“The idea for it really only took off a few months after the tornado. A lot of us lost our stores and several of Royal’s local artisans lost workshops and homes. The Courtyard gave us all a fresh start—gave us a new community to be proud of.” Her eyes grew worried and a frown marred the smoothness of her forehead. “There’s talk that some oil company is looking to buy the land. It worries me.”
“Why’s that? What difference would a new landlord make?” Nolan probed.
Raina looked away, her face thoughtful, before directing her blue gaze straight back at him. “The Courtyard actually became a symbol of hope for a lot of us. A chance to get our feet back firmly on the ground and get us back to normal in a world that got turned upside down in one awful day. You can’t put a price on that. We need stability now. We need to be able to know from one day to the next that after all our hard work, we aren’t simply going to be turned out.
“An oil company isn’t going to want to keep us as tenants, you can be sure of that. They’ll want the land for testing, although why they think there’s oil there, I don’t know. I haven’t lived in Royal all that long and even I know the land is barely suitable for grazing, although with the drought that’s questionable, too.”
She fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers in front of her. “No, the Winslows did the right thing turning the ranch buildings into the Courtyard. Mellie assures me they’re not selling. I only hope nothing happens to change her mind. None of us there can afford to have our businesses fold or see our rents increase. What with the cost of increased insurance premiums and setting up all over again, it wouldn’t take much to destroy us.”
A pang of guilt pulled at him. If he was successful in changing the Winslows’ minds, and Rafe got hold of the Courtyard, Nolan knew there were no guarantees that his boss would keep the tenants. And it was true. Raina had a point—while the greater Maverick County area had yielded some successful oil fields, none had been in this general area. Nolan shifted uncomfortably. For the first time he was seeing the personal face of his assignment: someone who’d be directly and negatively impacted by his boss’s plan. And he didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He took a sip of his water and decided a change of subject might be in order.
“So, the tornado. That must have been terrifying. People are pretty resilient here, though,” he commented.
Raina smiled and once again he was struck by how natural and effortless her beauty was.
“Sometimes I think Royal is the epitome of the ‘get down and get on with it’ ethic. Some people have moved on, which is completely understandable, but most have just licked their wounds and carried on. And of course there are also the lucky ones who are benefiting from the damage. Tradesmen have been at a premium in the district and we’ve seen an influx of out-of-towners coming in to fill demand. Bit by bit Royal has found its way back to a new normal. Is that what brings you here? The rebuild?”
Nolan was saved from immediately answering as their waitress dropped their meals in front of them with a smile. “Good to see you back, Nolan,” she said before racing off to her next customer.
Raina looked taken aback. “You’re local?”
“No, not anymore. I’m here to see family.”
“You grew up here, then?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve been living in California for several years. I’m only here for a visit.”
“Then I’m sure you would have heard all about the tornado from them.” Raina’s voice held a note of reserve that had been missing before.
“From their point of view, yeah. Dad’s in family law, and he said he’s seen an unfortunate upswing in business in the wake of the tornado. Families breaking up under the strain of trying to put their lives back together—more domestic abuse.”
Raina nodded. “Yeah, it’s sad. So often these events pull people closer together, but if they don’t they seem to have the complete opposite effect. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t have to factor that in. It’s just me and JJ, and my dad. Dad’s retired and usually travels around the country, but he came to stay in the trailer park just out of town so he could be on hand to help me reestablish Priceless and get me and JJ back on our feet again.”
Nolan couldn’t help it: a swell of relief that there was no partner in Raina’s life bloomed from deep inside. He pushed the sensation away. She was still out of bounds. She was the kind of woman who had long-term written all over her, while he was only planning to be here long enough to complete the land purchases to Rafiq’s satisfaction.
And then there was the kid. He certainly didn’t want to take on a package deal of mother and child, no matter how much his libido sizzled like a drop of water on a hot skillet whenever he was anywhere near Raina. He needed to keep his eye on the main goal. He was here to do business, not dally with the locals or become emotionally involved in the town he grew up in. He’d made his choice to walk away from Royal and all the pain it represented seven years ago. He had no plans to stick around. Even so, he perversely wanted to know more about the woman sitting opposite him.
“So, what brought you to Royal?” he asked.
She laughed, the sound self-deprecating. “I followed a man. He left and I stayed. It’s as simple as that.”
Somehow Nolan doubted that it was quite as straightforward as she said.
“Mommy, my hands dirty.” JJ spoke up from beside him.
“Use your napkin, JJ.”
“But it dirty,” he grumbled.
“Here, use mine,” Nolan offered.
JJ held his hands up for Nolan to wipe them. “P’ease?” he implored.
Nolan automatically enveloped JJ’s hands with the large paper napkin and made a game out of cleaning the little boy’s fingers. When he was done, he wiped a bit of sauce from JJ’s chin, as well.
“Hey, you’re good at that,” Raina said with a smile. “Are you sure you don’t have kids?”
