“I see.” She was uneasy at being caught in such a condition. Self-consciously she looked down at herself. Her feet were bare, and while her skirt was relatively unharmed, her blouse was half open, revealing a great deal more of her feminine charms than she cared to have exposed—not that it mattered. Her white blouse was so wet that it clung provocatively to her slender frame, outlining every inch of her curves beneath her practical cotton lingerie.
“What happened in here?” Cody asked with a smile that sent her heart crashing against the walls of her chest. Cody was looking at her in a way that made her nerves pop like corn in a hot skillet. She dropped her gaze and quietly observed him. He had changed his clothes, and although he wasn’t exactly wearing a three-piece suit, the dark gray slacks and crisp white shirt he wore looked more devastating than any business suit she’d ever seen.
“I…I gave Bobby a bath,” she said, hastily trying to pull her clothing together as Cody crossed the room. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Laughing softly, Cody playfully chucked Bobby on the chin. Although he was talking to Bobby, his eyes were relentlessly searching hers. “Looks like you’re the one who got the bath. What on earth did you do to our Mags, here?” he asked the child, holding out his arms. The words our Mags reverberated through her mind, sending a shiver through her nervous system. What would it be like to belong to this man? Maggy wondered wistfully. And this child? A sense of longing enveloped her.
“Maybe you had better close that door before something spoils,” Cody suggested with a grin, as he nodded toward the refrigerator door that Maggy was holding on to for dear life.
“Oh!” She slammed the door shut, feeling rattled again.
“I came in here to thank you,” he said, lifting a finger to brush a wet strand of hair from her cheek. Without her shoes, she had to tilt her head to look at Cody, and he seemed even more imposing.
“To thank me?” she said absently, touching her skin where just a moment before his finger had been.
“Your mother told me you offered to baby-sit Bobby tonight.”
Maggy didn’t see any reason to point out to him that she hadn’t exactly offered her services, that she’d been conned, or rather bullied. But now it was a matter of pride. The fact that her mother had hinted that she couldn’t take care of a baby even for one evening had been just enough of a challenge for Maggy to prove that she could.
Maggy detested being told she wasn’t capable of accomplishing something. It just made her more determined to prove them wrong. She’d faced challenges all her life. Someone always seemed to be telling her she couldn’t do something, whether it was taking Latin in school, competing on the college track team or becoming headmistress. Maggy was now fluent in Latin, had been the star of her college track team, and she knew the position of headmistress was now within her grasp.
Inexperienced or not, Maggy was going to take care of Bobby tonight—if he didn’t do her in first.
Cody’s eyes pinned hers. “I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”
“That’s all right,” she managed to say. “I appreciate you taking my mother out for the evening. She hasn’t been out all that much since my father died—”
“I was sorry to hear about your father,” Cody said softly, and something in his voice made her look up at him in surprise. “He was a good man.”
“I know,” she said, unable to drag her eyes from his. Lord, she thought, he had the most glorious eyes. Gathering her senses, Maggy decided to get back to a more neutral subject. “Cody, I think I’d better warn you about Mother,” she said with a sudden frown, and he chuckled softly.
“I know all about your mother. We go way back. I got to know your mother when I first started writing. I did a story on her right after she retired from the theater. She helped me launch my career.” Cody smiled at the look on Maggy’s face. Her mother had helped so many people over the years, in more ways than she could count. Maggy respected her mother enormously, despite her penchant for the dramatic.
“Hey!” Cody tapped her on the chin, and she blinked up at him. “What were you going to tell me about your mom? Some kind of warning, I believe?” There was just a hint of mischief in his eyes and Maggy began to wonder if Cody and her mother were birds of a feather. Good Lord, she had a hard enough time keeping her mother out of trouble without worrying about him, too.
“Mother is a bit…outrageous at times. She tends to do and say things that occasionally get her in hot water. As long as you’re escorting her this evening, I thought perhaps you might keep an eye on her, just to make sure she stays out of trouble.”
