by EMILIE ROSE
“I—I appreciate that,” she croaked. “But don’t look for jobs for me. Chastity and I are excited about our new house. Aren’t we?” she asked the teen who nodded, her expression uncertain.
“I mean it,” Pam reiterated. “There’s so much for you here.” She made a say-something face at Matt, but he’d respect Rachel’s wishes not to put Chastity in the middle. The kid already looked stressed.
“Pam, let it go,” he ordered in his sternest voice.
He’d fight for more time with Rachel, but it would be a private battle between the two of them. He’d crashed and burned in front of thousands before. If he tried and failed again he wouldn’t be left with even a sliver of pride.
Winning an opportunity to explore their relationship would be like planning for a championship game. He’d strategize around his greatest weapon—their explosive attraction. And then he’d have a backup plan in case his first line of attack failed.
It was time to turn up the heat on Rachel Bishop. And he was looking forward to the second half.
CHAPTER TEN
RACHEL HAD NO appetite Saturday morning as she sat across the table from Chastity wondering what she could do to turn the teen’s mood around. Ever since dinner at the Weavers’ Thursday night, both she and Chastity had been dancing uneasily around each other.
She feared the Weavers had eradicated the progress she’d made in convincing Chastity to relocate. Even more, she feared losing Chastity to a family who’d openly stated their desire to have her when Rachel was just on the verge of getting her daughter back. Rachel’s appointment with Hope’s lawyer on Monday morning couldn’t come fast enough. She had to ensure her claim on Chastity was secure.
The simultaneous peal and vibration of her cell phone spooked her. She fumbled the unit out of her pocket and checked the screen. A Georgia area code. The real estate agent’s number. Her mouth dried. The woman’s news could make things better...or worse—much worse, if they didn’t get the house Chastity had fallen in love with.
“Are you going to answer that?” Chastity asked when the phone rang a third time.
Rachel took a deep breath and pushed the button. “This is Rachel.”
“Rachel, Lisa. Are you sitting down? You’ve got your house,” she continued without waiting for a response. “The owners didn’t even make a counteroffer.”
Rachel’s extremities prickled with excitement. She looked at Chastity’s curious face. “We got the house. Our house.”
The ensuing piercing squeal was music to Rachel’s ears. Then Chastity sprang from her chair and danced around the kitchen.
A chuckle traveled through the phone. “I can tell Chastity’s excited. Are you near a computer so you can e-sign the documents?” the saleswoman asked, bringing Rachel back to earth.
In all the excitement over putting in an offer on the house, she’d forgotten to bring her computer with her from Atlanta.
“Can I use your laptop, Chastity?” she asked.
Chastity smacked her forehead. “I left it at Jess’s cuz I thought I was going to be there today. Why?”
“Lisa needs to email us some forms.”
“What about Mom’s? You said it was in the box of stuff from her car. I know her passwords.”
Trepidation squeezed Rachel’s throat. She’d been reluctant to turn on Hope’s computer and retrace what had likely been her sister’s last steps. But what choice did she have?
“It’s in her bedroom closet,” she told Chastity, and the girl raced off. “Lisa, send the documents. I’ll read over them and return them to you as soon as I can.”
The click of keys filled Rachel’s ear. “Done.”
Chastity hustled back into the kitchen with Hope’s computer. Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
“Do you have access to a printer?” the agent asked. “If so I’ll send something to entertain you and Chastity until move-in day.”
“Let me ask Chastity. Do we have access to a printer?”
“Sure. Mom’s laptop’s connected to our home network.” She spun the unit around.
Rachel’s dread of touching Hope’s computer wasn’t rational. But it was real. Her palms were damp, her pulse was too fast, and her hands weren’t steady. “We do, Lisa.”
“Excellent. Another file on the way.”
Suppressing her strange reaction to touching the keys her sister had likely touched on her last day alive, Rachel entered her email password. She had mail waiting—a lot of mail. Skimming down the list, she clicked on the Realtor’s, then downloaded and opened the files.
“I have them,” she confirmed.
“Good. If you know how to e-sign, then I’ll let you get to it.”
“I do. Thank you, Lisa.”
“Rachel, congratulations. You and your niece have a new home. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Her niece for now, but as soon as the paperwork went through, Chastity would officially be her daughter. Again. Emotion crushed her lungs. “Thanks again,” she choked out, then disconnected and clicked the print button.
At the sound of the machine spewing pages, Chastity hustled to her bedroom and returned seconds later with her bounty.
“This is so cool. Lisa sent a floor plan of our house and a page of furniture cutouts. Little sofas and beds and stuff.”
Rachel smiled at Chastity’s enthusiasm. What a wonderful way to get Chastity even more excited about moving. “We can get a head start on furniture placement instead of waiting until we get there and moving things multiple times.”
“I’ll cut out the pieces.” Chastity raided a kitchen drawer for scissors, leaving the stack of house photos on the table.
Rachel sifted through them and stared at the images. A sense of pride and satisfaction invaded her. Yes, she’d screwed up as a teen, but years of hard work and trying to become the best person she could be had finally paid off. This was her “do-over.” She’d soon have everything she’d ever dreamed of—a home of her own and her daughter back.
