Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(64)

“You might find it to be more than you bargained for.”

Ellie shrugged. “Or, I could have more fun than I’ve had cleaning and painting an old church. If I have trouble, I’ll come for you. Go on now—this is your big break. Unless—gee, maybe you want to observe me for a while, to be sure I’m okay with the kids?”

“Noah says you’re wonderful with kids.”

“He did? Well, how about that. I should be—I’ve had plenty of practice. It’s been just me and the kids for a long time.”

“I’ll go take a shower,” Vanni said, without responding to that last comment. She handed off Matt. “If you have problems, holler.”

“And take some time for yourself,” Ellie said, bouncing a kid on each hip. “I’ll juggle for a while.”

When Vanni disappeared, Ellie took the kids to the kitchen. Once there, she found the remnants of breakfast on their high-chair trays and the kitchen was a mess—dishes in the sink, the floor sticky, dirty pots on the stove, the newspaper spread out on the table in front of a coffee cup with a ring around the inside. “Well,” she said softly to the kids. “Mommy’s got issues. But, hey, we can deal. Right?”

Hannah said, “Ma!” and Matt patted Ellie’s head.

“You two,” Ellie cooed, kissing each cheek. “Could you be any more delicious? Come on, let’s settle in. There’s stuff to do here.”

Once she had them strapped in the high chairs, she cleaned off the trays. She found sippy cups in the sink, scrubbed them and filled them with juice. Then she put a handful of dry Cheerios on each tray and, talking and singing little ditties the whole time, began cleaning the kitchen. There was a thin, sticky coat of kiddie paste over everything, including the floor and high chairs, so when the dishes were loaded, she started the dishwasher, wiped down the stove, table and countertops. In the laundry room off the kitchen she found a bucket, mop and sponge. Also, loads of dirty laundry. “Hmm,” she said, thinking. “Well, whoever said ‘one thing at a time’ didn’t know squat.” She got a load of kids’ clothes going. Back in the kitchen, singing the “ABC” song, “People on the Bus” and “Little Soap,” she washed down the high chairs while the kids were in them, stopping occasionally to make faces and noises and tickle. And then, dishwasher and washing machine humming away, she mopped the floor, scooting the high chairs out of the way one at a time.

She flipped the laundry and started another load. And then she took the kids to the great room where a playpen stood ready. She settled both of them, playing with them for just a moment before she left them to grab some Windex and Pledge and rags. If there was one thing a single mother of two had learned pretty well, it was how to make a small house presentable in record time. Well, this was no small house—it was like a castle to Ellie—and brand-new. She knew she would never live in such a house, not unless she won the lottery—which she never played—or fell in love with some rich guy, which was now off the table. But still…

She shined up the glass and wood furniture, found the vacuum in the front-hall closet and, talking to and singing to the kids, she ran it around the room. She glanced at her watch and saw that Vanni had been missing for well over an hour, but it had been time well spent. She was making great progress.

Another hour passed and she had cleaned the kitchen and great room, folded some clothes on the couch while picking up toys that had been pitched out of the playpen. Since she had a couple of stacks of clean baby clothes, she put them in the nursery, rounded up towels and ran a bath.

Ohhh, they loved the bath, so she supervised while they played until the water was cooled. Little Hannah needed that soak on her rosy bottom. Next, clean clothes and a glance at her watch told her it was lunchtime. She took the little ones back to the kitchen. She found baby food in the pantry but, if memory served, there was one thing kids loved universally. “Mac and cheese,” she said, grinning at them. It took only minutes in the microwave and then minutes to cool a bit. She managed to put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, though if Vanni ever found them again, it would be a miracle. When the mac and cheese had cooled down enough, she gave each child a bowl on their tray.

Now, this was where aggressive supervision was required if they were going to get more in their stomachs than on her clean floor. She sat on a chair with a handy rag and helped Matt guide his spoon while she fed Hannah. “I so knew you’d love this,” she said to them. “It was a big treat at my house.”

There were bottles in the dishwasher. Since she didn’t find any powdered formula anywhere, she was left to assume they were now on regular milk. So, she filled a couple of bottles, and with Hannah in her arms and Matt lying on the couch, his legs draped over hers, they relaxed together. Hannah played with Ellie’s ponytail that fell over her shoulder and Matt held her finger.

These children needed to be touched! They needed kisses and giggles and cooing and pleasant smiles! They needed to feel the love! But their mother was sad, overwhelmed, hurt and exhausted.

Both children passed out with their bottles. Ellie scooted out from under Matt’s legs and hefted Hannah into her arms. Matt slept with his mouth open and arms limply splayed outward, totally gone. To his sleeping form she whispered, “Do not roll off this couch or I’ll be fired!” Then she took Hannah to her crib and went quickly back for Matt.