Never Say Never

by Tina Leonard

  “Mother knows everybody and the dogs they own in the county. She ought to be able to tell you.”

  Marsh nodded. “Yep. Say, how did Jill do last night?”

  Dustin’s hand jumped. He yelped as he burned himself on the skillet. “Do what?” he demanded.

  Marsh paused. “Run that under cold water. Was she all right?”

  “She’s fine, damn it.” He ignored the advice about cold water. He could have done that last night, too, but who wanted a cold shower in December?

  “Hey, buddy, I’m asking you if that poor woman who ran for an orphan’s life she barely knows was able to calm down enough to sleep last night. I’m not inquiring as to whether she meets your Playboy Bunny measurements—hey, wait a minute. You didn’t…”

  “Marsh!”

  “Holy smokes, Dustin, you’ve been worrying if she’s pregnant! Even you wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

  “I kissed her! That’s all.” He glared at Marsh. “It was a simple, thanks-for-everything-you-did kiss. Nothing more.”

  “Uh, yeah, buddy. And China Shea spent the night with me last night.”

  Dustin snorted. He slapped a plate with two eggs, yolks burst, in front of Marsh. “At least then you’d be waking her up at such an ungodly hour instead of me.”

  “Nah. Some habits are hard to break. I’ll bring her with me when it’s breakfast time at the Reed Ranch.” He stared down at the eggs before looking up to stare at him. “Listen, Dustin, I think you’re taking your housekeeper a bit serious.”

  Toast flew up out of the toaster, a bit crisper than was edible. He hadn’t been able to concentrate on the biscuit directions for thinking about Jill, so he’d taken the easy way out.

  Reaching for the two dark pieces, he tossed one onto Marsh’s plate. “Rest easy. Nothing serious is going on. I shouldn’t have kissed her, but no mountains moved, so what the hell.”

  “You’re lying like a rug.”

  Dustin shrugged.

  “Only a friend would say this, Dustin. I hope you’ll remember that before you punch my lights out. But you fell for Nina under similar circumstances. If you think about that, maybe history won’t repeat itself.”

  His hand stopped in midair, leaving the toast unbitten. “That was a major leap, even for you, Marsh.”

  “No.” Marsh shook his head “You fell for Nina right after your father died. The shock factor had set in and the first hot pair of panties that came your way felt like southern comfort.”

  Dustin tossed the toast to the plate. Marsh held up a hand.

  “Don’t deny that you blame yourself for your father’s heart attack. You had an argument about the ranch. He died, and you got left holding a bag of guilt.” Marsh stared him down. “If you hadn’t been hurting so bad, you might have been able to see that Nina was after you for your money. For your name. She was a social-climbing woman, and you know it. Pregnancy bought her that ring. But, Dustin, at least she was pregnant with your child. If Jill’s pregnant, you’re going to have to overlook the fact that you’re falling for a woman who’s having another man’s baby. Even if she’s not pregnant, you’re at a bad spot in your life, especially with the custody battle coming up. You might accidentally make another poor choice.”

  “You’re full of crap.” Dustin wanted to reach across and sock Marsh a good one. Problem was, the man was speaking out of concern. He was right about one thing. Dustin had reacted to Nina out of pain. Her potency would have been lessened greatly had he not been searching for something.

  It’s perfectly natural for two human beings to reach out in a crisis. I’m glad we could be there for each other.

  Jill’s words haunted him. Had she known? Felt that same way? Had their kiss been simply a momentary connection, nothing more?

  He knew it was best if that was the case. Yet, his heart was telling him he wanted the kiss to have meant something to her. Meeting Marsh’s eyes, he shrugged. “Thanks for the therapy. What’s that gonna run me?”

  “Not a damn thing, as long as you listened. Remember, she’s the housekeeper, not a bed warmer. Hey, I gotta get back. I’ve got to check on… Good morning, Eunice. How are you doing?”

  Dustin turned to see his mother holding baby Holly, and a freshly showered Jill. Damn, but she looked good.

