Harlequin Special Edition July 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2: The Widow of Conard CountyA Match for the Single DadThe Medic's Homecoming
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“Good afternoon, everyone,” Mimi sang out in a voice coated with sugar. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay so far at our resort. We’ve had quite a lot of excitement here the past couple of days with all the festivities. I’ve been so busy with all our many guests that I’ve hardly had time to speak to everyone.”
Maggie didn’t quite roll her eyes in response to the blatant boasting, but it wasn’t easy to refrain from doing so. What was it about Esther Lincoln that brought out the absolute worst in her usually sweet-natured grandmother? She remembered her grandfather confiding that both Mimi and Esther secretly enjoyed the sparring, but it seemed a bit hard to believe.
“We’ve had a good enough time,” Esther replied grudgingly. “Considering all the noise and hubbub, of course. Generally I prefer my vacations to be somewhat quieter and with a few more luxuries.”
Maggie interceded quickly before verbal jabs turned to physical punches. Not that she thought the two great-grandmothers would actually wrestle on the ground—but she wasn’t putting it past them at this point, either, she thought wryly.
“Kix, be sure and get some cotton candy,” she urged. “And maybe you’d like to get your face painted? My friend Elisa is under the pavilion with her face-painting supplies and she does some really cute designs for all ages.”
“That sounds like fun!” Kix abandoned her grandmother and attached herself to Maggie’s side. “Will you go with me to help me pick a design?”
“Of course.” Maggie closed her fingers around the girl’s when Kix reached for her hand. Fortunately Mimi had already moved on, making a show of graciously acknowledging other guests. Garrett was settling his mother and grandmother into folding chairs to people-watch for a while.
As usual, Kix started chattering immediately, telling Maggie all about her adventures in the lake with her dad that morning. “We swam a long way. Daddy said I’m getting better and better at swimming and he taught me the breaststroke and backstroke. I’m not very good at the backstroke, but he said I just need a little more practice so I told him maybe we could swim here every weekend this summer, since we come for sunrise services anyway, but he said he can’t swim every Sunday because he has other things to do sometimes, but we can go to the pool closer to our house more often if I want to. I like it better here but the pool’s okay, too. What pattern do you think I should get on my face? I like that one girl’s kitten nose and whiskers over there—do you think she could do something like that for me, maybe?”
Maggie smiled. “I’m sure she can.”
“Payton will probably make fun of me.” Kix’s tone was matter-of-fact. “She’ll say face painting is for little kids, but I think it’s kind of fun. It’s whimsical,” she added with a rush of inspiration.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Maggie agreed. “Maybe I’ll have mine painted, too.”
Kix giggled. “Awesome.”
Fifteen minutes later both Kix and Maggie sported facial art—Kix looking like an adorable kitten and Maggie with a ladybug flying on her cheek. Elisa was amused by Kix’s breathless babbling and pleased with the girl’s excitement over seeing the final results in a hand mirror.
“She’s adorable,” Elisa said to Maggie. “You’re dating her dad?”
“Her dad and I are friends,” Maggie answered easily.
Elisa glanced at Garrett, who had approached to admire Kix’s face paint. “Good-looking guy,” she said beneath her breath. “Nice kid. Maybe you should hold on to that one. Or if not, stand out of the way and let some of us others have a shot at him.”
Maggie forced a laugh. “I’ll consider your advice.”
A little boy of perhaps six bounced impatiently nearby. “Can you make me look like a tiger?” he asked Elisa. “A really scary tiger?”
Elisa winked at Maggie before turning to her new client. “Of course I can. Hop right up in this chair and sit still for me and I’ll transform you into the fiercest tiger in the whole resort.”
“Cool,” the boy said and squirmed into the chair facing Elisa’s as Maggie rejoined Kix and Garrett.
“Daddy likes my face paint,” Kix reported. “He said I look cute. Didn’t you, Daddy?”
“I did.” Grinning, he touched a finger lightly to Maggie’s cheek, just below the slightly itchy ladybug. “And so do you.”
“Why, thank you, sir,” she teased. “What about you? Want to get in line? I’m sure Elisa can turn you into a scary tiger. Or a cute kitten.”
