Chapter Four

      Mitch quietly stepped away from Dee’s room so he wouldn’t wake her from her nap. His oldest princess had tried to deny the virus had gotten the best of her, saying that she was not going to let Emmie’s “bad bug” make her sick, too.

      But as Mitch suspected, yesterday afternoon, when Emmie had begun to feel better, Dee’s stomach had started, in her words, “feeling yucky.” And then, like Emmie, she hadn’t been able to keep any food down. Today, after two full days of taking care of the girls, it seemed the worst of the virus was thankfully behind them.

      And he was thankful for his new employee’s willingness to spend her first couple of days on the job working from Mitch’s front porch. The weather, in the low seventies with a frequent breeze, had made their temporary work environment quite enjoyable, and Mitch was glad for the ability to keep the office running remotely while also personally taking care of his girls.

      He’d kept the wooden front door open throughout the day so he could listen for Dee through the screen one. Now he took advantage of that from the opposite side as he listened to Kate speak to one of his clients, her fingers tapping the keys of her laptop while she cradled the phone between her right ear and shoulder.

      “Yes, Mrs. Tolleson,” she said, “I’ll be happy to let you know how much that would cost. I just need a little more information about your son.”

      Mitch stopped walking and watched her capably select the website path to obtain a quote for renter’s insurance. And while Kate followed through the standard questions about the son’s age, address, marital status and home-contents value, Mitch studied the picturesque scene of his front porch.

      A few feet from Kate, Emmie dozed peacefully in her pack-and-play, the mesh sides allowing Mitch to see one tiny hand clutching her nighty-night, the blanket Jana had sewn for her while she was pregnant. She’d created the satin border from one of her blouses and had said she hoped it’d somehow keep her close to her baby after she was gone.

      Whether Emmie realized the fabric was from her mommy or not, the blanket was a must-have whenever she slept. Her opposite hand was balled near her chin with her tiny lips subtly moving around her thumb. The image would make a beautiful painting, but Mitch would be lying if he said that the sleeping child was the only thing worthy of a painting on his front porch. He turned his attention to the woman still speaking softly on the phone, her quiet tone obviously due to the sleeping baby.

      A couple of decorative, very feminine bobby pins held back Kate’s dark curls on each side. Like yesterday, her outfit was dressy enough to qualify as business-casual but also appeared comfortable and modest. Today she wore a short white crocheted jacket over a sleeveless sky-blue dress that reached her ankles. Small pearls dotted each ear and a matching single-pearl necklace rested against her throat. She wore minimal makeup, only a hint of eye shadow and a pale pink lipstick, from what Mitch could tell. He wasn’t an expert on makeup or anything, but it seemed that the small amount only accented her blue eyes and heart-shaped lips.

      Definitely an image worthy of a painting.

      He swallowed. She was pretty. Very pretty. Unnervingly pretty. But he wasn’t certain whether it was the fact that he noticed her attractiveness that bothered him or the fact that he found himself appreciating scenes like this, where she sat comfortably on the top porch step, her dress sweeping the stairs and her back leaning against the wood column as she worked and occasionally smiled at his sleeping baby.

      She looked like a sweet young mother.

      A sharp stab of guilt slammed him. Jana should be here, on this porch, smiling at her daughter and being the center of Mitch’s world. Then this scene might actually be real, a part of his life, instead of an instance where an employee worked at his home to help him through a difficult situation.

      Maybe he should have pushed harder to have Jana take the chemo treatments during the pregnancy. Maybe then she’d be here now, and he wouldn’t be thinking about how things would be if he had a woman in his life.

      He shook his head. He’d been doing fine raising the girls on his own, and just because this scene with Kate seemed picture-perfect, that didn’t mean he needed someone else, not to be a mother to his girls or to be a—

      He didn’t finish the thought. Several friends had asked about his plans for the future over the past couple of months, specifically whether he saw himself dating again, marrying again. Each time, he’d said no. And he’d meant it. He still loved Jana, would always love Jana. This awkward feeling around Kate didn’t mean anything. He simply hadn’t been around a female for an extended period of time since Jana passed away. Plus all of the ladies from Claremont still thought of him as “Jana’s Mitch.” Mitch liked that. Really. And thankfully, Kate hadn’t seemed to show any interest in him beyond a working relationship. He liked that, too.

      Really.

      Emmie made a smacking noise as she pulled her thumb from her mouth, stretched and rolled over. Mitch stepped toward the screen door so he could pick her up when she woke, but before he got there, Kate finished her call and smiled at the little girl reaching both arms toward the woman on the porch.

      “Kay-Kay,” Emmie said, her eyes still heavy with sleep and her soft strawberry curls standing on end.

      Kate closed her laptop and placed it to the side then eased toward the edge of the playpen. “Hey, there, sweetie. Did you have a good rest?”

      Mitch held his breath as she picked up Emmie, and his little girl contentedly rested her head against Kate’s slender shoulder.

      She gently patted Emmie’s back. “I’ll hold you now,” she said, “and Daddy will be back in a second. He went to check on your sister.”

      “Kay-Kay,” Emmie repeated as she snuggled in Kate’s arms. Mitch couldn’t help but notice it was the same tone she used when he picked her up from her nap and she said, “Daddy.”

      He cleared his throat and prepared to take over, but then he heard tiny feet approaching from behind him.

      “I woked up,” Dee said.

      Mitch turned as she reached him, her blue eyes blinking as they adjusted to the sunlight filtering into the hallway from the screen door. Picking her up, he kissed her cheek, no longer warm from fever. “Yes, you did,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”

      She nodded. “I feel better,” she said, then with a yawn asked, “Can we play?”

      His laugh surprised him. He’d felt ill at ease watching Kate interact with Emmie, but Dee’s arrival had squelched his unease and brought him back to what was important, the fact that both of his little girls were starting to feel better. And the fact that he had a capable new employee who’d been willing to help him out when he was in a bind.

      Lord, help me continue to see the good in all of this instead of feeling guilty over something that I can’t change.

      “Daddy.” Emmie spied Mitch and Dee as they neared the screen door. She didn’t make any effort to reach for him, probably because he was already holding Dee, or maybe because she seemed quite content in Kate’s arms.

      “Hey, sweetie,” Mitch answered. He pushed the door open and stepped onto the porch. The breeze carried the faint scent of peaches, which Mitch had determined over the past two days as the fragrance of Kate’s perfume. The smell suited the woman holding Emmie. Sweet and tender. A good-hearted woman and a diligent employee. He needed to stop seeing the way she fit in with his girls as a bad thing and realize that God had given him exactly what he’d asked for.

      Thank You, Lord.

      “I