There was a light tap on the door, and she jumped in response, then did her best to calm her racing heart.
“The fire’s roaring, and I’ve made some hot tea,” Garrett said from the other side of the door. “Would you like some?”
“That sounds great, thank you,” she answered, hoping something in her voice didn’t give away how raw her emotions were at the moment. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Meet you in the living room, then.”
She’d made a mistake by letting him see her reaction to the kiss, but it might not be too late to fix that. She’d simply have to act as if it hadn’t meant anything. That it was perfectly normal for them to share a kiss in the rain. He must never know how she truly felt.
Everything appeared normal when she stepped out of the bedroom. The living room wasn’t lit brightly, but it rarely was, and the blaze in the fireplace added an additional warm glow. The soft rug that always lay in front of the fireplace was still there, but now the coffee table had been added, along with two cups of tea placed at opposite ends.
“I was going to offer you some wine,” he said. “And the look on your face is exactly why I didn’t,” he added, when she turned to look at him.
She laughed, making light of it, and when he nodded to the far end of the table, she sat cross-legged on the pillow he’d placed there. “I have to admit it would surprise me if you had,” she replied. “I’ve never even seen you with a beer at Lou’s.”
“Too many wild nights when I was younger.” He settled on the pillow at the other end. “I pretty much gave it up.”
“So you don’t drink at all?”
“Not often and not much.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“My thoughts, exactly.”
She took a sip of the tea and began to feel warmer. “What time do you think Noah and Sophie will be back?”
He gave her a sheepish glance. “Noah called and asked me to tell you that he’s been invited to stay for dinner. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
She wasn’t sure she liked that he hadn’t called her to the phone, but she remembered she might have been in the shower at the time. “No, I don’t mind.”
“I’m glad I didn’t screw that up,” he said with a nervous chuckle.
The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was an unreasonable mother. She did keep a watchful eye on Noah, but she had her reasons…reasons she couldn’t share.
“As long as he isn’t there too late,” she answered, “and the roads don’t get too bad, what with all this rain, it’s okay.”
With the back of his hand, he wiped his forehead. “Whew!”
She laughed again, and they both became quiet, focusing on the fire crackling warmly beside them. Sometime later, he stood. “More tea?” he asked.
“No, but it did warm me. Thank you.” When he took her empty cup, she scrambled to her feet. “Let me,” she said, reaching for his cup. “There’s no reason you should do all the work. We share, remember?”
He relinquished it without an argument. “I’ll get the table moved.”
Alone in the kitchen, she closed her eyes and sighed. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she wanted to spend the evening with him, no matter whether it was right or wrong. She’d already decided to leave at the end of the week. She couldn’t tell him, and she’d never get the chance to tell him why or even goodbye. Why shouldn’t she enjoy herself until then?
GARRETT HAD TRIED NOT to stare at Libby when she left the room. He’d never seen any woman who looked as great in a pair of sweats as she did. A pair of sweats! They weren’t even tight, but they moved in the right places when she did. He couldn’t think of anything at that moment that she’d look better in. Except maybe one of his shirts and nothing else.
Chiding himself for even thinking something like that, he focused on moving the coffee table back to its original place, trying to erase that image of Libby walking to the kitchen.
It was getting more difficult every day to regard her as a friend and nothing more. He’d wanted her before he’d kissed her, and now he wanted her more. The shared child care that had been his idea was now what kept him from approaching her. Even after their walk and everything that had happened, he wasn’t sure how she’d react to anything more than the innocent flirting they’d enjoyed before they’d become babysitters for each other’s child. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten her. At any other time, he would have let her know how he felt. But now that she was living in his house, he didn’t feel it was right to pursue her. But, damn, it wasn’t going to be easy not to.
When she returned, she hesitated slightly, looking first at the fireplace hearth, where he’d left the two pillows on the floor, to where he stood near the sofa. “I didn’t know if the tea took the chill off completely, so…” He glanced toward the fire.
Her smile was as sweet as always. “The fire is fine. Perfect.”
He joined her near the hearth. “Having grown up with Chicago winters, I’ve always thought there’s something comforting about a fire.”
She lowered herself to the pillow. “As long as it isn’t a burning apartment.”
“Right.” He settled on the floor near her. “But it’s turned out okay,” he added, thinking of the generosity of the town’s citizens.
She nodded, but didn’t look directly at him. “Yes, it has.” She finally glanced his way and smiled at him. “I only wish you’d given me some warning the other night.”
“You wouldn’t have gone if I’d told you.”
Her laugh was soft and gentle as she ducked her head. “You’re right. I wish I had a way to thank everyone.”
He considered it. “I think just being you and staying in Desperation is all the thanks they expect.”
For a brief moment, she pressed her lips tightly together, and then she raised her head, smiling. “Maybe so.”
They sat in comfortable silence, watching the flames, and Garrett wished he knew what she was thinking. He was glad she couldn’t read his mind at that moment. “Why hasn’t a beautiful woman like you married again?” he asked, voicing only a little of his thoughts.
