The Baby Bequest by Susan Meier

Author:Susan Meier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Claire couldn’t understand why he was acting so oddly. At first she thought it was because he couldn’t handle the triplets without his brothers, but she knew that wasn’t true. He loved them enough that taking care of them came naturally.

And she loved seeing him with the babies. It was fun to watch Chas and Grant with the triplets, but Evan was something spectacular. Especially with Cody. Taylor and Annie loved Evan, but they were enamored with Grant and Chas. Cody was Evan’s little man. Every time Evan entered the room, Cody watched him with big, anxious blue eyes, waiting for him to reach into the playpen or crib and pull him into his arms. Even if he was sitting with another of his brothers, Cody would squeal until Evan took him. So Cody was perfectly content, but with Chas and Grant out of town, the girls had become slightly fussy and unpredictable, almost as bad as Evan. Claire definitely had her hands full.

“Have we had any luck with that ad yet?” Evan demanded marching into her office after the mail had come and been sorted.

Claire took a long breath. “No, Evan, nannies aren’t exactly plentiful here on the mountain.”

“Do you mean to tell me there isn’t even a lonely grandmother who’d like to watch some kids?”

“Lonely grandmothers recognize they can’t handle three babies alone.”

“An out-of-work mom?”

“Is probably watching her own kids.”

“An out-of-work anybody?”

“Brewster Lumber employs just about everybody in this county,” Claire reminded him calmly. “The people you don’t employ work in the city because they want to work in the city.” She paused and sighed. “Brewster County is more trees than people, Evan. We’re going to have trouble finding someone.”

“What about day care?”

“Twenty miles away. We’re not as progressive as a metropolitan area,” she said firmly, because he didn’t seem to be getting the picture. “You’re just going to have to work around some of these inconveniences.”

He tossed his hands in the air and stormed back into his office. “It’s no wonder my brothers and I left this place two years ago.”

Claire would have liked to make a snappy comeback to that. Specifically she would remind him that he’d not only returned, he’d told her he believed this small, sparsely populated rural area was the best place to raise children. However, she thought better of it. In spite of everything, Claire had believed they would remain friends. But after the way he’d been behaving the past two days, she knew that wasn’t going to happen. And it hurt her. Disappointed her. She missed the possibility that she could be romantically involved with someone as sexy, sophisticated and wonderful as Evan, but losing his friendship was even worse.

Seeing him pour himself into work, Claire frowned. She didn’t believe they had to give up their friendship because they couldn’t be romantic. In fact, she intended to prove it to him—even if he bit her head off on her first few tries.

Claire watched Evan hang up his phone and run both hands down his face.

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