“Got it. And the coffee’s in here, right?”
“Yup. We have different flavors, by the way. Sometimes we make up a small pot of vanilla or raspberry almond—”
“Uncle Clint!”
Wendy looked up as two little girls flew down the stairs, faces lit with excitement. Chestnut curls bobbed beneath red velvet ribbons; blue-green eyes sparkled with excitement as the children ran to Clint, who bent down and swept both of them into his arms.
“Speak of the devil,” he said, and grinned. “Here they are, my twin tornadoes.”
One of the twins giggled. “We’re girls, not tomatoes.”
“You are, too, tomatoes,” Clint teased. “That’s why you have red bows in your hair.”
“No, it’s not,” the other twin said. “We like red—and Mommy does, too.”
“Uh-huh.” Clint shifted the children in his arms and smiled at Wendy. “These terrors are either tomatoes or tornadoes, your choice, but they’re definitely my favorite nieces.”
“Silly Uncle Clint. We’re his only nieces.”
“An’ even if we wasn’t, we’d be his favorites ‘cause we’re the bestest nieces anywhere. Right, Uncle Clint?”
“Right,” Clint said solemnly. “Say hello to Miss Monroe, you guys.”
“It’s Wendy,” Wendy said. “And I’m delighted to meet you.”
“We’re delighted to meet you, too,” Robin said politely.
Randi observed Wendy with care. “Are you Uncle Clint’s girlfriend?”
“No.” Wendy laughed. “I’m not.”
“Mommy says he could use one.”
“Your mother’s full of helpful ideas,” Clint said, and sighed. “What else did she say?”
“That we can stay down here for a little bit if you say it’s all right.” Robin’s smile was beguiling. “Is it all right?”
“She says it’s time we drove you crazy for a while,” Randi added helpfully.
“I’ll bet.” Clint gave each girl a resounding kiss on the cheek, then put them down. “Okay, ladies. I’d be delighted to have your company for a while, but you have to behave.”
“We always behave,” Randi said, wide-eyed.
“And the moon’s made of green…” Clint looked past Wendy and sighed. “Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh, what?” Robin asked.
“Uh-oh, you guys will have to be very, very good while I take care of the gentleman heading for the desk. Mr. Collier,” he added, for Wendy’s benefit. “He checked in yesterday with his wife. Nice people but, uh, a little high maintenance.”
“What’s high main’ance?”
Clint laughed. “You’d think I’d have learned to watch what I say by now, wouldn’t you? Wendy, I hate to ask, but could you keep an eye on the girls? Not for long. Seth should be back in just another few minutes.”
“He’s coming back?” Wendy heard the edge of distress in her voice and smiled hastily. “I mean, I saw him at the door before. He said he was leaving.”
“He just went out to check his windshield wipers. One of them was sticking, and he figured it would be better to see what he could do about it now rather than later. They’re predicting heavy snow for…” Clint waved his hand. “Yes, Mr. Collier. I’ll be right there.” He looked at Wendy. “Are you okay with this?”
Was she okay, knowing she was going to have to see Seth again tonight?
“Of course,” she said, with what she hoped was conviction.
“You sure?”
“Positive. The girls and I—”
“They’re not girls,” a gruff voice intoned, “they’re monsters. And I’m a knight, come to break the spell put over them by the wicked witch.”
“Uncle Seth!”
Wendy swung around. Seth was coming toward them, his cheeks ruddy from the cold, his dark-brown hair tossed by the wind, and her heart thumped in a way she wished it wouldn’t. She didn’t want to feel this way, didn’t, didn’t, didn’t….
“Hi.”
She cleared her throat. “Hi.”
“I see you’ve met Doc and Grumpy.” Seth swept the twins into his arms as the children broke into giggles.
“We aren’t Doc and Grumpy!”
“No?” He furrowed his brow. “Well, then, who are you? Oh. Wait a minute. It’s coming to me….. You’re Goofy and Pluto.”
More giggles, punctuated by little fists pummeling Seth’s chest.
“You know our names, Uncle Seth.”
