by Gina Wilkins
With a duffel bag holding his entire wardrobe clutched in his left hand, he used his right hand to quickly press buttons on the keypad located just inside the front door, resetting the alarm for the night. At least he had a place to sleep for a few weeks. He would have stayed with his mother, but his late father’s two sisters had already planned to come for a weeklong visit. They were arriving tomorrow and even if his mom’s house had been big enough to comfortably accommodate them all, he hadn’t relished the idea of sharing a house even temporarily with the three women. His younger sister, Madison, was a third-year medical resident who lived in a one-bedroom efficiency apartment, so staying with her wasn’t an option, either.
Moving in here seemed the ideal solution, and his sister and brother-in-law had agreed. In fact, they had interrupted their much-needed vacation to call and insist he make use of their spare room for as long as necessary.
He had planned to spend one more night at his mom’s, but when he’d realized how late he was going to be, he’d called and told her he’d crash at Meagan’s a night early instead. His mother had informed him no one else would be there tonight, so he didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone with his late arrival. Still, he made little noise as he climbed the stairs without bothering to turn on lights. Tiny, energy-efficient bulbs illuminated the steps for safety, providing a soft, cozy glow to guide him to the second story.
After the wedding in April, Seth and Alice had moved from their previous home across the street into Meagan’s house. Both houses in the upscale subdivision were approximately the same size, but this one had a pool in the roomy backyard—of primary importance to Alice. Seth had planned to put in a pool for Alice this summer, but they’d all decided it would be easier to simply settle in here. Seth’s house was on the market now, although Mitch hadn’t heard if it had sold yet.
Mitch hadn’t actually visited this house often, even before his sister married Seth. He and his sisters usually gathered at their mother’s place on the rare occasions when they were free to get together. He knew the master bedroom was downstairs and there were three bedrooms upstairs. Vaguely recalling that Alice’s room was on the left of the staircase, he turned right, arbitrarily choosing the first door he encountered.
He was going to fall straight into bed, he thought with a yawn. He’d worry about unpacking his few belongings in the morning. Opening the door, he entered the darkened room.
He heard someone gasp loudly at the same time his foot made contact with something large and unyielding. Caught off guard, he fell forward, hands flailing in a futile attempt to steady himself, the duffel bag throwing him off balance. His shoulder made solid contact with the hardwood floor, knocking the breath out of him in a startled “oof!”
Lights blazed, assaulting his eyes. He squinted upward. What he saw made him flinch, just in time to keep from being beaned by a heavy, decorative brass candlestick.
“What the—? Jacqui, stop! It’s me, Mitch. Meagan’s brother!” he added in a rush, just to make his identity clear.
Her petite body still poised to strike or run, the woman peered suspiciously down at him. Her short, near-black hair was tousled around her face. With her large, sleep-clouded dark eyes and softly pointed little chin, she looked even more elfin than usual—an adjective that had come to his mind the first time he’d met her a year or so earlier. He’d seen her only a handful of times since, but he’d recognized her instantly when she’d wielded the solid brass candlestick in a very efficient manner. He’d been damned lucky she hadn’t bashed in his head.
She blinked her long, dark lashes a couple times as though to clear her vision, then stared down at him with a frown. “Dr. Baker?”
Shifting warily into a sitting position, he stretched his arm to make sure he’d done no damage to his shoulder other than the bruise he would undoubtedly sport tomorrow. “I’m sorry I scared you. I had no idea you were here. Mom said Alice had a sleepover, so you’d be staying at your own place tonight.”
Jacqui tugged self-consciously at the mid-thigh-length hem of the New Orleans Saints jersey she wore for a nightshirt, revealing surprisingly long, slender legs for such a petite woman. “I was going to, but when I walked into my place earlier I found a leak that must have happened during the storm the other night. I guess some shingles were blown off or something. Anyway, the carpet was soaked, so I called the landlord, then gathered some things in my suitcase and came back here.”
“Uh, yeah. I think I found your suitcase.” He climbed to his feet. Now that he was upright, he stood a good nine inches taller than her barefoot five feet four inches. For such a little thing, she seemed more than capable of taking care of herself, he thought with a wry glance at the candlestick she still held.
Following his glance, she replaced the candlestick quickly on the nightstand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just bruised my pride a little. I’m really sorry I frightened you. I didn’t know which bedroom to sleep in.”
“I was under the impression you wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.”
“Last-minute change of plans. I hope you don’t mind that I’ll be staying for a few days.”
“Of course not. It’s your sister’s house and she invited you. You have every right to be here.”
She pulled at her jersey again, and he realized abruptly that she was probably uncomfortable with his presence in her bedroom. He reached for his duffel. “I’ll move to the other guest room. It’s across the hall, right?”
“Yes, directly across.”
Moving toward the door, he spoke lightly. “Okay, then, I’ll let you get back to sleep. Good night.”
She remained standing in the center of the room. “Good night.”
He stepped out in the hallway then couldn’t resist glancing over his shoulder to say, “Oh, and Jacqui? You won’t be needing that weapon again tonight.”
Her mouth twitched in what might have been a reluctant smile as he closed the door firmly between them.
