Chapter 1

I knew better before I even opened my mouth. I am not good with kids. They make me uncomfortable and they seem to know it. But I have a curse. I am one of those people that likes to help out when I can. So when my boss was fuming and so terribly upset at the office yesterday I asked what had upset him so.

I knew that he was all set to leave on a ten day cruise with his wife. It was going to be their second honeymoon. We had been working furiously to get ahead at work so that he could take off for twelve days and not have to worry about things at the office.

To be honest, I was looking forward to it as much as he was. It was going to be like a holiday for me too. For the next two weeks my only job was going to be answering the phone and taking messages. Since everyone knew that he was going away there shouldn't be much of that either.

It isn't that I don't like my boss. He is very nice to me and I like working for him very much. I have always been intimidated by him though. So I may not be getting spoiled on a luxury cruise ship, but I was going to enjoy the quiet ten days around the office.

He and his wife were leaving in the company plane after work tonight. They were going to fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and spend the night in a hotel. Then they were to board the cruise ship on Saturday morning.

It had been a hard week for both of us and we both needed the rest that we were going to get in the next two weeks. I had been in his office going over some last minute details when the phone rang. I answered it. That's my job after all.

It was his wife calling. She was frantic. She sounded almost hysterical. I handed him the phone and watched as his face turned dark, dark red and I knew from his expression that he was furious.

The thing about Mr. Clark, my boss, is that when he gets mad like that he doesn't yell or stomp around. He gets quiet and he looks like he is just about to explode. He listened to his wife for a few minutes and he never said a word. He just set the phone down gently in the cradle and stared straight ahead. I was terrified. I'm not sure why. I don't think that I was afraid that he would harm me. I guess I had just never seen anyone that angry before.

I finally asked timidly, "What's wrong, Mr. Clark?"

I wasn't sure he had heard me at first. But after a long, uncomfortable moment he said in a very quiet and controlled tone of voice, "My mother-in-law crapped out on us."

His mother-in-law was to come and stay in their house and watch their four kids while Mr. Clark and his wife were on the cruise.

I knew better. I swear I did. I just couldn't help myself. I was kicking myself before I even spoke. But I meekly suggested, "Would you like me to watch the kids while you're on vacation, sir?"

I sometimes say the dumbest things!

He stared at me for a moment. I didn't have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking. "You couldn't handle my kids." It was written all over his face. And I was reasonably certain that he was right. But I had that damned birth defect I couldn't overcome. I had to offer to help.

He had three teenage boys and a teenage girl. They ranged in age from a thirteen year old boy, Kirk; the twins, Kyra and Kevin who were fifteen; and Keary, the sixteen year old. Mr. Clark once said that Keary was Celtic name which meant 'father's dark child' and it had turned out to be far too prophetic.

The only one of his kids that I had ever met was the girl, Kyra. She had been every bit as rude and obnoxious as you would expect of a teenager these days. I had met her only briefly when her mother had stopped by the office to see Mr. Clark one day. While she was in his office, Kyra had stayed outside in my office with me.

For the ten minutes or so that she was there it was like I couldn't breathe. When Mrs. Clark came out of the office and they left I actually sat back and gasped for air.

After a long pause, during which I prayed fervently that Mr. Clark would thank me for my kind offer and refuse it, he finally said, "Gail, I have no choice. For the sake of my marriage and my sanity I am going to have to accept your offer. I think that we both know that I am throwing you into the lion's den. I can only apologize in advance and promise to make this up to you."

I smiled at the way that he put it. We both knew that I was getting in over my head here. But he was trapped by circumstances and I was trapped by my big mouth.

He said, "I'll call my wife and tell her. You go home and pack up what you'll need and come to my house as soon as you can. As I recall you once met Kyra. We'll show you around and introduce you to the rest of the demon horde. I know this isn't going to be the restful two weeks that you were anticipating in my absence. I'm sorry."

It was still mid-afternoon on Friday, but I would need time to pack. So as Mr. Clark picked up the phone to call his wife, I returned to my office, straightened out my desk, turned off my computer and drove home. And all the while I was thinking, "What have I done?!" I kept asking myself that same question, over and over.

I had been living alone in a small apartment since my divorce three years ago. My husband had fallen for his secretary and left me after just one year of marriage. I had been devastated. I was so mad at him and men in general that I had not been on a date since we separated.

