Wyoming Cinderella
Автор
Cathleen Galitz
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One
“What kind of a father are you?”
Bleary-eyed, Hawk looked up from his computer screen to discover what appeared to be a crazy woman standing before him. Surveying her from head to toe, he was struck first with male appreciation of her lush, young figure. Next he noticed that hair the color of flaming autumn leaves had escaped its once tight bun and was now hanging to the side like a hat askew. A tear in her nylons ran up the front of one shapely leg, disappearing beneath a faded skirt that he found too short to suit his own professional standards. On a personal basis, however, he found it quite pleasurable to consider. The angry sparks shooting out of those astonishing green eyes made him glad the stranger didn’t appear to be armed.
It had never occurred to him that he might need a guard in such isolated Wyoming backcountry.
The question the woman posed resonated in Hawk’s mind like a sonic boom echoing off canyon walls. It was the same question he’d been asking himself ever since his wife had died, turning his life upside down and leaving him to assume full parental obligations without a clue as to how difficult that was going to be. It had come as quite a shock to this well-respected corporate executive to discover that it was far harder keeping track of two headstrong children than overseeing a company of fawning employees tripping all over themselves to do his bidding.
And speaking of independent children, one didn’t need particularly impressive powers of deduction to figure out who had let this intruder into his house. Flanking her on either side, the culprits, his children—five-year-old Billy and his four-year-old sister, Sarah—each held one of the interloper’s hands.
Not the kind of man used to having his parenting ability questioned, Hawk didn’t take well to such impolite interruptions—even on those rare days when everything was going right. Today was not such a day. He had burned breakfast, fought with Sarah over the necessity of combing her hair, stubbed his toe on a toy truck parked in the middle of the kitchen and spilled orange juice on an important contract. All the while trying to juggle a multi-million-dollar deal in cyberspace. One more power outage like the last one and Hawk vowed to throw his state-of-the-art computer right out the window and purchase one-way tickets back to New York for the whole family.
“I beg your pardon,” he said in a chilling voice that he usually reserved for imbeciles and unwanted salesmen.
“As well you should,” the crazy lady responded, waving a broken high heel at him. Clearly the businesslike demeanor that set many a corporate executive trembling in his expensive Italian shoes didn’t affect her in the least. “I have half a mind to report you to Social Services!”
“Half a mind?” Hawk mumbled in feigned confusion, making the threat sound like an indictment of the woman’s mental state.
As if laboring under the impression that he suffered from a dull mind, she formed her words carefully and delivered them slowly.
“I am your neighbor, Ella McBride, and at the risk of offending you, I’ll repeat myself. I want to know exactly what kind of a father lets his children wander willy-nilly about the countryside without any regard to what might happen to them. Do you have any idea how dangerous that can be? Need I mention snakes, bears and ne’er-do-wells?”
Shaking his head in confusion, Hawk turned his full attention upon his children who quickly ducked behind their unlikely protector. Dawning comprehension registered in his rugged countenance. Terror leapt in his eyes. His stomach churned at the thought of what could have happened to his children all the while he assumed they were safely tuned in to their favorite cartoon in the den.
“Do you mean to tell me that you two left this house without my permission?”
A roar would have been less frightening than that softly put question.
Ella felt a twin tremor run through the children cowering behind her.
The children felt her quiver as well.
Never in all her life had a voice affected her so. Like whiskey, it had the power to make her feel loose-limbed and giddy. Making an improvised comb of his fingers, the man ran them through a thick shock of hair the color of molasses. His sideburns were tinged with silver. Very distinguished looking, Ella decided, tucking a stray tendril of her own unruly hair behind her ear. Instantly she regretted the self-conscious gesture.
She wasn’t here to gawk at this gorgeous hunk of manhood, but rather to give him a well-polished piece of her mind. Ella knew better than to accept his sudden concern and elegant surroundings at face value. Some of the nicest homes in which she’d been placed had housed the worst monsters.
How dare her hormones sabotage her self-righteous anger!
It mattered little to Ella that he didn’t look at all like the villain she had envisioned on her death march over here. He had neither the broken blood vessels nor bulbous nose characteristic of a heavy drinker, nor the hooded eyes of someone who has something to hide. In fact, the man surrounded by stacks of important-looking papers was exceedingly handsome.