  “Any news, Marsh?” Eunice asked.

  “No. The shopgirl’s gone, quit her job.”

  Jill gasped. Dustin pushed away the unappealing breakfast, getting up to put his plate in the sink. Since the household was all up now and completely aware that he’d slept in his clothes, he might as well go feed the cattle.

  “Who was she?” Eunice inquired as Jill went to fix a bottle.

  “Sadie Lauren. Know her?”

  Eunice sat down at the table. Dustin eyed his mother. He could tell she knew by the expression on her face.

  “I thought as much,” she sighed. “The reason you don’t recognize the name is because Sadie is Vera Benchley’s daughter. Her father’s name was Lauren, but Vera remarried.”

  “You knew Holly belonged to them?” Marsh asked.

  “I suspected.” She adjusted Holly and pulled out the end of the blanket. “This crown is newly stitched on the blanket. Vera did me a favor once in high school, for which I have always been grateful. I’m sure she was aware I’d help her in a flash, whatever the favor. Vera’s a good woman. I had a hunch about this stitchery because Vera’s an excellent seamstress—people around here hire her to do fancy sewing—but I didn’t want to mention anything until I was certain.”

  “I’ll go by and check the house. Once I explain that we’ll protect Holly and keep this a private matter between us, maybe they’ll help me put the squeeze on the father.” Marsh got up, nodding to the ladies. “Thanks, Eunice. ’Bye, Jill. Weather’s supposed to get bad today. If you’re going to stroll Holly around the property, you’d better do it early.”

  “I will,” she murmured.

  Dustin noticed she didn’t glance his way. “Let us know what you find out,” he said, walking with Marsh to the door.

  “I will. Meantime, remember lightning can strike twice.”

  “Shut up,” Dustin told him sourly. “I told you, it wasn’t worth making a mountain out of a molehill over.”

  “I’m taking your word on it. The man who keeps his jeans on doesn’t wind up wearing a wedding ring.” Dustin slammed the door. Unfortunately, Marsh was right. However, he was completely in control of the situation.

  Silently, Joey put his toys away. Grandmother Copeland had told him it was time to go home. He was glad. He missed his father and Grandma Eunice. Most of all, he needed to get home to see if Jill was still there. He just knew she’d left while he’d been gone.

  Grandmother came into the room. “Time to go, Joey.”

  He followed her downstairs and out the door. A man, who they called a driver or something, was holding the car door open. He got in, and Grandmother settled onto the leather seat next to him. The car rolled forward as the driver started it.

  “What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas, Joey?” she asked.

  He didn’t have to think about that. “Jill.”

  “Who’s Jill?”

  “The new lady at our house. She…she’s boo-tiful.”

  “Oh?” His grandmother’s eyebrows raised. Joey thought that was good. She was interested in his story. “What does she do?”

  “She takes care of us. She…she, takes care of Daddy.”

  “I see.” Grandmother Copeland stared at him. “So you want her to stay?”

  “Yes.” Joey nodded his head. That would be wonderful. He wondered if Santa could manage that for him. “Maybe…maybe she be my mother.”

  His grandmother turned to look out the window. She was no longer thinking about his Christmas presents. Joey zipped and unzipped the zipper on his down coat, trying to make a game until he got home. The drive always seemed to take forever until he was back with his daddy and grandma again.

  Jill paus
ed at the top of the stairwell. The shrill voice she’d heard before was speaking, only this time it was louder, more strident. Joey came flying up the stairs, throwing his arms around her the second he saw her.

  She patted his back as she hung there, listening though she was struck by the sudden perception that she wasn’t going to like what was being said.

  “You can’t believe I’m going to let you get away with this, Dustin Reed. If you thought I was making your life miserable before, this certainly doesn’t make me want to change my mind.”

  “I didn’t expect you to change your mind, Maxine.”

  “So you went and hired some sweet young thing to take Nina’s place! Even as dense as you are, you had to have known how I’d feel about that. I guess you did since you’ve kept her well out of sight.”

