardly act antagonistic toward her when she was helping him out in a crisis. And it didn’t help she looked so darned attractive. How could she look that good at 7 a.m. without a stitch of makeup on? And strangely, seeing Chloe in her arms made her look even more appealing.
Was it possible Olivia was right? Would Charlie agree to marry him so he could gain custody of his niece and nephew? He imagined how that conversation would go. “Yes, I did ask Olivia to marry me first, but she turned me down. So now I’m asking you. And I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to help with the kids while you’re studying in law school.”
