What did Luke do with Rosie? Jacob didn’t have to call his friend for the answer. He’d seen Luke bring Rosie to the Roughneck more than once in the middle of the night.
“Come on, son. Looks like we’re going for a ride.” Lifting Cody into his arms, Jacob started for Mariana’s room where the boy’s jacket hung on the back of chair. “You’re gonna get to see where your old man works.”
Chapter Seven Jacob’s work truck stood in the driveway. Good, he was home. Mariana would have called ahead except she’d already called him four times today and had run out of excuses. During each conversation he had assured her Cody was fine and that the teething episode appeared to have run its course.
She paused at the front door before entering. When was the last time she’d thought of her own house, the east half of a cozy duplex? Yesterday. When the neighbors she’d asked to keep an eye on the place let her know everything was fine. Then, poof. All thoughts of her residence vanished as she’d concentrated on work.
Perhaps this new routine of hers had become too familiar. Too comfortable. She and Cody could probably do with a little shaking up. Better yet, a change of scenery.
Jacob was busy competing this weekend. No reason not to take Cody to her house. They could spend the night. She didn’t want him to forget about her home after she moved out.
Or was it Cody forgetting about her she most feared? Mariana pushed the dreadful and can’t-possibly-be-true thought from her mind.
“Hello!” She shut the door behind her.
“In here,” Jacob answered from the kitchen.
Good grief, he was fixing dinner again. Guilt stopped her in her tracks. She was taking entirely too much advantage of him. Their arrangement should be fifty-fifty. She didn’t like feeling indebted to him.
A tempting aroma assaulted her upon entering the kitchen, matched only by the equally tempting sight of Jacob. There was something very appealing about a big masculine man puttering around the kitchen.
“You made it. How was the trip?” He smiled, and instantly went from appealing to heart-stoppingly sexy.
Suddenly, her overnight bag was too heavy to hold. Mariana set it on the floor at her feet, needing a moment to collect her wits before answering.
“Great. Signed another client.”
“Your boss must be happy.”
“He is.” Which made Mariana happy. Had she done enough to move her name up on that short list for junior partner? Possibly.
Buster had come over to greet her, but there was no sign of her nephew.
“Where’s Cody?”
Jacob stepped aside. Cody stood on a chair at the sink, the sprayer in his hand.
“Hi, hi!” Grinning with glee, he blasted the cups and dishes in the basin with water.
Mariana rushed forward. “My God, Jacob. What are you thinking? He’ll fall.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m senior safety manager at Baron Energies’ largest and most productive drill site. Do you think for one second I’d take a chance with my son?”
He turned, and Mariana saw it then. Cody was tethered to Jacob with some sort of belt device. He also wore a plastic hard hat that was too big for his head and a fluorescent-yellow nylon vest with reflective tape down the sides. Jacob had evidently brought all manner of goodies home from work.
“It’s a harness,” he explained, jerking on the strap to demonstrate its strength. “No way can Cody fall.”
“Mama!” Without missing a beat, Cody pointed the sprayer at Mariana and let loose with a stream of water.
She ducked, but not in time. Her suit jacket took the worst of the damage.
“Hey!” Jacob used his hand to aim the nozzle down. “What did I say earlier? No spraying people or animals.”
Rather than cry or whimper at the stern reprimand, Cody laughed. “Gotcha!”
“Yeah, gotcha,” Jacob repeated.
Mariana stared. A new word. This game must have been going on for a while before she arrived.
“Hi to you, too.” She went over to Cody and, brushing his hair aside, kissed him on the forehead.
“Hug,” he insisted.
She gave him one, then straightened—and bumped into Jacob, who was only inches from Cody thanks to the harness.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Welcome home.” His voice had taken on a husky quality she hadn’t heard before. There was also a glint in his eyes.
“No hug for me?”
She gave him a clumsy, one-armed excuse for a hug. “I should change.” Ducking around him, she grabbed her overnight bag from the floor. “Then I’ll help.”
