Page 49 of One Bride for Three Single Dads

Chuck, the company scheduler, had come over to clear up the final schedule with Ambrose and Harrison, and everything was total bedlam. I didn’t even hear the doorbell. Eventually Emily just walked in. I knew that she was there because I heard Alexis introducing herself politely to someone I didn’t see.

Nervously I looked around. Clothes all over the couch? Open suitcases? Toys arranged in front of one of the three carry-ons?

This was the impression I was going to give Emily of my professional career as a nanny?

Yep.

When I turned around, I met her stuck-up expression dead-on. She twisted her mouth to one side, puckering her lips.

“Looks like I got here just in time,” she said wryly.

“Emily, this is Alexis,” I smiled, pretending not to notice. “Cole is in the kitchen. And this is Harmony.”

“Oh, I—”

I held the baby out to her. What was she gonna do? She looked startled, but took Harmony from my arms.

“Oh, look at you…” she cooed, instantly softening.

Chuck came up behind her, holding his notepad in his palms and scowling at the glowing screen.

“Jolene, right? Do you have the Wi-Fi password? I just need—”

“Oh, I’m not Jolene!” she gasped, startled as she pivoted, shifting the baby to her other hip.

He reddened, his tanned cheeks getting a little bit darker. “Oh! I just thought…”

His eyes flickered to the baby.

“Oh, she’s not mine!” Emily objected, chuckling nervously. “I mean, I’m not the nanny. You probably know the baby already. I mean… um… I mean… Jolene? Wi-Fi?”

“Chattanooga! With a couple of zeros instead of O’s!” I announced, then pretended I had to urgently stare at the other side of the room.

“That’s not a very secure password.” Chuck smirked at her conspiratorially.

“Right?” Emily shrugged. “I know what you mean. Internet security is very important to me.”

Chuckling quietly, I just left them to talk to each other. That is a move that I like to call the “peel off.” I put two people together, then peel myself away.

I still had a lot of work to do and barely noticed when Emily left. If she had critical things to say about me or my job, she was just going to have to save it for when we got back. She left me a discreet baggie of cannabis treats safely tucked away from curious little fingers, and drove off.

Flying doesn’t bother me, so I didn’t take any. They must have been strong. Or Boone is kind of a lightweight. After he took it, he went to sleep for the whole flight. The. Whole. Flight.

Harrison and Ambrose tried to mess with him, but he is much less fun when he is unconscious.

So instead, I had to keep an eye on them to make sure they weren’t going to glue his nostrils shut or anything, keep an eye on the kids to make sure they weren’t too cranky and uncomfortable, and on top of that, find a way to sneak in fifteen minutes of sleep here and there.

There was no time for hanky-panky.

My first trip in a private jet, and I haven’t even gotten to join the mile-high club!

Finally the sun rises, and we fly over some clouds. I notice the light has changed. I peer through the tiny, oval window and see bumpy green hills below us. It’s far away, but is that it?

“Ambrose!” I whisper across the aisle, trying not to wake up Alexis where she sleeps curled up on the leather bench.

“Babe?” he answers, sleepy and stretching.

I point to the crumpled, dark green area below me that looks like a velvet dress lying wrinkled on the floor. “Is that it? Are we there?”

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