Harlequin Special Edition July 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2: The Widow of Conard CountyA Match for the Single DadThe Medic's Homecoming

by Rachel Lee

  Maggie merely nodded and shifted her position to better accommodate both girls.

  Kix leaned drowsily against Maggie’s right shoulder. Though her eyes were focused on the screen, her attention seemed to be wandering. “I’m glad you’re here, Maggie,” she said. They had the sound from the film turned rather low so she didn’t have to raise her voice to be heard.

  Wrapping her right arm around the girl’s warm little body, Maggie rested her cheek for a moment against the top of Kix’s head. “So am I, sweetie.”

  “I hope Dad will at least be in a better mood now that you’re here,” Payton muttered from her other side.

  Maggie turned her head with a slight frown. “He isn’t still cross with you, is he?”

  It had been more than a week since Payton’s escapade in the boat and while Maggie wouldn’t expect Garrett to just forget about the scare Payton had given them, she wouldn’t have thought he would stretch out the punishment this long. That seemed a bit excessive.

  “He hasn’t really been cross,” Payton conceded. “Just kind of quiet.”

  “Sad,” Kix said with one of her moments of oddly mature insight. “He’s been a little sad since we left the resort. Payton thought it was because he was disappointed with her, but I said I thought he missed you.”

  Maggie wasn’t sure what to say in response to that.

  “I don’t like Daddy being sad,” Kix said somberly.

  “Neither do I,” Payton whispered.

  “I think we can all agree that we don’t want your father to be sad,” Maggie assured them.

  “Did you and Daddy have a fight, Maggie?” Kix asked then, her tone hesitant.

  “No, sweetie, we didn’t have a fight.”

  “Then why haven’t we seen you since we left?”

  “Because of us, stupid,” Payton snapped crossly, rubbing her temples with both hands. “Do you really think she wants to hang around with us all the time, especially when I...”

  “When you what, Payton?” Maggie urged gently.

  Her voice thick now, Payton ducked her head as she answered, “When I do stupid stuff and get in trouble with Dad. And I don’t even know why.”

  Shifting again on the couch, Maggie muted the television and wrapped her left arm around Payton. The girl stiffened a bit, but didn’t try to pull away. “Because you’re thirteen, honey. We all do foolish things when we’re thirteen and trying to grow up too fast. I did, too.”

  She wouldn’t tell the girls all the crazy stunts she got into at that age—usually trying to keep up with her cousin Steven—because she certainly didn’t want either Payton or Kix trying to imitate them, but she wanted them to know she understood. “As for wanting to spend time with you and Kix, I love being with you both. Your dad and I have some adult issues to work out between us, but whatever happens there, the three of us—me and you, Payton, and you, too, Kix—will always be friends. At least, I hope you both consider me your friend. No one will ever replace your mom, but there’s always room in your life for another good friend, right?”

  “You’re my friend, Maggie,” Kix said eagerly.

  Maggie dropped a kiss on the girl’s head. “Thank you, sweetie.”

  She glanced then at Payton, holding her breath while the older sister considered the situation. And then Payton nodded. “I want to be your friend, too. Even though I think sometimes you’re going to agree with Dad instead of me.”

  Even to herself, Maggie’s chuckle sounded a little shaky. “Maybe sometimes. Once you get to be my age, you’ll find yourself getting overprotective about people you love, too.”

  Payton blinked a few times, then nodded in acceptance. “My head hurts,” she murmured.

  “Would you like to go lie down again?”

  The girl shook her head and slowly relaxed into Maggie’s encircling arm. “No. Could we just stay right here for a while?”

  “Of course.” Snuggled on the couch with both girls, Maggie nodded toward the silenced television. “Do you want me to turn the sound on again?”

  “Could we just talk?” Payton asked, her head on Maggie’s shoulder.

  “Absolutely. What would you like to talk about?”

  Kix scooted down on the couch, her head in Maggie’s lap, her eyelids looking a little heavy, one hand absently stroking her pet. “Let Payton choose. I’m kind of tired.”