She shrugged as she continued to stare at the fire in front of them. “Not a lot of men are interested in a ready-made family.”
“It might be easier—”
“Not necessarily.”
“You like being single, then?”
She turned slowly and offered him a look that told him he was treading on thin ice. “In a word, yes.”
Not knowing how to reply, he nodded and shifted his position, bracing one hand on the floor, so he could focus on the fire, as she had.
“Most of the time,” she added, her voice a whisper.
Surprised, he watched her for a moment before he spoke. “Care to explain?”
“Not really,” she answered with a shake of her head and a slight smile. “What about you?”
“Do I like being single?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I haven’t given it any thought lately. And now with Sophie here, well, let’s just say I have some things I need to get used to.”
“Yes, you do,” she said, softly. She leaned toward him and placed her hand on his. “You’re a good dad, Garrett. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t.”
All he could do was nod as his attention moved from her hand on his to her eyes.
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure you would be able to handle it,” she continued, obviously oblivious to what her touch was doing to him.
He turned his hand over and held hers, rubbing his thumb gently over her soft skin. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Libby. You showed me what a good parent is. Not only are you an excellent mother, you’re a good teacher.”
Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her, softly, gently, not wanting to frighten her, yet half expecting her to pull away.
She didn’t.
He deepened the kiss.
She sighed, and he heard a catch in her breath. The sound nearly pushed him over the edge of sanity. He didn’t know how, but he managed to slowly stretch himself out on the floor and took her with him. Side by side, her head resting on his arm, he slowly ran his finger down her cheek. He moved to nibble her earlobe and felt the shiver that went through her. Kissing his way along her delicate jaw, he breathed in the soft scent of her, branding it in his memory.
He pulled her on top of him, never breaking the gaze they shared. His hands at her waist, he slipped them under her fleece top and touched the warm skin beneath it. When she didn’t deny him the pleasure, he touched every inch of her back, memorizing the feel of it.
But something was odd, and his hands stilled for a moment at the feel of tiny ridges. Moving his hands over her sides, his thumbs grazing her waist and slowly inching upward…until he felt something even odder. “Have you broken a rib at some time?” he asked.
He could’ve sworn he felt her stiffen for the briefest of moments, but she pressed her lips to his and whispered. “Several years ago. A wreck.”
“The scars, too?”
Instead of answering him, she kissed him, deeply and slowly, taking his breath away and causing his heart to pound. In one smooth movement, he turned them over and gazed down into her surprised eyes, before capturing her lips again and cupping her breast in his hand. He hadn’t planned this. He didn’t know how far it would go. But he wasn’t going to stop now. Not unless—
Her hands gripped his shirt, and then he realized she was pushing at him, not pulling him closer. He pulled back and saw panic in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Libby,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s all right,” she said, moving away. “But…I… I’m sorry, Garrett. I can’t.”
Before he had a chance to respond, she was gone.
Chapter Nine
Garrett sat in front of the fire, completely losing track of time as he pondered what had happened with Libby. Had he assumed too much? Had he frightened her? If so, why? He hadn’t gotten what he called Don’t Touch signals from her, and he’d tried to be very aware of how she responded. Wasn’t that what he was supposed to do? Granted, it had been a while since he’d been with a woman. He hadn’t dated in more than a year. His life was too busy, and the last woman he’d taken to dinner had been, well, a disappointment.
The sound of a knock brought him back to the present, and he turned to see Sophie walk in the front door with Paige. Still sitting on the floor in front of the fire, Garrett nodded and got to his feet. “Did you have a good time with Aunt Paige?” he asked his daughter.
“We wented to the new house,” she said in a rush, her eyes big and round. “Unca Tucker showed me the orchward and the kissy stuff in the trees.”
Garrett looked to Paige for an explanation. “Kissy stuff?”
“Mistletoe,” Paige answered with a grin.
“Ah!”
Paige moved toward the door. “I need to get back home. Tucker’s coming by to talk about colors and things for the house. Thank you for loaning us Sophie again. She never fails to make me smile, and Tucker adores her.”
“Me, too,” Garrett replied, and put his hand on his daughter’s head. When she looked up at him with a big grin, he couldn’t help but smile back. “See you soon,” he told his sister.
When Paige was gone, Garrett asked Sophie if she’d eaten, and she assured him she had, complete with an explanation of everything she’d had to eat at Paige’s and later with Tucker.
She yawned and he checked the clock. It was close to seven-thirty, and he expected Noah to be back soon. “I guess it’s bedtime,” he told her. Her answer was a sad nod as he took her to her bedroom.
Hesitant to bother Libby, he knocked softly on the closed door. When there was no answer, he knelt in front of Sophie. “Do you know where your pajamas are?”
Her somber face moved up and down in another nod. “Under my pillow.”
