The Bachelor Boss (2 page)

The older woman wore expensive clothing appropriate for this chilly March day in Denver—a wool and cashmere coat, fur-lined leather boots and a silk shawl around her shoulders that probably cost as much as Hannah’s entire outfit. Every hair was in place and her makeup was expertly applied. She could have been anywhere between seventy-five and ninety, Hannah thought, because although she was frail and in a wheelchair, she looked both youthful and old at once.

Hannah returned her attention to the man pushing the wheelchair. When he laughed at something the receptionist said, his smile flashed white and even. She hadn’t been privy to that smile in the parking lot, unfortunately. Still, the most noticeable things about him were the same remarkable blue eyes as those of his grandmother’s.

He scanned the room for a place to sit. The only open spot was next to Hannah.

He didn’t look any happier than she felt. “Do you mind if my grandmother sits here? There’s a spot for her wheelchair.”

“Please do.” Hannah watched him as he patiently maneuvered the wheelchair into place and tenderly helped his grandmother remove her scarf and coat. In this throwaway society, some people behaved as if the elderly were dispensable, but not this man. He was irate over his car but, given the way he handled the older woman, Hannah could forgive him for that.

Settled, the old lady leaned toward Hannah, put her gnarled hand on Hannah’s smooth one and whispered, “Don’t mind him. You know how men are about their cars. He’s been cranky lately. It’s something about falling behind at work and needing to spend more time at his office. The car was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. We’ll have it fixed in no time.”

Hannah wasn’t sure it was that simple, but she smiled gratefully at the woman. “Thank you. I really am sorry.”

The lady waved a dismissive hand and changed the subject. “This wheelchair is for the birds. I hope my broken foot heals quickly so I can get out of this thing. I drove my car until I was in my eighties, you know. Unfortunately, my doctor says I’m healing more slowly than I would have when I was younger.”

Hannah looked toward the cast on the elderly woman’s foot. “How did it happen?”

“I tripped on a Chihuahua, of all things! My friend brought her little dog with her when she came to visit. I’m not accustomed to having a dog around and it got tangled in my feet.” Her laughter was like chiming bells. “Imagine that, ninety years old and tripped up by a dog smaller than my purse! My name is Lily, by the way. What’s yours?”

Charmed, Hannah told Lily her first name.

“Oh, Hannah, you should have seen the fuss when I tripped on Wilbur! Imagine naming a dog Wilbur—whatever happened to names like Spot and Rover?” As Lily regaled Hannah with her dog incident, her grandson leaned back in his chair and wearily closed his eyes. He was asleep by the time his grandmother’s name was called, Hannah knew, because his features had softened and the frown lines on his forehead were relaxed. He was even more striking in repose.

Without looking at Hannah, he jumped up and wheeled his grandmother toward the attending nurse. Lily waved goodbye to Hannah over her shoulder.

“I’ll put you in room three,” she heard the nurse tell them as they disappeared down the hallway toward one of Dr. Harvey’s examining rooms.

Hannah picked up the daily paper on the table beside her, but her mind was focused on other things like Trisha’s tuition, her eight-year-old son Danny’s need for incidentals at school, not to mention heat, lights and food. Danny’s jeans were already high-water and they were only a month old, a fact she considered a minor emergency. Kids at school had teased Danny about his too-short pants and her son had come home in tears. He also needed new shoes...again. What’s more, Trisha had been right about Hannah’s clothes, they were showing their age. Some of them were old enough to have cycled back into style again.

Then there was the mortgage she and Steve had taken out on the house. She remembered how giddy with happiness they’d been. Their first home—she’d loved it the moment she’d seen it. Small and cozy, it had two bedrooms on the first floor and a third under the eaves on the second. They’d remodeled the kitchen so it was sunny and bright. They’d drunk coffee at the small island every morning and discussed their plans for the day. She couldn’t lose her house, not the one she and Steve had chosen together, the one in which she was raising her son. It was her last real physical connection to her late husband. Besides, where would they go?

She knew she shouldn’t worry about her life—even what she would eat or drink—because it did no good. God already knew what she needed. Worrying couldn’t add an hour to her lifespan, so why do it? That’s what it said in Matthew 6.

