“I liked Mary Jane,” Katie said.
Tom made a fist and stuck it in his pocket. “You can’t tell him that, dummy. Not if you want him to hire Abby. I don’t need—”
“Tom’s right,” Lily said. “Besides, Katie, you like everyone.”
“But I like Abby best.”
“Then we have to figure out what’s wrong with Mary Jane so Uncle Jarrod won’t give her the job.” Lily sat down and rubbed her back. It had been aching off and on, though she didn’t know why. She was tired and out of sorts too.
“She’s not much older than you,” Tom said helpfully. “Don’t s’pose it’d do any good for me to remind ‘im that I don’t need no one to take care of me.”
“You do a good job of reminding all of us, Tom. Don’t reckon we’d forget,” Lily said.
“You don’t need looking after because you’re with Uncle Jarrod all the time,” Katie reminded him. “He looks after you all day.” She looked at him enviously.
“Yeah,” he said smugly.
“You like bein’ with ‘im?” Oliver asked.
Tom shrugged. “It’s all right. Better than hanging around here and having Lily boss me.”
“Stop it, Tom. That’s not helping us figure out what to say,” Lily snapped.
“I could say I didn’t like her,” Katie offered. “I could say she was mean.”
“They wouldn’t believe you,” Lily said. “And we don’t want to lie. She was very nice.”
In fact, Lily decided if things were different, she would like to make friends with Mary Jane. She wasn’t that much older. Maybe when their plan had worked and Abby was at the ranch, she might have time to make her acquaintance.
“We told Uncle Jarrod that Bea was too old. Why not just say Mary Jane’s not old enough to handle the likes of us?” Tom asked.
“That’s probably best,” Lily agreed. “Anything else?”
“Her teeth kind of stick out. Like a horse,” Tom added, causing Lily to glare at him.
“She’s too skinny,” Katie offered. “If the mean man comes for me at night, she won’t know what to do.”
Lily smiled. Perfect. Uncle Jarrod would especially want someone Katie would like, so she would sleep all night. He was about done in from getting up with her.
Lily reminded herself that they were doing this to get him to hire Abby. It would be best for all of them, including Uncle Jarrod. He would only be tired a little while longer.
“All right. Everyone know what to say?” Lily asked. They all nodded.
Abby poured herself some coffee from the pot she’d just made and sat wearily at Jarrod’s kitchen table. It would be dawn soon and she had to get back to Hollister. Whatever had possessed her to stay the night? No one had asked her; she had offered. The words had come out of her mouth before she could stop them. Then Gib Cochran latched on to the idea like a dog to a favorite bone. He’d said he could take Mary Jane Watkins back to town since he was going in for supplies anyhow.
Abby was so tired. She hadn’t spent more than an hour or two up with Katie during the night, but after settling the child, she hadn’t been able to sleep again.
Thoughts of Jarrod Blackstone kept her awake.
That was when she’d figured out what made her stay. It was the pleading expression in Jarrod’s gray eyes. She was sure he hadn’t been aware he looked like that. No matter how she tried to harden her heart against his situation, she just couldn’t abandon him. Or the children.
“Abby?”
The deep voice sent shivers down her arms even as it drew her gaze to the doorway where Jarrod stood. Dressed in denims, with a long-sleeved plaid shirt rolled to his elbows, he looked ready for a day’s work. She was ready to crawl back into bed.
“Morning,” she said. “Hope you don’t mind me helping myself to coffee.”
“Lord, no.” He crossed the kitchen and pulled a cup from the cupboard. “Do you have any idea what a pleasure it is to have it already made?”
She took a sip of hers and shook her head. “Mr. Whittemore has coffee made when I get to work, but I swear it’s strong enough to tan leather.” She glanced at him as he sat down across from her. “If I were you, I’d reserve judgment on how pleasurable that coffee is until you’ve sampled it.”
“I’ll just do that.” He blew on the steaming black surface, then sipped. “Won’t be tanning any hides with this. It’s real tasty.”
“Thanks.”
He held the cup between his hands as he looked at her. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but did you get up with Katie last night?”
She nodded. “How did you know?”
“You look tired this morning.”
“I am. By the way, I’d just like to take back what I said about the bags under your eyes. Mine feel like they’d hold a five piece living room suite, with an ornate sideboard thrown in.”
“You don’t look that bad.”
Abby shot him a look. “That bad?”
“Not bad at all.”
She told herself she didn’t care what he thought of her appearance. Her only reason for staying last night was to help him out because she felt guilty that the kids hadn’t taken to Mary Jane. If she could just find someone to work for him, everything would be dandy. She could do her job in town and he could get a good night’s sleep.
“You didn’t hear Katie, did you?” she asked quickly. “I tried to keep her quiet.”
“No. By the way, thanks for the best night’s sleep I’ve had in days.”
“You’re welcome.”
“How long did it take you to get her settled down?”
“‘Bout an hour and a half,” Abby answered nonchalantly, even though he had disturbed her rest more than the child.
“That long?” he asked skeptically.