Kix laughed. “Maybe Daddy could be a clown, like that boy over there.”
“I think I’ll just stick with the face I’ve got,” Garrett said quickly. “I’m sure it’s scary enough.”
Kix dissolved into giggles again when her dad made a silly face to go with his words, and Maggie couldn’t help laughing herself.
The woman working the duck pond game was a friend of Rosie’s who’d been hired to help out for the day. Maggie didn’t know her; Hannah and Shelby had made all the arrangements for that day’s activities, including hiring the entertainment. The woman motioned toward them. “Bring your daughter over for a prize,” she called out cheerfully. “We have something for all ages.”
Kix covered her mouth with a laugh. “She thinks you’re my mother, Maggie.”
“Um, yes.” Maggie avoided Garrett’s eyes. “Go pick a duck, Kix, and claim your prize. Then maybe you’d like to get some cotton candy. And the magician starts a new performance in just fifteen minutes, you’d probably enjoy that.”
In her disconcertion, she was babbling almost as much as Kix, she realized with a little grimace. Kix didn’t seem to notice anything awry as she skipped over to the duck pond to join a few other kids, most younger, a couple close to her own age.
“She’s having a good time,” Maggie commented lightly to Garrett just to fill the sudden silence between them. “And she really does look adorable in her face paint.”
“Yeah. I’m glad she’s content with just being a kid for a little while longer, at least.” Garrett pushed a hand through his hair and glanced around the crowded area, and Maggie knew he was thinking about his older daughter.
To distract him, she pointed to the largest of the inflatable bouncers, one shaped like a fortress. “She’d probably like to jump on that one. I see several kids close to her age in there.”
“No doubt,” he agreed. “One thing Kix has in abundance is energy to burn.”
Maggie shared a smile with him. “I noticed.”
Something made her glance to her right at that moment. She spotted Payton standing not far away, frowning back at her while the Ferguson brothers hovered nearby. Was Payton still annoyed about being ordered off the ladder, or was something else bothering her now?
Kix pelted back in their direction, now holding a beanbag toy that vaguely resembled an otter. Or was it a ferret? “Hey, Payton, where’ve you been? Look at what I won at the duck pond. Sweet, huh? And I got my face painted. Daddy said it was cute. Maggie got a ladybug on her cheek, and he said she looked cute, too. And the lady at the duck pond thought Maggie was my mother, isn’t that funny?”
Her eyes narrowed, Payton looked down her nose at her younger sister. “You’re too old for face paint and kiddie games.”
“No, I’m not,” Kix replied serenely. “I’m having fun. And I’m going to jump on a bouncer and have cotton candy and that will be fun, too. So there. Want to jump with me, Drake?”
The younger of the Ferguson brothers looked somewhat longingly at the kids bouncing and squealing in the inflatables. “Well...”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Trevor snapped. “Drake’s not a little kid, are you, Drake?”
“Uh, no,” Drake replied immediately, imitating his brother’s look of bored superiority. “I’m too old for bouncing.”
His eyes on Payton, Garrett asked, “Maybe we could head over to the diner for ice cream in a few minutes? I’m sure Grammy and Meemaw would enjoy that.”
“I don’t really want any ice cream,” Payton answered. “Me and
Trevor and Drake are going to walk through the campgrounds, okay? They’re leaving after dinner and we want to take one last walk around the resort. I guess you don’t want to go with us, Kix?”
“I want to stay with Dad and Maggie.”
“Fine. Okay if I go, Dad?” Payton asked again.
After only a momentary hesitation, he nodded. “I want you back by six-thirty. That’s just over an hour. We’ll need to start getting ready for dinner not long after that.”
She nodded without looking directly at him and headed off toward the campgrounds with her friends. The younger brother looked over his shoulder somewhat wistfully at the festivities they were leaving behind, but Trevor gave him a slight push and the three disappeared into the crowd.
Kix shook her head with a slight huff of disapproval. “Well, I’m going to bounce,” she announced defiantly. “I can still be a kid if I want to, right, Daddy?”
He ruffled her hair. “Absolutely. Heck, I’d get in there and bounce with you if they’d let me.”