Why had it become so difficult lately to trust this and to act on it?

The past seven years since her husband’s death had tested her. Sometimes she feared she’d lost sight of God’s plan for her. But, if fear was an avalanche, then God was the mountain. Here she was again, feeling fear sweep over her, blocking her vision of the future, even though she was rooted on the mountainous strength of God. Sadly, it was difficult to remember that when the surge was so wild and furious.

Dr. Harvey’s nurse peeked out and beckoned her back to his office. “I’m squeezing you in,” she said softly. “He can give you a couple minutes, but he’s very busy so it might not be long.”

“Anything is great. Thank you.”

Dr. Harvey breezed into the room looking as fit as he had when Hannah had worked there. He was a little grayer, perhaps, but otherwise exactly the same.

“Hi, Hannah. It’s good to see you.” He shook her hand vigorously before dropping into his chair. “I have a patient waiting so I don’t have much time, but I understand you are in a hurry to talk to me. My nurse used the word
panicked.
”

“She was right,” Hannah said ruefully and explained the situation. The more she spoke, the deeper the look of concern grew on the doctor’s features.

When she was done, he grimaced. “I hate to tell you, but I don’t have an opening and, frankly, don’t know that many others do either. Budget cutting, belt tightening, you know what I mean. If I hear of anything, I’ll make sure my nurse contacts you. Leave your information with me.”

He appeared regretful as he added, “I’m sorry, Hannah. I really wanted to be more help than this.”

She picked up her purse from the floor and smiled gamely at him. “I know. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.”

He opened the door for her. “Please, keep in touch. If I hear
anything...
”

She walked down the hall to the waiting room, shoulders squared, head high. She didn’t want Dr. Harvey, who’d been so kind, to know the devastation she felt.

* * *

Tyler observed Dr. Harvey as he examined his grandmother’s foot and studied the recent X-ray. His mind was only partially on the conversation between the other two. Why did that careless woman in the parking lot have to be so beautiful? With her cloud of red hair and delicate features, she was unique-looking. It was aggravating enough to have to repair the car—but it was worse that he couldn’t get the one who did the damage out of his mind.

“How’s the pain?” Harvey asked.

“Still there,” Lily told him.

“You told me it was better,” Tyler said with a frown. Lily had a way of not divulging things to him when she thought he might worry.

“It is, but it’s
still there.
” Lily pursed her lips and cocked her head in the way she had when she was trying to charm someone. “I think my grandson is getting tired of taking care of me, doctor. Not that I blame him. I don’t sleep much.”

“Three to five hours a night is about it,” Tyler felt tired just saying it.

“And I like his company,” Lily added coyly.

“Four or more games of Scrabble every night.”

Tyler could feel the doctor’s appraising eyes on him. “You look exhausted.”

Tyler didn’t want to admit it, but the ninety-year-old woman was running him ragged.

“Have you considered live-in help?” Dr. Harvey asked. “Lily will be incapacitated for quite some time yet.”

“They all quit for one reason or another.” Tyler tipped his head slightly toward Lily to indicate the cause for the abdications.

“Oh, Tyler can take care of me. He’s doing a wonderful job.”

Tyler bit his lip to keep from disagreeing. He was mediocre, at best. And his business was suffering badly from his frequent absences.

“I know of someone who might help you. She worked for me while she was in school. If we’d had any openings, I would have hired her myself. She’s outstanding with the elderly. In fact, she even took care of my father for a time.” Dr. Harvey copied a phone number onto the back of his business card. “Call her if you want. She’s a widow with a young son. Her last name is St. James and she will do an excellent job for you.”

Tyler politely took the card and put it in his coat pocket. He’d hired other excellent caregivers for Lily and she’d worn them out. Though Dr. Harvey was a good judge of character, should he hire someone to care for his grandmother on a single recommendation? Maybe he was so tired he was grasping at straws.

He was going to bring up the subject in the car on the way home, but before he could, Lily announced out of the clear blue, “I wish that lovely young woman we met in Dr. Harvey’s office could help me, the one who ran into your car. She’s a Christian, you know. I could tell. She wore a cross around her neck.”

