The Nanny's Double Trouble. Christine Rimmer
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across the hall.
Both cribs were empty.
Downstairs in the kitchen, she found two smiling cherubs eating cut-up pancakes off their high chair trays and both Daniel and Grace at the breakfast table, neither one scowling.
Yes. Life was good on this beautiful, foggy-as-usual Sunday morning in Valentine Bay. She poured herself coffee.
Grace said, “I’m here till two, Keely, so if you need to run errands, go for it.”
“Keewee!” crowed Jake, pounding on his tray.
Keely stepped over and kissed his gooey cheek.
“Kiss, kiss, Keewee!” Frannie pounded her tray, too, and smacked her rosebud lips.
Keely kissed her as well, and then returned to the stove where a stack of pancakes waited. She put a couple of them on a plate. “Thanks, Grace. I’ll run by Sand & Sea and stop in to check on Aunt Gretchen.”
* * *
The gallery opened daily at eleven. Keely arrived at nine thirty. Her top clerk, Amanda, promoted temporarily to manager, joined her five minutes later. They went through the books and discussed the schedule. Sand & Sea was 3500 square feet of exhibit space on Manzanita Avenue, in the heart of Valentine Bay’s downtown historic district. With a focus on Oregon artists, Keely offered contemporary work in just about every form imaginable, from painting to printmaking, sculpture to woodworking. She displayed and sold artisan jewelry, furniture, textiles and photography.
Sand & Sea also hosted receptions and special events. Every month or so, she featured an individual artist or a group of artists in a themed joint show. The first Friday in April, she would hold an opening for a new group show with several top Pacific Northwest artists working in various mediums on the theme of the ever-changing sea. Everything was on schedule for that one so far. Amanda was knowledgeable, organized and more than competent, and they had almost three weeks until the opening. Keely needed to find help with Frannie and Jake for the opening-night reception party and the few days before it. But that should be doable, one way or another.
Feeling confident that Sand & Sea wouldn’t suffer while she focused on Daniel’s twins, she left the gallery at eleven thirty to check in on her aunt.
Gretchen still lived in the house she’d shared with her husband, the house where she’d raised her precious only child, Lillie. Keely considered the four-bedroom craftsman-style bungalow her childhood home, too.
Yes, she’d spent most of her growing-up years living on the tour bus. But now and then, Ingrid’s career would get a boost and the tour schedule would get crazy. Those were the times that Ingrid took Keely to Valentine Bay to live temporarily with Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Cletus. Keely loved when that happened. She was constantly begging her mother to let her live with the Snows full-time.
When Keely was fifteen, Ingrid finally gave in. Keely moved in with her cousin. At last, she got the settled-down life she’d always dreamed of in the seaside town she considered her true home.
Keely knocked on the green front door, but only to be considerate. She had a key and she used it, sticking her head in the door, calling, “It’s just me! Don’t get up!”
“I’m in the kitchen!” Gretchen called back.
Something smelled wonderful. Keely followed her nose to the back of the house. She found her aunt balanced on her good foot, one hand braced on the counter, as she pulled a tray of cookies from the oven.
Keely waited until Gretchen had set the tray on top of the stove and shut the oven door to scold, “You’re not supposed to be on that foot.”
“Sweetheart!” Gretchen turned and hopped toward her.
“You are impossible.” Keely caught her and hugged her, breathing in the familiar, beloved scents of vanilla and melted butter. Her aunt not only always smelled delicious, she was still pretty in a comfortable, homey sort of way, with smooth, pale skin and carefully styled hair she still had professionally colored to the exact Nordic blond it used to be when she was young.
Gretchen laughed. “You know you need cookies.”
Keely grabbed a chair from the table and spun it around. “Here. Sit.”
“Oh, don’t fuss.” Gretchen held on to Keely for balance as she lowered herself into the chair.
Keely tried to look stern. “You will stay in that chair. I mean it.”
Gretchen swept out a plump arm in the direction of the big mixing bowl on the counter. “I have two more cookie sheets to fill.”
“Stay where you are. I’ll do it.” She grabbed another chair and positioned it so that Gretchen could put her foot up. “There. Want coffee?”
“Please—and where are my babies?”
“At Daniel’s.” Keely filled a cup and set it on the table next to Gretchen. “Grace isn’t going back to Portland until this afternoon, so she’s watching them.”
“I miss them already.”
“I’ll bring them by during the week.”
“You’re a good girl. The best.”
Keely got to work dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet. “Looking after Frannie and Jake is no hardship. You know how I always wanted babies.” She’d been married once. A hot and charming driftwood artist, Roy Varner had come to town six years ago, before Keely opened Sand & Sea. Another local gallery had given him a show. Keely went to his opening. The attraction was instant and mutual. Roy swept her clean off her feet. They’d married within weeks of that first meeting. Roy traveled a lot to various art shows all over the west. Slowly Keely figured out that all the traveling wasn’t only about selling art. When he traveled, Roy behaved like a free man in every way. Including sleeping with other women. Keely had divorced him four years ago.
“Don’t you worry,” said Gretchen. “You’ve still got plenty of time. A good man and babies will be yours.”
Keely sent her aunt a fond glance over her shoulder. “Love you, Auntie G.”
“Love you more.”
“Heard from Mom?”
“Not since the other day.”
“So we still don’t know exactly when she’s coming?”
“Keely, I am managing just fine—and what about you? All settled in at Daniel’s?”
She considered mentioning Frannie’s earache. But the little girl had seemed fully recovered this morning, so why worry Gretchen? “It’s going great. And I’m all set up. I’ve got a bedroom across from the twins, and I’m using the room beside it as a work area—and you know, I’ve been thinking that we could get you some live-in help. Or you could move to Daniel’s temporarily.”
“I like my own house.”
“But—”
“Don’t start. I mean it. I’ve hired the boy next door to handle the yard. His sister will come in and clean when I need her. I’m having my groceries delivered. I’m used to doing things for myself, and I like my independence. Plus, in the Bravo house, all the bedrooms except Grace’s are upstairs. That’s not going to work with this foot.”
Keely scooped up another spoonful of dough. “I’ll call Mom, pin her down on when she’ll be here.”
“Don’t you dare. I will handle this. You’ve got enough to do, and you know it.”
“Auntie G, it’s just a phone call,” she said into the bowl of dough.
“Put down that spoon and look at me.”
Keely dropped the spoon back in the bowl and turned to face her aunt. “Yeah?”
“Your mother is coming, but she’ll be doing