“So would I,” Maggie agreed. “Don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up, Kix. Take time to just enjoy playing and laughing.”
Kix threw her arms around Maggie’s waist. “I love you, Maggie.”
Both startled and touched, Maggie patted the girl’s back. “I love you, too, Kix. Want me to hold your otter while you bounce?”
Kix looked at the cheap toy with a tilted head. “It’s an otter? Oh, I thought it was a weiner dog.”
Maggie laughed softly. “I guess it’s whatever you want it to be.”
“I’ll decide later.” Kix handed her the toy. “I’m going to go bounce now, then I want to see the magician. I love magic shows. And cotton candy—I love cotton candy, too.”
Kix loved a lot of things, Maggie reflected as the girl dashed away at her usual warp speed. Which didn’t make her any less moved by having been on the receiving end of the girl’s warm affection.
“She’s crazy about you, you know,” Garrett murmured in her ear.
She glanced up at him, her smile feeling a little tremulous. “She really is a sweet girl. Both your daughters are, even if Payton’s going through a little rebellion right now.”
“I’m just glad those boys are leaving the resort this evening,” he said gruffly. “I’m hoping once she’s out of their influence things will be a little easier.”
Thinking of the way Trevor seemed to be increasingly egging on Payton’s mutiny, Maggie said, “I hope so, too.”
“I think I’ll take some cotton candy to Mom and Meemaw. They’d probably enjoy the treat.”
“I’ll just wait here for Kix and then we’ll join you.”
He touched her painted cheek again with a little chuckle. “Ladybugs look good on you.”
“Thanks,” she quipped. “I’ll keep that in mind for my next formal event.”
His gaze lingered on her smiling mouth for several long moments during which she suspected he was thinking about kissing her—or was that merely a projection of her own wishes? And then he dropped his hand, moving back to put a discreet distance between them. “I’ll, um, see you in a few minutes.”
She nodded, then watched him walk toward the pavilion. She really loved watching him walk with that slight military swagger. She loved the way he looked with the sunlight in his crisp brown hair. She loved...
...entirely too much about him, actually.
She hadn’t really been foolish enough to fall in love with Garrett McHale, had she?
Her heart stumbling in midbeat, she drew a sharp breath, then turned again to watch his daughter play.
Chapter Nine
Six-thirty came and went without sign of Payton. Maggie had spent that hour with Garrett and his family, enjoying the magic show, eating snacks, watching Kix play at the carnival. Kix now possessed a pink balloon poodle in addition to her otter/weiner dog. Her face paint was a little smeared after her vigorous jumping sessions and her bright red hair curled riotously around her flushed face. She looked a little tired and a lot happy.
She’d stayed close to Maggie’s side all afternoon, holding her hand, occasionally hugging her, making her affection clear in her innocently demonstrative way. As much as Maggie enjoyed spending the pleasant afternoon with the girl—and her father—it worried her a bit that Kix seemed to be so attached to her, especially in light of the conversation her coworkers had shared that morning about dating single dads.
At six-forty, Garrett scowled at his watch. “Damn it.”
His mother cleared her throat loudly, looking pointedly at Kix.
Garrett sighed. “Sorry, Mom. But I told Payton to be back by six-thirty and she’s ten minutes late.”
“Give her another five minutes,” his grandmother advised. “She’s probably just lost track of time.”
“If she’s not back pretty soon, I’m going looking for her.”
“Probably should,” his grandmother agreed.
Was Payton being deliberately late? Maggie glanced around the clearing grounds, wondering if this was yet another minirebellion. It wasn’t quite time to worry, but if the girl didn’t show up soon, she wouldn’t be able to help it.
By seven, Garrett was clearly angry with his older daughter, the rest of his family was in dread of the coming confrontation and Maggie was rather wishing she could slip quietly away before it occurred. She knew Payton would be humiliated if her father chewed her out in front of Maggie, but Garrett was in no mood to be patient and discreet. Because his grandmother looked tired, Maggie offered to take her back to the cabin in a golf cart while Garrett found his daughter, an offer both Esther and Paulette accepted. Garrett told Kix to go with the women and start washing up for dinner.