  Maggie stroked the child’s hair, thinking Kix must still be a little sick if she was too tired to chatter. At least her little face felt cool, if a bit clammy.

  Payton spoke quietly. “I don’t care. Anything.”

  Drawing a deep breath, Maggie suggested, “Why don’t you tell me about your mom? What sort of things did the three of you like to do together?”

  After a long hesitation, Payton began to talk, the words escaping her as if they’d been pent up much too long. Kix contributed sleepily to the conversation a few times, but Payton did most of the talking, sharing the memories she treasured most of her outgoing, active, ambitious but obviously loving mother. Maggie asked an occasional question, but mostly just listened, forming a new image of the woman she’d heard about before only from the ex-husband. Someone should have initiated this conversation with the girls months ago, she thought. Or maybe they were only now ready to talk about their loss. Whatever the case, she was glad to be here now to offer an encouraging ear to her young friends.

  Soon she would need to have an extensive conversation with Garrett. She wasn’t sure how he would react to having her here, so deeply involved in his daughters’ lives. But she would worry about that later, she thought, nestling a little more comfortably with his drowsy girls.

  * * *

  Garrett opened his eyes to darkness. It took a few moments for his vision to adjust enough for him to see that he lay in his own bed. Automatically he glanced at the bedside clock. The numbers he saw glowing there brought him straight upright with a gasp. How could it be 10:00 p.m.? The last clear thought he remembered was that he needed to make lunch for the girls, as soon as he’d rested for a few minutes on the couch.

  Maggie. Did he really remember Maggie coming into his house, ordering him to bed? Or was that just a weird dream, one of many involving her since he’d left the resort more than a week ago?

  And where were his girls? Why was the house so quiet? Throwing his legs off the side of the bed, he stood, stumbled, quickly regained his balance and headed for the doorway.

  The doors to their bedrooms were ajar, the rooms inside dark and quiet. Still, both girls kept nightlights burning in their rooms, providing enough illumination for him to see that they were in their beds, sound asleep. He padded to each bedside to make sure. Both felt blessedly cool to his light touch and seemed to be sleeping comfortably. The cat sleeping next to Kix meowed when he disturbed it, but Garrett quieted it with a quick pat. Considering how miserable the past couple of nights had been for all of them, he didn’t want to risk waking either of his daughters.

  Suddenly almost unbearably thirsty, he moved toward the kitchen. A light in the living room distracted him and he veered in that direction. If Maggie really had been here earlier, surely she had left by now?

  He found her sitting on the couch. Her legs were pulled up in front of her while she watched an old Star Trek: The Next Generation episode on the quietly modulated television and simultaneously checked the screen of her smartphone as if reading texts or status updates. A half-empty glass of iced tea sat on a coaster beside her and a half-eaten brownie lay on a plate next to it. She looked perfectly at home in his living room. As if she belonged just there.

  Shaking his head to clear his mind of such dangerous thoughts, he asked, “Why are you here?”

  She looked up with an amused smile that made his breath catch in his throat. “That’s the second time you’ve asked me that. Good evening to you, too.”

  He was still having a little trouble thinking clearly. “Did you answer me when I asked before?”

  “I told you I was here to help. You needed me,�
� she said simply.

  He wondered if she had any idea how true that was. The thought made his voice gruff when he asked, “How did you know to come? Surely my mother didn’t call—”

  “Kix called me,” she surprised him by saying. And then she shook a finger at him. “I forbid you to fuss at her about it. I’m glad she called me. Of course I wanted to help.”

  He frowned as he made another massive attempt to clear his head. “How long was I out?”

  She glanced at the clock on her phone screen. “Nine hours, give or take a little. It was just after one when I arrived. I made soup for the girls for lunch, carried some over to your mom and grandmother and then ordered pizza for dinner. Not the healthiest choice, I know, but the girls requested it and your mom and grandmother looked pleased when I took one to them. Kix told me your grandmother loves pizza. I tucked the girls into their beds a little while ago because they were both still so tired from their illness and they both went straight to sleep.”

