Harlequin Heartwarming March 21 Box Set

by Claire McEwen

  When she forced herself to open her eyes, she knew she shouldn’t be standing right there, looking up at a man who was proving her heart hadn’t been permanently broken. Then a sense of betrayal she suddenly felt for Michael was almost suffocating her. She had no right to feel anything or want anything more from Seth. She owed him, period. She’d lied to him. Nothing could change that. But she couldn’t lie to herself. Most of all, she’d promised Michael, and she had to keep moving.

  Seth whispered, “I didn’t know someone like you could come into my world.” His words shattered something in her, and she turned away.

  “I… I should get things started in the other bedroom so it’s ready for you to use when Tripp takes this room.” She blindly began to pick up stray packaging and push it into an empty box. “I’ll get rid of this.” She didn’t look at Seth again before she walked out of the room and headed straight downstairs.

  She hurried through the quiet house to the mudroom off the kitchen and dropped the wrappings in a trash can by the door to the back deck. But she didn’t leave the space. She sank down on a bench that ran along one wall and buried her face in her hands.

  She’d felt nothing for any man after she’d met Michael, not until Seth had been there. She’d slowly began feeling things for a man who was becoming far too important to her, making her almost forget Michael, and that scared her. She inhaled unsteadily and clenched her hands until they ached.

  It had seemed a simple plan a long time ago, to just be here and help Seth any way she could, then explain about Michael’s Shield and either win or lose. But nothing was simple about her time here with Seth, not one thing. There was no reason to stay. She wanted to, but she couldn’t. Something in her didn’t want Seth to ever know about the real lie she’d lived here. She’d leave. But that thought didn’t make her feel any better at all.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  SETH STOOD ALONE in the newly done bedroom, wondering why he’d been so impulsive and kissed Quinn. No, he knew why. He’d wanted to kiss her, period. But kissing her at that moment had obviously been wrong. She’d looked confused and hurt, which he hadn’t intended. Then she’d turned and walked away, leaving him doubting if he’d ever get anything to do with matters of the heart right. Maybe his initial intentions had been right—help her until she was well and had her car, then let her go. The thing was, he actually didn’t know how he’d let her go.

  He finally went to check in the bedroom directly across the walkway from Tripp’s new room, but Quinn wasn’t there. He left and went downstairs, pausing when he heard things being moved in the kitchen. Through the archway, he saw her doing something at the stove with her back to him. He wanted to talk to her and figure everything out. Instead, he turned and went to see Sarge and Julia.

  It was an hour later, when Sarge had beaten Seth in a third game of poker, that Julia came into the room. She crossed to the bed where Sarge had stretched out to rest and Seth was getting ready to read him some Zane Grey.

  “Well, who won?” she asked, smiling at the two men.

  Sarge gloated a bit. “I skunked him.”

  She patted Seth on his shoulder. “How humiliating.”

  “It sure is,” Seth said, then asked, “Where’s Quinn?”

  “She left dinner in the warming oven, then took me up to show me Tripp’s room. You two did a great job. It’s perfect.”

  “So, she’s still up there?”

  “Maybe, or in the master bedroom. She mentioned cleaning it in case Libby and Jake wanted to stay up there when they come back.”

  “Thanks,” Seth said and left the room.

  When he got upstairs, Tripp’s new room was empty, but as he stepped out into the hallway, a creaking sound came from the open double doors to the master bedroom. There were no lights on inside, and he went through a short hallway lined with closets and out into the room beyond, a smaller version of the great room below it.

  He stopped by the massive poster bed Sarge had made for Maggie fifty years ago out of trees off the land. Then he caught movement in the shadows near the stone fireplace on the back wall. As his eyes adjusted, he could make out Quinn in Maggie’s rocking chair. She was facing the back window by the hearth.

  “There you are,” he said, going over to her.

  “Yes, here I am,” she said softly through the shadows, but didn’t stop the slow rocking.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Thinking.”

  “Do you do that often?” He knew it was a stupid attempt at humor to ease the tension he felt between them. It didn’t work.

  She sighed. “No, but I probably ought to.”

  He went over to sit on the raised hearth, facing her through the shadows. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine, fine,” she murmured.

  “Oh, it’s that way, is it?”

  “What?”

  “You’re mad?”

  There was silence, and it was the loudest silence he’d ever heard. When he couldn’t take it any longer, Quinn finally half whispered, “No, I’m just trying to figure things out.”

  “What things?”

  “Life. It gets complicated.”

  He’d kissed her. He knew that had complicated everything. “I’m sorry.”

  Quinn finally glanced toward him, but the shadows in the room made her eyes unreadable. “It’s my problem,” she said. “Was there something you needed?”

  “No, except to tell you the Wishing Moon is tomorrow night.”

  “When’s the best time to see it?” She didn’t sound too thrilled.

  “The app says at nine o’clock. As it climbs higher, it diminishes in size.”

  She spoke quietly. “Thank you.”

  “As I said before, the cabin’s where Maggie loved to make her wishes. Another option that’s closer is the hay barn loft.”