That all too feminine observation only served to make Ella even angrier. As far as she was concerned the question she asked was purely rhetorical. The fact that he was more interested in what was going on with his computer than with his children was answer enough.
“Just because you have money doesn’t give you the right to divest yourself of your parental obligations,” she snapped.
After traipsing first from her property to his and then from one exquisite room after another, searching for someone to accept responsibility for these two dirty-faced cherubs, Ella’s sense of moral indignation was on full burn. Surely anyone living in such luxury should be able to afford decent child care.
“Come out from behind there, you two,” Hawk said, rising from his chair. “And tell me what’s going on.”
It irritated him to see Billy and Sarah cowering behind a complete stranger like she was Saint Michael the archangel sent expressly to rescue them from his fury. Hawk knew that they were giving this young woman the impression that, on top of being negligent, he was an ogre, too.
The pair stepped timidly out from behind her to face their father’s anger. Ella kept a hand glued to each child’s shoulder, giving them both a reassuring squeeze.
Though the concern reflected in this man’s eyes made her doubt he’d ever actually laid a finger on either of them, Ella remembered being beaten for far less in the name of “discipline.”
“Maybe it would be better if I talked this over with the children’s mother,” she suggested.
Hawk couldn’t have agreed more. “I’m sure it would. Unfortunately, since their mother just recently died, I’m afraid I’ll have to do.”
Ella was taken aback. Despite her best effort to remain angry, her heart softened.
“I’m sorry,” she offered lamely. “How long ago?”
“Not quite a year.”
She was sorry for asking. Aside from it being none of her business, there was little she could do to help other than to bend down and give both children a deeply felt hug. As tears welled up in little Sarah’s eyes, Ella felt moisture rise to her own. She knew firsthand what it felt like to lose a mother at such a young age.
As much as she would have liked to comfort the poor child, time was a commodity that she scarce could afford. Glancing at her watch, she wished she could somehow stop its hands from ticking onward by sheer willpower alone. Regrettably, time refused to accommodate her. Any other day, she might have welcomed an adventurous hike through the thicket to meet her rich new neighbors. Today, however, she was late for an interview. And while it may not be the most glamorous job in the world, it was one she desperately needed. The growing mountain of rejection letters piled atop her desk confirmed the dismal reality that unrecognized creativity paid even less well than slinging hash.
Ella checked her watch again.
If her truck decided to cooperate, the trip into town would take the better part of twenty minutes, leaving barely enough time to compose herself before facing the prospect of yet another dead-end waitressing job. That time frame did not allow for the return hike over a game trail connecting her property to that of the children who had shown up unannounced on her doorstep earlier that morning.
The pair had looked as bedraggled as the litter of kittens that somebody had so “kindly” dumped on her property a couple of weeks ago. Mewling in the rain, they begged to be taken in and properly cared for. Belatedly Ella realized that it had been as great a mistake to offer these young callers their fill of chocolate chip cookies and milk as it had been to feed the kitties that had promptly taken up permanent residence beside her rusty wood-burning stove. An orphan herself, Ella had a soft spot in her heart for any abandoned creature.
Telling herself that these children were not her responsibility did little to ease her conscience. When those chocolate-smeared faces looked at her as if they’d somehow stumbled upon the home of the good fairy, she could no more abandon them than she could have let any hapless stray starve to death.
“We’ve been living with our grandma and grandpa,” Billy offered helpfully.
“Just until I could arrange to move the family out here,” Hawk interjected. He didn’t want this young woman to think he was the kind of father who dumped his responsibility on his aging parents. Parents who were no longer physically up to the challenge of raising young children.
“I was hoping a geographic change would do us all good,” he continued. “Unfortunately, I misjudged the difficulty of running a business via computer. Power outages are such common occurrences way out here in the boon-docks that I have to admit to having second thoughts.”
The look of chagrin upon that handsome face made him appear far less formidable than he had only minutes before. In fact, Ella found herself fighting the surprising urge to gather him up in her arms and comfort him as well. The provocative thought sent blood rushing to her face, making her feel all of sixteen again.
“On top of everything else,” Hawk proceeded, eager to share his worries with another adult. “The lady I hired as a nanny ran off with a truck driver two days ago, leaving me completely in the lurch.”
