A Man for Mom

by Gina Ferris Wilkins

  He wondered how Cody felt about that. He still wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about it, himself.

  Celia was standing in the dining room talking to a tiny, silver-haired woman and a tall, dark, rather stern-looking man. Paige and Aaron were already seated at the large table, leaving six empty chairs, Seth noted in relief. Rachel had been honest when she’d said there was an extra place for him at the table.

  Cody swooped down on the older woman and snatched her into an enthusiastic bear hug that proved she must not be as fragile as she first appeared. She emerged breathless and laughing.

  “Granny Fran, you get more gorgeous every time I see you,” Cody assured her. “How do you get younger with passing time instead of older like everyone else?”

  “You save your blarney for the young ladies,” his grandmother told him with mock severity. “Maybe it’ll help you find yourself a wife—and not a bit too soon, either.”

  Cody gulped audibly and turned to Seth. “Granny Fran, I want to introduce a friend of mine, Seth Fletcher. We were at the university together. He even managed to get a degree or two. Now he’s an attorney here in town. Seth, my grandmother, Frances Carson.”

  Seth smiled and took the woman’s tiny hand in his own much larger one. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Carson. Cody talks about you often.”

  “You might as well call me Granny Fran. Everyone else does,” the woman said, looking Seth over with apparent approval. “So you’re an attorney. Are you married?”

  “No, ma’am,” Seth replied, ignoring Cody’s snort of laughter.

  Her eyes lit up. “Have you met my granddaughter, Celia?”

  Now it was Celia who laughed. “Seth and I have met, Gran. But he knows Rachel even better,” she added slyly.

  A sideways glance let Cody know that Rachel’s cheeks had darkened. He was glad he wasn’t the one at the receiving end of the look she shot her younger sister. Quickly masking her discomfort, she introduced their cousin to Seth. “Dr. Adam Stone,” she said. “He’s a plastic surgeon in Little Rock.”

  Seth and Adam shook hands. Adam glanced from Seth to Rachel and back again but didn’t comment on Celia’s teasing remark.

  “Are you going to eat with us again, Seth?” Aaron piped up from the table.

  The other adults visibly reacted to the word again, all looking with interest at Seth and Rachel. Seth bit the inside of his lip and nodded. “Yes, Aaron. Your mother and uncle have generously invited me to join you for dinner.”

  “Come sit by me,” Aaron said.

  “No, sit by me, Seth,” Paige insisted, not to be outdone. “You sat by Aaron last night.”

  “I’ll sit between you,” Seth promised, knowing Rachel was probably ready to strangle the three of them.

  Though he tried to be discreet about it, Seth studied Rachel during dinner. As the meal progressed and the attention was diverted away from her and Seth, she began to relax, even laughing at Cody’s foolishness. Watching her, Seth could imagine what she might have been like as a girl. Still rather serious, of course—she’d probably always been that—but more eager and hopeful.

  She was obviously very close to her family—even her cousin, Adam, whom Seth found rather reserved and hard to read. Adam was tolerant of Cody, indulgent with Celia, patient with the children, and respectful toward his grandmother. But Seth noticed a subtle difference in Adam’s attitude toward Rachel, a touch of warmth just slightly more pronounced than his obvious affection for the others. Seth wondered if anyone else even noticed. And then he decided that the others displayed the same interesting condition.

  What was it that made Rachel so special to them? Pity, because she’d been widowed so young, so tragically? He rejected that possibility almost immediately. Rachel wasn’t the type of woman to induce pity. Sympathy, yes, but not pity. She was too competent, too strong for that. He could only imagine how she’d hate the very idea.

  But why was he trying to analyze the others’ reactions to Rachel when he was still struggling to understand his own? There were plenty of other women he could go out with, women who’d made it clear in various degrees that they wouldn’t make it necessary for him to pursue them too strenuously. So why would he even consider a serious involvement with one who would be so much trouble? A woman who was obviously terrified at the thought of an involvement with him—or with anyone, for that matter. A woman with two young children and memories of a dead husband for Seth to compete with. A woman who seemed every bit as rigid and routine-bound as his parents.

