***
A week later, Rachel stopped her car in front of the gates separating John’s home from the road. She rolled down her window and pushed a button on a pole. The black iron gates slid open and she drove up the driveway, staring at the home hidden behind snow covered pine and spruce trees.
She didn’t know what she’d expected to see, but the white wooden siding home didn’t even come close. The traditional two-story home wasn’t what she would have imagined a billionaire would live in. She’d expected something grander, something big and overwhelming that looked like an art gallery instead of a family home.
She stopped beside the front porch and undid her seatbelt. She tried to imagine what it must be like to have so much money that you didn’t have to worry about paying the next utility bill, or counting down each week until you had enough money to make a good deposit on a home. If John’s biggest worry was someone following him, then he could count himself lucky.
The front door opened and Bella stepped out onto the porch. Her wide smile and laughing brown eyes calmed some of the nerves racing through Rachel’s body.
A man stepped out behind her. He had wide shoulders, long legs, and an awareness about him that screamed bodyguard.
Rachel got out of her car and waved at Bella. “Hi. I’ll just get my teaching things.” She opened her passenger door and wiggled the first box of crayons, paints, paper, and stationery toward her. She didn’t know what Bella did or didn’t have in her home, so she’d decided to bring all of her teaching aids with her.
“I can help you with that.”
Rachel turned and smiled at Bella’s bodyguard. “Thank you.” She passed him the first box and looked at the second. “I might have brought too much.”
He looked inside the box he was carrying. “Bella’s got most things she needs, but at least you came prepared. I’m Tank.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Tank. I’m Rachel.”
Tank nodded. She supposed he knew exactly who she was.
He held the first box under one arm and waited for her to pass him the second. “I’ll leave these in Bella’s classroom. If you haven’t got anything else to take inside, I’ll move your car into the garage when I get back.”
Rachel passed him the second box. “I’ll leave the keys in the ignition.” Before she could thank him again, he disappeared inside. Rachel picked up her tote bag, closed the passenger door and took a deep breath. She was about to start her first day of her new job.
It would be fine. The two months would go fast. Before she knew it, she would be back at Bozeman Elementary, teaching a class of students without a bodyguard in sight.
“Ms. McReedy, come and see our classroom.”
Bella was practically hopping from foot to foot. Excitement shone from her face as Rachel made her way up the stairs. She gave Bella a quick hug before walking toward the front door. “Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.”
“Mr. Daniels said it’s cold enough to freeze his whiskers.”
“Mr. Daniels is a wise man.”
A soft chuckle drifted across the room. “Don’t tell him that. His head will get so big that it will pop right off his shoulders.” A woman walked toward Rachel. “I’m Patty Daniels. It’s nice to meet you, Rachel.”
Rachel held her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Daniels.”
Mrs. Daniels waved her hand in the air. “Call me Patty. When an adult calls me Mrs. Daniels it reminds me of my mother-in-law.”
Patty didn’t look anything like the housekeeper Rachel had imagined. She’d expected to see someone in their mid-sixties with gray hair and a no-nonsense approach to life. Patty might have been in her mid-sixties, but she had short brown hair, a wide smile, and twinkly blue eyes that hinted at a streak of mischief.
“Tank has taken your teaching things into Bella’s classroom. Can I get you a hot drink to warm you up?”
“Thank you. That would be great.” Rachel needed to find out as much about Bella as she could. A hot drink sounded like a good way to begin.
When she’d called John to let him know that she could take the job, he hadn’t told her very much about what the last tutor had been doing. He’d sent her Bella’s academic record and a study plan of what Mrs. Daniels had been teaching her. There were notes about what Bella enjoyed and didn’t enjoy. It had filled in some blanks, but left others wide open.
Rachel held her hand out to Bella. “What if we all have a hot drink together? We can get to know each other a little better.”
Bella nodded and took Rachel’s hand. “Mrs. Daniels made some peanut butter cookies this morning. Do you like peanut butter?”
“I love peanut butter.”
Patty led the way into the kitchen while Bella chatted the whole way. Their home was every bit as traditional on the inside as the outside. A wide staircase wound its way upstairs from the front entranceway. Painted in a soft shade of buttermilk, the area was warm and inviting.
They walked through a large set of double doors. The living room’s paneled walls and marble fireplace gave the area a sense of grandeur, a feeling of permanence. The view from the windows was far prettier than she’d imagined a house in town could be. Snow covered trees glistened in the large backyard creating a picture-perfect winter scene. There were no fences separating John’s home from the other properties nearby, nothing to say that they were in residential suburbia.
Patty must have known what she was thinking. “The backyard overlooks two vacant lots that the owners of this property bought. I never get tired of the view from this room. It changes so much with each season.”
Rachel was confused. “Doesn’t John own this home?”
“No. He has a long-term lease.”
Bella looked up at Rachel. “Dad’s going to build a new house when the snow melts.”
Patty nodded. “He bought a parcel of land at Emerald Lake. It’s going to be even prettier than what we’ve got here.” She walked through another set of double doors and turned to Rachel. “Welcome to the heart of the house.”