By way of explanations, Ella had to admit this one was first class. She’d come marching over here all set to turn this man into the local Social Services agency and found herself mentally retracting every rotten name she had called him on the way over. All things considered, some of them had been unusually harsh.
“I’d plugged the kids into a video an hour ago hoping I could buy enough time to complete a crucial business transaction. It never occurred to me that they would wander out of the house. I know it’s no excuse,” he scolded himself.
Squatting down to look his children directly in the eyes, he did something that took Ella totally by surprise. He gathered them into his arms and said, “I don’t know what you two were thinking, but don’t ever, ever do that again. I don’t know what I’d do if anything were to happen to you.”
Had she not been standing there, Ella wondered whether this macho man might have actually allowed himself a tear or two of relief. Watching him, it was hard not to wonder how differently her own life might have turned out had her own father shown half the concern that this man was displaying.
Glancing up in her direction, Hawk suddenly became very businesslike. “I’m sorry to have burdened you with my troubles, Miss McBride.”
“Please call me Ella.” She wanted to make certain these children knew she wasn’t completely forsaking them. “As your closest neighbor, I’d be more than happy to take both of you for a walk sometime so your daddy can get caught up on his work. Just make sure you ask in advance and that he escorts you over to my place.”
Checking her watch again, she came to accept how hopelessly late she was. Short of catching a flight with the next scheduled superhero, there was no way she was going to make that interview on time now.
“I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you,” Hawk said, genuinely contrite. “I’m deeply indebted to you. If you haven’t already gathered as much, my children mean everything to me.”
Even so, Hawk hated to be beholden to anyone. If there was a way to settle the score, he would like to get it out of the way now before this young woman discovered how truly wealthy he was. Having encountered more gold diggers in his life than he could count without the aid of a calculator, he was leery of accepting favors from anyone. Long ago he had given up on the idea of anyone doing him a good turn without an ulterior motive.
“I’d be more than happy to pay you for your trouble,” Hawk offered, reaching into his pants pocket for his wallet.
Ella looked startled.
Hurt.
“Certainly not,” she responded stiffly. “But if you wouldn’t mind me placing a long-distance call on your phone, I’d really like to try rescheduling an interview that I’m in the process of missing right now.”
Again she felt the man’s eyes perusing her appearance. Knowing she must look frightful after trekking through the underbrush, Ella scowled at him. After all, it was his fault that she looked so disheveled. Her sense of moral obligation had taken its toll. Beneath the heat of the day, she had wilted like a store-bought rose. Her best shoes, which had not been designed for overland excursions through tangled brush, were completely ruined. And a glance in the mirror near his desk showed red marks across her cheek, scratches that attested to branches smacking her in the face. By the time she straggled inside this luxurious home, she looked better prepared to apply for a job as a safari guide than a waitress.
She most certainly did not need this particular hunk to make her feel even less attractive than usual. Abandoned by her father at birth and orphaned by her mother’s premature death ten years later, Ella was past the preferred age of adoption when she entered the state’s social system. Each time a prospective parent passed her over for a baby, a toddler, or a prettier, blond, blue-eyed little girl, she became convinced that her own freckled-faced, red-haired—the bane of her existence—plain looks were not going to get her anywhere in this world. So instead she chose to cultivate other attributes like diligence, competence, loyalty and a fertile imagination that could take her far beyond any institutional walls.
The children’s father didn’t return Ella’s scowl. Instead a dazzling smile spread across his face. One could almost see the proverbial lightbulb going on over his head.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, stepping forward and pinning her with a gaze that could best be described as predatory.
Startled, Ella took a step backward and tripped over the arm of a plush chair.
Hawk reached out a hand to stop her tumble in midair.
At his touch, Ella felt a whoosh of air leave her lungs. Her lips formed a perfect “O” that filled the room with an exclamation of astonishment. A zing of electricity passed from his hand to hers, locking them in a current of pure sexual energy. Ella’s pulse skittered. Her eyes widened in surprise. His, she noted, were the most remarkable shade of gray shot through with golden flecks, and they sparkled with male awareness. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he was no more immune to the electricity generated by their touch than she was.
Ella wasn’t sure what had gotten into her. Never in all her life had a man affected her so immediately. So entirely.