  He must be a glutton for punishment.

  * * *

  Adam didn’t linger long after dinner, claiming that he had several things to do that evening. Rachel suspected from the way he said it that he had a late date. Not that she believed the woman, whoever she was, was particularly special to Adam. Like the rest of the family, Rachel had begun to suspect that Adam would never marry. He was entirely too set in his ways, too resistant to compromise in any form. Some would have said he was too selfish to marry—in fact, plenty of people had said it.

  Rachel didn’t know if it was selfishness, or more a fear of the sort of clinging possessiveness he’d always received from his smotheringly overprotective mother. He’d once hinted to Rachel that he was afraid a wife would interfere with the little privacy he was able to snatch from his demanding career.

  “Dinner was really good,” he said to her as he prepared to take his leave.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it. We don’t get to see you often enough,” Rachel replied affectionately.

  He touched a hand to her shoulder, searching her face with too-intent dark eyes. “Everything is okay with you? No business or financial problems? Because if you need anything...”

  “Everything is fine,” she assured him firmly, pushing all thoughts of Frank Holder’s blustering threats to the back of her mind. She’d made her brother and sister promise not to mention Holder to either Adam or their grandmother, and fortunately Seth hadn’t referred to the trouble, either. Adam would only insist on trying to take care of her, and there was really nothing he could do that she hadn’t already done. “Thank you for caring, Adam.”

  He smiled a little and squeezed her shoulder before dropping his hand, which was as much affection as she would ever expect him to express. “Call if you need me,” he said.

  “I will. Drive carefully.”

  His smile deepened a bit at her motherly tone, and then he was gone. Rachel turned away from the door to find Seth standing behind her in the small foyer. She wondered how much he’d overheard of her parting from Adam. “Is there something you need?” she asked.

  He cleared his throat. “Not at the moment,” he replied with a cryptic expression. “Cody sent me after you. He said they’re about to play Uno and they want you to play with them.”

  Rachel had to smile. Her grandmother was a fanatic for that card game, never hesitating to rope her family and friends into playing with her. Rachel had expected to be playing quite a bit during her grandmother’s visit, but hadn’t thought Granny Fran would pull out the deck quite so soon. And then she remembered that Seth had said “they” were about to play. Not “we.”

  “You’ll play with us, won’t you?” she asked, telling herself that she was only being polite. It certainly couldn’t be that she was particularly reluctant for him to leave. Could it?

  Seth hesitated before answering and she suspected that he was worried again about intruding on her family’s evening. She thought of him going home to an empty apartment, leaving the rest of them there to laugh over the game, maybe have coffee and more dessert later. “Please stay,” she said.

  And then she chided herself for being foolish. How could she know he’d be going home alone to an empty apartment? For all she knew, he could have half a dozen people—women, probably—waiting for him to call. She was sure an attractive, personable young man like him would have plenty of options for entertainment on a Sunday evening, all of them more interesting than sitting around her house, play
ing card games.

  If he’d made other plans, or had anything else he’d rather do, it wasn’t apparent in his smile. “Thank you,” he said. “I’d like that.”

  She looked at him more closely to try to decide whether he was genuinely pleased with the invitation, or just trying not to hurt her feelings. Their gazes locked—and held. Rachel felt her breath catch in her throat as they stared at each other. She had the oddest feeling that she was seeing him, really seeing him, for the first time. And what she saw was fascinating.

  “Mama? Mama,” a little voice repeated impatiently.

  Rachel snapped to attention, her cheeks warming as she turned too quickly in response to the summons. “What is it, Aaron?”

  “Uncle Cody said Granny Fran’s getting ready to deal and if you want to play, you and Seth had better get in there.”

  “We’re coming,” Rachel replied, pleased to hear that her voice sounded at least reasonably normal. “Seth, go on in and tell them I’ll be right there. I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee.”