“No rush.”
In her room, away from Jacob’s potent appeal, she could once again think clearly.
No rush?
Of course not. Jacob had handled the teething incident as well as survived a full twenty-four hours taking care of Cody mostly without her assistance. Not that she approved of the whole standing on a chair, even with a harness. But it showed he was considering Cody’s welfare.
Mariana caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she tugged on a sweatshirt over the jeans she’d donned. When had she gone from busy, single, self-absorbed attorney who saw her nephew only when she visited to a worrywart guardian? More startling than that was how fast the change had occurred.
“Hope you don’t mind slightly overdone rolls?” Jacob asked. He’d tucked Cody under his arm as if he were holding a football. With his free hand, he removed a pan from the oven.
She rushed forward. “I’ll get that.”
Transferring the pan and hot pads turned out to be more awkward than she’d anticipated. Hands and arms brushed during the exchange. Gazes locked.
“Down, down.” Cody’s demand was punctuated with giggles.
Mariana hurried the steaming pan to the counter, setting it on the wooden cutting board. Jacob untethered Cody and lowered him to the floor. He immediately went for a tape measure under the table and began extracting the tape.
“What other stuff did you bring from work today?” she asked as Jacob spooned a ground turkey casserole from the Crock-Pot.
“I actually brought the stuff home last night. I figured it’d keep Cody busy on the drive, only he fell asleep.”
“That might be part of the reason he was so cranky last evening. If he sleeps on the way home from day care, he doesn’t want to go to bed at his regular time.” She lifted Cody, who still clutched the tape measure, and stuffed him into the high chair.
When she went to remove the hard hat, he grabbed the brim with both hands. “No!”
She opted to leave well enough alone. Did it really matter if he wore the hard hat during dinner?
“Oh, he didn’t sleep on the way home from day care.” Jacob carried the casserole to the table. “This was on the way back from the drill site.”
She spun around. “I don’t understand.”
“I got a call about ten. One of my men fell from the catwalk.”
“You took Cody to the drill site?”
“Yeah.”
“At ten o’clock at night?”
“What else was I supposed to do?”
She spoke slowly, one word at a time. “Get someone else.”
“I’m the senior safety manager.”
“He’s two.”
“It was an emergency.”
Her voice rose. “A child has no business being at a drill site.”
“He wasn’t at the actual drill. I was careful. I didn’t put him down once. And—” Jacob gestured toward Cody “—as you can see, he’s fine.”
Wasn’t that just like a guy? No one was hurt, which automatically made everything okeydokey.
“Th-this can not h-happen again.” She was stuttering. Dammit! He’d made her that mad.
“I agree.” Jacob sat down and pointed to the chair she normally occupied. When she didn’t move—how could she, really?—he said, “Which is why I called the agency today and hired Simone.”
The unfriendly gal the
y’d interviewed yesterday morning.
Mariana didn’t sit in the chair, she slid onto it.
“She lives close and is willing to come over when there’s an emergency. I verified before offering her the job.”
And like that, it was settled. Jacob had decided. He’d been faced with a dilemma and solved it. Without her input or consideration.
Evidently, she hadn’t given him enough credit. Or gave herself too much.
*
“OKAY, SWEETIE. QUIT your wiggling.”
Cody didn’t oblige and thwarted Mariana’s every attempt at putting him into his coat.
“Here, give me that.” She reached for the five-by-seven photo clutched in his hand.
“No.” He smashed the photo to his chest. “Santa.”
He’d been carrying the photo for hours, like a treasured possession. Even napping with it. The edges were bent and a crease cut diagonally across the middle.
Though it was much, much too early in Mariana’s opinion, her mother had driven up from Austin bright and early that morning, insisting they take Cody to the mall for a picture with Santa Claus. She wanted it for her Christmas cards. Mariana had been appalled at the price Santa’s helper had charged them. However, after seeing the adorable picture, they’d stopped off at the local drugstore with its photo station and had copies made.