Nolan swallowed. This would be the perfect opportunity to segue into the past, to admit he’d had a wife and child, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. It just opened up the floor for too many questions—questions that had no answers and only evoked pity, which he hated.
“Maybe I’m just a clean freak,” he joked, scrunching up the used napkin and tossing it on the table.
“Can we go now, Mommy?” JJ asked.
“No, son. Mr. Dane and I haven’t finished our meals.”
For a second it looked as though JJ would object, but then Nolan remembered his earlier promise.
“What about some ice cream? You never got to finish the one you had before, right?”
“Oh, but I said you didn’t need—” Raina began to protest.
“Need doesn’t enter into it when ice cream is concerned,” Nolan interrupted her smoothly. “What do you say, JJ? Do you want a junior sundae?”
“Wif sprinkles?”
“Sure, my treat.” He looked across at Raina. “How about you? Do you want a sundae with sprinkles, too?”
JJ laughed next to him. “Mommy doesn’t have treats, she’s a mommy!”
Nolan read the subtext in JJ’s words. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Raina went without so that her son could have little treats every now and then. How much had she foregone to ensure her son could still enjoy special things while she rebuilt her business and kept a roof over their heads? Again that urge to protect swirled at the back of his mind.
“Even mommies like treats sometimes, don’t they?” he asked, looking straight across the table at Raina.
“Not tonight, thank you. I need to get back to Priceless. My first class starts this evening and I can’t be late, not even for a treat.”
“Another time then,” Nolan promised, and as he called the waitress to order JJ’s sundae, he found himself wondering just how soon that might be.
Three
Another time? Did he mean to ask her out on a date? Raina wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. She hadn’t dated since Jeb—hadn’t even been interested in dating as she came to grips with his betrayal, single parenthood and running a business. It had been a painful irony that she’d been duped by the person she’d thought would stand by her, exactly as her father had been.
She had never known her mother and pictures of her had been few and of poor quality. Raina’s enduring memory of the woman who’d borne her was the story of how she’d come home from the hospital with Raina, put her in her bassinet and gone out to buy some milk and never returned. Growing up, Raina had always had more questions about the whole situation than answers and, in retrospect, she could understand why she’d been drawn to the losers.
Despite all the security and love her father had poured into her, Raina’s sense of self-worth had been low. She’d found herself desperate to be accepted by others, only to be walked all over again and again. Jeb had been the last in a string of disastrous relationships, and when he’d cleaned out her bank account while she was in labor with his son, she’d finally learned her lesson—and with it, who she was and where she belonged in her world. Now, she was at peace with her decision to focus her energies on JJ and provide a home for them. She finally, at the sage old age of thirty, felt grown up.
Her friends still teased her about her dating moratorium but she’d avoided all potential setups they’d thrown her way. And in the aftermath of the tornado, it had made far better sense not to get involved with anyone. Life had become incredibly precious and despite her need to nurture and to try to “fix” broken souls, aka the losers she’d dated previously, she’d had to draw a line somewhere.
But a date with Nolan Dane? He was nothing like the guys she’d been out with before. He owned a suit, for a start, and showed the kind of manners her father had always told her to expect from a man.
She looked across the table and noticed that JJ had made short work of his sundae and was now rubbing his eyes and fidgeting in his booster seat. She glanced at her watch—a 1920s timepiece she hadn’t been able to bring herself to sell after she’d discovered it in a boxed lot she’d bought at an estate sale a couple of years ago. If she didn’t get on her way soon, she’d be running late for the sitter and for her class.
“This has been lovely,” she said, gathering her bag and searching for her wallet. “But JJ and I really must get going. Thank you for joining us.”
“No, thank you for your company. Please, let me get this. It’s the least I can do for crashing your dinner together.”
“Oh, but—”
“Please, I appreciated having someone to talk to over my meal.”
Before she could say anything, Nolan left several bills on the tabletop, including a generous tip, and helped JJ from the booth.
“Are you parked far away?” he asked as they walked toward the exit.
“No, not far. A block.”
“Let me walk you,” Nolan said, falling into step beside her on the sidewalk outside the diner.
“Mommy, up,” JJ interrupted, and he lifted his little arms in the air.
“Sure, sweetie,” she said, bending to lift him into her arms.
She wouldn’t be able to keep this up for too much longer. JJ was getting so big and most of the time she had trouble keeping up with her energetic wee man. The fact that he wanted her to carry him spoke volumes about how tired he was. She reminded herself to cherish these moments while they lasted.
They were halfway down the block when she had to readjust JJ’s weight in her arms.
“He looks heavy,” Nolan commented. “Can I carry him for you?”
“No, it’s fine, I can manage,” Raina insisted, even though her back was starting to ache a little.
“Man carry me, Mommy.”
JJ squirmed in her arms, almost sending her off balance.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked Nolan.
In response, Nolan effortlessly hefted her son from her and propped JJ on one hip. “Of course not.”
