The Bachelor Boss (8 page)

“My grandmother and Clara were in school together when they were girls,” Ty was saying. “They’ve kept in touch ever since. About six months ago, Clara moved back to Denver to live with her sister and nephew. She and Lily were able to renew the friendship.”

“Such as it is,” Lily snorted. “We never see each other in person. Poor thing. She’d been crying when I called her this morning. She tried to pretend she had a cold, but I don’t think so. She’s not telling me everything.” Lily looked directly at Ty. “You’ll have to go over there and see if she needs help. What if she’s sick and hasn’t been to a doctor?”

“She lives with her sister, doesn’t she?”

“Her sister doesn’t drive. They depend on Clara’s nephew to take them wherever they need to go.” Lily turned to Hannah. “Something’s wrong, I tell you. I won’t rest until I assure myself she’s okay.”

Hannah recognized that tone of voice. Lily would not be dissuaded.

“I baked two batches of cookies yesterday. Perhaps you’d like to send some over to your friend?” she said mildly.

Lily clapped her hands. “Excellent idea! No one will question why you’ve come if you’re delivering something from me. You can go right now, Ty. Take Hannah with you. Both Danny and Irene are here. I’ll be fine.” She promptly shooed them away.

Out in the hall, Tyler asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“One, it will set Lily’s mind at ease. Two, I make really great cookies and it might cheer up her friend. It’s a small thing and won’t take long. What’s the worst that can happen? We waste an hour and an elderly person gets a couple dozen cookies as a gift? Besides, you hired me to make her happy, didn’t you? Do you want me to drive?”

“Your car doesn’t have enough leg room for me.” Even his frown couldn’t do any damage to Ty’s good looks.

“I’ll get the cookies.” Hannah hurried to the kitchen, glad to get away. She had to admit to herself that she was attracted to Tyler Matthews and it made her very, very nervous. The last thing she needed to leave here with was a broken heart.

* * *

The five-mile ride was filled with awkward silence.

She didn’t know what had come over her the past few days. She’d grown more shy around Ty rather than less, no doubt because of the pull she felt toward him. It was more than physical, although that, too, was disconcertingly strong. She found herself wanting to be in his orbit whenever he was home, feeling glad when he spent time with her and Lily, wishing he didn’t work quite so hard so he could be at home more often.

She liked to talk with him. He was quick, smart, clever and had a droll sense of humor. He surprised her with his knowledge about so many things, his understanding of the world of business and, particularly, with his compassion. She’d never met a man with such a capacity to love. It all centered around his grandmother, of course, but she could see that he had enough to share with a wife, a family and oh-so-many more and yet never be depleted. It seemed odd that he had chosen not to have that in his life.

All their conversations centered on Lily, which was as it should be, but it unnerved her when she felt him studying her with those piercing blue eyes. She felt revealed under his gaze, as if, when he knew her better he’d be able to read her soul.

Once they’d spent some time together, she hoped she’d learn the thoughts behind those compelling eyes. Perhaps when he became less mysterious to her, she would feel less drawn to him, she consoled herself.

Hannah asked the first question that popped into her head. “What was Lily’s marriage to your grandfather like?”

It took him a moment to answer. “Like living inside a valentine.”

“How is that?”

“Roses, chocolates, frills and ruffles, kissing, hugging, simpering smiles. All that stuff that horrifies a little boy. I had a lot to get used to.”

“Really? They actually behaved that way?”

“Theirs was a true love story. My grandfather ruined Lily for any other man, of course. No one else would have the energy to keep it up. Besides, she was never interested in anyone else.”

She and Steve had had their own true love story, Hannah knew. She understood Lily’s unwillingness to attempt to replace a love like that.

“The standard they set is high.”

“But you’ve attempted to step into your grandfather’s shoes where Lily’s care and happiness are concerned.”

He shifted in his seat and rolled his shoulders back, as if to make himself more comfortable. “I was young when my grandfather died,” he said obliquely.

“What does that mean?”

“I hadn’t had much experience with deathbed requests at that time.”

She stared at him. He stared straight ahead at the road, his profile somber and chiseled. “I don’t understand.”