The sound of an engine outside caught her attention. “Are you expecting company?”
Chastity shook her head. “No. Jess came down with that virus her brother had, and we had to cancel our lake trip.”
“That’s what I thought.” Rachel rose and headed for the front window. Matt’s truck was backing up the driveway. Her stomach sank.
“It’s Matt with a lawn mower and a bunch of other yard equipment on a trailer. Did he mow your mom’s grass?”
“No. Mom hired a service,” Chastity answered without looking up from her project. She stuck her tongue between her teeth and tilted her head at an angle as she carefully cut the paper. She looked so adorable Rachel wanted to squeeze her. But that wouldn’t be welcome. Not yet. One day soon, she hoped it would be.
Rachel’s gaze swung back outside. The grass did need cutting. Then Matt faced the house, stripped off his shirt and pitched it into the cab. Muscles flexed, including thick biceps, rounded deltoids, wonderful pectorals and a six-pack abdomen as he unlatched and lowered the ramp on the back of the trailer. An agitated beehive of hormones swarmed in her lower belly.
“Do we have a lawn mower, Chastity?”
“Nope.”
That meant Rachel couldn’t insist on mowing her own lawn and send him home. Not that she knew how to operate the machine anyway. She’d probably end up severing a foot. Not a pretty sight, as she knew from one of her air ambulance runs.
“It’s nice of him to help,” Chastity said, still engrossed in her cutting.
No. It wasn’t. It was trouble. Definitely trouble. The sting of desire burned through Rachel. If Chastity weren’t around she’d probably stand here for the duration with her nose pressed to the glass and watch the forbidden fruit in her yard.
“Why did he take his shirt off?” Chastity aske
d, joining her at the window.
Rachel blinked and hoped her lusty reaction wasn’t obvious. “I guess he’s trying to keep cool. It is in the lower eighties already today and humid. Or maybe he’s working on his tan.” Although his golden skin already glistened.
Chastity watched him for a minute. “He has a pretty good body. For an old guy.”
Rachel winced. “He’s not that old.”
“Says you.” Then he stretched and flexed in a fabulous display of his perfect physique. Chastity’s expression turned to one of disbelief. “Tell me he’s not doing all that...posing for you.”
Flabbergasted, Rachel stared into the accusing brown eyes and feigned innocence. She suspected that was exactly what Matt was doing, and she didn’t want to lie. There were already too many of those floating around like helium balloons waiting to pop. So she played dumb. “Posing for me?”
“He was Mom’s boyfriend. Him hitting on you would be sick.”
“Chastity, he and your mom only dated.”
“But they discussed marriage, and to get serious enough to even talk about that, they had to have been...intimate.”
A thought Rachel didn’t want to contemplate. But it was enough to squash her budding arousal. “That I don’t know.”
“Aunt Rachel, please, tell me you wouldn’t take Mom’s rejects.”
How could she explain that Matt had been hers first without complicating an already complicated situation? She couldn’t. “No.”
“Good. Because that would be really disgusting. I don’t think I could handle it.” Chastity flounced back to the table, leaving Rachel to wonder how she could convince Matt to stop tempting her. And how she could stop herself from being tempted.
“Are you going to help with this or stand there gawking all day?” Chastity called out.
Rachel forced herself away from the window, congratulating herself for not taking one last peek.
When she reached the table Chastity had the second floor layout in front of her. She’d already put beds and dressers in place and a sofa and TV in the bonus room. She’d cut out a rectangle and wrote “pinp-ponp” table on it. It took Rachel a second to realize she meant ping-pong. And the desk image was facedown with the word showing in reverse through the back of the paper.
She must be very excited to be in such a rush. Smiling, Rachel reached across and flipped the image, but said nothing about the misspelled words.
“It takes up the same space frontward or backward,” Chastity snapped.
Rachel took one look at her red face and said, “You’re right. I was just trying to help.”
“Forget it. I don’t need your help.”
Taken aback by the overzealous reaction, Rachel blinked. “I thought we were going to work on this together.
“You do it.” Chastity shot to her feet.
“Chastity, I told you, the upstairs is yours. I want your input.”
“Then I’ll do my part in my room. You do yours in here.” Chastity gathered her pieces and left.
Rachel stared after her and tried not to be hurt. She didn’t understand Chastity’s mood swings or her hypersensitivity. Being a parent wasn’t as easy as she’d thought it would be.
And neither was staying away from the front window. She ached to go out and talk to Matt. In the past he’d had a way of calming her and helping her find solutions. But doing so today would only complicate things with Chastity. So she stayed inside.
* * *
MATT LATCHED THE trailer’s ramp gate and splashed some bottled water over his chest and shoulders in an attempt to rinse off some of the grime he’d accumulated. He glanced toward the house to see if Rachel was watching, but he didn’t see her at the window. She hadn’t come out—not even when he’d weed-eaten the flower beds close to the foundation.
