Tender Love Read Online Free Page B

girl, but she’s quite a bit taller than she was last summer, and her jeans are too short.”
    â€œWatch the paper for yard sales, and take her to one of those. You can add a few new outfits, and Mark won’t notice.”
    â€œI also want to have a professional cleaning service come in and clean the whole house. He does have a woman come in for a few hours on Thursday, but she can’t keep up with all the work.”
    â€œA group of our church women has taken house cleaning as a ministry. If the family is able to make a donation, fine. If not, they clean the house free of charge. Talk to Mark about it—he’ll never know how much money you give them.”
    â€œThanks, Betty—you’ve solved my two biggest problems.”
    â€œLet me warn you, Alice, that Mark Tanner is an intelligent man, and he’s going to realize soon that you aren’t an ordinary nanny. You should tell him before he figures it out for himself.”
    â€œThis is only for a month’s trial,” Alice reminded her. “After that, I may tell him.”
    â€œIf you stay there three more weeks, Alice, you’ll be hooked, and you know it. I’m your friend, and I don’t want you to get hurt. I feel responsible for you since I’m the one who mentioned the Tanners to you.”
    Alice laughed at her. “Hey, I’m a big girl now— I can look after myself.”
    Betty’s eyes were skeptical. “I wonder.”
    â€œBy the way, who is Ethel Pennington?”
    Betty grinned at her. “So you’ve seen her, have you?”
    â€œI can hardly help it. She’s been in and out of the house several days this week, and Wednesday, she brought hamburgers and French fries for Kristin and Eddie at two o’clock in the afternoon. I took charge of the food and told her that we’d have it for dinner—that I’d scheduled regular hours and I didn’t want the children nibbling between meals. She was obviously angry, and Kristin and Eddie weren’t happy about it either, but I won that battle, for so far, Mark is supporting me. Too much of that kind of food isn’t good for Eddie. Dr. Zane said he needs fruits and vegetables.”
    â€œTo answer your question—Ethel is a spinster who’s had her eye on Mark for years. She lives a few blocks from the Tanners, and as soon as Clarice got sick, she became the ministering angel. She intends to be the next Mrs. Tanner, and she’s working on Mark through the children.”
    â€œIs Mark interested in her?”
    â€œI doubt it very much, but she isn’t easily discouraged.”
    Â 
    The night before Kristin left for church camp, Mark telephoned that he would be late getting home.
    â€œIf you don’t mind, Alice, you can put the children to bed early. I don’t want them staying up until I come home.”
    She prepared beef stew, Waldorf salad, and hot rolls for dinner, putting aside enough food for Mark in case he hadn’t eaten before he came home. The children were quieter than usual as they ate, and Kristin merely picked at her food. As Alice clearedthe table and filled the dishwasher, the children dogged her steps—she couldn’t get a foot away from either one of them.
    After her work was finished, she said, “Your father asked me to send you to bed early, for he didn’t know when he would be home.”
    â€œOh, Alice, please don’t make us go to bed before Daddy comes,” Kristin begged, and Eddie puckered up as if he would soon burst into tears.
    â€œBut he doesn’t know what time he’ll be here, and we leave for camp early in the morning.”
    Kristin grabbed her hand, and Eddie tugged on Alice’s jeans. “But I won’t sleep until he comes. When he’s late, we’re always afraid he’s not coming home. Please, don’t send us to bed, Alice. Eddie will cry until he’s sick.”
    Like a bolt from the blue,