  She snatched at the excuse for a few precious minutes to herself. She needed to regain her composure, to remind herself that she was no longer a silly girl, breathlessly susceptible to a sexy smile. Even if she had been acting like one for the past few minutes!

  * * *

  It was after nine o’clock when everyone left. The children were yawning, an hour past their usual bedtime, and even Granny Fran had finally tired of beating everyone else at Uno.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have to work tomorrow,” Celia announced, reaching for her purse. “And I just can’t tell you how excited I am about it.”

  After graduating from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in business—the only one of the Carson siblings to actually earn a college degree—Celia had moved back to Percy and taken a job as assistant loan officer of the local bank. She could have found a position in Little Rock or Memphis or Dallas, or joined her parents in Saint Louis, but she’d claimed she hadn’t wanted to move away from her brother and sister. Since that decision had been made only a few months after Ray’s death, Rachel had always suspected that Celia had been motivated by a desire to offer moral support to her widowed sister.

  Lately she’d seen the restlessness growing in Celia, the longing to see new places, sample new experiences. Rachel thought that not-so-secret craving for adventure was one reason Celia had been drawn to Damien Alexander, who was so different from the young men in Percy.

  Taking Celia’s hint, Cody, too, stood and prepared to leave. “You ready to go, Seth, or do you want Celia to drop me off at my place?” he said, and Rachel remembered that the two men had arrived in Seth’s car.

  Seth shook his head and stood with lazy grace. “I’d better be going, too. I’m sure Rachel has to get these little monsters into bed,” he added, ruffling Aaron’s hair.

  Aaron laughed. “I’m not a monster,” he protested. “I’m just a kid.”

  Seth grinned. “Same difference.”

  Aaron squealed and made a ferocious face at Seth, who appeared properly cowed. Paige, not to be outdone, threw her arms around Seth’s legs and lifted her face for a good-night kiss, which Seth promptly administered to her cheek with a noisy smack. Rachel marveled that her children, who were usually rather reserved with new acquaintances, had taken so quickly to Seth, treating him much the same as they did their uncle, whom they adored. She had to bite the inside of her lip against a smile when Cody, looking a bit jealous of the attention Seth was getting from his niece and nephew, grabbed them both and made them giggle with good-night nibbles and kisses.

  Celia departed with hugs all around for her family and a smile for Seth. Cody hugged his grandmother and Rachel and headed for the door in Celia’s wake. Seth bade good-night to Frances, assuring her that it had been very nice to meet her.

  And then he turned to Rachel. “It’s been a nice evening. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She almost offered him her hand, then told herself not to be stupid.

  He hesitated just long enough to make her wonder in near panic if he intended to kiss her good-night again, right in front of her children and grandmother. But he only smiled, gave her a look that promised more to come and followed Cody out.

  Rachel let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Paige, Aaron, it’s time to get ready for bed. Go put on your pajamas—and do it quickly,” she added, knowing both would try to stall for extra time if they weren’t warned.

  “That young man seems quite taken with you,” Frances said the minute she and Rachel were alone.

  Rachel hated herself for blushing like a schoolgirl. She busied herself clearing the oak game table that sat in one corner of the big, comfortable den. “Seth?” she said, trying to sound casual. “He’s just a friend—and my attorney, of course.”

  “I got the impression he’d like to be more,” Frances murmured with a smile.

  Rachel cleared her throat. “Even if he is...interested, it wouldn’t matter. I’ve given him no encouragement.”

  “And why not? He’s a very nice man.”

  “He’s too young,” Rachel said automatically. How many times had she had to remind others, and herself, of that fact?

  Frances laughed. “Sweetie, when you get to be my age, you’ll see how little difference three or four years makes. Or ten or twenty, for that matter. Age is only a number.”

  Rachel really didn’t want to have this conversation again. She’d already been through it with Celia, and absolutely nothing had been accomplished. She’d never been deliberately rude to her grandmother in her life, and didn’t intend to start now, but she was bringing this subject to a close before it went any further. “I’d better go check on the children,” she said with a pleasant smile. “They have school in the morning.”