“A necklace isn’t sure-fire proof of anything. Besides, she obviously can’t drive. You’ll need transportation to and from the clinic.” Had the woman not been quite so lovely, Tyler might have objected to her more.

“I’m going to pray about it,” Lily said firmly and closed her eyes as if to start immediately.

Lily’s faith was rock-solid, Tyler knew. Living in Lily’s orbit had taught him many things. If she wanted to pray, more power to her.

Despite what he’d said to Lily, he did need to consider the idea of calling the woman Dr. Harvey had suggested. If he didn’t start paying more attention to his import and export business, it wouldn’t exist much longer. He needed to be in the office daily. In and
awake,
that is.

Lily’s eyes popped open and she said, “I’m thinking a little sunshine might be good for me. It would be nice if you closed up shop for a bit so we could go on a trip. Hawaii is always lovely.” She squirmed in her seat. “It’s just so
boring
with my foot in this cast.”

A trip? Hadn’t his grandmother heard a thing he’d said about falling behind at the office, that he needed to work more, not less?

Lily had just given him the reason to act. Tyler made up his mind. He would call the woman whose number was in his pocket as soon as he got home.

He’d simply keep her in line until he knew she could do the job to his satisfaction. That had to be easier than taking Lily to Hawaii.

Besides, he had an escape clause—he could always fire the woman if Lily didn’t run her off first.

* * *

Ty sat at his desk and stared out the window. Getting a good lead on someone to help Lily was a relief.

Lily hadn’t sounded completely delighted by the prospect, but Tyler didn’t care. Ever since they’d left the doctor’s office yesterday, Lily had doggedly insisted that he go right out and find that “sweet young thing” who hit their car. Lily said that she was the only one she wanted to care for her. She even promised to try not to be difficult, if she could get her way in just this one thing. He’d believe that she could behave when he saw it.

Lily even liked the idea of having a little boy in the house when Ty told her the caretaker the doctor recommended had a child. She and Ty’s grandfather had raised Ty from the time he was a small child. Ty’s father had died not long after he was born and his mother never quite recovered from the shock. Adele Matthews had had a difficult time dealing with her own life. She had nothing left to give to a small child. That left Ty in his grandparents’ care with a mother who flitted in and out of his life, until she’d passed away five years ago.

Lily went into a rhapsodic account of the wonderful times they’d had together when Ty was young. It would be just like “old times.”

He couldn’t argue with her. It was true. The whimsical, impulsive Lily and her indulgent husband were about as much fun to live with as any grandparents a child could have. They bought him a pony—Lily’s idea—and taught him to golf in the backyard, at his grandfather’s insistence. They’d also agreed Ty could eat ice cream for dinner for a week to see if he really could get sick of it (he didn’t.) More amazing yet, Lily had let him keep a snake in a big fish tank in his room. His grandfather didn’t even seem perturbed when it escaped and was lost for three days in the ductwork of the house. A maid discovered it, Ty recalled, right before she handed in her resignation.

Sometimes Ty thought he’d grown up to be more serious and mature than either of the adults in his life. At times he wished it weren’t so, like now, when he spent so much time trying to please his grandmother.

Lily had already chased off several caretakers with her demands and she was
trying
to behave. Hannah would learn soon enough.

Whatever Lily wants, Lily gets.

Chapter Two

“O
ne thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three...” Tyler was counting under this breath when he heard the tinkle of the small crystal bell. He’d given that wretched bell to his grandmother when he was twelve years old to commemorate her seventieth birthday. He’d never expected that twenty years later he’d be jumping to the sound of that same faint ringing that had once intrigued him.

With a sigh, he saved the document file and closed his computer. Then he put a smile on his face and walked across the hall to his grandmother’s bedroom. He’d lost count of the times he’d done this tonight.

“Hey, there. What are you doing awake? It’s after midnight.”

“Oh, Tyler, I just can’t sleep.” Lily Matthews looked like a petulant child in her pink flannel nightgown. “I think it’s that new medication I’m taking. Maybe some hot tea would help.” She looked at him slyly through those bright and ageless eyes. “And a game of Scrabble. That always puts me to sleep.”