Her car was here. She should be home. If not, his cheesy display had been wasted. But he worked out as hard as his players, and he was proud of the results. And if the chemistry between them was his best weapon, then he had to strategically use his assets the same way he’d put the ball into the hands of his strongest players.
He dried off, pitched his towel onto the floorboard and headed up the sidewalk. Had she gone for a run?
He lifted a fist to knock, but the door opened before he made contact. Rachel stood in front of him. Her quick response told him she’d been watching. Good. A rush of adrenaline eradicated his tiredness.
She wore low-riding jeans and a yellow sleeveless polo that revealed she took as much care with her physical condition as he did with his. His visceral reaction to her hadn’t lessened. She still got to him, making him nervous and tongue-tied.
“I mowed your grass,” he announced, then wanted to kick himself for stating the obvious.
“Thank you. But you shouldn’t have. Chastity says Hope employed a service. I’ll pay you for your time.”
Her gaze roved his chest, then traveled down to the damp waistband of his jeans. She swallowed and her cheeks flushed, then she yanked her gaze back to his face.
Plan working. He crushed a smug smile. “The only payment I’ll accept is a cold drink.”
She hesitated so long he thought she’d refuse. “Put on a shirt before you come inside.”
“I’m sweaty.”
“Chastity’s here.”
That decimated his seduction strategy. “I thought she went camping with Pam’s brood.”
“Jessica came down with the virus her brother had. The trip’s postponed.”
He had to scramble for another approach. Rachel wouldn’t be home alone tonight. That meant no intimate meal for two at his house. He’d have to come up with something else. Something that included Chastity. He hated involving the kid if this was a temporary itch and nothing long-term, but how else would he know than to try?
“I’ll bet Chastity’s disappointed. I can take y’all to the lake for the day. I have a boat.”
Rachel literally backed a step. “Good for you. But still, no thanks.”
That had sounded like bragging, hadn’t it? How did she turn him into a tongue-tied adolescent? “I meant, we could take her tubing or fishing or whatever teenage girls like to do.”
“Matt. No,” she repeated with finality.
“Why not?” He was pushing too hard. But quitters never achieved their goals.
Rachel’s brow pleated. She glanced briefly over her shoulder, then stepped onto the porch, pulling the door closed behind her. “She witnessed your little display earlier, and it freaked her out. She said you’d better not be ‘posing’ for my benefit, and it would be ‘sick’ if I dated her mother’s boyfriend.”
Busted. “I wasn’t Hope’s boyfriend.”
“Tell that to the kid who heard you discussing marriage with her mom.”
Stymied, he shifted his jaw. Time out. He needed to retreat to his locker room, aka home, and rethink his strategy. Because now he had not one female to win over, he had two. So much for keeping the kid off the field.
* * *
“WAKE UP, AUNT RACHEL. Wake up!”
Chastity’s urgent plea penetrated Rachel’s sound, hard-to-come-by sleep. “Wha—? What’s wrong?”
“I need a ride to church.”
Rachel rolled over and groggily blinked at the clock. Eight. What time had she finally dozed off? It seemed like only minutes ago. Matt’s display yesterday had disrupted her sleep with hot, sweaty sex dreams. Her face burned at the memory of how hot. She hoped she hadn’t made noises or talked in her sleep.
“I usually go with Jess, but she’s still sick, and now so is her dad and other brother. The whole family’s staying home. You have to take me.”
Alarm eradicated the last remaining cobwebs from Rachel’s brain. The idea of attending church in Johnstonville where she’d be surrounded by those
she’d wronged did not appeal. She’d probably burst into flames on the threshold.
“Can’t you miss this week?”
“No. My youth group’s leading the service. I have to be there to do my part.”
Only then did Rachel notice the teen was already dressed—and tastefully at that. Her hair hung in a glossy straight curtain, and her light makeup was suitable for someone her age. Progress. “Chastity—”
“Good grief. If you can’t handle it, I can call Mrs. Johnston.”
Panic brought Rachel upright. Would not attending make her seem like an unfit parent?
“Mom never missed church,” Chastity grumbled as she turned for the door.
Rachel could have kicked herself for bringing a black skirt back with her from her apartment. Otherwise she’d have an excuse to skip church.
She swung her feet to the floor, dreading the hours ahead. “I’ll need a shower first.”
“Yes, you will. You have an hour.”
Ninety minutes later Rachel found herself standing alone in the vestibule, wishing she were anywhere but here. Not even the organ music emanating from the sanctuary could mask the heartbeat pounding in her ears. Chastity had abandoned Rachel the minute they’d entered the arched double doors. The hour was still young enough that only early birds trickled in.
Rachel flinched each time the door opened. Would the next arrival be someone with a long memory and a grudge? The man who’d given her the service bulletin watched her as she debated slipping out the side entrance. Would Chastity notice if Rachel didn’t stay? Probably. She’d been pretty intense this morning. Silent. Edgy. Rachel made her way toward a back pew, hoping she’d be invisible to most.
“Rachel!”
The call of the familiar female voice startled her. She spotted Matt’s parents coming toward her. Carol took Rachel’s hand. “I’m so glad you made it. Chastity is so excited about her solo.”
