by Kat Martin
“My mama watches football sometimes. Who’s playing?”
He frowned. What the hell? “Seattle and Atlanta. Now go away.”
“I watch, too, sometimes. Can I watch with you?”
He didn’t know what to say. She was a kid. No way would she sit still during the game.
“Can I?”
He looked into those big blue eyes. “I don’t care what you do.”
“I need a chair.”
She needs a chair, he silently mimicked, but kept the sarcastic words to himself. He remembered his son when he was that age. Kids always needed something. He glanced around the room. There were a couple of folding chairs around the card table in the corner. Some of the guys used to come over and play poker, but that was a long time ago.
When she didn’t just leave, he grumbled something under his breath a kid shouldn’t hear, sat up in the recliner, and roused himself enough to get to his feet. He looked at the folding chairs, but they were hard as hell to sit on. He turned and caught the arms of the overstuffed chair, dragged it over next to the recliner so she could see the TV.
“You wanna sit? Sit.”
She wouldn’t stay long. Kids her age didn’t watch football. He’d humor her until she got tired of sitting there and left him alone. As long as she kept her mouth shut and didn’t bother him, she could stay.
“Thanks,” she said and climbed up into the armchair.
It was halftime before he realized she was still there. When he looked over, the little girl was sound asleep.
* * *
Ian hammered a nail into one of the stall doors, swung it back and forth a couple of times to make sure the hinges were working, then moved on to the next stall.
When he was a kid, his family had owned horses. One of the mares had foaled, and his father had given him the palomino colt for his sixteenth birthday. He and his dad hoped to use the little stud for breeding.
His father had wanted to raise quarter horses, at least a few, and the stallion that Ian named Sunny had impeccable bloodlines. Ian calculated Sunny would be fifteen years old now. As he worked in the barn, he almost expected to see the horse out in the pasture, running like fire over the fields. But his dad had sold the stallion after Ian’s mother had died, along with the mares and colts they were raising.
With Emma gone, Daniel had no more interest in the horses he had loved or anything else. And Ian had been busy with his own life. At the time, he’d just started a new business, chosen a different course, one he had never regretted.
He hammered in another nail, looked up to see Meriwether Jones running toward him. With the sun glinting on the ruby strands in her dark hair, damn she was pretty. “What is it?”
“I can’t find Lily. She isn’t in your room.”
Ian dropped the hammer and started back toward the house, Meri hurrying along beside him.
“She never does this. She always stays where I tell her.” They shoved through the back door together, walked through the mudroom. It took a moment for him to register that the dishes were all washed and put away, the countertops wiped clean. He caught the scent of Lysol as he made his way toward the stairs.
“Lily!” he called out. “Lily, where are you?” They went upstairs and searched his bedroom, then the other two upstairs rooms and both baths. No sign of Lily.
His worry kicked up as they headed back downstairs and he strode into the den. “Dad, Lily is missing. Have you—”
For a moment, he couldn’t speak. Lily was sitting in the overstuffed chair, which had been pulled up next to his father’s lounger. She turned when she saw them and smiled.
“We’re watching football,” she said, returning her attention to the screen. “I took a nap but I’m awake now.”
Meri started forward, but Ian caught her arm, stopping her where she stood. “Lily’s okay,” he said softly, easing both of them back out the door. “My dad would never hurt her and . . . I can’t believe he’s letting her watch TV with him.”
“He must be really lonely living out here all by himself. From the looks of things, you don’t get out here very often.”
He felt a fresh slice of guilt. “I live in Seattle. I own a business there.”
She looked down at his left hand. “You have a family?”
He shook his head. “I’ve been too busy to think about that sort of thing.” Her eyes found his and he felt that little jolt of awareness.
“I imagine you’re the kind of guy who plans everything,” she said. “I was that way once. Then Lily came along and things changed.”
“Stuff happens,” he said, wondering what had happened to Meriwether Jones.
