Free [Cardello Ruth] For Love or Legacy(Bookos.org) by Lenovo User

Louboutin sling back shoes and her cream colored pants suit and then at the boy who looked like he‘d been playing in mud with his hands.
    Every other family she knew had nannies, but the Andrades didn‘t believe in them.
    The boy stood, poised to sprint, just four steps below her. ―Grab him?‖ Nicole asked, not really sure what that would look like.
    The mother said, ―Catch him. Net him. Hogtie him. Just bring him to the bathroom. He doesn‘t want to wash his hands before dinner.‖
    The little boy stuck out his tongue at Nicole and took off around the corner.
    Oh, the little stinker.
    Nicole stepped out of her heels and gave chase.
    She chased him around two parked cars, but he snuck past her and took off across the sloped grass lawn. The two were in a full run, when the little boy tripped going down a small incline and started to roll. Nicole pulled back to avoid stepping on him and also fell. They both rolled a few times in the thick summer grass before coming to a stop at the bottom of the small hill.
    The little boy got to his feet first and peered down at her, accusingly. ―You almost rolled over me.‖
    Nicole tried to keep a straight face, ―Sorry about that.‖
    He stuck out a defiant chin, ―I‘m not washing my hands with Zia ‗Lise‘s soap. It makes me smell like a girl.‖
    ―So, I‘ll have to hogtie you after all,‖ Nicole said solemnly as if talking to herself.
    The little boy tilted his head to one side in evaluation of her statement. ―You‘re funny,‖ he announced and offered her one of his muddy hands. Nicole took it and allowed him to believe that he was helping her stand up. He added, ―And you‘re fast.‖
    Nicole smiled. ―Who knew?‖ She didn‘t let go of his dirty little hand. He was not getting away a second time. ―Let‘s go back inside. I bet your mother is worried.‖
    ―I‘m not -‖
    Nicole suggested, ―What if we find some manly soap? I bet Uncle Alessandro doesn‘t like to smell like a girl either.‖
    Elise came out the back door of the large house and wagged a finger at her nephew.
    ―Matteo, come in the house right now. Look, you've gotten Nicole‘s pants dirty!‖
    Nicole looked down at her little captor and back up, and came to a quick decision. ―It‘s not his fault. I was running down the hill and I fell. Matteo was just helping me up.‖
    Elise nodded, knowingly. ―Well, Matt, how lucky that you were there to help Nicole. Let‘s go get cleaned up.‖
    Matteo looked up with pleading eyes. Nicole asked, ―Elise, do you have ivory soap? I‘m allergic to scented soaps.‖
    Elise cocked a curious eyebrow at Nicole who merely shrugged. ―Sure,‖ she said. ―Follow me.‖
    Matteo said, ―Sorry about your pants, Nicole.‖
    Nicole said, ―It‘s ok.‖ And it was. She looked down at the stains on her left knee and knew that her pre-dinner adventure would likely be told and retold as a new Andrade family story, and there was a certain amount of pride in that.
    Matteo said, ―Want to race later?‖
    Nicole realized that he was now holding her hand rather than the other way around and her heart did a funny sort of summersault in her chest. ―You‘re on.‖
    And together they went into the bustling house.

    Victor Andrade tapped his wife‘s arm and stood the moment Nicole entered the house.
    Nicole froze in the foyer, hardly noticing when someone slipped Matteo‘s hand out of hers and led him off to get cleaned up.
    ―Nicole, you came!‖ Victor said in a welcoming tone she‘d never heard in her own father‘s voice.
    Katrine kissed one of her cheeks and hugged her like a mother who hasn‘t seen her child in too long a time. Nicole stepped back and almost fell. Katrine grabbed her arm at the last moment and steadied her. ―It‘s good to see you, Nicole.‖
    Stephan‘s father walked over and Nicole stiffened in anticipation of what might be another awkward embrace. Instead, he stopped and simply touched one of her cheeks. ―It only took my son