“I’ll find your sister and bring her back,” he added grimly.
Kix sighed heavily. “I’m glad I’m not Payton,” she whispered loudly to Maggie.
Fifteen minutes later, Maggie returned to the pavilion area where the inflatables were being taken down and the other entertainment supplies packed away. She wasn’t sure Garrett would still be there, rather than scouring the resort for signs of Payton and the boys, but she saw him standing near the pavilion talking with Trevor and Drake’s mom. The expression on his face had her climbing out of the golf cart and hurrying toward him.
He turned when she approached. “Do you have a procedure in place here to look for missing kids?” he asked her, his voice tight.
Swallowing hard, she nodded. “No one has seen them?”
“No. The boys were supposed to be back at the same time as Payton.” He nodded toward the Alexanders, who looked almost as worried as Garrett. “They wanted the boys to help them load up at seven. Trevor told them he’d be back by then. He carries a cell phone, but he isn’t answering. Payton doesn’t have hers with her. She forgot to charge it last night and the battery is dead. Wayne just drove all through the resort, but he didn’t see them.”
Maggie pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll get everyone out looking for them.”
Garrett nodded. “Mind if I borrow your golf cart? I’m going to start looking myself.”
“I’ll come with you.” Dialing her dad’s number, she hurried after Garrett to the cart, making a mental list of all the places three teenagers could hide in the resort. Yet she couldn’t imagine that Payton would be deliberately evading attention. As annoyed as the girl was with her father, it seemed unlikely that Payton would think hiding would accomplish anything. More likely the three had settled in somewhere to talk and had lost track of time—which didn’t explain why Trevor wasn’t answering his phone.
Another hour passed. Along with every member of the resort staff, Maggie and Garrett had combed through the place looking for the missing trio. Maggie remembered several good hiding places from her own youth, but they were all empty. A team had been dispatched to search the old, no-longer-used road that led from the area behind the family housing compound to the highway. It wasn’t well-known, and both ends were blocked with cables, but there
was always the possibility the kids had discovered the road and decided to explore it and the surrounding woods. Though shadows were beginning to deepen beneath the heavily leafed trees, searchers moved through the woods, calling the teens’ names.
Another search team scoured the lake’s shoreline, looking for any evidence that Payton and the boys had gone into the water. Shoes or articles of clothing on the shore, perhaps, a sight that would strike fear into all their hearts. Fortunately, nothing was found to indicate they had decided to take an unsupervised swim.
While Bryan, Aaron, Andrew and Shelby organized a thorough sweep of every campsite, cabin, motel room and structure in the resort, Maggie and Garrett returned to his cabin to give his worried family an update. Maggie wasn’t particularly surprised to find her mother, her aunt Sarah and her grandmother there, offering reassurance and comfort to Paulette, Esther and Kix. The silly old feud was pushed aside when a true crisis erupted, when a child’s safety was in doubt. Even as Maggie and Garrett entered the cabin, they saw Mimi handing a cup of tea to Esther, who accepted it with a nod of thanks. Sarah sat on the couch next to a visibly distraught Paulette while Linda was in the kitchen with Kix, keeping the child busy assembling sandwiches from supplies she must have brought from the store.
Everyone looked around hopefully when Maggie and Garrett walked in, only to sag in disappointment at what they saw on their faces. Garrett shook his head in response to his mother’s questioning look. “No sign yet. I’m going back out to look again, but I wanted to make sure everyone’s okay here.”
“We’re fine,” his grandmother said firmly, giving her less resilient daughter a bracing look. “I’m sure those kids are okay, they’re just into mischief somewhere. Dixie was just telling me some of the stunts her grandson Steven got into when he was growing up here. I guess spending so much time in a vacation spot makes kids think the usual rules don’t apply.”
Maggie half expected her grandmother to retort that Steven had certainly had rules to follow, which he had obeyed most of the time. But apparently Mimi understood that Esther’s tone was sharpened by fear, so she held her tongue—for now. Maggie suspected the bickering would resume once Payton was safely returned—as Maggie believed she would be. Apparently Pop had been right that Mimi and Esther actually enjoyed their caustic interactions.