It isn't that I don't get asked. I am twenty-four years old. I have been told that I have a pretty face and a 'killer smile'. I have long, dark red hair and a figure that I am quite proud of, though to be honest I don't do much to keep it. My slender figure is due more to my diet of soups and salads and the occasional sea food dinner than an exercise regimen. I get some exercise from time to time. I join a gym or take up jogging and I work out for a while. But to be honest, exercise bores me to tears. So it's never very long before I slip back into my old slothful ways.

In other words, I am sexy by an accident of nature. But I do turn men's heads. I am asked out fairly often but I have no desire to date. Not now anyway, probably not ever.

Since I am being honest I guess that I should probably also say that one of the reasons that my husband left me is that I am not very fond of sex. I have always found it demeaning and embarrassing. When I overhear other women talking about a night of great sex they have just enjoyed or how much they enjoy having sex with this man or that man, I don't get it. I suppose I envy them. I know that there is a lot missing from my life. I have no love or affection in my life, no intimacy. But the idea of what constitutes a woman's role in a sexual relationship just about makes me ill.

My ex, before he left me, tried to get me to talk to a professional. He said that he loved me, but that he couldn't live the way that we were and he wanted me to get help. I suppose that in the back of my mind I knew I had a problem. I just couldn't acknowledge it. I thought, I still think, that the sex act was designed for the pleasure of the male and is demeaning to women. If the only way to avoid it is to live my life alone then so be it.

I drove to my apartment and went straight to my tiny bedroom. I pulled my suitcase out from under the bed and opened it. I packed enough clothes for a week. Mr. Clark told me to bring my bathing suit. They had a pool and a hot tub in the back yard. I packed my toiletry bag, grabbed the book I was reading and wheeled my suitcase out to my car.

I had never been to Mr. Clark's house. I knew where it was though. He lived in the nicest area in town. His neighbors were all doctors and lawyers and Indian chiefs. Well, maybe not Indian chiefs, but prominent businessmen. The houses were all huge estates with well manicured lawns and a lot of space between them.

Mr. Clark met me in the driveway when I arrived. He had been loading his luggage into the limo that was taking him to the jetport. He helped me with my bag and I followed him inside.

His wife was still upstairs but his four rowdy kids were at the kitchen table eating pizza. They all looked up when we came in. Mr. Clark introduced me to all of them and the expressions on their faces were scary, especially the oldest, Keary. I was not expecting this to be easy. But I had not expected the lustful leer on the face of a sixteen year old boy when I was being introduced.

Kevin, the fifteen year old had a bit of that too. But he and his twin sister and the youngest boy looked more mischievous than lustful. Well, perhaps not so much mischievous as devilish. They were a scary sight.

I was invited to join the kids. There was pizza aplenty. I had to admit that it smelled good. I had not eaten pizza in a long time. But those scary kids took away my appetite. I knew, looking at them now, that I had made a huge mistake. I was in way over my head with these four.

More than anything I wanted to tell Mr. Clark that I had made a mistake. I turned to look at him though and I saw on his face that he knew it too. He looked guilty, but desperate.

I had worked for Mr. Clark for more than five years now. I went to work for him almost as soon as I got out of high school. I knew him pretty well. I also knew the witch that he had married. She was probably the only person in the world that Mr. Clark was afraid of. He was not going to disappoint her. They were going on that cruise and if the house was nothing but rubble when they returned then they would deal with it at that time.

I smiled nervously and tried to assure Mr. Clark that it would be alright once the kids and I got better acquainted. He rolled his eyes, not believing me for a minute. He picked up my suitcase and led me to the mother-in-law suite off of the kitchen. It was not being used and it was to be my home for the next two weeks.

It was very nice, nicer than my apartment! It had a large bedroom and a very modern bathroom with a large walk-in shower. There was a nice sized sitting room with a big screen television.

Mr. Clark showed me around and he was about to show me how to use the television but I explained to him that I didn't watch television. He raised his eyebrow and I explained that I loved to read and I had brought my book with me.

He led me back out to the kitchen and showed me a list of emergency numbers and special instructions. There were not a lot of instructions for the kids. School had just gotten out for the summer and they were pretty lax about things like bedtimes and guests. The kids were obviously spoiled rotten and my job seemed to be to make sure that no one starved to death or robbed a bank.

He showed me the beautiful backyard with the huge pool and finally Mrs. Clark came down and they were ready to leave. She barely acknowledged my existence as she breezed through the house on the way out to the limo. Their goodbye to the kids was just, "We're leaving, see you in two weeks. Try to behave."