  “We’re hardly on social terms, Maxine. Why would I introduce my housekeeper to you?”

  “Don’t you think I’d be interested in the person who’s caring for Joey?”

  “I didn’t think who changed the beds around here was a matter for public concern.”

  “Well, let me tell you something, Dustin. When Joey tells me he wants this woman to be his mother, I know he’s thinking that for a reason. Something’s happened to make him hope for that possibility. And I’m warning you, that is something I won’t stand for. I won’t have you replacing Nina with some woman, and getting custody of Joey, so that all the pieces can just be wrapped up nicely in your life, with me standing out in the cold and Nina forgotten. Oh, no. I will never let that happen.”

  She could hear Dustin’s deep sigh. “Exactly what will make you happy, Maxine?”

  “I want you to get rid of her.”

  “Get rid of Jill? She’s the only housekeeper we’ve been able to keep.”

  Joey moved away from her legs to rush into his room. Jill knew she should go to him, but the distress in Dustin’s voice kept her rooted in place.

  “The other two were older, suitable females. Somehow you ran off good help. I’m starting to wonder if good help was truly what you were looking for.”

  “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

  Jill knew, and she was certain Dustin did, too. The way her scalp was tightening made her realize her position at the Reed Ranch was suddenly very tenuous. Maxine Copeland was a determined woman.

  “Let’s not mince words, Dustin. Either this woman or you have done something, said something, to make Joey think there’s a long-term relationship in the offing. Far from running away from this position, this girl appears to be getting close with Joey.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “It’s not her place. I can’t help whether or not you’re sleeping with her. But I can make certain she doesn’t insinuate herself into Joey’s affection, where she can manipulate herself into becoming a part of this family. I’m very angry that you’ve so casually discarded the memory of my daughter, less than a year after she died. I’m not going to have you replacing her like this. This Jill isn’t going to become Joey’s stepmother, not if I have anything to say about it.”

  “I think you’re all worked up about nothing, Maxine. What Joey said was a harmless enough wish for a boy his age. Of course he wishes his mother hadn’t died. But since she did, it’s natural for him to want someone else to love him.”

  “You understand that very well, don’t you, Dustin?” Maxine’s voice was mocking. “But you won’t even mention my daughter’s name. You say ‘she’ and ‘her’ but you don’t say ‘Nina’. Because you’ve already moved past her. You’re not going to admit it, but I can tell.”

  “Maxine…”

  “No, don’t ‘Maxine’ me. It is a very bad time for you to upset me with this decision of yours, but I might have known your glands would be talking louder than your brain.”

  There was a pause. Jill’s heart was beating so loud she felt like the floor was trembling.

  “I was hoping this wouldn’t turn nasty, Dustin. I hoped you would come to your senses and realize that this was no place for Joey, that he’d be better off with someone who can be with him full-time and help him get over his grief. It never occurred to me that you’d hire someone to take Nina’s place, to become a mother to him. However, you should know that I intend to win this custody suit. Stand warned that I will use every card in my hand to do so. My chances are excellent, especially once the fact that your mother had a long-term affair with my husband is revealed.” She paused to let that sink in. “Loose morals appear to run in the family, which is an unfortunate thing when one is trying to prove their fitness to raise a child. Good day.”

  Jill’s hand flew to cover her mouth. The front door slammed. Dustin cursed, loud enough for the words to carry up the stairs. Before she could get caught eavesdropping, she hurried to her room and closed the door. Leaning up against it, she closed her eyes, feeling sick. Without realizing it, she had developed into a problem for Dustin. Marsh had called her a bed warmer. She’d been willing to overlook that, knowing that Dustin would straighten him out about their relationship. In time, she would have her own chance to give him hell about his comment. But Maxine apparently thought she was sleeping with her employer and was convinced enough about it to want her fired.

  She might not be sleeping with Dustin, but she definitely hadn’t pulled away from his kiss last night. In fact, she’d wanted much, much more.

