Stroke of Fortune by Christine Rimmer

had the distinct impression he wanted to say something to her but didn’t quite know where to start. “Well,” he said, finally, gruffer than ever, “you’ve just been to see your mother, I suppose?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œShe’s okay?”
    â€œShe’s fine.”
    â€œAll right. I hope…things are working out.”
    â€œThings are just fine.”
    â€œGlad to hear that. Yes. Real good.”
    Josie hurried to her own room to drop off a few purchases she’d made for herself when she stopped at the store to shop for her mother. Then she ducked into the bathroom to wash her hands.
    Finally she entered the baby’s room to find that Grace had taken over for Cara.
    Grace turned a cool smile on Josie. “Ah, there you are.”
    â€œAm I late?”
    â€œNo. You’re right on time.”
    Grace let the smile fade. Without it, she looked vaguely put-upon, as if Josie had injured her or insulted her somehow.
    But a lady was a lady, after all. Grace couldn’t stop herself from asking, “How is your mother doing, Josie?”
    â€œBetter, Mrs. Carson. Better all the time.” Yes, all right. The improvement, according to the doctors, was most likely only temporary. But Grace Carson didn’t need to hear the depressing details.
    Grace stood from the rocker, slowly, careful of the baby in her arms. “You give her my very best, will you?”
    â€œI sure will. And thank you.”
    â€œJosie, I…”
    Josie waited, wearing an expression of polite attention, for Flynt’s mother to find the right words.
    At last, they came. “You know, you’ve got your whole life before you. You’re young. Quite lovely. And I know you’re very bright.”
    In Josie’s experience, when people felt a need to start out by listing your good points, bad news was sure to follow. She didn’t like the sound of this. She ventured a cautious, “Thank you.”
    Grace gave a tight little nod. “You must have boyfriends, social activities you hate to miss. I would think this kind of job would be so…limiting for you.”
    Josie caught on then. Grace knew. She’d picked up on the tension between the housekeeper-turned-nanny and her older son. She might not know how far it had gone, but she did know now that an attraction existed.
    And she didn’t approve.
    Suddenly that narrow-eyed look of Ford’s in the back hall made a bleak kind of sense. He’d wanted to talk to her, all right.
    He’d wanted to tell her to stay away from his son.
    What had she expected? For them to throw open their arms and beg her to join the family?
    Yes, some very young, hopeful voice in the back of her mind whispered ardently. Yes, I did expect that.
    â€œYou’ll be here, in these two rooms, so much of the time.” Grace clucked her tongue. “I can’t believeyou’ll be happy, with only this baby for company day in and day out.”
    Josie kept her shoulders back and her head high. “Mrs. Carson, I told you yesterday in the interview, I love babies. And I’m good with them. I will be happy alone with Lena. And as far as all those other things you mentioned, well, in my life there hasn’t been a lot of time for boyfriends and partying.”
    â€œThere should be.”
    â€œ Should doesn’t mean a lot to me. There’s what is. And there’s what I’ll make of what life has handed to me. That’s about it.”
    â€œI think you should consider carefully.” There it was—another should. Grace didn’t even seem to realize she’d said it. She went on, “Ford and I would be willing to—”
    Josie put up a hand. “Please don’t say anything we’ll both regret later.”
    One of Grace’s slim eyebrows inched toward her hairline. “Pardon me?”
    â€œLet me put it this way. If you had some idea of making me an offer to just go away