The Nanny's Secret by Elizabeth Lane Page A

minute she would find that bottle warmer she’d put somewhere. And while she was at it, she’d organize the whole process of making formula. For the sake of her own sanity, she needed to become more efficient.
    She’d just begun feeding Mikey when Chloe wandered into the kitchen. Dressed in her blue sweats, she was tousled and yawning but still managed to look pretty. “What’s to eat?” she mumbled, sitting down.
    Leigh glanced up from feeding the baby. “Tell me what sounds good and I’ll do my best.”
    “French toast—with bacon. I’m starved.”
    Leigh had seen bread, eggs, bacon and some condiments in the fridge. “That sounds doable. Take your boy. By the time you’ve finished feeding him, I should have it ready.”
    Something akin to panic flashed in Chloe’s cornflower eyes. “That’s all right. I can wait till you’re done.”
    Leigh knew she couldn’t back off now. “You didn’t feed him in the hospital?” she asked.
    She shook her russet curls. “I told the nurses I wanted to rest. I’ve never fed him. I thought that was your job.”
    “It is. But I’ll eventually have a day off. If you really want to keep this baby, you need to know how to take care of him when I’m not here. Feeding him’s easy. Your father did it last night.”
    “Daddy fed Mikey?”
    Leigh nodded. “If he can do it, anybody can. Here, take him.” She held the baby toward the girl.
    “What if I do it wrong? What if I hurt him?” Chloe shrank away, eyes wide with what appeared to be genuine fear.
    “What is it, Chloe?” Nestling Mikey against her once more, Leigh took a seat at the table. “Why did you decide to keep your baby if you don’t want to take care of him?”
    Tears welled in the girl’s eyes. “I wanted something to love, something that was all mine. Before he was born, loving him was easy. But now that he’s here, he’s so little and helpless, I don’t know what to do with him. I’m so scared....”
    “But you’re his mother. Why should you be scared?”
    Chloe stared down at her hands. The nails, bitten to the quick, were painted baby-blue. “I don’t know. But I remember something that happened when I was little. Mom took me to see my aunt, who’d just had a baby girl. She was so pretty, like a little doll. While Mom and Aunt Trudy were talking I tried to pick her up. I...dropped her on the hard floor. She wasn’t moving. Mom called the paramedics.”
    “Oh, no! Was she all right?”
    “She was, after a trip to the hospital. But I was so scared. I remember my aunt screaming at me, ‘If she dies, it’ll be your fault! Don’t you ever touch a baby again!’”
    “Oh, Chloe!” Leigh could have wept. What an awful thing for a girl to live with—and then to have a baby of her own while she was still too young to have the confidence to overcome the past. If she wanted Chloe to be comfortable with Mikey, she would have to take things slowly.
    Mikey’s bottle was almost empty. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “I’ll burp him, and then you can sit and hold him while I make breakfast. After that you can watch me sponge bathe him and choose a cute outfit for him to wear. Okay?”
    “Okay. I think.” She still looked hesitant. Leigh finished burping the baby and placed him gently in Chloe’s arms. Chloe held him as if he were made of porcelain. But when he looked up at her and cooed, she smiled.
    “Hi, Mikey,” she whispered. “Hey, I’m your mom. How about that?”

Seven
    W yatt had weighed the wisdom of leaving Leigh to deal with Chloe by herself. In the end he’d decided to spend a busy day at the resort.
    True, it was the coward’s way out. But he had his reasons. He and Chloe tended to rub each other the wrong way, especially when she wasn’t feeling well. Without him around, Leigh’s day might be more agreeable. Besides, it was Wednesday. For years he’d made it a tradition to spend Wednesdays in his office at the Wolf Ridge Lodge. While he was there any resort