“We talked for a while,” she said, feeling defensive. She knew he wasn’t criticizing her, but she felt compelled to explain. “She seemed upset about Mary Jane.”
“Why?”
“Katie worried about whether she had a job. If she would have a place to live, food to eat, clothes. She’s just chock full of questions in the middle of the night, isn’t she?”
“I’m sorry, Abby,” he said sympathetically, although he couldn’t suppress a chuckle.
She shrugged it off. “Don’t worry about it. I just wish Mary Jane hadn’t turned down the job.”
“Me too.”
“Why are you up at this hour?”
He grinned. “I’ve got a ranch to run. There’s only so much daylight. Gotta make the most of it.”
“Of course.” That was stupid, she thought. Whenever she was around him, her mind seemed to seize up on her and not function properly. Certainly he had work to do. So did she. But trying to get him a housekeeper so he could run the ranch without having to worry about the kids was going very poorly.
Abby studied him. That grin of his would melt butter, she thought as her heart skipped a little. Straight white teeth stood out in contrast to his tanned face. His jaw was freshly shaven and his hair neatly combed. He was just about the best-looking man she’d ever laid eyes on.
He made her feel all the more bedraggled because he looked so darn good.
“Speaking of daylight, I’ve got to get back to town.” She started to get up, but his large hand on her arm stopped her.
“Can you give me just a few minutes? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
There was that pleading look in his eyes again. When he turned that on her, she was almost helpless to refuse him.
“All right. Just let me refill my coffee,” she said, lifting her cup.
“Let me get it for you,” he offered.
“No, thanks.” She stood quickly, needing to put some distance between her and Jarrod. If she was going to hear him out, she had to do it from a few feet away, or she had a feeling she wouldn’t hear much of anything at all.
She poured herself more coffee and rested her back against the counter beside the stove. “What’s on your mind?”
/> “Boarding school.”
Her hand holding the cup stopped halfway to her mouth. “What about it?” she asked.
“I’m thinking it might be good for the kids.”
She started to say something, and he held up a hand.
“Now hear me out. You have to admit, finding a housekeeper is proving to be harder than you’d thought.”
“Well, yes—”
“The kids seem mighty picky. Now don’t get me wrong, I want them to be happy with whoever I hire. But I thought you did a fine job both times of choosing ladies suitable for the job. It seems the kids are a handful.”
“But, Jarrod—boarding school?” She set her cup on the counter. “Maybe there are other relatives—”
“No.” He frowned. “What else can I do, Abby? Spring and early summer are a real busy time here on the ranch. I’m short several hands.”
“But think about the children—”
“I am, damn it. How can I do the work of two men and make sure the kids are okay too? Besides being up half the night with Katie.”
He had a point. But Abby’s heart cried out against sending the children away. After her father had left, she had missed him terribly. She didn’t know what she would have done without her mother and Clint. These children needed to be with Jarrod. He was family; he cared about them. The idea of Lily, Tom, Katie, and Oliver being with strangers who would see them as nothing more than a job tore at her. She had to make him see that whatever time he had left over from ranching would be far better than the indifference they’d suffer at boarding school.
“I understand what you’re going through, Jarrod.”
“No, you don’t.” He looked up at her face just as she tiredly rubbed a hand across her forehead. “Maybe you do, at least partly. But there’s more to it.”
“There sure is—four young lives,” Abby added.
“How can they get schooling out here? What if one of them gets hurt while I’m working? No one’s here to teach them right from wrong,” Jarrod replied.
“It wouldn’t bother you thinking about Tom with people who don’t care what he’s gone through? What if he starts looking for attention the wrong way and gets tanned because of it?”
“That doesn’t set well, but—”
“What about Oliver? Do you think strangers will have patience with him when he’s had an accident?”
“There are good schools. I’ll check—”
“And Lily. She’ll be a young woman soon. Do you want to stifle her in an all-girls school?”
“It wouldn’t be that bad. There are vacations and—”
“And what about Katie? Could you stand wondering if someone hears her when she’s afraid at night? What if no one goes to her and she’s left alone crying? Wouldn’t that bother you, Jarrod?”
“Hell, yes!” He stood up and glared at her for several moments. “I just don’t see as I’ve got any other choice.”
“There’s always another way.”
“Not this time.”
Abby walked across the kitchen and rested her hands on the top of the ladder-back chair across from him. She gripped it, squeezing so tight her knuckles turned white. “What would Sally say about you sending her children to boarding school?”
When a look of sorrow and pain clouded his eyes, she hated herself for saying that to him. But there were four young lives at stake.
“That was low, Abby,” he finally said in a hoarse voice.
“I know. I’m sorry. But she sent them to you for raising, because she wanted the best for them.”
“What makes you think I’m best?” A dark look shadowed his face.
Abby sympathized with whatever memory was eating him, but he was an adult. Her concern was the children. “Because you’re family.”
“The ranch takes all my time. Family or not, there’s nothing left over for them. I’m not the best person for the job.”
“Sally grew up here. She knew what it takes to run this place. She also knew how much time is necessary to raise four kids and work a job. She still sent her children to you.”