“Come on, Mags. A little trouble never hurt anybody,” he teased. “Makes life worth living.”
“Still,” she said worriedly, “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an eye on her. She’s not as young as she thinks she is. Oh, and another thing,” Maggy added, “under no circumstances are you to let her talk you into going to the Boom Boom Club.”
“The Boom Boom Club?” Cody repeated, his voice clearly indicating more interest than she would’ve liked. One dark brow shot up, and he grinned. “What’s that?”
“It’s kind of a…bar,” Maggy hedged, wondering how she was going to explain what the club was without dying of embarrassment in the process. The Boom Boom Club was on the outskirts of town, and featured amateur strip nights as well as topless waitresses and waiters, not to mention other such nonsense. Her mother had been dying to get a look at the place for months, much to Maggy’s distress.
“They serve food,” she continued, despite the look on his face. “And it…has entertainment.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad to me, Maggy,” he said, his eyes gleaming wickedly. “What kind of entertainment are we talking about?”
“Just…entertainment,” she said hesitantly, too embarrassed to go into specifics, and realizing Cody knew exactly what kind of place they were talking about.
“Ahh,” he drawled slowly, nodding his head while trying to extract Bobby’s fingers from his pocket. “Sounds like a strip joint to me.” He grinned. “Don’t be embarrassed, Mags. We’ve got a few of them back home in Tennessee, too.”
And no doubt he had made a personal inspection of each and every one. Maggy decided to change the subject. “Cody, I hope you understand why I can’t help you with your problem.” She looked into his eyes, searching for some hint of understanding.
“You’ve got your reasons. But you must understand, I’ve got mine, too. Bobby’s education is very important to me.”
Maggy nodded. “I understand,” she said softly. And oddly enough Maggy did understand. She just couldn’t help him. But a thought suddenly occurred to her. “Cody, what about your wife?”
“My what?” He looked at her wildly and it was Maggy’s turn to smile.
“Your wife,” she repeated, and Cody threw back his head and let loose a great peal of laughter, startling Bobby who started to cry and reach for Maggy. She took the child, cradling him close and whispering soothing words, all the while wondering what on earth Cody found so funny.
“Forgive me for laughing, Maggy,” he finally managed, wiping at his eyes. The twinkle remained. “But I guess you could say I’m an…unwed father.”
“What?” she asked blankly, trying to stop the thoughts that were storming through her brain. Cody was a Mother of the Year, an unwed father, and the women he knew weren’t motherly types. So where on earth did Bobby come from? At this point she was unwilling to rule out the stork. After all these years of living with her mother, it was certainly a reasonable possibility. Knowing her mother and her friends, anything was a possibility.
“No, it’s not at all what you’re thinking,” he said again, startling her with his perceptiveness. “I haven’t got a wife. In fact I’ve never been married. Bobby’s my sister Pearl’s boy.” Cody rushed on. “She ran off with a game-show host and left Bobby with me.”
“Bobby’s not your son?” she asked.
“Nephew,” Cody explained, look
ing at the child with a soft expression.
“Did she really run off with a game-show host?” Maggy whispered despite herself, and Cody chuckled.
“Well, he wasn’t really a game-show host. But he sure looked like one. You know the type—smooth, real smooth. The guy had shiny suits, slicked-back hair and a big toothy grin that seemed pasted on his lips. Pearl ran off and left Bobby with me when he was barely a year old. I’m his legal guardian now.”
“I’m sorry,” Maggy stammered, not knowing what else to say. “I had no idea. I just assumed.” She couldn’t believe this man would take on the responsibility of raising a child that wasn’t even his own, protecting him from life’s harsh reality, perhaps at his own expense. Cody was a very special man, a man of rare integrity and honesty. It was very refreshing.