She looked back into the den. “If you think it’s okay to leave Lily with your dad, I’d better get back to work.”
His gaze followed hers. “Maybe she’ll be good for him.”
“Maybe.” With a last glance at her daughter, she headed for the kitchen. Ian followed her, took another look around and was amazed to see how much she had accomplished since her arrival.
He walked over and opened the fridge, which was sparkling clean and filled with the groceries she had bought earlier. The stove top was clean. He could smell the self-cleaning oven hard at work.
“So . . . what’s for supper?”
Meri turned. “I bought a roast. I found a Crock-Pot in one of the cupboards and put it to work. As soon as I get the oven clean, I’ll put some potatoes in to bake.”
His mouth watered. “That sounds great.”
“I was wondering . . . since I won’t be finished cooking and cleaning up until late . . . there’s a room and bath off the kitchen. It’s being used for storage now, but it wouldn’t be hard to clean out. I could . . . you know . . . stay here tonight with Lily and be ready to go to work first thing in the morning. After I cook breakfast, of course.”
The lure of a homemade breakfast had his mouth watering again. Being a bachelor, he didn’t get many home-cooked meals. Still, the implications were worrisome.
“I guess that means you don’t have an apartment or anywhere else to stay.”
Her chin hiked up. “I didn’t say that. I just thought it would be easier if I stayed here.”
He knew she wasn’t being honest. And she knew he knew. But she had her pride, and Ian wasn’t about to take it from her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
“I just got into town, you know? It would just be more convenient, that’s all.”
A helluva lot more convenient for her. Ian had no doubt Meri and Lily would be sleeping in Meri’s old car tonight if he didn’t let them sleep in what had originally been built as a maid’s room.
“I think you’re right,” he said. “Staying here would be easier for all of us. When you get to a stopping spot, come get me and I’ll help you empty out the room.”
The relief in her face made his chest feel tight.
“All right.” She turned away from him. “I’ve got some other stuff to do first.”
Ian nodded and left to return to the barn. When he came back three hours later, the maid’s room was empty, the cardboard boxes inside stacked neatly in the garage. The floor was scrubbed clean; even the windows had been washed.
When he walked back into the kitchen, he found the table set, the aroma of roasting meat in the air.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t mind helping me move one of the mattresses down from upstairs.”
“We’ll bring down one of the beds and set it up.”
“Just the mattress is enough.”
“You need a bed.”
The sound of footsteps cut off any argument. Ian looked up to see his dad standing next to Lily.
“I’ll give you a hand, son. That’s a man’s work, not a woman’s.”
Ian worked to keep his eyebrows from shooting up. He didn’t argue. Things were happening in this house that should have happened a long time ago.
“Come on, Dad. Let’s go.”
* * *
Every night, Meri fell into bed exhausted. But als
o proud of the work she had done. Housekeeping wasn’t a career choice, but she was earning money and stashing it away. Ian paid her every day. She and Lily had a place to stay and she wasn’t even paying for food.
And her little girl was happy. The third day they were there, Ian insisted Meri and Lily come out to the barn to see the litter of kittens he had found.
“The mother cat lives here,” he said to Lily. “Keeping the mice away is her job.”
“Can I hold one?”
“Not yet. They’re still babies. But it won’t be long before they’re old enough. Then you can hold one.”
Since Lily had never seen a newborn kitten before, she was enthralled. Every day after, she went out to the barn and just sat there watching them nurse and sleep.
One afternoon, after stripping the beds in the rooms upstairs, Meri tossed the sheets into the washer, then walked outside to dump some trash. Hearing Ian and Lily in the barn, she found herself walking in that direction.
This time of year the weather was warm. In jeans and a T-shirt, Lily sat on a clean pile of straw Ian had placed in the stall with the kittens. He was standing at the rail, his arms draped over the top.
“Lily’s a beautiful little girl,” he said as Meri walked up beside him, his voice as smooth as honey and just as warm.