Turkey bacon sizzled in the pan while whole-wheat muffins browned in the oven. Sipping her first cup of coffee Saturday morning, Jacqui kept a close eye on the fluffy scrambled eggs cooking in the skillet in front of her. She’d heard Mitch showering upstairs, so she figured he’d be down soon. If he was like most of the men she knew, he’d be hungry.
On awakening this morning, and wincing when she saw her suitcase still lying on the floor, she had decided to put last night’s awkwardness behind her. So Mitch had seen her in her nightshirt, with her hair all a mess and her cheek creased by her pillow. Big deal. Starting now, she was back in professional housekeeper mode. She wouldn’t let that facade slip around him again.
“Good morning.” Dressed in a new-looking white shirt and khakis, his sandy hair still damp from his shower, Mitch greeted her with a crooked smile that crinkled the corners of his clear blue eyes.
“Good morning, Dr. Baker.” She removed the muffins from the oven with a potholder, setting the pan on a trivet. “I hope you like turkey bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I wasn’t sure if you’d have to report to the hospital this morning, so I thought I’d have breakfast ready just in case.”
He studied the food with almost visible eagerness. “Looks delicious, but you didn’t have to cook for me.”
Having expected that comment, she shrugged lightly. “I was going to make some for myself anyway. Have a seat at the breakfast table. Do you drink coffee? Would you like orange juice to go with it? I have fresh-squeezed.”
“You certainly don’t have to wait on me. I’ll get my own coffee.” Moving to the coffeemaker, he poured a cup and carried it to the table.
Jacqui set a well-filled plate in front of him when he took his seat. “There’s homemade jam and apple butter in those little crocks. Help yourself if you want some for your muffin.”
Mitch picked up his fork, then raised his eyebrows when she didn’t immediately join him at the table. “Aren’t you eating?”
“I’m going to wash a load of
cleaning cloths and then feed Waldo,” she answered lightly. “Go ahead and eat. I’ll have something when I’ve finished those things.”
Mitch set down his fork. “I’ll wait.”
“Don’t be silly, Dr. Baker. Your food will get cold.”
“So will yours.”
“I won’t be long.”
“Then it won’t be a problem for me to wait, will it?” Leaning back in his chair, he picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, looking prepared to sit there all morning.
“Fine.” Foiled in her plan to eat alone when he’d finished, she placed a spoonful of eggs and a muffin on a plate for herself and carried it to the table, setting it at the opposite end from Mitch. She retrieved her coffee mug from the counter, then took her seat.
Looking satisfied, he picked up a strip of bacon. “Just so we’re straight—you work for my sister, not for me. I don’t expect you to serve me or to wait until I’ve finished eating to have your own meal. Nor to address me as Dr. Baker. I answer to Mitch or Mitchell. I don’t think my sister or her husband ask those things of you, either, for that matter. I’ve heard you call them Meagan and Seth, and I suspect you’ve shared a few meals with them.”
“Well, yes,” she admitted, stabbing her fork into her eggs to avoid looking at him. “But you’re a guest.”
“Hardly a stranger. We’ve known each other more than a year. And you’re pretty much a member of my sister’s family. There’s no need for formality between us.”
She spread a little jam on her muffin, busying herself with the task to avoid having to answer.
The table faced a sliding-glass door, on the other side of which lay a rock patio and beyond that, an inground pool. Mitch nodded toward the grinning yellow dog watching them through the glass, tail sweeping the air behind him. “Waldo didn’t prove to be much of a watch-dog last night. He never even barked when I parked outside and came into the house.”
Following his glance toward Alice’s beloved pet, Jacqui smiled. “As sweet as that dog is, I would never depend on him to guard the place. If he did catch someone sneaking in, he’d probably just bring up one of his toys and beg to play. I’ve always heard Labs are very territorial and protective, but Waldo…not so much.”
“Maybe he’d react differently if someone were threatening a member of the family.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed some spirit then. Especially if it were Alice being threatened. Waldo does love Alice.”
“Can’t blame him. She’s a great kid.” He reached for his coffee. “Anyway, if Waldo were any kind of a guard dog, I wouldn’t have taken you completely by surprise last night. Of course, that suitcase of yours did make a fairly effective warning system.”
The corner of her mouth twitched at the memory of him sprawled at her feet, staring warily at the brass candlestick in her hand. It hadn’t been funny at the time. She could still feel her heart pounding when she’d woken with the awareness that someone was in the room with her. But now she could see the wry humor in the situation. The way his eyes twinkled made her suspect he was struggling not to laugh.
Her humor evaporated when she remembered what had brought him there. “I’m sorry about your house. Alice and your mom told me it burned completely.”
“To the ground. It was a rental, a duplex. My neighbor in the other half is a few fries short of a kid’s meal. No one who’s ever met her was surprised that she caused the fire.”
She couldn’t help being a little amused by the analogy despite the gravity of the situation. “She really left candles burning when she left the house?”
He shrugged. “That’s what she said, and the fire marshal concurred it was the cause of the fire.”