  She’d fed his family—his entire family—soup and pizza while he’d slept like a lump in the same house. “I’m sorry you went to so much trouble,” he said stiffly, pushing a hand through his disheveled hair. “I can’t believe I went out like that. The girls—”

  “—were fine,” she completed for him firmly. “At some level, I’m sure you knew I was taking care of them or you wouldn’t have been able to rest so well. They told me you’ve hardly had any sleep at all for the past couple of nights while you were sitting with them and your mother. Being sick yourself, you needed the rest. I checked on you a couple of times to see if you needed anything, but you were obviously exhausted, so I thought sleep was the best medicine for you.”

  The thought of her looking down at him as he’d slept made him even more uncomfortable than the image of her making soup in his kitchen. What must she be thinking of him now?

  “I could have handled it.”

  Still smiling gently, she set her phone aside and stood. “You were handling everything fine. As I said, I’m sure you’d have stayed awake today if you’d thought you needed to do so for the girls, but you knew they were okay. That you could trust me with them.”

  “Of course I trust you with them. That’s not the point—”

  She gave a little shrug, her expression hard to read. “Maybe I was the one who lacked faith in myself. I wasn’t sure I could give them what they needed. Wasn’t sure I even wanted to try,” she admitted with typical candor. “But you know? Now I think maybe I’m exactly what this family needs.”

  He drew a deep, sharp breath. “I think I need something to drink.”

  Maybe dehydration was clouding his mind, making him read meaning into her words that couldn’t possibly be right. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to start babbling, telling her how much he’d missed her, how many times he’d reached for her in the night, how often he’d started to call her just to hear her voice before he came to his senses and set down the phone. He’d told himself repeatedly that there was no future for them for so many reasons. That there was no need to continue something that could only lead to disappointment and heartache. He’d gotten involved before with the wrong woman and it had been a disaster. And while Maggie was very, very different from Breanne, that didn’t mean she was any more right for him.

  But damn, he’d missed her. As much as he’d once thought he loved Breanne, he’d never felt quite like this with her.

  “Come into the kitchen,” Maggie said, placing a hand on his arm. “There’s more of the soup I made for lunch. It’s very good soup, if I do say so myself. My grandmother’s recipe—though I didn’t mention that to your grandmother when I served her some of it. You’ll feel much better after you’ve had something to eat.”

  “You should go,” he said abruptly, because he wanted so much to let her lead him anywhere she wanted to take him. To feed him soup and tuck him into bed—and then to climb in with him. The very strength of that longing made him repeat hoarsely, “You should go.”

  Frowning a little, she raised a hand to his forehead. “Do you have fever? Maybe you should take something. You’re not making much sense.”

  Her touch sent a flash of electricity from his head to his groin. He caught her wrist to pull her hand away, but then didn’t want to let her go. “It can’t work, Maggie. I have my girls and my job. My mom and grandmother. There’s no time left. Breanne said I was boring, that I didn’t have time for fun with her because I was always so busy doing for everyone else. She was right. I have no more extra time for you.”

  “You do have fever,” Maggie fretted as if she hadn’t heard a word he’d said. “Come into the kitchen, I’ll warm some soup and find something for your fever. You’ll feel a lot better afterward.”

  “You aren’t—” He sighed when he found himself talking to her back as she walked away from him. Following because he had no other choice, he waited until they’d reached the kitchen before trying again. “You aren’t listening to me.”

  She’d already pulled a covered bowl from the refrigerator. “I’m listening,” she said as she turned toward the microwave. “I’m just not taking you seriously. You’re obviously feverish. A little fuzzy-headed. We’ll talk more when you feel better.”

  “Damn it, Maggie, you can’t just come into my house and take charge as if...as if you belong here.”

  Pushing buttons on the microwave, she said without turning to look at him, “You keep talking like that and I’ll think you don’t want me here.”

  His hands clenched involuntarily into fists. “What makes you think that’s not the truth?”

