Triple Trouble by Lois Faye Dyer Read Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t agreed to deliver and set up their beds today. The only thing I’ve got that comes close to cribs are a couple of large dog crates in the garage.”
    Charlene laughed, the sudden mental image of the three little girls sleeping in boxy carriers with gates was too preposterous.
    “Exactly,” Nick said dryly. He shifted Jackie onto his hip and unhooked Jenny from her seat.
    He’s much more comfortable with the babies after only a day. Charlene was impressed at how easily he’d managed to extricate Jenny from her seat while holding Jackie.
    She quickly gathered the girls’ blankets, stuffed animals and various toys from the floor mats where the girls had tossed them and finished unbuckling Jessie to lift her out of the car. She slung a loaded tote bag over her shoulder and bumped the car door closed with one hip.
    “I’ll unload the bags after we get the girls inside,” Nick told her, gesturing her ahead of him to the walkway that curved across the lawn to the front entry. “Ring the doorbell,” he said when they reached the door. “Melissa should be here—that’s her car parked at the curb.”
    Charlene did as he asked and heard muted chimes from inside the house. Almost immediately the door opened.
    “Hello—there you are.” The woman in the doorway was small, her petite form sturdy in khaki pants, pullover white T-shirt and tennis shoes. Her dark hair was frosted with gray and her deep-brown eyes sparkled, animated behind tortoise-shell-framed glasses. “How was the trip?”
    “Exhausting,” Nick said bluntly. “Melissa, this is Charlene London. Charlene, this is Melissa Kennedy, my housekeeper. Charlene’s going to take care of the girls, Melissa.”
    “Nice to meet you.” Melissa’s smile held friendly interest. Charlene’s murmured response was lost as Jenny wriggled in Nick’s arms, her little face screwing up into a prelude to full-blown tears. Nick stepped inside and handed Jackie to the housekeeper before he cuddled Jenny closer.
    “Hey, what’s wrong?” He carried the sobbing little girl down the hall. Charlene followed him into the living room, Melissa bringing up the rear with Jackie. As often happened with the three little girls, when one of them began crying, the other two soon followed. Charlene rubbed Jessie’s back in soothing circles and slowly rocked her back and forth. She only cried harder. Melissa murmured to Jackie and gently patted her back, but Jackie’s sobs increased until they matched her sisters’ in volume.
    “Jessie needs a diaper change.” Charlene raised her voice to be heard over the combined cries of the three babies.
    “Can you and Melissa handle them while I bring in the bags from the car?” Nick asked, looking faintly frazzled.
    “Of course,” Charlene responded with easy confidence.
    Nick didn’t look convinced but he didn’t argue with her.
    “Did the delivery crew set up the cribs, Melissa?” he asked.
    “Yes, and the changing tables and dressers too. I put away the diapers and the other supplies in their room, and I had the men carry the high chairs into the kitchen,” she replied.
    “Good.” Nick gently patted Jenny’s back with one hand as he strode across the living room toward the stairway, located just inside the front door. “Let’s get them upstairs and I’ll bring in the diaper bags.”
    Charlene followed Nick and Melissa up the open stairway, with its wooden railing. The second-floor hallway branched to the right and left. Nick turned left and soon disappeared into the third room, Melissa and Jackie a step behind. Charlene brought up the rear with Jessie, slowing to glance briefly into the first two rooms as she passed. One held a white, wrought-iron bed, the floor carpeted in light green Berber. The other was a bathroom, fitted in pale wooden cabinets with green marble tops.
    The house was lovely but the sparse furnishings clearly stated that this was a bachelor’s home. Downstairs in the living room, she’d noted a