Cattle Baron: Nanny Needed by Margaret Way

Author:Margaret Way [Way, Margaret]
Format: epub
Tags: Romance: Modern, Contemporary, General, Romance, Romance - Contemporary, Fiction, Fiction - Romance, Love stories, English Light Romantic Fiction, Ranchers
ISBN: 9780373176014
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2009-08-11T00:25:16.250000+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

THEY all came together for dinner. In the interim, with Dee looking on, offering helpful suggestions, Amber had managed to bathe Marcus and give him his bottle—no, he wasn’t breastfed, Mrs MacFarlane hadn’t considered it an option. Next, she’d settled him once again in his bouncinette, where he’d immediately returned quite happily to napping.

“The poor little soul is catching up on a whole lot of lost sleep,” said Dee. “He’s had the roughest time of the lot.”

“Let’s hope he’s coming out of it.” Amber was grateful that she and Dee were getting on so well. “It could be time. Some little ones don’t settle for a few months, then overnight they’re okay.”

“You hope! Ya know Mrs MacFarlane is her own worst enemy,” Dee half covered her mouth as she said it, as though Janis might be right behind her. “I suppose the poor girl can’t help her nature.”

“It’s sad if she feels inadequate for the task.” Amber was still not persuaded that Janis MacFarlane wasn’t a victim of PND.

But Dee harrumphed. “She’s confident enough to tell everyone off.”

“Maybe it’s the isolation,” Amber suggested. “No support and no contact from another woman from her own family. Her mother.”

“I think she has a very poor relationship with her mother,” Dee said, folding and refolding a clean bib. “Don’t tell her I sent young Mina to mind the child. That’ll set her off.”

“Surely Eliot would tell her?” Amber’s eyes widened. “Why can’t he make her see she needs all the help she can get? Mina is only too willing to mind the baby.”

“Little thing wouldn’t hurt a fly and she’s utterly trustworthy,” Dee said, very loyal to her staff. “All my girls are. I train them. They pay close attention. They were all born on the station. Went to the station school. They’re happiest here. This is their country. But it’s like I told you, Mrs MacFarlane has…issues.”

“Now that is sad,” Amber said, her voice quiet. “Maybe she needs a little time to adjust to Outback life.”

“Maybe.” Dee’s sceptical response hung in the air. “Might help if she tried to put on a happy face now and again. Not that I’d recognise it if I saw it. The lady has never wasted her charm on me. Unlike others,” she added cryptically. “I’ve seen a lot of people come and go, Amber. You either love the Outback—take to it like a whistling duck to a lagoon—or you never adapt. Cal’s mum didn’t, though a fair amount of time went by before she lit out. She loved her husband. Not that Jeff Rankin. Never married him anyway. She adored her son. I know he won’t have it, but she did. Big mess up there. Cal’s mum couldn’t cope with the life. Got to feel like a prisoner. City girl, ya see!”

“Like me,” Amber had to point out.

“Not like you.” Dee gave a quick shake of the head. “You came in from your trip with your eyes shinin’”

“That’s a good sign?”

“The best sign there is!” Dee pronounced, patting Amber’s arm.

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