Mariana had given Jacob two, one for himself and another for his family. He’d scowled but accepted the photos. The Barons, it seemed, were a touchy subject these days. Brock Baron, to be specific. The family patriarch wasn’t happy with Jacob’s inability to qualify for Nationals and was letting him know it.
That morning, Mariana had unintentionally caught part of what was clearly a terse phone conversation between the two men. Jacob had avoided her after that, which annoyed Mariana more than a little. They were supposed to be finding a new day care facility in the area. Once she moved out, taking Cody to and from day care was going to fall entirely on Jacob. The pamphlets Mariana had collected sat in plain sight on the counter and after three days remained undisturbed.
Despite that, she was determined to have equal vote in the final choice. Not that the nanny he’d hired wasn’t nice, and she did come highly recommended. And Jacob had been right to have reliable backup should he be called to the drill site on another emergency again. But she wanted a say in the decisions affecting Cody.
Get over it. You won’t be here much longer.
Wherever that small, annoying voice came from, it needed to shut up. She was here now, and until the day she left, she’d see to it that Jacob did right by Cody in every way.
Which was why she was going with Jacob and Cody tonight to the Harvest Festival with Carly, Luke and his daughter Rosie. Jacob hadn’t delivered any kind of ultimatum. His “Please come with us” invitation sounded sincere, but Mariana couldn’t help feeling that he would take Cody regardless of how she felt, and she could either go or stay.
As a result, she was now attempting to ready Cody for the evening. He insisted on wearing his favorite denim jacket. Mariana might not have minded, except it had turned cold the past few days. She wanted Cody in something warmer, but he’d have none of it.
His squeals of protest must have traveled across the hall because Jacob, also home early, appeared in the doorway of Mariana’s room. “Everything okay?”
“Peachy.” She rubbed a throbbing temple and sat back on her calves, having resorted to kneeling in front of Cody to better control his squirming and wiggling. “Cody refuses to wear anything but his denim jacket, and it’s too cold for that.”
“Hey, partner.” Jacob stepped into the room, both arms held behind his back. “I’ll make you a deal.”
Cody stared up at him with wide eyes.
“You do what your aunt Mariana wants, and I’ll let you wear these.” He pulled out a pair of child-size cowboy boots from behind his back.
“Boots!” Cody lunged for them, pushing past Mariana.
Jacob held them out of reach. “Nope. Only if you put on your warm jacket. Then, and only then, you can have this, too.” He brought out his other arm, which held a stick pony.
The deal was struck. Cody donned the warm coat in record time, and Jacob relinquished the bounty.
“What every buckaroo needs,” he said as Cody stood before them, wearing his new boots and sitting astride his new toy.
Mariana thought Jacob had gone a little overboard with the boots. Cody didn’t really know the difference between them and his sneakers. The stick pony, with its plush head and yarn mane, was pretty cute. Cody loved it and immediately named it Migo. What else?
They met Luke, Carly and Rosie in the parking lot of the community church where the Harvest Festival was being held. It started daily at three o’clock and closed at eight. They were late. It was now five. But they made it in time for the last hayride, which the children loved, and the petting zoo. Rosie was terrified of the goats, who nibbled on the buttons of her coat. Cody took Migo with him and rode the stick pony everywhere. Endless pictures were snapped.
After an exhausting two hours, which included three trips to the pumpkin patch and one to the craft tables, they finished with a round of hot chocolate at the concession stand. The two toddlers huddled together at the picnic table. They were sandwiched between Jacob on one side and Carly on the other, sharing a hot chocolate and, this was a nice change, not fighting.
Mariana sat across from Jacob, holding her foam cup between her hands and using it to warm them. In their rush to leave, she’d forgotten gloves.
“Are you competing this weekend?” Luke asked Jacob.
“Yeah. Daniel’s going, too.”
“What about Jet?”
“He’s done for the year. Jasmine and her girls are keeping him pretty busy.”