  Her smile tremulous, she turned to face him then, a spoon and napkin held in a white-knuckled grip that belied her easy tone. “Because I know you pretty well by now, no matter how hard you’ve tried to hold me at a distance. And because you’ve been sad. I’ve been sad, too, Garrett. I’ve missed you.”

  “Why—” His voice lodged in his dry throat. Impatiently, he filled a glass with water, downed half of it, then set it down with a thump. “Why do you think I’ve been sad?”

  “I have my sources,” she murmured, making him wonder exactly what his daughters had told her. “Were they right? Have you missed me, Garrett?”

  He should tell her no, of course. Tell her he’d been getting along just fine. That his life was plenty full with his family and his business, that there were no gaping holes that only she could fill. All of which would be a blatant lie. “I’ve missed you,” he said roughly. “I’ve missed you so damned much. Which doesn’t mean—”

  Her fingertips fell lightly over his lips, and her smile was almost blinding. “That’s all I wanted to hear. Eat your soup, Garrett, and then take your medicine. Let someone else take care of you for a change. When’s the last time anyone did that?”

  He honestly couldn’t remember. Probably since he’d graduated from high school and left his mother’s house to join the military.

  Too tired to argue with her any longer—for now—he let her push him into a chair and set soup and ibuprofen in front of him. He dutifully downed the medicine, then took a bite of the soup, which was as good as she’d immodestly boasted. Almost before he knew it, he’d eaten the whole bowlful and drunk another glass of water while Maggie fussed around him.

  “I’m spending the night,” she mentioned when she collected his empty bowl to stack in the dishwasher.

  He choked on the last sip of his water.

  “I won’t stay in your room, of course,” she added lightly. “I don’t think that would set a good example for the girls. I found the guest room earlier, so I’ll stay in there tonight, just to make sure everyone gets plenty of sleep. I’ll head back to the resort after I make breakfast for everyone. I’ll check on your mom in the morning, too, though she said she was feeling much better when I took the pizza over to her.”

  She ran a hand over his hair as if to smooth it, a comfortable, affectionate gesture that made his throat ache again. “Maybe when everyone’s feeling better, you and I can
get a few hours away to ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I could use some us time. As busy and responsible as you are, I’m sure you can find a couple hours occasionally for that.”

  “Us time?”

  She smiled and nodded. “I like the sound of it, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” He swallowed. “I like it very much.”

  She leaned down to kiss his cheek. “No offense, but you’re not getting any kisses on the lips until you’re fever-free. As much as I want to share your life with you, you can just keep this virus all to yourself.”

  He might have been amused by the quip if his head wasn’t still spinning in a way that had nothing to do with the virus and everything to do with Maggie.

  “I’m in love with you, Maggie.” The words escaped him before he could stop them. Maybe later he would blame the fever.

  She sighed gustily. “Well, darn.”

  He blinked, then frowned. Her response wasn’t exactly what he’d expected, considering the broad hints he thought she had been dropping.

  She cupped his face between her hands. “I love you, too, Garrett McHale. And if I catch your virus, you’d damned well better make me soup.”

  She planted her lips firmly on his before he had a chance to promise her he’d make her anything she wanted.

  * * *

  It was almost two weeks later when Maggie and Garrett finally found a chance to slip away for significant us time. His two sick days following only a week after his family vacation had put him quite a bit behind at work, and the busy summer season kept Maggie hopping at the resort, leaving them few stolen hours to spend together. But the last Saturday evening in July found them alone in a luxurious Dallas hotel suite, snuggled together in a bed that looked almost the size of Maggie’s bedroom in her mobile home.

  They’d left the girls with Garrett’s mother and grandmother for the weekend, giving Garrett and Maggie almost two whole days to spend together. They’d spent the whole day in Dallas, shopping and visiting museums and dining on steak and seafood for dinner, holding hands and kissing and talking about nothing of any significance. It had been glorious, and they had almost all day tomorrow to repeat the indulgent behavior. But first they had tonight, she thought, snuggling happily into his strong arms. All night.