“My grandfather died at home. He asked me to come to his room only hours before he died. I was pretty broken up at the time, naturally. When he asked me to take care of Grams, what else could I say but yes? Then he added, ‘Keep her happy, Tyler. It’s going to be hard on her when I’m gone. Do all you can, will you?’ Of course I agreed.”

“And you’ve been doing so ever since?” Her respect for him went up another notch. It was something she, too, would have done, had she had the chance, even though the cost could be high.

“I would have anyway. My grandparents were very good to me. But in my mind, I hear my grandfather’s voice. That’s what keeps me going when Grams is being particularly challenging. I loved him very much. What was important to him is important to me.”

“Do you do it because you are a Christian or because your grandfather told you to do it?” Hannah asked curiously.

“Both. God and Gramps have both given me instruction. Who am I to mess with that?”

They were both quiet as they pulled up in front of the house at the address Lily had given them.

“Here we are.” It was a simple white house with red shutters and a lawn badly in need of attention.

Hannah was surprised by the simplicity of this home compared with the Matthews house. She supposed she’d assumed all of Lily’s friends would have been from the same social class. Hannah was pleased that Lily and Ty didn’t seem to find that important.

“Let’s get this done,” Ty muttered. “I’m not good at being a busybody.”

“Only for Lily, right.”

“
Only
Lily.”

Chapter Nine

H
annah took the big box of cookies she’d packed out of the backseat of the car. “Think of this as bringing a little sunshine into someone’s life,” she said to Ty.

“Look after widows and orphans in their distress?” He quoted James.

“Exactly.” She pressed the doorbell and heard a grating, unmusical sound coming from the back of the house. The door was thrown open and a thirtysomething man with uncombed hair and a scruffy beard appeared.

“We’ve come to visit Clara,” Hannah said. “We have a gift for her from her friend Lily Matthews.”

“Let them in, John.” An elderly woman in a walker was slowly making her way to the front of the house. Her hair was pulled back in a bun from which flyaway gray hairs had escaped. She’d been pretty once, but time and pain had etched deep creases in her cheeks and around her mouth.

Inside, the place felt grubby. The windows hadn’t been washed in some time and were a filmy, cloudy gray.

“Are you Clara?” Hannah asked.

“No. I’m Margaret. Clara is my sister.”

Ty stepped forward. “I’m Tyler Matthews. My grandmother Lily and your sister are friends. We have got some baked goods for her.”

“She’s in her room.” The woman pointed toward a hallway. “First door on the left.”

Clara was in a rocking chair by the window. Hannah went immediately to the chair and knelt down. “Lily Matthews thought some cookies might cheer you up. I’m Hannah, her caregiver, and this is Ty, Lily’s grandson.”

Ty reached out a hand to the older woman. “Clara and I have met, but it’s been a long time.”

“So nice to see you again. This is lovely of her! I did need a pick-me-up today,” the white-haired, sweet-faced woman said. “Please sit down and visit a minute—if you can find a place, that is.”

Every space was covered with clutter.

“I’m not able to pick up around here, so it’s a bit of a mess. My sister said her son, John, should help me, but I’d rather not ask him. It makes him crabby.”

“Who is here to care for you and your sister?” Hannah inquired, keeping her tone easy and pleasant.

“No one, except John. Margaret does a little cooking. John’s supposed to do the rest. It’s to be in lieu of rent because he’s living here while he’s looking for work.”

“Then a little homemade baking will taste good,” Hannah said brightly. “Let us tell you about Lily.”

They chatted for a bit. Then when they got up to leave, Clara had tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much. You don’t know how much your visit has meant to me. Tell Lily thank you.”

“Maybe you can come over for a visit one day,” Ty suggested. “Lily would love that.”

When they got back into the car, Ty was somber. “That poor woman is living a life that’s the antithesis of my grandmother’s. And I’ve been thinking I had it tough keeping up with Lily!”

“Clara’s not complaining. Perhaps she has no money or resources to go elsewhere. Maybe she doesn’t want to rock the boat.”