  “I guess the hay barn would be the best place for me to go.” He didn’t hear any excitement in her voice, just an agreement she’d go.

  “Just make sure you wear warm clothes.”

  “I will,” she said, and added in what seemed like an afterthought, “Dinner’s in the heating drawer.”

  Food was the last thing on his mind. An impetuous kiss had shifted everything. He hesitated, then stood. He didn’t want to be in there with her any longer. He couldn’t keep fighting to try and make conversation, and the silence made him nervous. “I’ll be in Tripp’s room if you need me.”

  Then he walked away from her. Life changes were coming at him in a rush, and he felt slightly dizzy from their impacts. He just needed to be alone.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING, Seth was on the Donovan ranch in a stall by a double riding ring with Max and Tripp. The boy was sitting on a gray donkey, the one named Morris. Seth was by him, his hand over Tripp’s on the saddle horn. He could tell, despite the adventure of sitting on the animal, Tripp wasn’t at all easy with it.

  “Do donkeys race like horses?” he asked Seth.

  “I bet they have donkey races. What do you think, Max?”

  “I think if they have frog races, there has to be donkey races. What do you think, Tripp?”

  “I guess.” He was in a faded blue shirt and torn jeans with old running shoes on his feet. His corduroy jacket didn’t seem heavy enough to protect him against the cold. Seth wished Quinn was there with him. But after the kiss and her reaction, he’d let that go for now. It was too complicated, with him being worried about repeating past mistakes and Quinn still loving her husband so much. No matter what went on, his feelings for her just kept getting deeper and he had no idea how to stop that happening.

  “Seth?” Tripp was saying. “How come Quinn didn’t come with you?”

  “She was busy,” he said vaguely.

  “Oh, okay,” the boy said as he leaned closer to Seth. “Can I get off now?”

  Max said, �
��Hold on a minute. Give me your phone, Seth.”

  He passed it over after unlocking it, then Max said, “Smile, you two!”

  He took a picture, then passed the phone back to Seth who looked down at it. “Pretty handsome guys, don’t you think?” he asked Tripp as he showed the picture to him.

  The little boy looked at it and a huge grin showed on his face. “We are handsome guys.”

  Both men laughed, then Seth turned to Tripp and held out his hands. “Yes, you and me,” he said as the little boy went into his arms and hugged Seth tight around his neck.

  “Thank you for not forgetting me,” Tripp whispered.

  Seth closed his eyes and hugged Tripp to him. He didn’t know how he could love the boy in such a short time, but he surely did. “I never will. Never.”

  “What about Quinn. She’ll forget, won’t she?”

  Seth carried Tripp out of the stall and headed over to stacked hay bales by the huge bar. He sat down, kept Tripp on his lap and knew he had to explain a bit to the boy. “Quinn, she’s only been at my ranch for a while. She’s really great, you know.”

  “Yes, she is,” Tripp said with one arm around Seth’s shoulders and his other resting on Seth’s hand at his waist. The boy needed contact, and Seth was even more sure he’d made the right decision to leave the company and be here. “She really likes you, and she’ll be at the house when you come there. But I’m not sure if she’ll stay there after a while.”

  Tripp moved enough to shift and look Seth right in the face. He frowned. “She’s gonna go away?”

  “I don’t know. I hope not, but you have to let people do what they want to do. Did you know Quinn came from California?”

  “Really?” His eyes grew wide. “Like the beach and everything?”

  “Yes, the beach,” he said, remembering that photo of Quinn and Michael. “That’s where she usually lives.”

  “Then can we go and see her there?”

  “I don’t know. We could ask her. For now, she’s at the ranch and really happy that you’re coming there to live.”

  Tripp hugged Seth again, burying his face in his neck. “That’s good,” he whispered.

  Seth closed his eyes and knew he could pretend he wanted Quinn for Tripp’s sake, but that was only a half truth. He wanted her to stay, to give him time to figure things out, but he didn’t know how to make that happen.

  * * *

  QUINN DIDN’T SEE Seth when he finally came back to the ranch after dark. She heard him arrive, then silence fell on the house. After calling her mother and father, needing to just hear their voices, she picked out her clothes to wear to see the Wishing Moon. At eight thirty, she was dressed in a white sweater over a thermal, along with jeans and heavy socks. She had just pulled her hair back in a ponytail when a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

  She opened it, and her heart lurched when she faced Seth in a black flannel shirt and jeans. He looked her up and down. “I see you’re ready to go to the hay barn.”

  “Yes, I am,” she said.

  “Okay, let’s go,” he said and headed down the hallway.

  She hurried after him. “Where are you going?”

  “To the hay barn with you,” he said without stopping.

  Oh, she hadn’t expected that. After the kiss, she felt awkward just walking beside him. Seeing the moon with him seemed far too much. “You don’t have to.”

  “No, I don’t, but I want to. It’s time to get there if you want to see the moon the moment it clears the earth. Maggie said that’s wishing time.”

  When they were in the foyer, Seth sat down on the bench and reached for his boots. Quinn didn’t know to how stop him without being rude. And she wouldn’t be rude. So she sat on the edge of the bench, keeping a distance from him to put on her boots, then reached for her pink coat and slipped into it.