“Are you okay?” he asked, a knowing grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Had her knees actually turned gelatinous? Ella wondered as she attempted to steady herself. She might not be the prettiest doll on the shelf, but she’d always prided herself on being graceful. And relatively quick-witted.
This klutz act was downright embarrassing.
She hastened to assure herself as much as him. “I’m fine. Really.”
Removing her hand from his was like tearing two magnets apart. It took an act of supreme willpower. Grateful that she had somehow managed to break contact with him physically, Ella deliberately stepped around the offending chair and placed it between them as a barrier.
Hawk suppressed a grin. Surely this sweet little thing didn’t think he was going to chase her around the furniture like some lecherous villain in a moldy, old situation comedy. As a successful international business entrepreneur and widowed father of two, he was way past playing those kinds of silly games. Burdened by responsibilities which he shouldered himself, he hadn’t entertained thoughts of a sexual nature for so long that it was actually comical. For goodness’ sakes, Ella McBride was just a child herself. A virgin, too, he’d bet by the way she’d reacted to his touch. Why, the poor thing was practically hyperventilating.
“There’s no need to look so frightened,” he said, hoping to avoid having to instruct her on how to breathe deeply into a paper bag. “I have no intention of forcing myself on you. I just want to offer you a job.”
Ella’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What kind of job?”
“None that requires you dressing up in a sexy French maid’s outfit if that’s what you’re worried about,” he assured her with an irresistible smile that had her reaching for that chair all over again.
Digging her nails into its velvet upholstery, Ella did her best to look aloof and sophisticated. It was obvious that this man found her a funny, naive little fool. Which, of course, she was. What would anyone as obviously rich and handsome as this man want with an ugly duckling like her? Certainly not the sexual dalliance that she had imagined for the split second that had sent her pulse racing full speed down that long, well-traveled road of her imagination.
“Not only do I feel terrible about causing you to miss your interview,” Hawk assured her. “I really could use your services. Clearly my children are taken with you.”
Considering that it might well take a crowbar to pry them from her side, it was a gross understatement.
“And I really do need your help.”
“Are you asking me to be your nanny?” Ella asked in dismay.
What was it about her that gave off such strong maternal vibes? She felt far too young to be pigeonholed so early as a full-time caregiver. Having just discovered how full life could be on her own, she wasn’t overly eager to give up her freedom just yet.
Misunderstanding, Billy began jumping up and down in excitement. “Yeah, you can be our new mommy!”
Even though she didn’t know exactly what was going on, Sarah, too, began dancing in place and chanting, “Mommy, mommy, mommy!”
“Nanny!” Ella and Hawk corrected in chorus.
Seeing the becoming blush coloring her cheeks pink as apple blossoms, Hawk tried smoothing over the awkwardness of the moment. “That word has such a menial connotation. Couldn’t you just think of it as helping out a desperate father and children?”
Desperate was too mild a word for how Hawk was feeling. Over the past year he had developed a new appreciation of what such “menial” work entailed. Backbreaking, exasperating, and unappreciated, it nonetheless had intrinsic rewards that could never be found in a boardroom. After Lauren’s death, Hawk came to realize just how much distance his job had put between him and his family. For a time he’d felt more like a stranger than a father. The children were only just now beginning to open up to him. Being included in their nighttime prayers, reading them their favorite stories and feeling their little arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug was all the incentive he needed to work out whatever problems might arise. Working at home would give him the opportunity to forge that precious connection with his children. Having someone to help him oversee them while he attempted to run a business was the perfect solution to provide for their safety and his sanity.
Price was no object in procuring this young woman’s services, and “no” was not an answer Hawk was accustomed to accepting.
Ella fended off the suggestion with a wave of her hand. “It’s kind of you to offer, but I really don’t think so.”
“Please,” little Sarah implored, her huge blue eyes filling with hope.
Ella groaned.
She recognizing the throbbing behind her right eyeball for what it was.
Obligation overload.
That all too familiar sense of having to put others’ needs before her own was so deeply ingrained from years of service that it had left worry lines permanently etched upon her forehead. Passed over for adoption herself time and time again, Ella was frequently farmed out to foster homes in need of a strong back and free baby-sitting services. Her friends had called her Sister Mac in jest, making fun of her devotion to other people’s children—and reminding her of the heartbreak she inevitably suffered every time those ties were severed.
Years of being used by the system had taught her the folly of putting herself second to others more fortunate.