“Was it a furnished duplex?” Because she’d spent so much of her life moving from place to place, Jacqui hadn’t collected many personal possessions. She always rented a fully furnished apartment. She looked forward to finally owning a home of her own that she could decorate with carefully chosen furnishings and maybe even a few nice pieces of art. Someday.
Mitch shook his head. “No, the furniture was all mine. Nothing too fancy. I’d lived there since my first year of residency and just gathered up what I needed to get by, but there were a few items I’ll really miss.”
“I’m sorry.”
Although she could see the regret on his face, he downplayed his loss. “I had renter’s insurance. I’d been considering moving to a somewhat larger place, anyway, now that I’ve finished my residency, but I didn’t have to sign a lease there and I liked that. All I had to do was give a month’s notice and I was free to leave at any time. Not many places let you do that.”
“Not many rental places, no,” she agreed, thinking of the one-year lease she’d recently renewed on her no-frills apartment. It was the first time ever that she’d stayed in one place long enough to actually renew a lease.
Recalling that Mitch had recently completed his surgical residency, she asked, “Will you buy a house now?”
He shrugged. “Haven’t had time to think about it. I’m not sure I want to commit to buying right now. I’ve considered working another year or so here in Little Rock and then maybe going somewhere else for a while.”
“Really?” She recognized the restless look in his eyes all too well, having seen that same wanderlust in her father throughout her first seventeen years. Still, she was a little startled that one of the seemingly tightly knit Baker clan was considering a move away.
“Because of school and family obligations, I’ve never lived anywhere else,” he admitted, scooping the last of his eggs onto his fork. “I’m not saying I will move, but it’s nice to have options.”
He’d leave. In her experience, once a man got an itch to roam, there wasn’t much that would hold him in one place. As for herself, if she made the kind of money surgeons and lawyers made, she would buy a nice house with a tidy yard and settle down contentedly for the rest of her life. She’d had more than enough of drifting from place to place.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, nodding toward his nearly empty plate. “Another muffin? More coffee?”
He grinned, and she almost blinked in response to the brightness of that smile. Here was a man who never lacked for female companionship, she’d bet. He wasn’t handsome, exactly, but definitely appealing. A single doctor with a killer smile—women probably lined up in hopes of catching his attention. She was surprised he was still single, but maybe he liked keeping his options open in that respect. Not that it was any of her business, of course.
“Didn’t I just tell you I don’t expect you to wait on me?” he asked teasingly.
She spread her hands and said matter-of-factly, “It’s my job.”
He studied her face a bit curiously but said merely, “Thanks, but I don’t need anything else. I have some things to do at my office this morning. But breakfast was very good, thank you.”
“I’ll be doing some shopping later today. If you’ll make a list before you leave, I can pick up any particular foods you like and whatever else you lack in the way of personal-care items. If you need anything—clothes, toiletries, whatever—I’ve picked up things like that for Seth when he was too busy to shop for himself.”
His brow rose a little higher. “You really do make yourself useful, don’t you? No wonder the family seems to think the house would collapse without you running it.”
“I take pride in my work,” she said a little stiffly, not entirely sure whether he was teasing or mocking her.
“That’s the way I was raised, too. If you’re going to do something, do it well.”
It wasn’t exactly the way she’d been raised—more a philosophy she’d adopted for herself—but there was no need to go into that. “There’s a magnetic board on the side of the fridge. The Llewellyns usually leave a note there if they’ll be home for dinner so I’ll know to have something ready for them before I leave each evening. Sometimes they prefer to do their own cooking, but I usually cook two or three nights a wee
k. You can write anything you need there and I’ll take care of it.”
Was she babbling? She did that sometimes when she felt uncomfortable.
Standing, Mitch carried his dishes to the sink, rinsed them and set them in the dishwasher without waiting for her to clear away after him. She could see this man was accustomed to taking care of himself.
“I’m not a picky eater, but I like to have fresh fruit on hand—any fruit, I like them all. I’ll leave some cash for you to add to the tab. Neither you nor Meagan should have to pay for my food while I’m here. As for anything else, I’ll have to make a mall run eventually and pick up some things—like shoes,” he added with a wry glance at his sneakers. “I don’t even know what else I need yet.”
Despite her tendency to accumulate relatively few personal belongings, the thought of losing everything she owned was daunting. She was sure Mitch had lost things that were important to him in the fire. Sympathy made her speak a bit more warmly. “All right. But if you think of anything, just jot it on the list. Really, it’s no trouble at all.”
He gave her another one of those smiles that made her pulse trip a little. “That’s very kind of you, Jacqui. Thanks.”
Hiding her reaction to him behind a rather brusque tone, she turned away to rinse her own breakfast dishes. “You’re welcome.”
“I think we’ll work out just fine as housemates,” he said as he moved toward the doorway toward the stairs. “No reason at all to be concerned.”
Housemates. Just the word made her mouth go dry. Which certainly seemed to her like a reason for concern.
Chapter Two
Later that morning, Jacqui finished making her grocery list. She had a generous household account to cover anything they needed, but Mitch had insisted on chipping in toward his food. She had intended to leave for the store more than an hour ago, but she kept getting delayed by things around the house that needed her attention—houseplants to water, furniture to dust, floors to vacuum, beds to change, laundry to do.