“Thank you.”
“Dad isn’t ready to admit it, but Lily’s the best thing that’s happened to him in years.”
“She likes him. She’s never had a grandfather. I guess she sees Daniel as kind of a substitute.”
“He’s promised to take her over to Mrs. Peterson’s. She’s the widow who lives on the property adjoining ours. One of her mares just foaled.”
“Lily would love that.”
Ian shook his head. “I can’t believe it. Dad hardly ever leaves the house anymore.”
“Maybe once we get everything cleaned up, he’ll be more active. Maybe he’ll even want to have people over again.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Heddy Peterson used to come by and see Dad once in a while, but she finally gave up on him.”
“Well, she’s going to see him tomorrow when your dad takes Lily to see the foal.”
Ian’s beautiful blue eyes came to rest on her face. “Maybe you’d like to see it, too,” he said softly, and the bottom dropped out of her stomach.
Oh dear Lord. That sexy voice, combined with those amazing blue eyes, was the problem. She was getting the house in order, just as she’d promised. Ian was paying her a more than fair wage, and she was saving money, getting in a position to move on, to get to Portland and find a job. Not as a cleaning person, but maybe a secretary or a bookkeeper.
She was good on a computer, good with numbers, and she had done that kind of work before. Everything was going smoothly. Except that she was growing more and more attracted to Ian Brodie, and that wasn’t good.
Ian didn’t know anything about her, didn’t know she had been raised in a series of foster homes. Didn’t know about Joey and that she’d been stupid enough to get pregnant by a loser like him.
Ian was a successful businessman. He owned a security company in Seattle, he had told her. A guy like that didn’t want a woman with a child and a shady past.
At least not for more than a couple of nights in bed.
Meri had to think of Lily. Getting involved in any way with Ian was out of the question.
“It’s nice of you to ask,” she told him. “I wish I could go, but I have too much work to do.”
Before he could try to persuade her, she turned and walked out of the barn. Her heart was pounding, her thoughts in a jumble. All she had to do was look into that handsome face, imagine running her hands through that neatly trimmed pirate-gold hair, and her insides grew warm.
Dear Lord, the man was going to be trouble. Meri shook her head. She’d been attracting trouble since she was five years old.
Chapter Four
Ian watched Meriwether Jones walk away. With a will of its own, his gaze traveled over the round bottom hugged by her faded blue jeans. His mouth edged into a smile at the pink sneakers on her feet.
In the week she had been there, everything had changed. She had the house cleaned—all but the dining room—the upstairs rooms stripped and ready to paint, which he had hired a crew to do and planned to start tomorrow morning.
Dinner was no longer a morbid affair of frozen TV dinners eaten in the dark in front of the TV. They ate in the spotlessly clean kitchen around the old claw-foot oak table, good wholesome family meals like spaghetti, and stew, and chicken and dumplings.
One night, he picked up some steaks to grill outside, which turned into more work than he had expected since the grill hadn’t been used in years. When he lifted the lid he found the whole thing greasy and rusted.
But cleaning it was worth it. The steaks were great and the look on Meri’s face when she took a bite of medium-rare fillet, obviously a treat, made him glad he had gone to the extra trouble.
While he’d worked on general outdoor maintenance, like mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, and pulling weeds, Meri had worked miracles inside the house. He admired her tenacity and grit. He admired the way she took care of her little girl.
He admired a lot of things about Meriwether Jones. He also found her sexy as hell. He tried not to think of the perfect little ass filling out her jeans, the way her breasts plumped under her T-shirts. He desperately wanted to see those long, mahogany braids unbound, wanted to run his fingers through the fine, silky strands.
Instead of her work clothes, he wanted to see her in a sleek satin nightgown. Then he wanted to strip her out of it.
He wanted to take Meriwether Jones to bed and it was driving him crazy.