“My sister was ill. She wasn’t thinking straight. I’m the wrong man.”
Abby wouldn’t be sidetracked from what she felt was right because he thought he was unfit. So he had problems. Everyone did. Life was putting one foot in front of the other no matter what. “You were willing to try if you had a housekeeper,” she reminded him.
He shot her a look. “But I don’t have one.”
“Give me a little more time, Jarrod. I’ll get you some help.”
Abby heard a loud creak that sounded like someone on the stairs. Jarrod met her gaze. “Do you think we woke the kids?” he asked.
She moved around him to the doorway. “I’ll check.”
Abby walked down the hall and rounded the corner to look at the stairway. No one was there. Sighing with relief, she returned to the kitchen.
“They’re still asleep. Must have been the house settling.”
He nodded. “Now where were we?”
“You were just about to agree to letting me have more time to find a housekeeper before you send the children to boarding school.”
He smiled. “Was I?”
She nodded. “Yes. Because you know it’s the right thing to do.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. Because you’re a very wise man.”
“Am I?”
Abby grinned at him before answering his question. “Yes, indeed. You’re smart enough to know you don’t know everything about raising kids.”
“I don’t know anything about it. But I do agree that boarding school should be a last resort.”
“So you’ll give me more time?”
“Any wise man would,” he said. “You’ve got another week.”
Abby was so relieved, she didn’t care that he’d only given her a week. She’d changed his mind. Jubilation bubbled up inside her until it overflowed.
“Jarrod Blackstone, I could hug you.”
He held his arms wide. “Okay.”
Too exhilarated to think about what she was doing, Abby threw herself against him and looped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight.
He wrapped strong arms around her and returned the pressure. When she leaned back slightly and caught the intense look in Jarrod’s eyes, she knew his teasing mood had changed.
“Abby Miller, I could kiss you,” he said, echoing her own words and giving them an intimate twist.
Her eyes widened and she held her breath as he lowered his mouth to hers.
6
Abby’s heart fluttered as hard and fast as the wings of gulls taking flight over the ocean. Jarrod’s lips touched hers. The sensation was soft, warm, wonderful. Jarrod Blackstone was not the first man who had ever kissed her, but he was the first who didn’t make her want to rub the back of her hand across her mouth afterward. Her knees wobbled and a shiver of excitement skittered over her arms and down her legs. If she hadn’t been wearing boots, her toes would have curled.
When he traced her lips with his tongue, Abby instinctively opened to him, her heart pounding. He slipped into her mouth, stroking her, sending tingles through her. This was what she had been afraid of from the beginning, but at the moment she couldn’t find it in her to care. The sensations were too wonderful.
She was filled with disappointment when he pulled his mouth away and stared down at her, gray eyes cloudy. His breathing was quicker than it had been moments before, as was hers.
His dark look had faded, replaced by one of amusement.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
He smiled. “Who said anything was funny?”
“You did.”
“I haven’t said anything at all,” he answered.
Her eyes narrowed. “You were about to. I can tell by that smirk on your face.”
She didn’t think that kiss was the least bit funny, and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell him so. But his expression told her that it had meant little
or nothing to him. That scared her, because it meant more than nothing to her. A lot more.
Abby stepped away from him and let out a short, quick breath. She decided she had two choices. Either ignore what had just happened, or make light of it. Maybe do the latter first, then ignore the whole thing from then on.
He rubbed a hand over his cheek. “I’m not smirking.”
“My mistake,” she said, then shook her head. “Fancy that.”
“What?”
“A hug and a friendly kiss from Jarrod Blackstone.”
“Friendly? Interesting choice of words.” One of his dark brows rose questioningly. “You sound surprised.”
“You don’t seem the huggin’, kissin’ sort of man.” She forced a lightness into her tone.
“What sort do I seem?”
“I don’t know. The brooding type. The kind who hardly ever smiles.”
“Me?” he asked. “Why, I can be as neighborly as the next man.”
“Yes, sir, you just proved that.” Abby smiled, then cursed inwardly when her mouth trembled. She quickly turned away, not wanting him to see her reaction. “It’s about time I started back to Hollister.”
“Reckon so.” He hesitated for several moments. “Abby?”
“What?”
“I’d like you to see the new foal I’ve got in mind to give Tom.”
She whirled around. “You’re giving him a horse?”
“Sort of.” He tucked his fingertips into the pockets of his denims. “He watched the mare foal a couple days ago and really took to it. Can hardly tear himself away from the animal to do chores.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I think he’d sleep in the barn if I let him. He’s got a birthday coming up pretty soon, and I thought I’d give it to him then. He’ll have to learn to take care of it, train it, but it’d be his.”
She swallowed past the lump that grew in her throat and studied him.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just trying to decide if you’re the same man who just a few minutes ago was talking about boarding school.”
He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, one and the same.”
“My my.”
Jarrod grew restless under her scrutiny. “Do you want to see the foal or not?” he asked, a note of irritation creeping into his voice.
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