"Does she get to boss us?" he demanded.
"Yes. The sad and horrible fate of children is to be bossed by adults. And as she's paying my salary, she gets to boss me, too. We're all in the same boat."
Gavin took Parker's leash when they got out. "I don't like her."
"That's what I love about you, Gavin." Stella ruffled his wavy blond hair. "Always thinking positive. Okay, here we go." She took his hand, and Luke's, gave each a gentle squeeze. The four of them
started toward the covered entry.
The doors, a double set painted the same pure and glossy white as the trim, burst open.
"At last!" David flung out his arms. "Men! I'm no longer outnumbered around here."
"Gavin, Luke, this is Mr.—I'm sorry, David, I don't know your last name."
"Wentworth. But let's keep it David." He crouched down, looked the rapidly barking Parker in the eye. "What's your problem, buddy?"
In response, Parker planted his front paws on David's knee and lapped, with great excitement, at his face.
"That's more like it. Come on in. Roz'll be right along. She's upstairs on the phone, skinning some supplier over a delivery."
They stepped into the wide foyer, where the boys simply stood and goggled.
"Pretty ritzy, huh?"
"Is it like a church?"
"Nah." David grinned at Luke. "It's got fancy parts, but it's just a house. We'll get a tour in, but maybe you need some hot chocolate to revive you after your long journey."
"David makes wonderful hot chocolate." Roz started down the graceful stairs that divided the foyer. She was dressed in work clothes, as she'd been the day before. "With lots of whipped cream."
"Ms. Harper, my boys. Gavin and Luke."
"I'm very pleased to meet you. Gavin." She offered a hand to him.
'This is Parker. He's our dog. He's one and a half."
"And very handsome. Parker." She gave the dog a friendly pat.
"I'm Luke. I'm six, and I'm in first grade. I can write my name." *
"He cannot either." Gavin sneered in brotherly disgust. "He can only print it."
"Have to start somewhere, don't you? It's very nice to meet you, Luke. I hope you're all going to be comfortable here."
"You don't look really old," Luke commented, and had David snorting out a laugh.
"Why, thank you. I don't feel really old either, most of the time."
Feeling slightly ill, Stella forced a smile. "I told the boys how old the house was, and that your family's always lived here. He's a little confused."
"I haven't been here as long as the house. Why don't we have that hot chocolate, David? We'll sit in the kitchen, get acquainted."
"Is he your husband?" Gavin asked. "How come you have different last names?"
"She won't marry me," David told him, as he herded them down the hall. "She just breaks my poor, weeping heart."
"He's teasing you. David takes care of the house, and most everything else. He lives here."
"Is she the boss of you, too?" Luke tugged David's hand. "Mom says she's the boss of all of us."
"I let her think so." He led the way into the kitchen with its granite counters and warm cherry wood.
A banquette with sapphire leather cushions ranged under a wide window.
Herbs thrived in blue pots along the work counter. Copper pots gleamed.
"This is my domain," David told them. "I'm boss here, just so you know the pecking order. You like to cook, Stella?"
"I don't know if 'like's' the word, but I do know I can't manage anything that would earn a kitchen like this."
Two Sub-Zero refrigerators, what looked to be a restaurant-style stove, double ovens, acres of counter.
And the little details that made a serious work space homey, she noted with relief. The brick hearth with
a pretty fire simmering, the old china cupboard filled with antique glassware, forced bulbs of tulips and hyacinths blooming on a butcher block table.
"I live to cook. I can tell you it's pretty frustrating to waste my considerable talents on Roz. She'd just
as soon eat cold cereal. And Harper rarely makes an appearance."
"Harper's my oldest son. He lives in the guest house. You'll see him sometimes."
"He's the mad scientist." David got out a pot and chunks of chocolate.
"Does he make monsters? Like Frankenstein?" As he asked, Luke snuck his hand into his mother's again.
"Frankenstein's just pretend," Stella reminded him. "Ms. Harper's son works with plants."
"Maybe one day he'll make a giant one that talks."
Delighted, Gavin sidled over toward David. "Nuh-uh."
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.' Bring that stool over, my fine young friend, and you can watch the master make the world's best hot chocolate."
"I know you probably want to get to work shortly," Stella said to Roz. "I have some notes and sketches
I worked on last night I'd like to show you at some point."
"Busy."
"Eager." She glanced over as Luke let go of her hand and went over to join his brother on the stool. "I have an appointment this morning with the principal at the school. The boys should be able to start tomorrow. I thought I could ask at the school office for recommendations for before- and after-school care, then—"
"Hey!" David whipped chocolate and milk in the pot. "These are my men now. I figured they'd hang out with me, providing me with companionship as well as slave labor, when they're not in school."
"I couldn't ask you to—"
"We could stay with David," Gavin piped up. "That'd be okay."
"I don't—"
"Of course, it all depends." David spoke easily as he added sugar to the pot. "If they don't like PlayStation, the deal's off. I have my standards."
"I like PlayStation," Luke said.
"Actually, they have to love PlayStation."
"I do! I do!" They bounced in unison on the stool. "I love PlayStation."
"Stella, while they're finishing up here, why don't we get some of your things out of the car?"
"All right. We'll just be a minute. Parker—"
"Dog's fine," David said.
"Well. Be right back, then."
Roz waited until they were at the front door. "David's wonderful with kids."
"Anyone could see." She caught herself twisting the band of her watch, made herself stop. "It just feels like an imposition. I'd pay him, of course, but—"
"You'll work that out between you. I just wanted to say—from one mother to another—that you can
trust him to look after them, to entertain them, and to keep them— well, no, you can't trust him to keep them out of trouble. I'll say serious trouble, yes, but not the ordinary sort."
"He'd have to have superpowers for that."
"He practically grew up in this house. He's like my fourth son."
"It would be tremendously easy this way. I wouldn't have to haul them to a sitter." Yet another stranger, she thought.
"And you're not used to things being easy."
"No, I'm not." She heard squeals of laughter rolling out from the kitchen. "But I want my boys to be happy, and I guess that's the deciding vote right there."
"Wonderful sound, isn't it? I've missed it. Let's get your things."
"You have to give me the boundaries," Stella said as they went outside. "Where the boys can go, where they can't. They need chores and rules. They're used to having them at home. Back in Michigan."
"I'll give that some thought. Though David—despite the fact that I'm the boss of all of you—probably
has ideas on all that already. Cute dog, too, by the way." She hauled two suitcases out of the back of the SUV. "My dog died last year, and I haven't had the heart to get another. It's nice having a dog around. Clever name."
"Parker—for Peter Parker. That's—"
"Spider-Man. I did raise three boys of my own."
"Right." Stella grabbed another suitcase and a cardboard carton. She felt her muscles strain even as Roz carried her load with apparent ease.
"I meant to ask who else lives here, or what other staff you have."
"It's just David."
"Oh? He said something about being outnumbered by women before we got here."
"That's right. It would be David, and me, and the Harper Bride."
Roz carried the luggage inside and started up the steps with it. "She's our ghost."