At the car, Nolan waited on the sidewalk while she strapped JJ into his seat.
“Thank you for dinner, and for your help with JJ. You didn’t have to,” Raina said as she straightened from the car and held her hand out to Nolan.
He took it and again she was surprised by the sizzling jolt of sensation that struck her as his hand clasped hers.
“Honestly, the pleasure was all mine,” he replied, his eyes locked on hers.
She found herself strangely reluctant to let his hand go and Nolan seemed to feel the same way, but then a group of people coming along the sidewalk forced them apart. Thankful she could disengage before things got awkward, Raina gave him a small wave and settled herself in the car.
Her hand still tingled as she reached forward to put the key in the ignition. It had been a long time since she’d felt anything like this at a man’s touch. As she drove away, Raina made herself keep her eyes on the road in front of her. She wouldn’t look back. Looking back only invited trouble, she told herself, and she’d had bushels of that already in her life. No, she’d promised herself to keep moving forward the right way, and that didn’t involve complicating her life with a relationship or fling with someone who was passing through.
* * *
Nolan watched from the sidewalk until he couldn’t see Raina’s taillights any longer. Why had he done this to himself? he wondered as he hunched deeper into his jacket and began to walk back to his hotel. Carrying JJ had brought back a wealth of hurt and repressed memories of his own son, Bennett.
Holding another small body in his arms...it had been a more bitter than sweet experience. He reminded himself very firmly that using her for information about the Winslows was one thing, but he was in no way embarking on any kind of friendship with Raina. It would be too easy, he knew that. He was already attracted to her, already felt that surge of physical awareness every time she smiled or her gaze met his. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her he’d been drawn to her and he’d been unable to get her out of his thoughts.
Being there in the Royal Diner with Raina and JJ had felt too much like his old life. The life he’d vowed he would never turn back to. No, his home was Los Angeles now. Royal held no allure for him anymore even though everything here still felt so achingly familiar.
He acknowledged the doorman at the hotel with a smile and went straight to his room. It was early. Any other time he’d have stopped in the bar and had a drink. Maybe enjoyed a bit of casual female interest before heading to his room—or hers. The mobile nature of his role as Rafiq’s personal attorney gave him leeway in his life that he’d never allowed himself before and while casual hookups had never been his style, a man had needs—and clearly the women he’d met had needs, as well. But while those encounters may have left him physically sated, there always remained an emptiness deep inside him.
His thoughts flickered back to Raina Patterson. She was definitely not the type for a casual hookup. She exuded stability and comfort. A man could fool himself that he belonged in the softness of her arms, but only until he broke her heart by leaving again. Nolan promised himself he would not be that man.
He threw himself on the bed and reached for the TV remote. Maybe he’d be able to numb his mind and his awakened libido by watching some mindless sitcoms or movies until he was ready to sleep. But distraction was a long time coming that night, and he couldn’t stop his mind wandering back toward the woman who’d so captured him.
* * *
Raina was glad she’d taken the time to prepare the workroom before she’d left Priceless earlier that day. JJ had been surprisingly clingy when she’d left him at home with the sitter, making her wonder if their company over dinner had unsettled him. It had certainly unsettled her.
Her students began to arrive, right on time, and once everyone was there and introductions were complete, Raina started the lesson. She’d decided to keep it simple for the first session, changing the style of the candles each week as they carried on. She smiled as she made eye contact with one of JJ’s previous babysitters. Hadley Stratton was only a couple of years younger than Raina and had a delightful way with children.
“Okay, ladies, thank you all for coming along tonight. I see you all received my email with the instructions for preparing for this evening’s lesson. Does anyone have any questions so far?”
Hadley spoke up. “You said we could dye the egg shells, but what if we could only get brown eggs?”
“No problem,” Raina assured her. “You can choose to keep your candles in the shell and decorate the shells, or you can break the shell away after the candles have set and simply burn them in a container—like an eggcup or something like that. It’s entirely up to you.”
“I’m so brain dead after nannying all day and studying all night that I think I can only go as far as filling a shell. Is that okay?” Hadley laughed. “Maybe I can leave decorating to another lesson.”
Several other women joined in with Hadley’s laughter, obviously empathizing with her. Raina nodded in acknowledgment.
“How many of you would prefer to decorate or color?”
About half the women in the room put their hands up.
“Okay,” Raina said. “How about we split into two groups for tonight? Decorators this side of the workroom, and plain beeswax candles on the other.”
The women good-naturedly shifted around and, after showing the group doing plain candles how to start the process of melting their beeswax, Raina discussed with the group of decorators how to dye their egg shells or hand paint them with freestyle or stenciled designs. As everyone set to work, Raina began to feel a sense of excitement. The lesson was really going well and the atmosphere was both lighthearted and creative at the same time.
She stopped by Hadley’s table for a minute, while making the rounds of the class to check that everyone was on track.
Lone Star Holiday Proposal Page 3