  Frances had never been slow. Accepting Rachel’s change of topic with good grace, she lovingly returned the smile. “All right, dear. I think I’ll get ready for bed, myself. It’s been a long day and I am rather tired.”

  “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be just fine. Good night, Rachel. Sleep well.”

  Rachel kissed her grandmother’s soft cheek. “You, too,” she murmured.

  She left the room with her fingers crossed, hoping there would be no more disturbing dreams that night.

  * * *

  Seth was in his office the next afternoon, wading through stacks of paperwork on a particularly nasty divorce he was handling, when his secretary called through the open doorway, “Phone for you, Seth.”

  Comfortable with the informality he’d established with her from the beginning, Seth reached for the telephone. “Okay, Maddie, I’ve got it. Fletcher here,” he said into the receiver.

  “Seth, it’s Rachel.”

  His pulse kicked into a higher rate in response to the musical voice. He shook his head at his own folly. One would think he was a randy adolescent in the throes of his first infatuation! “What can I do for you, Rachel?”

  “I just talked to Leon Jackson—he’s the chief of police,” she added.

  “Yes, I’ve met Chief Jackson. Nice guy.”

  “Yes, he is. He and my husband were close friends.”

  An odd, hollow feeling coursed through Seth when she referred to her husband. He wondered if she’d mentioned him for some particular reason, or just as a casual comment. “Did Chief Jackson call you about Holder?”

  “Yes. He wanted to let me know that he’d talked to Holder personally and warned him about harassing me. He told Holder to pursue any legitimate complaints he thinks he has through the court system, and to keep his distance from me or take the consequences.”

  “Does he think his warning got through?”

  “He seemed to think it did. He said Holder seemed properly intimidated. I hope he’s right.”

  “So do I,” Seth agreed. He’d already decided that if the police couldn’t stop Holder from bothering Rachel, he was
going to take matters into his own hands. She wouldn’t appreciate it, of course, but Seth couldn’t stand the thought of that jerk causing her any more distress.

  “Do you think Holder will go through with his threats to sue me?”

  “I don’t know, Rachel. I can only repeat that your documentation is flawless. I can’t see that you have anything to worry about should this go to court.”

  A faint sigh of relief came through the line. “All right. I just wanted to let you know about Leon’s call. As my attorney, of course,” she added hastily.

  He knew she was being very careful to make it clear that this wasn’t a personal call. He wasn’t entirely sure he believed her, or was that only his hormones talking?

  “Thanks. Why don’t we celebrate Holder’s official reprimand over dinner tonight?”

  “I’m afraid not,” she said coolly. “I have a houseguest to entertain.”

  “Bring Granny and the kids along,” he suggested. “My treat. It’ll be fun.”

  “I’m sorry, Seth, but we have other plans for the evening.”

  He’d expected this...but he didn’t have to like it. “All right,” he conceded. “We’ll do it another time. Soon.” The words were as much a vow as a promise.

  “Seth—”

  But he didn’t want to hear again that she had no interest in him personally. A guy’s ego could only take so much rejection in one telephone call. “Oops. Sorry, Rachel, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you again soon. Bye.”

  He heard her sputtering faintly as he hung up the phone. His grin was rueful. He’d probably pay for that, too.

  * * *

  He’d hung up on her again!

  Rachel slammed her own receiver home and cursed herself for calling him in the first place. It had been an impulse, one she regretted now. The man was impossible. He simply wouldn’t take no for an answer. And, though his persistence was just a teeny bit flattering—oh, hell, it was darned flattering—she had no intention of letting him railroad her into a date. Not even a date that included her entire family.

  She suddenly realized that her fingers were crossed. Annoyed, she uncrossed them and turned her attention to business. But for the remainder of the afternoon, she found it very difficult to concentrate on her reports and responsibilities.