“Oh.” He considered the problem that she might have getting them, without waking Libby, but decided he didn’t have many choices. “Libby is asleep, so be as quiet as you can, then you can change in my bedroom and sleep in my bed. How’s that?”
“Will you tuck me in?”
His daughter had come to mean the world to him. “Of course, I will.”
His answer seemed to please her as she hurried into the almost-dark bedroom, and he waited, holding his breath, until she reappeared with her pajamas. “Good job,” he told her and gave her a thumbs-up as she continued down the hall to his bedroom. “Can you reach the light switch?”
“If I stand on my tippy toes,” she answered, and disappeared into the room.
He watched as the light went on, then the door closed. Minutes later, she called to him, “I’m ready now, Daddy.”
As it always did when she called him Daddy, his heart skipped a beat. He’d never known the kind of love he had for Sophie, and he never wanted to lose it or her.
True to his word, he tucked her in, kissed her good-night and returned to the living room just as Noah came in the front door. When Noah asked about his mom, Garrett explained that she’d gone to bed early and was sleeping. Feeling a bit guilty, he was relieved when Noah accepted the answer without question.
“Did you and Kirby have a good time?”
“Yeah, he’s cool,” Noah answered. “And it’s great that he gets to go to school in Desperation, instead of staying at the Bent Tree all the time.”
“I’m guessing that’s because he’s not officially one of the boys at the ranch, but Mac and Nikki’s son now.”
“I guess.” Noah covered a yawn and slung his bag over his shoulder. “I still have a little math homework to finish, so I guess I’ll get to it.”
“Okay,” Garrett replied. “If you need any help, let me know.”
“Sure will.”
After putting the cups he and Libby had used into the dishwasher and pretending to straighten the kitchen and living room, Garrett finally gave in and checked on Sophie. While in his room, he retrieved a pair of pajama bottoms, then checked on Noah, who he found sleeping soundly on the sofa in the office. He changed into his pajamas and grabbed a spare blanket and pillow from the linen closet in the hall, then he took them all to the living room.
It took a while to finally fall asleep, the evening playing itself over and over enough times for Garrett to memorize every word and touch, but he finally fell into a fitful sleep. He was awakened early by the smell of coffee. Barely able to open his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Libby leaving a cup for him on the coffee table. Grateful, he sat up until his mind was clear enough to think, picked up the cup and headed to the kitchen, ready to apologize to Libby for the night before.
He found her at the table, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City’s newspaper, spread out in front of her. “Are you—” He cleared the morning frog from his throat. “Are you all right?”
She raised her head and nodded. “I owe you an apology.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes,” she insisted, a stubborn glint in her eyes as she squared her shoulders. “I want you to know that I’m sorry for the way I reacted.”
He shook his head and pulled out the chair next to her. “No, it was my fault. I went too far, too fast and—”
“Garrett, it wasn’t you. It’s me. I was the one who—”
“It isn’t your fault, Libby.” He settled stiffly on the chair, ready to make his case if necessary.
“But I should have—” Shaking her head, she lowered it. “Look,” she continued, “it’s time to get the kids up. This will have to keep.” Her sigh was deep as she regarded him with eyes sad and serious. “Can we forget about it, at least for now?”
“Sure.” He didn’t see that he had much of a choice. She obviously wasn’t willing to discuss it, and he wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if he pushed the issue. “Thanks.”
As she folded the paper and stood, he glanced at the clock and reali
zed it was later than he’d thought. “I need to get going. Early appointment. Can you—”
“I think I’ll let Sophie sleep in this morning,” Libby said, picking up her coffee cup and carrying it to the sink. She glanced out the window, where wan sunlight tried to shine into the room. “Could you drop Noah at school? It’s still pretty soggy out there and he’s almost ready.”
“Of course.” It was clear that what had happened the evening before was now in the past. Trying to talk to her about it would be useless. And maybe she was right. Maybe they should just move on and see where a little more time might take them. He only wished he knew where that might be.
He had no doubt now that he’d fallen in love with Libby. But he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it. Should he tell her? Or would it be better to wait a little longer? He just didn’t know.
“HOW WAS YOUR NAP?” Libby asked Sophie, when the little girl entered the kitchen.
Dressed in her favorite pink shirt, decorated with colorful cartoon characters, the four-year-old rubbed her eyes and yawned. “’Kay. Is Noah home yet?”
Glancing at the clock, Libby shook her head. “Not yet. Not too much longer, though. Would you like some milk and cookies?”
Sophie nodded and climbed onto the tall stool at the table. Crayons and paper were kept there for her, and she reached for them. “I’m going to draw a pitcher of our family,” she announced.
Our family. The words hit Libby like a ton of bricks as she poured a glass of milk. Leaving Desperation meant leaving Sophie, the one thing she hated more than anything, but she didn’t have a choice. She and Noah would be leaving soon. In the four days since she had stopped herself and Garrett from going too far, she hadn’t changed her mind. In fact, she was more determined that leaving was the right thing to do. Not what she wanted to do, but the right thing.
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