Page 22 of Hearts Aweigh
S PENCER ENTERED THE CHILDCARE CENTER at precisely two o’clock. Madeleine walked at his side, her fingers twisted together in an awkward tangle. Her young face wore the apprehension of a fifty-year-old woman facing an audit.
He bent and laid his open palm on her stiff back. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Would you like anything?”
She shook her head.
Spencer sighed. Would his daughter ever feel comfortable in his presence? Or was he doomed to repeat the mistakes of his father? Intimidating his family into submission and dominating everyone around him.
Never in a million years. Even if he possessed zero natural talent for connecting with children, he would keep trying.
Spencer moved his hand to his side. “Are you worried about something?”
“I …”
She was talking to him! He crouched in front of her. “You …?”
“I’m wearing the shirt Mommy liked. She said it made me look pretty and …”
“And?”
“And I don’t want to get my clothes dirty.”
Spencer leaned back and took in the outfit he’d picked for her that morning. Yes, it was covered in beaded embroidery, but the matching cotton top and shorts were the simplest things in the suitcase.
He pointed at the outfit. “Do you hate getting your clothes dirty?”
“Mommy hates it.” Madeleine’s eyes rolled up toward the ceiling as if she were reciting a speech. “I mustn’t get my clothes dirty. I mustn’t scuff my shoes. I mustn’t speak too loud or bother the adults.”
The words struck Spencer’s heart like pointed darts. They so savagely mirrored his own childhood. Always being reminded to act like a Masterson.
He drew an unsteady breath. “Madeleine, I don’t care if you get your clothes or your shoes or every single thing you own dirty.” Spencer gently placed both hands on her shoulders. “As long as you have fun.”
Her bewildered eyes met his. “Really?”
“Really.”
For the first time since she’d come to live with him, his daughter gifted him with an unabashed, lip-stretching smile. It knocked the air right out of him.
A jingling sounded, and Madeleine’s smile grew. Abigail O’Brien rushed to them in a jester’s costume. A three-pronged hat of purple and gold sat on her head, bells dangling from the droopy ends.
“What took you so long?” Abby sank to the child’s height and pouted. “I couldn’t wait to show you my new hat.” She bounced her head, and the bells jangled.
Madeleine giggled with delight. Spencer tried to imagine his ex-wife or anyone in their entire social circle putting on such a show but came up empty. What a bunch of stuffed shirts they all were.
He surveyed his new nanny. “I didn’t realize you meant it literally when you said you’d have bells on.”
Without a hint of embarrassment, she stood and jiggled her head. “Shows how little you know me.” Abby held out her left hand to Madeleine. “We’re having a royal dress-up party. Would you like to wear a Cinderella gown and dance at the ball?”
His daughter slipped her hand into Abby’s, who bent and gyrated her hat so a bell jingled in front of Madeleine’s nose. Spencer suppressed a grin. Abby was his employee, after all. It wouldn’t do to let the world discover how charming he found her.
Charming in a professional way, of course. The way people who worked with children were supposed to be. Winning and likable.
Abby straightened with a sober demeanor. “I’ll play with Maddie here in case you have business, but please return by four o’clock. I’m taking a walk with Reverend Boynton.”
His grinning urge evaporated. “Haven’t you given up on the pasta preacher?”
“I don’t reject someone because they ordered the wrong thing at dinner.” She raised her chin. “If the Shippers chose him, they must have a good reason, and I intend to find out what it is.”
Spencer mustered a polite smile. “Please remember your break is forty-five minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” She spoke in a formal if somewhat mocking tone. “I’ll report to my station for duty at the required time.” Abby saluted with her right hand. “Come on, Maddie. Let’s go to the ball.”
They walked away. The sound of bells grew faint, then faded completely. A depressing void replaced the music, and he shook off the silence. Better to spend his energy talking sense into his mother.