“Hmm. Mickey and Minnie? Ernie and Bert?” Hands tugged at his hair. “Ouch. Okay, I give up. They’re Robin and Randi, and if you’re not careful, they’ll run you ragged.”
“What’s ragged?” two voices said in unison.
Seth put the children on their feet. “It’s what happens to people when you guys don’t behave yourselves.”
“We always behave!”
“Yeah.” He ruffled the girls’ hair. “You do if you want a treat before you go to bed later. Like, say, your Uncle Clint’s chocolate chip cookies and milk.”
“Yum.”
“Yum, indeed.” Seth clasped the girls’ hands and looked at Wendy. “How’re things going?”
“Fine,” she said, and wondered if she was going to make a fool of herself and cry just because Seth was so good with kids. She forced a smile. “Clint walked me through everything and finally turned me loose so I could try making some coffee.” Why was he looking at her that way? She thumbed the hair back from her eyes. “Do I have a smudge on my face or something?”
“Or something.”
His voice was soft. It made her knees tremble, and that was the last thing she wanted.
“Do you need me?”
Trembling knees, and now a trembling heart. “Sorry?”
“Do you need me to help with the coffee? Fill the urn, whatever?”
“Oh. Oh, no. I can—I can manage.”
Seth nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Well, if you change your mind…”
“I’ll let you know.”
He smiled at her and she couldn’t keep from smiling back. “Great,” he said, still in that soft voice. Then he cleared his throat and looked down at Randi and Robin, who looked back at him with anticipatory glints in their eyes. “Okay, crew. Let’s go build that Lego city we talked about.”
“A castle,” Robin said, jumping up and down. “I want a castle with a drawbridge.”
“An’ a dragon,” Randi added excitedly. “Can we make a dragon, too?”
“We can make anything you want,” Seth said. His eyes met Wendy’s. “That’s the thing about Lego. You want to build a dreamworld, you can. Reality never intrudes.”
“What does that mean, Uncle Seth? Ree-al-uh-tee?”
Seth tore his eyes from Wendy’s. “It means that you can build all the castles you want, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll ever get to live in them.”
“Oh,” Robin said softly. “That’s sad.”
Seth cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he said, and led the twins away while Wendy watched and blinked hard to keep back the tears burning in her eyes.
* * *
THE COFFEE MACHINE WAS easy to operate, once Wendy figured out its idiosyncrasies.
While the coffee dripped through the filter, she replenished the supply of tea bags, made sure the hot water urn was full, and got a fresh platter of cookies from the kitchen. A middle-aged couple came by and bombarded her with questions about the town’s craft shops.
All of it was pleasant and easy to handle, which was good, because Wendy couldn’t seem to keep her attention focused. She kept glancing over at Seth and the twins, sitting cross-legged in a little circle in a corner of the big room, a Lego castle rising before them.
A castle you could build, but not live in.
Blindly, she turned away. The coffee was ready; she filled a mug, blew on the hot black liquid and took a cautious sip.
“Good?” a man in a ski sweater and cords asked pleasantly.
Yes, she assured him, it was, and would he like some? She pou
red a cup for him, then for the people who’d inquired about the craft shops. A young couple who just had to be on their honeymoon came in, and Wendy chatted a bit with them.
Eventually, she was alone again. She looked at the corner. The castle was taller. A wall was going up around it. Seth was talking to Robin, smiling at Randi…
He was so good with kids.
What was wrong with her tonight?
She walked to the brochure rack and straightened brochures that didn’t need straightening, trying not to pay attention to the children’s soft voices and occasional laughter.
What kind of B and B encouraged children to play in the gathering room, anyway? It was a ridiculous arrangement. Three-year-old kids belonged in bed at this hour, even if they were sweethearts….
Who was she kidding? The twins weren’t bothering anybody. Every now and then, someone looked up and smiled at the sight of those two burnished chestnut heads and that one dark one, bent over the Lego blocks.
The dark head that belonged to a man she’d once loved.
