held little Ava, who was close to falling asleep in her arms.
Naomi might look as if she wasn’t listening, but her ears were on elastic. She knew Abe was a force to be reckoned with and wanted to get a feel for things and work out the dynamics so that she could help Merida as best she could in the weeks ahead.
‘Not as yet,’ Ethan said, and Naomi heard the edge to his voice. ‘I specifically asked him to pick up Naomi, but instead he sent a car.’
‘Well, he must have got caught up,’ Jobe suggested.
With little Ava asleep and Merida looking like she needed the same, Naomi decided it was time to head off. ‘I’m going to go,’ she said, and gave Merida a hug and a kiss. ‘Jet lag is starting to creep in and I want that well behind me by the time you bring your little lady home.’
‘We’re staying at Dad’s place for now,’ Ethan explained, ‘while we have some renovations done.’
‘Merida told me.’ Naomi nodded. ‘It’s fine.’
Famous last words.
* * *
‘Dad’s place’ was a huge, grey stone mansion on Fifth Avenue, overlooking Central Park. Naomi had to pinch herself to believe that she was really here. Oh, thanks to her job she had stayed in some amazing residences, but nowhere had been nearly as grand as this.
One of the heavy double doors was opened by a gentleman who said that they had been expecting her, and as Naomi stepped into the foyer an elderly woman came rushing over.
‘Naomi!’ She gave her a welcoming smile. ‘I’m Barb, Head of Housekeeping.’
‘It’s lovely to meet you, Barb.’
The house was even more stunning inside.
The huge foyer with marble floors and archways was impressive, as was the large curved staircase, but it was all made a little less daunting because the first thing that greeted Naomi was the delicious scent of pine.
There in the corner was a Christmas tree, bigger than any she had ever seen.
An undressed tree.
‘We were waiting to find out what Merida had,’ Barb explained. ‘Have you ever seen a tree decorated pink?’
‘No.’ Naomi laughed.
‘Well, you soon will.’
And even with a soon-to-be-pink tree it was sheer New York elegance and this was only the entrance. Naomi could only imagine what lay behind the high doors.
‘Have you seen the baby?’ Barb asked.
‘Yes, she’s very beautiful. She’s got black hair and a lot of it...’
‘Oh, how precious.’
Naomi didn’t reveal her name, or show the photos she had taken with her phone, as she wasn’t sure it was her place to. Not that Barb asked, she was far too busy chatting. ‘It’s fantastic that you’ve arrived on such a good news day. We were just having a little celebration,’ she added. ‘I’ll show you around.’
‘That can wait.’ Naomi shook her head. ‘A bath and bed is all I need right now. Just show me where I’m sleeping and you can get back to celebrating the baby’s arrival. Though if you can show me the alarm system, that would be great. I don’t want to set it off if I get up in the night.’
Barb did so and as they walked up a huge staircase, lined with family photos Naomi told her about the time she’d had to call an ambulance on her first night at a job for the mother of one of her charges. ‘When I let the paramedics in I set the whole house off. It just added to the chaos.’
‘What a fright you must have had,’ Barb said as she huffed up the stairs. ‘Now, don’t turn left here or you’ll end up in Abe’s wing.’
‘Does he live here?’ Naomi asked, because she hadn’t been expecting that, but Barb shook her head.
‘No, he’s half an hour away, but if he’s been visiting his father late into the night, sometimes he comes home.’ She gave a little laugh. ‘Well, to the family home. Now, this is you.’
She opened a heavy door, and behind it wasn’t the bedroom that Naomi had been expecting to see. Instead, it was more of an apartment, with a lounge, its own bathroom, a small kitchen as well as a bedroom. ‘And the baby has a room, of course...’ Barb said, opening the door onto a small nursery. It wasn’t the main one—this nursery was, Naomi rightly guessed, for the times the nanny had the baby overnight. Not that Merida was intending for that to happen, she had made it clear she wanted the baby with her, but it gave Naomi a glimpse of how things had once worked in the Devereux home.
‘I have to say, I never thought I’d see the day when we had a nanny here again,’ Barb admitted. ‘I got on well with the last one.’
‘How long ago was that?’
‘Let me see, Abe must be nearly thirty-five and Ethan’s thirty. They had nannies till they went off to boarding school, so Ethan’s last one must have been some twenty years ago. They had their work cut out, let me tell you...’ Barb’s flow of words halted.
‘Did the boys run wild?’ Naomi pried, but Barb changed the subject.
‘Now, Merida made it very clear that you’re a guest as well as the baby’s nanny, so you’re to use the main entrance, as well as having access to a driver, and you’ve got full freedom of the house. Still, it might be nice for you to have your own space.’
Naomi nodded.
She guessed that Barb had stopped talking so freely when she’d remembered that Naomi wasn’t just staff but also a guest.
‘I’ll bring you up some dinner, or you’re more than welcome to join us. We’re just having some nibbles...’
‘Don’t worry about dinner for me.’ Naomi shook her head. ‘I ate on the plane. All I want now is a bath and then bed.’
‘Well, you make sure to let me know if you wake up hungry.’
‘If I do, I’ll call out for something,’ Naomi said. She was very used to staying in new places. ‘You go and celebrate and don’t worry about me.’
Once Barb had gone Naomi explored a little. Her bedroom was gorgeous, dressed in lemon and cream with a splash of willow green, and Naomi couldn’t wait to crawl into the plump bed, but first she unpacked and then had a long bath. She had intended it to be a quick one but she dozed off in the middle. She really was very tired so pulled on some pyjamas and crawled into bed. It was delicious to stretch out but sleep wasn’t as forthcoming as she’d hoped it would be, and she lay there with her mind whirring.
A little girl.
Ava.
Oh, she was so thrilled for Merida but, despite her friend’s assurances that everything was fine now, Naomi was very aware that that might just be the high of giving birth and Ethan making promises he might not keep.
Yes, he’d seemed friendly and happy but the Devereuxes were not exactly famous for their devotion to their marriage vows.
Naomi was also worried about the dark times ahead because, having seen Jobe, it was clear to her that he was nearing the end.
It was certainly going to be an emotional time and Naomi was glad that she would be here for her friend.
Ava hadn’t been due for another two weeks. Naomi’s loose plan had been to get over jet lag, as well as the exhaustion of her previous job—usually she would have allowed for more time between jobs but for Merida she had made an exception.
Really, she didn’t consider Merida work, though they had insisted on paying her handsomely.
It still didn’t sit quite right with Naomi, but she tried not to think of that now.
Her