A Celebration Christmas

He smiled and Lily liked the way his eyes creased at the corners. At least he had a sense of humor.

“Continue to talk and get to know each other. I’ll be right back.”

Lily nodded. It would be good for them to have a few minutes of girl time.

“How old are you, Bridget?” Lily asked.

“She’s seven,” Megan answered. “George is nine and Hannah, who you haven’t met, is five. She’s the baby.”

“I met Hannah when I first arrived,” Lily said. “She was in the living room having some quiet time with Franklin.”

“I’m the oldest,” Megan underscored.

“And I’ll bet you’re a very good big sister.”

Megan didn’t smile, but the compliment seemed to soften her demeanor a bit.

Lily heard Cullen and the voice of another man. Their tones were low and muffled. Whatever they were talking about sounded important. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but she was trying to get a sense of how long Cullen might be occupied. He hadn’t officially offered her the job and she didn’t want to assume it was hers for the taking. He might even have had other candidates to interview.

Still, Lily did her best to engage the kids in conversation, taking care to steer clear of sensitive topics that might upset them. It was more difficult than she’d imagined. That was why she was a bit relieved when George bounded back into the room holding a box of candy. It was one of those big yellow sampler types available in drugstores.

Megan shot him another of her stern glares. Maybe she didn’t want to share the chocolate. That was fine. Split among four siblings, even the big box wouldn’t go far. Lily didn’t want to take the kids’ candy.

“Since Ms. Palmer is going to be our babysitter,” George said, “we should give her something special.”

As he held out the box to Lily, Megan crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“That’s so nice of you, George, but I don’t want to take your candy. Save it to share with your sisters.”

The boy jumped up and down on one foot. “No! I want to share with you. Here!”

He thrust the box at Lily. She took it, fearing he might drop it hopping around like that.

“Okay, just one piece. Thank you—”

When she lifted the lid, something long and black and jumpy sprang out at her. Before Lily could stop herself, she screamed and threw the box into the air.

Chapter Two

An ear-piercing scream eclipsed Max Cabot’s explanation of the documents he was dropping off. This time the scream wasn’t from one of the girls; it was Lily.

Hell. What had the kids done now? Lily was his only option for a nanny. If they drove her away… He didn’t want to put them in day care.

He’d just have to make sure they hadn’t scared her off.

“I have to go, Max. I need to go see what’s going on in there. I’ll look at these and call you later.”

When Cullen walked into the kitchen, Lily was on her knees scrambling to pick up what looked like a spilled box of chocolates, shooing the dog away before he could eat them. It looked as though the dog was ahead in the race. The kids stood and watched with guilty-looking faces.

Where had the chocolates come from?

“Everything all right in here?” he asked.

Lily stood up and smoothed her skirt. “Yes. Fine. Everything is fine. Sorry to interrupt you. I dropped the candy that the kids so generously offered to share with me. I shouldn’t have screamed. I’m embarrassed.”

She screamed over dropping a box of candy?

Cullen squinted at her. He didn’t know her well, but she didn’t seem like the type to overreact. And when he saw the way the kids were standing there with certain looks on their faces and the way Hannah was looking in from the threshold between the living room and the kitchen, he had a feeling he wasn’t hearing the entire story.

“I’m just worried about…the dog,” Lily said. “I’m afraid he will get sick from the chocolate. Wouldn’t want that to happen. Would we, kids?”

As if on cue, the big, mangy mutt jumped up and put its paws on Lily’s stomach and licked her. When Lily stepped back, Cullen saw the dark streak the mutt left on Lily’s white blouse. This stain was even worse than the one that had ruined Angie’s pants.