Oh, how she had loved him. With all her heart, all her soul.
Seth looked up and their eyes met. She felt as if he was looking deep inside her, past the false smiles, bitter words, anger and pain. That he was looking into the deepest recesses of her heart, where the truth lay quiescent, waiting to be awakened.
She loved him still. She’d never stopped loving him and never would. God, oh God. How could she have denied it for so long? She was still in love with Seth.
The sudden bleat of the telephone made her jump. She grabbed for it, clutched it with almost painful desperation.
“Good evening,” she said, though her heart was pounding. “This is Twin Oaks. How may I help you?”
Someone wanted a reservation for next weekend. Yes, she said, of course, and she checked the book the way Clint had shown her, wrote everything down, did it all right even though she was shaking, even though she’d just made the one discovery she hadn’t permitted herself to make in all these long, empty years.
She loved Seth Castleman.
She’d never stopped loving him, despite all her protests, her determined conviction that the Wendy who’d left for Norway wasn’t the same Wendy who’d come home to Cooper’s Corner.
Her body had let her down and now, so had her heart. How could it still belong to Seth? There was no future in loving him, not for her, certainly not for him. Even if there were, if by some miracle she could be the wife he’d once wanted, Seth didn’t love her anymore.
She’d seen to that, hadn’t she?
The phone trembled in her hand. The voice at the other end was asking about area attractions and she said, still calmly, that there were lots of things to do and see in these mountains.
Finally, mercifully, the conversation dwindled to silence.
“Thank you for calling Twin Oaks,” she said brightly. “We’ll see you next weekend.”
She hung up, shaking. She didn’t dare turn around. What would Seth see in her eyes?
Clint came strolling up. “Everything okay?”
“Fine.” She smiled at him, or hoped she did. “I just took a reservation for next weekend. I entered it in the book.”
“Great.” He paused. “You okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Fine.” She cleared her throat. “Actually, now that you mention it… Would it be all right if I took a break? Just for a couple of minutes.”
“Hey, you don’t have to ask permission. You need a break, take it.”
“Thanks. I just didn’t… Thanks.”
She’d have to pass Seth and the twins to reach the bathroom, but that was all right. She wouldn’t look in his direction. He surely wouldn’t look in hers. She might even have imagined that instant when their eyes met a little while ago.
The bathroom was unoccupied. Thank goodness for small favors. Wendy let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and put her hand on the door.
“Wendy?”
Her heart stood still. Seth had come up behind her. She turned slowly toward him, while butterflies swarmed beneath her breastbone.
“Yes?”
He smiled, a slow, lazy smile she felt straight down to her toes. “Are you busy?”
“I—I am, yes.” She waved a hand toward the bathroom door. “I was just going to take a break….”
“I noticed.” He stepped closer, curled his hand around her arm. “The thing is,” he said softly, “I need you.”
CHAPTER TEN
THERE WAS A TIME when Seth used to tease her about being able to read her mind. Could he still do it, so many years later? Did he know what she’d been thinking only moments ago? That it was still true, that all she wanted, all she’d ever wanted, was him?
“Wendy? Did you hear me?”
His voice was low, his eyes locked to hers. She didn’t trust herself to speak. He was barely a breath away. All she had to do was reach out, cup his face in her hands, bring his mouth down to hers.
“Uncle Seth? We have to go now.”
The small voice was taut with urgency. Wendy blinked and looked down. Robin and Randi stood on either side of Seth, clutching his hands and shifting from foot to foot.
Shifting from foot to foot? Oh. The twins had to go to the bathroom. That’s what this was all about. Seth didn’t need her; the kids did.
“You want me to take the girls to the bathroom?”
“Would you? I’d do it myself but I’ve never dealt with…” He blushed. “You know, the mechanics.”
A minute ago she’d wanted to kiss him. Now she wanted to bang her head against the wall at her sheer stupidity. But his embarrassed smile reached her and she took pity on him. He was a man confronted by something he was totally unprepared for, just as she’d been unprepared for the foolish thoughts that were nothing but the imaginings of her own silly sentimentality.