“Pleeeeeease,” echoed Billy, dragging the word and her heart into several pieces.
“Do you mind my asking what you planned on making if you got that job in town you mentioned?” Hawk asked before the final decibel of his son’s pleading had died away.
The offended look on Ella’s face indicated that she did indeed mind. Nonetheless she rattled off a figure that included a fair margin for gratuities. She may not be the prettiest girl George Abrams would ever hire on at the Watering Hole, but she had a way with customers that unruffled feathers and transformed frowns into smiles. People found Ella’s genuine interest in them so refreshing that even the crustiest curmudgeons usually left a generous tip behind.
Hawk didn’t so much as blink at the sum she quoted. “I’ll double it. And include room and board as well as a generous up-front signing fee. How soon can you move in?”
“Move in?” Ella squeaked. “Why, I don’t even know your name!”
“William Fawson Hawk III,” he supplied in a formal tone, extending her a smile and his hand once again. “But you can just call me Hawk.”
Ella backed away from it as she would from a snake curled up in the grass. She wasn’t about to risk physical contact again with anyone who held such phenomenal power over her sensibilities.
“If you’re a decent cook, I’ll triple the amount. The kids can testify to the fact that I can even manage to screw up a basic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and even their unnatural fondness for microwave macaroni and cheese has worn thin.”
“I can cook, and I can provide you with references, too,” Ella admitted grudgingly, feeling herself slipping into the vortex of the tornado which was gathering speed around her. Her head was spinning. Was this guy for real?
Looking around at the sophisticated decor, Ella knew she wasn’t dealing with just any crackpot. It appeared this man was an excellent businessman, just as smooth as the expensive bourbon she’d spied behind the wet bar. Did he realize that he was offering her an opportunity to make enough money over the course of a year to pay for the college education that had been eluding her since high school graduation? If she continued taking classes one at a time as she could afford them, Ella figured she’d be old enough to collect Social Security by the time she actually earned a degree.
Why she wasn’t jumping all over this man’s extraordinary offer was beyond her.
It certainly wasn’t because she minded doing an honest day’s work. She had been doing that for as long as she could remember. Nor did it have anything to do with not liking the two little imps who had wolfed down an entire sack of cookies at her rough-hewn table. They were utterly adorable. Not to mention that they could well prove to be the most valid audience to whom she could safely subject her stories. Even though a heartbreaking stint of trying to make it as a full-time writer/illustrator hadn’t yielded the slightest opportunity of being published, Ella wasn’t ready to part with her dream until she absolutely had to.
Perhaps it was because as an aspiring artist, she was reticent about giving up her solitude.
Perhaps it was simply that she had already wiped enough runny noses and bottoms to last her a lifetime.
Or perhaps it was because the impact of this man’s eyes was as powerful as his touch. A touch, she reminded herself nervously, that sent her tumbling over a chair like some cheap slapstick comedian.
“How soon can you start? Will you need help moving in?” Hawk pressed.
The lopsided smile he had passed on to his son deepened the dimple in his chin that Ella found so fascinating. Such charm ought to be bottled, she thought, dimly aware that she was being danced into a corner without so much as feeling her feet touch the ground.
“I can help,” Billy volunteered, throwing his little chest out in a manly fashion.
A woman would have to be made of marble to have resisted such chivalry.
Ella capitulated with a sigh that said she already regretted the decision. “Moving isn’t a problem. I don’t have much to bring over,” she explained simply, then added with an authority that belied her youth, “but if I’m going to work for you, we need to establish some ground rules.”
Hawk tried not to grin too broadly. He didn’t think he could keep a straight face if she started setting forth conditions to safeguard her chastity.
She didn’t. Instead Ella startled him with an admonition that had nothing whatsoever to do with protecting her lithe young body.
“I’ll agree to your terms as long as number one, I can have every Wednesday evening off to attend a college class I’ve already signed up for, and number two, you agree not to undermine my authority in any way. I want free reign to handle the children how I see fit. I have to warn you,” she added looking him squarely in the eye with all the earnestness of someone about to disclose a long, checkered criminal record. “My methods are less than conventional.”
“With hair such an outrageous color of red as yours, I’d expect no less,” Hawk proclaimed, filling the room with the warm resonance of a laugh that left Ella’s face flushed.