Mariana watched Jacob’s face, glad to see his expression relaxed. He could talk about rodeoing again without clenching his teeth. From what he’d told her, he had exactly two more rodeos before Nationals. If he performed well, he could still qualify.
Talk eventually moved to the upcoming holidays.
“Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?” Carly wanted to know.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” Mariana admitted.
What would happen? She’d like to take Cody to her mother’s. Jacob probably had his own ideas.
Mariana absently stirred her hot chocolate with a small plastic stir straw, and tried not to dwell on how devastated her mother would be not to spend the holiday with her only grandchild. Maybe she and Jacob could compromise.
“We always host a huge dinner. Really nice.” Carly sent Jacob an arch look. “This year, there’s going to be even more people.”
Was she hinting at him inviting Mariana? What would she say if he asked?
“I haven’t thought that far ahead, either.” Jacob caught Mariana’s eye.
Who were they kidding? Thanksgiving was just around the corner.
“We’ll see,” she answered lightly. No way was she discussing Thanksgiving and who got custody of Cody at the festival and certainly not in front of Jacob’s sister and future brother-in-law.
“Aiiee!” The squeal came from Cody, who’d somehow managed to tip over his cup of hot chocolate. The dark puddle headed for the edge of the picnic table—and his lap—at an alarming rate. Rosie started to cry.
Mariana jumped up, ready to run to the rescue. She didn’t get two steps before Jacob whipped out a stack of paper napkins and sopped up the mess, including the small amount that had dribbled onto Cody.
“Here you go.” Jacob took Cody’s cup and filled it with some hot chocolate from his own.
“Tank you,” Cody said, all smiles. Next, he tilted his head sideways and laid it against Jacob’s arm.
“Aw.” Carly smiled tenderly. “How cute.”
Mariana’s heart tore clean in half. She was also affected by the charming display between father and son. But she was wounded, too. Her role as her nephew’s primary caregiver and parent was co
ming to an end, and Mariana dreaded the day. He was the last link to her sister.
Jacob needs me, she told herself. He wasn’t ready to parent Cody alone, but at the rate he was going, he would be soon.
Chapter Eight In the parking lot, they made their farewells. While the men shook hands, Carly pulled Mariana into a hug.
“Come to Thanksgiving dinner at the Roughneck,” she said.
“Thanks again for the invite,” Mariana hedged, wishing she didn’t have to.
Both children were whiny, a combination of too much excitement and fast approaching bedtime.
“Wanna go,” Cody complained.
As expected, he fell asleep on the way home. She and Jacob didn’t talk much and when they did, they kept their voices low.
“Did you have a good time?” he asked. The truck idled as they waited at a stoplight.
“Very good. Carly and Luke are nice.”
“I hope she didn’t put you on the spot about Thanksgiving dinner.”
“She didn’t.”
“Uh-huh.” Jacob chuckled.
“I don’t mind.”
“Have you thought about it?”
“Not really.” Such a lie.
“Would your mother be willing to drive up? If not, we could drive down to see her.”
Mariana turned in her seat to look at him. “You’d do that?”
“Sure.”
“What about your family?”
“I can see them anytime.”
Was he letting his disagreement with Brock affect his plans? Did she care?
“That would be nice.” Because he’d offered a concession, she made one, too. “Maybe she could come here and bring Grandma. I’d hate for you to miss the Baron get-together.”
“They can come to the Roughneck with us.”
“Maybe. That might be too much for Grandma. She’s hard of hearing and has trouble in large groups with lots of commotion.”
“Then we’ll have two dinners. Or just one. At home with them.”
Mariana promptly chided herself. She’d been much too hard on Jacob earlier and too quick to judge him. He was being very considerate, not excluding her and her family at all. That would teach her.
Jacob carried a sleeping Cody into the house. He didn’t wake, even when they put him in his pajamas. Mariana laid him in the crib while Jacob watched. There was very little room to maneuver; the crib occupied all the available space. She and Jacob were forced to stand close. He smelled like fresh air, having brought the outdoors inside with him.
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