The Nanny's Secret by Elizabeth Lane Read Free Book Online Page A

Hummer would be hard for Chloe to climb into, and the girl would turn up her pretty nose at that rust bucket Leigh had driven here.
    Later today he’d contact his supplier for a sturdy wagon with all-wheel drive. Chloe would be pestering him for a sports car but she wasn’t getting it before spring, and only then if she showed some responsibility. For now, she and Leigh could share the new vehicle.
    Wyatt could afford as many luxury cars as he wanted; but the mountain property didn’t have enough level ground to waste on a big garage. The one at the rear of his house had room for just three vehicles—the Hummer, the new SUV he planned to buy and the Bentley that was his one indulgence, a vintage 1976 Corniche that he’d restored himself after his divorce. He’d be getting it back from the mechanic later today with new brakes. He also owned a couple of snowmobiles, which he kept in a shed, mostly for emergencies.
    A scrub jay fluttered onto a nearby pine branch, cocked its head and regarded him with curious eyes. The bird’s presence reminded Wyatt why he’d chosen to live in this remote spot overlooking the canyon. The place was wild and clean, and he’d done his best to keep it that way with solar panels on the roof and state-of-the-art recycling technology. For the past ten years he’d enjoyed his privacy here. Now all that was about to change.
    Maybe it wouldn’t be all bad. He’d enjoyed seeing Leigh come into the kitchen this morning, fresh-faced, rumpled and hastily dressed, as if she’d just tumbled out of bed. The warm, pleasant feeling had lingered like an aura—until they’d started talking.
    Leigh had barely spoken while he helped secure the baby carrier in the car’s backseat; and she’d driven off without even saying goodbye. Her silence had spoken volumes about his offer and what she thought of it.
    Wyatt didn’t take well to being denied. In fact, if he’d known how headstrong Leigh was, he might not have hired her in the first place.
    Not just headstrong, he mused. There was something unsettling about the woman. Something that didn’t add up. She was too sophisticated, too self-assured to settle for a job like this one. So why had she taken it? Her reasons from the interview didn’t hold water. If she was as experienced with babies as she’d implied, why had she been reading that baby book in the middle of the night?
    Who was she? What did she really want?
    * * *
    Leigh managed to hold herself together until she was sure the car couldn’t be seen from the house. Then she pulled off the road, pressed her shaking hands to her face and allowed reality to sink in.
    Wyatt Richardson didn’t want his precious grandson. And he expected her to talk Chloe into giving the boy up. He’d even offered her money.
    How was she supposed to deal with that?
    She knew that Wyatt was thinking of Chloe’s future. As far as he was concerned, the baby was an unlucky accident to be hushed up and sent away for the good of all concerned. Her heart rebelled at the thought of it...but she forced herself to take a deep breath and think with her head.
    Was he right? Would little Mikey be better off with two adoptive parents than with an unmarried teenage mother and a grandfather who only wanted him gone? Maybe. But even if Chloe decided to take the adoption route today, Leigh was certain it would still take time to find the right parents and get through the paperwork. And in the meantime, the baby was going to need someone on his side, to fight for hisrights and his welfare. For now, she would be that someone. And she would do everything in her power to see that whatever choice was made would be driven by love, not by expediency.
    But she couldn’t be there forever. When the time came, and she’d done all she could...
    Unable to finish the thought she started the car and pulled back onto the road.
    She arrived at the hospital thirty minutes later to find Chloe sitting on the bed, wearing sweats, flip-flops and an