Fortunately, Meri had enough sense to realize what a mistake it would be and stayed away from him.
Hell, he was only going to be in Spokane a couple of weeks, and the hard truth was, he wasn’t interested in a relationship. He worked long hours and rarely had time for female companionship.
Which wasn’t to say he didn’t have a lady or two he took out on the occasional date or called once in a while for a sleepover. He liked sex, and just because he was busy didn’t mean he did without.
Still, there was something different about the desire he felt for Meri. It was a yearning deep in his bones. Every time she smiled at him, he felt a little kick.
He didn’t understand it. Hell, he’d never felt anything like it.
And he sure didn’t know how to deal with it.
And there was Meri herself. He didn’t know anything about her, except that she was in trouble. If he was back in his office, he’d run her name, see if she had a criminal record. When he thought of the way she was with Lily, thought of the amazing mother she was, he had a hard time imagining it.
And the truth was, even thinking about digging into her past felt like a betrayal.
He was staying at least another week. He had help coming in to paint the upstairs but he planned to tackle the kitchen himself. Maybe he would just ask her what she was running from.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
Maybe if he gave her a little more time, Meri would come to trust him enough to tell him.
As long as she didn’t trust him enough to wind up in his bed.
* * *
In the end, they all went to see the foal. Maybe she was a little overprotective, but Meri didn’t really know the Brodies well enough to let them take off with her little girl. In her heart, she believed father and son were exactly what they seemed, good men who had problems to solve, just like everyone else.
The little bay foal named Dolly was darling, and of course Lily instantly fell in love with the filly.
“Look, Mama, she likes me.” The foal butted her tiny head against Lily’s hand, then nickered softly when Lily started petting her. “Can I have a horse, Mama? A baby one like Dolly?”
“We’ll be living in the city, honey. Horses need lots of open space to play in.”
�
��But I want one.” Her face puckered up. It looked as if she was going to pitch an old-fashioned crying fit, which was rare and never worked, but Meri guessed this was a high-stakes wish, and Lily figured it was worth a try.
Ian must have recognized what was coming because he stepped into the breach, scooping Lily up against his chest.
“Mrs. Peterson loves visitors. I’m sure you can come out and visit Dolly anytime you want.” He glanced at the short, silver-haired woman who stood next to Daniel at the fence.
Mrs. Peterson smiled and nodded. “Anytime, sweetheart.”
Lily’s eyes lit up and Ian put her down again. “Can we, Mama?”
“For now, why don’t we just enjoy Dolly while we’re here?”
The foal neighed and Lily returned her attention to the tiny horse, satisfied at least for the moment.
“She’s such a sweet little girl,” Mrs. Peterson said, smiling down at Lily with a soft look in her eyes.
“Thank you.”
“I remember when my daughter was that age. Seems like only yesterday. Ashley’s all grown up now with kids of her own.”
Heddy looked over at Daniel, who seemed to be looking everywhere but at the woman beside him. “I’m glad you came over, Daniel. It’s been way too long.” There was something in her eyes, something Meri recognized.
Daniel just nodded. He was an attractive man, she realized, now that he was standing a little straighter, had gotten a haircut and shaved.
“We’d best be getting back,” he said. “Ian’s got the painters coming in tomorrow morning.” As Daniel started back down the road toward the farmhouse, Mrs. Peterson turned to Ian.
“I’m so glad you came home. I can see the difference in your father already.”
“I should have come back sooner. I won’t stay away again.”
Heddy Peterson smiled, but her gaze strayed toward the man walking off down the lane. Another woman attracted to a man she couldn’t have.
Meri understood completely.
Taking Lily’s hand, she walked next to Ian back to the house. Once they got there, Ian took Lily out to the barn to watch the kittens. Meri walked into the kitchen just as her cell phone rang.
Pulling it out of the pocket of her jeans, she looked down at the caller ID but didn’t recognize the number. She pressed the phone against her ear. “Hello.”