  Seth stood and put on his leather jacket, then his black Stetson. “Come on, time for you to make a wish,” he said.

  She went to the door with him, and out into the cold night. The moon was more than halfway visible above trees to the east, its light already making itself felt over the land, reflecting off the lingering snow. They headed side by side down to the hay barn in what for Quinn, was an uneasy silence.

  As they approached the building, Seth went ahead and opened the front doors enough for them to step through. There was darkness inside, and Seth led the way in and to their left through the heavy shadows. As her eyes adjusted, Quinn could make out an upright wooden ladder attached to the front log wall just past the sliding doors.

  “Do you want to go first?” Seth asked.

  Quinn stepped up to the ladder, grabbed the heavy two-by-fours on the sides and went up slowly toward a hole cut in the floor of the loft. At the top, she stepped up and out onto plank flooring. The hint of moonlight seeped in around the frame of the closed delivery doors. Seth came up and went past her to slide the doors open. Moonlight streamed into the darkness.

  Seth turned to her. “It’s your choice. Sit on the edge of the doorframe and dangle your legs or sit back a bit if you feel more comfortable.”

  “Where do you like to sit?”

  He smiled ruefully at her. “On the hip of the roof, but that’s not an option. Is it?”

  “No, it’s not,” she said and moved closer to the doors. She dropped down to sit on the floor, then scooted toward the opening. As soon as she eased her legs over the side, she knew she was in the right place. The moon to the east was huge and had just another quarter to go before it totally cleared anything on the earth that could block its light. “Wow, this is great,” she whispered.

  Seth sat down by her and she inched farther away from him. He didn’t act as if he noticed, but he had a blanket in his hand. “I had Murphy leave this here in case it got colder.” He shook it out and laid it across her legs, then pulled part of it back over his own legs. He took off his hat and laid by his side on the edge of the blanket.

  It was cold, but there was no wind, and the night had a sense of peace about it that Quinn tried to gather to her, but she couldn’t push away the memory of the kiss. She kept her eyes on the moon, startled slightly when Seth shifted. She felt his body heat on her right side. Staring up, she said softly, “I had no idea it would be this beautiful.” She could sense Seth watching her as she tipped her head back farther to look higher into the eastern sky.

  “It is pretty amazing,” he said.

  “More amazing than the view from the roof hip?” She never took her eyes off the moon.

  “Okay, I have to admit that sitting up there comes close. But as an adult, I have to also admit it’s dangerous. I’m thankful Sarge and Maggie never knew we did that.”

  She glanced at him, his features defined by the moonlight and shadows. “I have a feeling Sarge knew exactly what you all were up to.”

  Seth denied that. “No, he never called us on it, neither did Maggie.”

  “I’d bet he never let on to Maggie, but he understood that you boys had to find your own way. So, Maggie didn’t worry, and you all survived.”

  * * *

  SO MANY THINGS Sarge had taught them came by his actions with them and for them, not against them. But what Seth couldn’t understand was how Quinn seemed to know Sarge so well. “You’re probably right.” Seth was quiet for a moment, hesitating, then he told Quinn about where he’d been all day. “I went to see Tripp at Max Donovan’s parents’ ranch today. I know I should have asked you to go, but I wasn’t certain you’d want to.”

  “Why would you think that I wouldn’t have wanted to?”

  He exhaled in a rush, his breath lifting into the air between them. “I made a mistake and stepped over the line with you. I know that upset you, and it was wrong.”

  She looked taken aback as if she’d never expected him to say that. “Seth, I…” She bit her lip, then said the truth. “I would’v
e loved to go and see Tripp, but you’re the one who’s taking him in, and you need the time with him before he comes here.” She shrugged. “I just hope you both had fun.”

  Seth held her gaze, then said, “We did. He rode a donkey.” He reached in his pocket for his cell, then opened it and tapped the screen a couple of times before turning it toward her. “Tripp on Morris the donkey. He was a bit scared, but brave.” He watched Quinn study the picture, then she looked away, and he sensed she was upset. “Could you send that to me?” she asked, her voice slightly rough.

  “Sure,” Seth said as he drew it back, regretting it so much that he hadn’t taken her with him. He texted her the photo. “Next time you should come with me, and especially when I go to pick him up,” he said. “Tripp really wants to see you again. He’s worried you won’t remember him.”

  Quinn looked down and was quiet for a moment. “Can I ask you something I’ve been thinking about?”

  He didn’t know what to expect, but he nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “Is it true that they can remove a child from a foster home for any reason if they think it’s justified?”

  “They do have all the power.”

  “I mean, if he’s happy here, I can’t imagine how it would affect him if they decided he had to leave.”

  The image of Tripp when he’d thought he’d have to go back to another foster home came to Seth. The feeling of the boy shaking while Seth hugged him hurt to remember. There’d been no one in his own life to hug him when he’d been afraid like that, when he’d felt as if he was never going to be wanted by anyone, when he’d been totally lost. He knew that was the moment he’d connected with Tripp. He wouldn’t let the boy face the fear of another foster home, then another, no matter what he had to do.