Lily, however, could wield both her tongue and that cane of hers with the precision and elegance of a rapier. Someone would have received a tongue-lashing a long time ago if those two had changed places.

“In this life, the hardest part is saved for last—aging, illness, failing mind and body,” Hannah said softly.

“My grandfather said something almost exactly like that about himself once. Age has a way of diminishing a person, stripping one of strength and vitality. He’d become an old man, looked and acted nothing like the man who had built businesses, fought in wars, done heroic deeds and been a sterling husband and father. Funny, but I hadn’t thought about it quite this way before—not, at least, until after Lily broke her foot.”

Impulsively, he turned to her. “I’m hungry. Maybe we should get something to eat.” He surprised himself at the words coming out of his mouth. He knew all about keeping a professional distance between employer and employee. Yet he’d just asked Hannah to lunch. He assured himself it wasn’t a date or anything, just practical. He was hungry. She was probably hungry, too.

“Thank you. That would be very nice.”

He drove toward a place that he hadn’t been to in years.

“What is this?” Hannah asked as they drove through a parklike setting toward a large white farmhouse with several outbuildings scattered around it.

“A place from my childhood. I haven’t been here in years, so I can’t promise you the food is good, but the atmosphere is pleasant.”

On one side of the road was a miniature golf course, and on the other was a pasture containing miniature goats.

“This is The Farmhouse.”

“It certainly is.” Hannah stared at the big four-square house with its double-hung windows and green shutters.

“No, I mean, that’s its name. The Farmhouse. When I was a kid we’d come here because the food is just like home-cooking. Then my grandmother would go to the gift shop—” he pointed to a building that looked suspiciously like a fancy chicken coop “—while my grandfather and I played miniature golf. We could only play one game, however. Grandfather said that he couldn’t afford to let Lily spend any more time in a retail establishment. She usual had a half-dozen packages with her by the time we left as it was.”

“What a wonderful memory.”

“I guess we’ll find out if it’s still the same or if it’s changed like everything else.”

He was tired of changes, he realized, hoping against hope that this one place had stood against the storm of progress.

Chapter Ten

I
will have to bring Danny here,
Hannah thought as they walked up the stone path to the front door. Children were playing and laughing on an old-fashioned swing set that sat in the side yard. Others were engaged with the small petting zoo run by two pretty teenage girls. Families were eating on a stone patio. She tried to imagine Ty as a small boy, accompanied by a much younger Lily and her husband.

An older woman in a prairie dress and bonnet greeted them at the door. “Two for lunch?”

“Yes, please.”

The woman looked at Ty and her eyes narrowed. “Are you Lily Matthew’s grandson?”

Ty appeared startled. “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

“I’ve been greeting people at this door for forty years. You were a beautiful child and now you’re a handsome man. Besides, you look just like your grandfather.” She thrust out her hand. “I’m Winnie Carlyle. My husband and I own The Farmhouse.”

“I’m surprised you recognized me,” Ty said as they shook hands.

After he’d introduced Hannah, Winnie said, “You were here almost once a week when you were a child. It would be hard not to see the resemblance.” A faraway look flickered in her gaze. “Your grandparents told me that you loved to come here, so they made a point of coming every week. I thought that was very sweet. Of course, the sun rose and set on you, according to them. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better-loved child. How are your grandparents now?”

Hannah could see that Ty was touched by that comment. It also gave her a peek into one of the reasons for Ty’s devotion to Lily now.

“My grandfather has passed away, but Lily is as much a fireball as ever.”

“Oo-weee, we loved to see that woman come into the gift shop, if you know what I mean.”

“Perfectly.” Ty smiled.

“Say hello to her for me, will you? She was such a gracious lady. It would be fun to see her again.”

“Maybe we could come for lunch sometime?” Hannah addressed Ty. “She’d love that.”

They ate fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh green beans with almonds, coleslaw, baked beans and strawberry shortcake. Winnie must have given orders to their server because the helpings were huge, their coffee cups stayed full and at the end of the meal, she came out of the kitchen with cake and berries to take to Lily.

Hannah leaned back in her chair, feeling too full to move. “I envy you your history, your background with your grandparents.”