  Jill hung her head. Her being at the ranch was causing a horrible amount of trouble for Dustin. The best thing she could do would be to resign her position and return to Dallas.

  Crossing into Joey’s room, she found it empty. He must have run into Eunice’s room to hide from the terrible words being flung around downstairs. Poor Joey. Whatever innocent thing he’d said to his grandmother had stirred up a devastating tornado. Her heart squeezed. Well, she couldn’t be his mother, but even if she had to leave the ranch, Joey, with his flyaway corn-silk hair, would always live in her heart.

  She heard Dustin’s boots thundering against the floorboards as he strode down the hall. Cringing inwardly, she waited for him to pound on her door. Whatever happened, she would go—and go gracefully.

  “Mother!” she heard him shout.

  A door opened. “Yes, Dustin?”

  The door closed again. Jill slowly opened the door to Joey’s bedroom, peering out into the hall. It was empty, but she could hear Dustin in his mother’s room. She hesitated, thinking that Eunice and her son needed this time to talk without Joey having to be a part of it. The least she could do was offer to take him outside to play.

  She went to Eunice’s door, her hand raised to knock.

  “Maxine seems to think she’s holding a trump card,” she heard Dustin say. “For whatever reason, she’s got it in her twisted mind that you and David had an affair.”

  There was a long pause. Jill realized that there was no way she could disturb their conversation now. She started to move away from the door.

  “As much as I hate to say so, I can see why Maxine might think that,” Eunice’s unhappy voice admitted.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dustin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His mother was well-recognized in Lassiter as an upstanding pillar of society, a model for other women to follow. Why would anyone suspect her of having an affair?

  A soft knock kept him from unleashing the harsh-edged question whirling in his brain. He flung open the door.

  “What is it?” he demanded. Jill jumped, obviously alarmed by his tone.

  “Um, would you like me to take Joey downstairs?” She peered around the door. “And Holly, too?”

  The baby was sleeping, totally unaware of Dustin’s fury. He glanced at his son, who had nestled up against Eunice, in either a protective or looking-for-protection stance. Sighing, Dustin held the door open farther. “If you wouldn’t mind. Holly can stay in here, though.”

  Jill’s gaze flew to Joey. She gestured to him, and he went to her without hesitation. Quietly, the door closed. Dustin could hear footsteps
hurrying down the stairs. His temper had definitely made an impression on his housekeeper. His mouth thinning, he leaned against the wall. “I find this very hard to believe, Mother.”

  “Well, it’s an unfortunate time for this to come out, Dustin. I’m truly sorry it has. I’m more sorry that Maxine believes it. The truth is, David used to spend quite a bit of time over here after your father died. It was harmless, of course, but you know how Maxine’s mind works.”

  “Where was I?” Dustin could hear the growl in his voice.

  “Oh, out courting Nina. Running around with Marsh. Most of the time, you were trying to get the ranch up and running again.” She hesitated, before meeting his eyes. “I would venture to says that you were doing what I was doing, trying to get over your father’s death.”

  “You must have spent a good bit of time together for her to think there was an affair.”

  Eunice chuckled, but it was a sad sound. “Well, I’m not completely sure what David’s reasons were for coming around. At the time, I suspected he needed a reprieve from Maxine. He never said so, naturally. But about twice a week he’d come by around five o’clock and we’d have a whiskey and soda. We’d talk. Mostly, we shared a love of bird-watching. The pecan trees attract many birds, and from the porch we could sit and watch them fly in. To be honest, I don’t know what I would have done without David during that time,” she said, her voice softening.

  Dustin understood that feeling. He’d felt the same way, only he’d turned to Nina. It had seemed so right and natural at the time. But, blinded by grief, he’d allowed the relationship to deepen to a point it should never have gone.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said, running a hand through his hair. Grasping the chair at her vanity, he turned it around and straddled it. “This is just more poison for her to spew. If she didn’t know about your friendship before, how did she manage to find out now?”

  His mother shook her head. “She hired a private investigator.”