CHAPTER 1

          SEVEN MONTHS EARLIER        

          There had to be something she could do, but what?

          Nicola Rhymes looked at her surroundings and sighed. She jumped at the chance to leave her past behind, come to another city, and plan her future here, in Long Beach… And now…?

          Well, she was in over her head.

          She had always been the one who wanted out… Out of the family, out of the drama, out of an unhealthy relationship, out of everything. Well, no one told her ‘be careful what you wish for, sweetie!’ because now she was stuck in a tiny apartment in the worst neighborhood in Long Beach, with no clue what to do.

          With no light at the end of the fucking tunnel.

“This situation is slowly killing my spirit,” Nicola murmured. “If only Daphne would send me a sign…”

          She put her head in her hands and sighed. On the computer screen in front of her, was her budget for the next three months. No matter which way she plotted and planned, she only had about two months before it all fell apart.

          Nicola leaned back in her seat, glancing at her reflection in the mirror on her little desk. She wasn't a gorgeous woman, at least not in her opinion. She was… studious, if anything.

          A ‘nerd’, as her sister used to call her affectionately.

          She had long blond hair and dark eyes, fringed with long lashes, something her mother said was a wonderful asset. She was spunky and curvy, something else her mother said was a good thing. Not that it mattered right now…

          At thirty years of age, Nicola was a divorcee, a stranger in a weird place, away from everything she knew for the past few years, and with nothing to show for it. She went to school every day and graduated despite her personal tragedy, but none of her studies was of any help right now.

          Sure, she could always go back to Seattle and accept Randy’s help…

          Yeah, right! She would rather live in her car first.

          Or eat dirt…

          Or drink bleach…

          Or all of the above.

          Living under the same roof with her ex-husband, his girlfriend and their little twins was ten times worse than jumping off the Empire State Building without a parachute…

          The problem was after she left Seattle, she couldn’t find work anywhere. That’s when Daphne invited her to come to Long Beach and try her luck here. At first, Nicola told herself it would just take a little longer. But now, three weeks later, she was concerned.

          Nicola leaned back in the chair and bit her thumbnail, trying to find a solution.

“Not one job proposal…” she said, looking back down at the screen. “Maybe I should change the perspective. Maybe people in Long Beach don’t need a nanny… Not a thirty-year-old one. I could try offering some cleaning services, or I could work as a caretaker…”

          She leaned forward again and jumped into a new job search, hopeful something would happen. On the computer screen appeared an e-mail notice.

“It’s from Daphne!” she exclaimed. “Thank God!”

          It was a brief e-mail.

          ‘Keep your fingers crossed, Nik. Today’s the day. I’ll see you after work, at that bar near my apartment.’

“Maybe she’ll finally get that raise she was talking about the other day… Well, a few hours out and a drink to celebrate is what I need…”

                                                              ****

          Sitting in his leather armchair, Blake Echols felt tired and aching. He had spent the entire day in his office, behind his desk, trying to fix some of the problems created by two of his collaborators. They knew how important the acquisition of a shipyard was for him and the entire company. Some days, Blake wondered what the hell he was paying these people for at all.

          Blake got up from his chair, stood in front of the large window behind his desk, and gazed down at the busy street below. Traffic was heavy as people were getting off work and heading home to their families.

          The only family he had to go home to was his four-year-old daughter, Iris, his ‘little ray of sunshine’.

          Turning away from the window, his blue eyes settled on a silver framed photograph on the corner of his large mahogany desk. Blake picked up the photograph and smiled at the little girl with the pigtails and the pink dress.

          His little girl was his life, the only reason he got out of bed every morning.

          Just then, Daphne Winters, Blake's secretary, appeared in the doorway.

“Somewhere out there, there's a little princess who wants to talk to her daddy… She is on the phone for you.”        

“Thank you, Daphne.”

          Blake set the picture down, picked up the receiver, and jabbed at a button on the phone.

“Hi, baby girl…”

          He heard giggling on the other end of the line.

“‘Hi, Daddy’,” she said. “‘When are you coming home? To me?’”

 “Daddy will be home soon, sweetie. I have…”

“‘Oh! Ice cream! Ice cream!’” Iris squealed.

          A loud crash filled Blake's ear and he grimaced.

“‘I'm sorry about that, Mr. Blake,’” Alma, who was the housekeeper, said as she came on the line. “‘She saw ice cream, got excited, and dropped the receiver.’”

“So typical of my daughter! Alma, please, don't give her too many sweets,” Blake said.

“‘I won't, don’t worry,’” the housekeeper replied.

“Thank you, Alma. I'll be home as soon as possible,” Blake added.

“‘Very well, sir,’” she said.

          Blake dropped the receiver in the cradle.

“Daphne!” he called out.

“Yes, Mr. Echols?”

          He glanced up to find she was still standing in the doorway.

“Oh… I… I didn’t see you there.”

“No problem, sir. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing more than you’ve already done, thank you. You may go home now.”

“Thank you, sir,” Daphne replied to him. “Is our little princess alright?”

“Iris is perfectly fine,” Blake answered. “She just wanted to know when I was coming home.”

          He began to straighten the desktop.

“Oh, Daphne… Remember my request, please. In the morning, I would appreciate it if you would find a reputable nanny agency. I need to find a nanny for Iris. Is extremely urgent. Alma tries to help, but my baby girl is a handful and needs someone who can keep up with her.”

          Daphne stepped farther into the spacious office.

“Mr. Echols, as you can imagine, there are a lot of nanny agencies in the city, but I kinda know someone who would be absolutely perfect for this job.”

“Tell me a few things about her,” Blake said, opening the top drawer of a file cabinet.

“Her name is Nicola Rhymes and she has been my best friend since we were in high school. She just moved to Long Beach three weeks ago and has been looking for a job since then.”

          Daphne sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of Blake's desk and crossed her legs.

“Nik has been taking care of children for the past five years. She's almost thirty, she has no children and she is single. She adores children and from what I have witnessed, they adore her too. She kinda knows their language. Shall I set up an interview with her?”

“Well… Since she is your friend and you vouch for her…” Blake started.

“I do, Mr. Echols. She is the sweetest person in the world… and she is a great nanny.”

“In this case, I trust you… So, yes,” he replied. “The sooner the better.”

“Let me check your schedule, sir.”

          Daphne rose from the chair and hurried from the office. Coming back, a minute later with a leather-bound book, she opened it and scanned the page.

“You have several meetings tomorrow afternoon, so that's no good. You have some free time in the morning, between nine-thirty and ten. I'll check with Nik and see if she can meet with you then. If you don't need anything else, I'm going home.”

“That's perfect,” Blake muttered. “I'll see you in the morning, Daphne.”

“Don’t stay here too long. Iris is waiting for you at home.”

“I won’t,” he said smiling.  

“Have a nice evening, Mr. Echols.”

          Blake nodded.

“You, too.”

          A couple of hours later, Blake removed a few files from the cabinet and placed them in his briefcase. After making sure he had everything he would need to work at home, he turned off the lights, locked the door, and headed for the elevator.