“No problem,” she said, and held out her hands to the girls. “Come on, kids. Let’s go to the ladies’ room.”
“It’s not a ladies’ room.” Randi piped up as Wendy bumped the door open with her hip. “Mommy says it’s a unaset room.”
“A unaset…” Wendy smiled. “Unisex. Right. That’s what it is. Okay. Let’s get you guys unbuttoned.”
She helped two pairs of overeager little fingers work their way through buttons and snaps. There was only one commode and Randi volunteered to wait, making the offer with solemn courage. After they were done, all the snaps and buttons had to be done up again. Finally, Wendy lifted each child to the sink for a round of hand-washing.
Randi gave her a curious look. “Do you have little girls of your own?”
“No,” Wendy said, forcing an answering smile, “I don’t.”
“She doesn’t have little girls,” Randi whispered to Robin, as if Wendy weren’t there.
“You’d be a good mommy,” Robin said, with all the wisdom of her three years.
Wendy took the cloth towel from the child and tossed it into the wicker hamper. Gently, she smoothed Robin’s tumbled chestnut curls from her forehead.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“You could have a baby. Maybe with Uncle Clint for the daddy.”
“Or Uncle Seth. He’d make a good daddy, too.”
Wendy’s throat tightened. Did you laugh or cry at stuff like this? Laugh, she decided, or at least smile. She gave each child a quick kiss and pulled the door open.
“Come on, you two. Let’s find your Uncle Seth so he can help you finish building that castle.”
“We already did.” The little girls beamed at Seth, who was leaning against the reception desk, arms folded, feet crossed at the ankles. “Right, Uncle Seth? Didn’t we finish the castle?”
“Right down to the moat.” Seth scooped the twins into his arms. “And a great castle it is, strong and safe from goblins and witches and dragons.”
Two heads nodded with enthusiasm.
“Did you thank Wendy for helping you?”
The twins looked at her. �
��Thank you, Wendy.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Randi looped an arm around Seth’s neck. “Can we go for a walk?”
“It’s late. I think it’s bedtime for you guys.”
Robin stuck out her bottom lip. “But it’s snowing.”
“Uh-huh. All the more reason not to take a walk.”
“Walking in the snow is fun. It’s all squishy.”
Seth grinned. “Squishy is always good,” he told Wendy, who smiled back at him.
“And it’s pretty. Snow is like fairy dust, Uncle Seth. So, please, can we go? Please? Just for a little walk?”
Seth looked into the two pairs of blue-green eyes, knew he was a goner and gave a deep sigh. “A very little one, okay?”
“Yay!”
“But you have to check with your Uncle Clint first.”
“Check what?” Clint said, hurrying past them with a box in his arms.
“The terrible twosome want to take a walk in the snow.” Seth shot Clint a speaking look. “A short walk. Very short.”
“Yeah, sure. Sweaters, hats, boots, snowsuits, gloves.” He grinned. “It’ll take you longer to dress ‘em than to walk ‘em.”
“Okay, kids, you heard the rules. First we get dressed. Then we take a short walk.”
“Uncle Seth?”
“What, sugar?”
Robin tucked her thumb in her mouth. “We like Wendy,” she said shyly. “Can she come, too?”
“Oh. Oh, no,” Wendy said quickly. “I mean, I couldn’t possibly. I—I have—”
“Wendy can’t come with us,” Seth told them. “She has more important things to do.”
Wendy bristled. “I never said that!”
“More important than a walk?” Robin asked plaintively.
“It’s not that.” Wendy took the child’s hands in hers. “I’m…I’m busy, honey. I have to help people with things here.”
“What things?” Randi said innocently.
What things, indeed? There weren’t that many people in the gathering room. Locals didn’t show up much on weekday evenings, Clint had told her. Except for the middle-aged couple sipping coffee as they played chess in front of the fireplace, the room was empty.
“Just things,” Wendy said after a minute. “I’m working tonight. Otherwise, I’d go with—”
Reunited with the Billionaire Page 15