Rachel followed Patty and looked around the huge kitchen. She could have almost squeezed her entire apartment into the beautiful space. Everything sparkled - from the marble counter to the pendant lights hanging from the ceiling.
The smell of sweet cookies filled the air and made Rachel sigh. “This is wonderful. You must enjoy spending time in here?”
Patty looked around the kitchen. “It’s a lovely space. Whoever designed it, knew about cooking.”
Bella disappeared behind a set of pantry doors and reappeared with a plate in her hands. “Mrs. Daniels makes the best food ever. I helped her bake these cookies.”
Rachel watched Bella carefully lift a dozen cookies onto the plate and carry them across to a wooden table. “They look delicious.”
Bella nodded solemnly. “We measured out the ingredients. Mrs. Daniels is teaching me about fractions.”
Patty took three mugs out of a set of drawers. “You’re a natural at math. I’ve never seen anyone learn what three-quarters of a cup of sugar looks like so quickly. Would you like coffee or hot chocolate, Rachel?”
“Hot chocolate, please.”
“Me too, Mrs. Daniels.” Bella sat at the kitchen table and waited for Rachel. “Hot chocolate is about my most favorite thing in the world.”
Rachel sat beside Bella. “So you like math, hot chocolate, and baking. What else do you like?”
Bella thought hard. “I like the beach, ice cream sundaes, and pasta. My friend Poppy is nice, too. I met her at my ballet class.”
“What about triple fudge brownies?” Patty added. “You ask me to make them at least once a week.”
“I love your triple fudge brownies. I love them even more because dad likes them, too.” She turned to Rachel and lowered her voice. “He dunks them into his coffee, then eats them before they fall apart. Don’t tell Mrs. Daniels. She keeps telling him off.”
Rachel leaned toward Bella. “Your secret’s saf
e with me.”
Bella held out her hand. “Pinky promise?”
“Pinky promise.” Rachel curled her little finger around Bella’s and smiled. “Where is your dad?”
John was supposed to meet her nearly twenty minutes ago. She’d written down the questions she needed to ask him, rehearsed how the conversation would go. She’d start their professional relationship with the minimum of fuss and high expectations of a successful ending.
She thought back over their conversation four days ago. He’d definitely said he’d be at home when she arrived. Maybe the education of his daughter wasn’t high on his list of priorities. Maybe he had different expectations about how this teaching position would work out.
Patty left a mug of hot chocolate in front of Bella, then put a second mug in front of Rachel. “Don’t go fretting. John asked me to let you know that he was called in to work urgently. He wouldn’t have gone unless it was important.”
“Dad keeps people safe,” Bella said matter-of-factly. “Sometimes he has to miss important things.”
Patty pulled a chair away from the table and sat down. “He doesn’t mean to,” she told Bella. “Your dad tries his best.”
It didn’t look as though John’s best coincided with his daughter’s.
The back door opened and Tank strode into the kitchen. “You’re having coffee already?” He glanced at the plate of cookies. The corner of his mouth tilted into an almost smile. “Is there enough room at the table for me?”
Patty patted the back of the chair beside her. “Of course there is. Come and warm up. I was just telling Rachel that John had to go into work early this morning.”
Tanks face fell into an indifferent mask. “He’ll be back as soon as he can.”
Rachel didn’t ask what the problem was. Tank didn’t look inclined to share any information and she had to remember to keep their working relationship professional.
“Did dad remember that we’re going to the mall this afternoon?” Bella looked hopefully at Tank. “Poppy’s birthday is on Wednesday. He said we could go and buy her a present.”
Tank took the cup of coffee Patty handed him. “I’ll remind him, Bella. But just in case he can’t make it, I could go with you.”
Bella looked heart-broken. “He said he’d take me, Tank.”
“I know.”
Rachel looked between Tank and Bella.
Tank was trying hard to make up for the disappointment written across Bella’s face. “I’ll call him at lunchtime and see if he can come.”
Rachel glanced at Mrs. Daniels. She was watching Bella with a worried frown.
She knew what it was like to be put behind all of the other things happening in a parent’s life. “If your dad can’t make it, I could go to the mall with you and Tank.” She forced a smile on her face and pretended she didn’t know how Bella felt. “You could tell me what Poppy likes. It would be like a treasure hunt.”
Bella looked down at her hot chocolate. “I guess that would be okay. But only if dad can’t make it.”
She hugged Bella’s shoulders. “It will be fun. After we’ve been shopping, you could come to drama club with me.”
A smile lit Bella’s face. “Really?”
Rachel didn’t look at Tank. Going to drama club hadn’t figured on his plans today, but plans were made to be broken. She was sure he’d be able to fit drama club into his schedule.
Tank slid her car keys across the table. “You’ll need these if you’re going to the mall and the library. I’ll follow you in my truck.”
Rachel didn’t know how he knew drama club was at the library, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Bella was now happily munching a cookie. If her dad couldn’t come home early, she had something else to look forward to.
And that, Rachel knew, was as good as it got sometimes.