precious,” Andrea whispered in a voice clogged with tears as she took her granddaughter. His father swiped at his own eyes, then hugged Liam tightly.
Touched by the private moment, Jenna held Meg closer and slipped toward the archway that led to the kitchen. Liam tracked her movement with his eyes. “Where are you going?”
“I thought I’d give you some family time together,” she admitted.
“Oh, don’t leave,” Andrea said. “You and Meg are a big part of our granddaughter’s world.”
“Yes, don’t leave on our account,” Gary said. “Unless you have something else to do, of course.”
Jenna readjusted Meg on her hip, torn. As Dylan’s housekeeper, she would have melted into the background long before now. The thing was, she was still an employee, not a friend or family member. Yet part of her—the part that missed her own family with such aching sadness—longed to stay with the Hawkes a little longer, even if only as an observer.
Giving in to that feeling for once, Jenna sat down on the end of the sofa.
Seemingly satisfied, Andrea went back to inspecting her granddaughter, kissing her cheeks, rubbing her little arms. “Such a tragedy about her mother,” she said. “For herself and her family, but also for Bonnie.”
“It was,” Liam said, his voice tight. Jenna knew that he’d do anything to be able to give Bonnie her mother back.
Andrea smoothed the dark hair on Bonnie’s head as she looked up at her son. “What about her other grandparents? Have they been to visit?”
Liam’s gaze flicked to Jenna for a split second, then back to his parents. “It’s complicated. They’re getting ready to file for custody. My lawyers tell me it should be any day now.”
“They’re what?” his parents said in unison.
“Apparently, they’ve been collecting evidence to prove I’m an unfit parent.” He held up a hand to forestall their outrage. “Don’t worry—my lawyers are on it.”
“I should hope so,” his father said indignantly.
Meg squirmed in Jenna’s lap, so she put her on the floor and the baby crawled straight to Liam. As if without thought, Liam hoisted her into the air while still talking to his parents, explaining his meeting at the hospital with Rebecca’s parents. His mother watched the move, then her appraising gaze swung to Jenna before a ghost of a smile flittered across her face.
Her stomach clenching at what Liam’s mother thought she’d seen, Jenna abruptly stood. “I’ll just get a bottle ready for Bonnie.”
Liam nodded. “I’ll help you.”
Andrea Hawke broke out in a proper smile and asked her husband to take Meg from her son. “Don’t hurry back. We’ll enjoy our time with Bonnie and watch Meg for you.”
Jenna felt the heat rise up her neck to her cheeks. Now she wasn’t just hiding who she was from the world, but also how she felt about her boss. As she made her way down the hall, she cursed the tangled web she’d woven.
When they reached the kitchen, Liam noticed Jenna’s cheeks were pink. “Are you okay? You look flustered.”
She touched the tip of her tongue to her top lip, obviously debating whether she’d share what was on her mind. Then she winced and said, “Your mother thinks there’s something going on between us.”
“Does she?” He frowned and glanced toward the doorway that led to the hall. “What makes you think that?”
Jenna shrugged one shoulder. “There’s a look in her eyes.”
Perhaps he should have been paying more attention to his mother rather than watching Jenna. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Well, I suppose she’s right. There is something between us. It’s just something we’ve agreed we won’t explore.”
Her gaze flicked to his as she moistened her lips with her tongue, and all the blood in his body headed south.
“Jenna,” he said, aware it sounded more like a growl than a word. “Since we both agreed it’s not what we want, it would help if you didn’t look at me that way.”
Her eyes widened and she spun away to open random cupboard doors. “Your parents seem to have hit it off with Bonnie,” she said in a rush.
“Yeah.” He smiled, thinking of his daughter out there with her grandparents. “They’ve been hinting about grandchildren for a while. Probably since they retired and sold me this house.”
“You know,” she said slowly, turning back to him, “I think they regret that.”
“Retirement?” He rubbed a hand over his chin. That didn’t seem right—they’d been looking forward to retirement and the things they’d be able to do.
“I’m not sure about retiring, but I think they regret moving away from the farm.”
He thought back over all the family conversations about his parents stepping down from the business and moving to an apartment. “That doesn’t make sense. They’d been looking forward to a life of no daily responsibilities. A nice apartment in L.A. where they could walk to places and let the farm go.”
“Maybe it hasn’t lived up to expectations?” She took one of Bonnie’s bottles from the cupboard and went to the pantry for the formula. “I don’t know. It might be worth talking to them about it.”
He narrowed his gaze as he tried to ascertain what she was getting at. “You think I should sell them the house back? Leave here?”
“No, sorry, I didn’t mean that,” she said, frowning. “It’s your home now. Besides, maybe I’m wrong. Or maybe there’s some other solution.”
He leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms. Could his parents be having second thoughts? And if they were, why had it taken an outsider to pick up on it? Jenna had only just met them.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” he said, surveying his nanny. This woman was constantly surprising him. And he wasn’t at all sure how he felt about that.
* * *
It was just after seven that evening when Liam arrived home. Jenna had bathed both babies and gotten them ready for bed, and Katherine had helped her carry them down to the living room so she could get Bonnie’s bottle and let the girls say goodnight to Liam. To Jenna’s surprise, Katherine had taken to helping out if Jenna was struggling, which often happened if one of the babies wanted some attention while the other was having her bath. Jenna generally tried to bathe Meg when Bonnie was napping, but it didn’t always work out.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Liam said as he came through the back door.
Jenna threw him a smile. “You don’t answer to us, Liam. Besides, most nights you’ve been pretty close to the four o’clock finish time you said you’d aim for.”
Katherine stood and hoisted Meg onto her hip. “Since we’re doing apologies, I have one of my own.”
The pronouncement seemed so out of character, Jenna was momentarily stunned.
“Katherine?” Liam said.
The housekeeper stood in front of them, expression as grim as ever, chin raised. “I haven’t made anything for dinner tonight.”
Jenna frowned. She’d ducked into the kitchen earlier to get a snack for Meg and seen a pot of pasta sauce bubbling away on the stove.
“But I saw—”
“As I said,” Katherine said, cutting Jenna off, “I’m sorry. To make amends, I’ll look after the babies, Mr. Hawke, while you take Ms. Peters out somewhere