“It’s all right. I don’t go around advertising that he’s not my boy. It doesn’t make a whit of difference to me, or to him. I’ve had him ever since he learned to talk, and it just seemed easier for him to call me Daddy. Uncle Cody’s kind of hard for his little mouth to master.” Cody scratched the back of his neck. “The only problem is, he’s at an age now where he calls every woman he sees mama. But we’ll work it out, he and I. We’ll do just fine, don’t you worry.” He looked down at her earnestly, and Maggy met his gaze. For the first time in a very long while, a man was treating her like a woman and not like a respected, distinguished member of Miss Avalon’s Academy. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in the air between them. It made her feel small, feminine and special—not to mention incredibly guilty.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, wondering if she had been too abrupt in her refusal to help him.
Cody looked at her long and hard. “Well, I’m not going to worry about it, that’s for sure. Right now I’m going to have some dinner with your mother, maybe talk about old times. Then tomorrow, Bobby and I, we’ll be on our way.” He shrugged offhandedly, but his gaze was on her. She felt the intensity of his eyes, questioning, probing, and she suddenly knew how a butterfly felt, trapped behind a glass case.
Tomorrow he would be gone, she thought. Almost as if he’d never been. But he had been. And she knew she’d remember him for a long, long time. There was something honest, open, and heart-touchingly old-fashioned about the man. And something very, very appealing, her mind echoed.
“Mags, don’t you worry on my account, please?” He lifted her chin with his fist, and she dared to look at him. Startled by what she saw there, she dropped her gaze to the hollow of his throat. A patch of thick, curly hair peeked out from beneath the material, and she wondered for a moment what it would be like to run her fingers through it. Would it be as soft as little Bobby’s? Probably, she decided.
“Maggy?” Cody’s deep voice was a soft caress that made her knees grow weak again. For a moment she was afraid to actually look at him, but then, with a sigh, she met his gaze. “Are you sure you can manage here tonight? With Bobby and all? It wouldn’t be any trouble to take him with us.”
“I can manage,” she whispered, not certain at the moment just what she was agreeing to manage. There was an electricity about Cody that seemed to draw her. She wasn’t skilled in this type of man/woman thing.
“Sport eat now?” Bobby looked up at her hopefully, instantly breaking the tension between her and Cody. They both laughed self-consciously, looking in relief at the child.
“Sport eat now,” Cody confirmed, leaning forward to ruffle his hair.
“Speaking of Sport, what does he eat?” Maggy asked.
“Mostly soft finger foods, things he can eat with his hands without too much effort. And no matter how charming he is, don’t give him any peanut butter. It sticks to the roof of his mouth and makes him cluck like a hen with dentures. And no grapes,” he added. “He tends to choke on the seeds.”
“Apes?” Bobby asked, beaming up at Maggy with a hopeful smile.
“No apes,” Cody insisted, his voice gentle but firm.
“Damn.” Bobby’s mouth immediately turned downward, and Maggy’s face flamed.
Cody looked at the child in surprise. “Boy, where’d you learn that word?” Cody asked sternly. “I’m sorry, Mags, I didn’t teach him to talk like that.”
“I’m sorry, Cody,” Maggy stammered. “I—I—he heard me say it.”
Cody tried not to smile. He couldn’t imagine this woman using such language. “I think he’s about done in for the day, Mags. I don’t think he’ll give you too much trouble.”
She glanced down. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. Oh, what about clothes? I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to waltz around naked.”
A flush crept slowly up Cody’s rough features and he grinned sheepishly. “That’s my fault. He takes after me. I hate clothes, too. I rarely wear any, unless of course I’m in public. I guess he just picked up the habit. But I’ll leave some pajamas in the living room for you.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to make a comment on the subject. The image of Cody naked was one she didn’t really feel ready to deal with, although the vision wafted through her mind.
“Well, I guess if you’ve got everything covered, I’ll be going. I’ll call you. Just to check in on him,” he added, and her spirits plummeted. She’d thought he was going to be calling her.
He leaned closer to her, and for a moment her heart beat a wild cadence. She caught just a whiff of his male scent. A very pleasant scent, she decided, as Cody brushed his lips gently across the baby’s forehead.
His eyes fastened on hers. “Good night, now.”
“Good night,” Maggy whispered, watching as Cody turned on his heel and walked out the door.
“Da night?” Bobby asked and she nodded, opening the refrigerator door again. She had to stop thinking about Cody and concentrate on Bobby. Right now, the only thing that should be occupying her mind was what to feed this child. But it wasn’t. The only thing on her mind was a big, broad, gentle mountain of a man named Wild Bill Cody.
Chapter Four
“Bobby, honey, the food is supposed to go in your mouth, not on the floor.” Maggy laughed, trying to grab a piece of chicken as it went sailing from his hands. There was more food on the floor than in the child’s stomach. Determined not to take any chances, Maggy had cut the cold chicken into tiny pieces. Even Bobby couldn’t choke on them. In fact, he had trouble hanging on to them.
After gathering some old telephone books, Maggy had assembled a makeshift high chair for the child. She had laced a belt securely around Bobby’s waist, weaving one end through the rungs of the chair. As long as she was going to baby-sit Bobby tonight, she was going to make sure that nothing happened to him. She planned to stick to him like summer underwear.
“More?” she asked, holding up a spoonful of gelatin.
Bobby nodded his head and opened his mouth, only to spit the gelatin all over her once he had it in his mouth. “Done,” he announced, yanking off his makeshift bib.
“I wish you would have told me that before.” Laughing, she grabbed a napkin and picked bits of cherry gelatin off her blouse.
“Let’s clean you up, Sport.” After dampening a rag, Maggy wiped off Bobby’s hands and his mouth, bending to plant a kiss on the top of his head.
“Sport night-night.” Yawning, he lifted his arms to her. After unassembling his chair, Maggy scooped him up in her arms and carried him into the living room. Since her house wasn’t equipped with a crib, Maggy had gathered several blankets and pillows, improvising a bed for the child on the couch.
“Tired, Sport?” she asked, settling herself on the couch. Humming softly, she gently rocked Bobby, growing drowsy herself as the soothing motion relaxed her. Within a few moments Bobby had fallen asleep.
Silently Maggy watched him, a satisfied smile on her face. He really was a sweet child. Very good-tempered, which surprised her. She had always heard that children his age tended to be unmanageable. But except for the scene at bath time he’d been a perfect angel.
Cody had already c
alled twice to check on him, and had been happy to learn that Bobby was behaving.
Leaning her head back against the couch, Maggy closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. What a peculiar day this had been, she thought drowsily. Never in a million years could she have guessed when she left school this afternoon that she would be baby-sitting a toddler this evening.
With a soft sigh, Maggy settled herself more comfortably on the couch, grabbing a corner of an afghan to cover herself as she tucked her legs beneath her. Taking care of a child was hard work. Fun, but nerve-racking at times. She wondered how Cody did it.
Cody. A smile touched her lips as his image floated through her mind. It had been a long, long time since she had been impressed by a man. Most of the men she ran across were faculty. Maggy had never realized how much she missed being appreciated for her femininity until today—until she met Cody.
The ringing of the phone startled her out of her thoughts and she gently laid Bobby down on the couch before making a lunge for the phone.
“Hello,” she whispered, keeping one eye trained on the child.
“Why are you whispering? Is something wrong with Bobby?”
“Cody? Is that you?” There was so much noise in the background that she could hardly hear him.
“It’s me, Maggy. How’s Bobby?” he asked.
“He’s fine. He’s already asleep. Cody? Where are you? What’s all that noise?” she asked suspiciously.
Cody was silent for a moment. “Well, Mags, I’m glad things are going well with you. Your mother and I—well—we’ve run into a little problem.”
“Problem?” Her nerves tightened. “Cody, is Mother all right? Did something happen to her?” Her breathing slowed as she paced the space in front of the telephone table.
“No, nothing happened to your mother. She’s fine, in fact she’s right here.”
Her breath came out in a relieved rush. “Thank goodness. Can I speak to her then?”
Baby Makes Three: Heartwarming Love and Laughter Page 4
