Andi couldn’t have understood the meaning behind Mo’s emphasis, but Cara couldn’t miss it. As Andi reached for her purse, Cara shook her head slightly, again telling Mo to drop the subject.
What a crazy idea, that she could be what Wes needed. A man whose life revolved around his children, and a woman who couldn’t bear to be with kids.
They couldn’t have made a worse pair.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CARA AND ANDI had finally managed to say goodbye to Mo, Sugar and everyone else still enjoying lunch at SugarPie’s. They left the sandwich shop and had gone directly to pick up the keys to Andi’s new leased property. The store had sat vacant for a while.
“You weren’t kidding about needing to do some cleanup,” Cara said as Andi unlocked the front door.
Smudges blurred the glass of the door and the storefront windows, as well as several display cases inside the front room. Piles of debris lurked in every corner, and a thick layer of dust coated everything in sight.
“At least we came prepared.” Andi set down the vacuum she was carrying. She had borrowed it, along with some cleaning supplies, from the Hitching Post.
“The floor seems okay,” Cara said, “but it needs a good scrubbing. And it looks like you’re going to have to paint the interior.”
“Agreed. I’ll talk to Mitch about that. And I’m sure Tina and Jane can convince their husbands to help with a painting party. Then I can pay them all in pizza and soda.”
Cara laughed. “Well, at least you’re catching on about needing to watch your budget. I’m glad you passed on the presigning service the realty office offered, too, and opted for the reduction in the first month’s rent.”
Cara looked forward to working here today, to spending extra time with Andi. And if they kept busy enough, she wouldn’t have to worry about what would follow—having to take Mark and Tracey home later.
“Anyhow,” she continued, “that was a good choice to turn down the cleaning service. It’s much smarter for us to do the cleanup ourselves.”
Andi grinned. “I hoped you would approve.”
Cara not only approved, she admired Andi’s enthusiasm and commitment. Even more, she envied Andi’s initiative and independence. The need to regain those herself made her twice as eager to return home to find a new job she loved. And not to mention, a new apartment she could afford. Fingers crossed, some of the résumés she had submitted online yesterday would lead to interviews—though that definitely wasn’t her focus right now.
“It was nice of the previous tenants to leave the display cases,” Cara said. “They’re expensive to buy, and they’ll come in handy while you’re starting out, until you can afford to look into alternatives.”
“See? That’s why I’m glad you’re here. You think of everything.”
“Not quite, but thanks. This is a great location, too, right in the middle of the business district.” She set their bucket of cleaning supplies on the floor, then wandered over to look through a wide doorway at the rear of the room.
Andi followed her.
“The perfect setup,” Cara said. “Lots of space in the front room for inventory and plenty of storage room back here. The kitchen area in the corner doesn’t hurt, either, especially if you plan to work odd hours.”
“Long hours, you mean. I’m planning to keep the store open all day, and in the evenings, too. I’ll always need to be ready for the tourists who roll in once the highway exit’s finished.”
“And before that happens, what are you going to do?”
“Ask my best friend for advice.”
They both laughed, but Andi turned serious immediately.
“Honestly, Cara, I’ll need all the guidance I can get if I want to help other women here. You know, Mo said this will be good news for Cowboy Creek, and I think she’s right—because she’s usually never wrong!” She met Cara’s gaze. “And speaking of Mo, when I came back to the table, you two looked very intense. What was that all about?”
“Nothing much, just talking.” This time, Cara had to force a laugh. “She did tell me it wasn’t my fault my family isn’t Irish.”
“That’s Mo for you. You never know what she’ll come out with next. Like when she said Just what everyone needs.”
So, Andi had noticed Mo O’Neill’s emphasis. Good thing she hadn’t heard the rest of their conversation.
...just what he needs.
“The funny thing was,” Andi continued, “she was talking to me but looked directly at you when she said that.”
“Coincidence.”
“Right. Like running into Wes and the kids at the Big Dipper the day you arrived in town was a coincidence?”
“Of course.” Cara had already received a warning from Andi that they would have this discussion. They might not have gotten around to it at SugarPie’s, but Andi’s crossed arms announced they were having it now.
“So, what happened?”
“Nothing much. I arrived early, and since I didn’t know you were all holding dinner for me, I stopped for an ice-cream cone. Wes and Mark were there.”
“You said Marianne was, too.”
“Outside the store. She went on her way, and Wes brought Mark inside.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear he took Mark out for a treat. But, wait... That means you knew Wes before you went to his house.”
Cara shook her head. “We never introduced ourselves. We were both surprised when I showed up that night.” And both shocked when Mark came in and asked if she was his mommy. “I’m still not convinced matchmaker Jed isn’t in the background pulling strings. Why was he the one to call Rhea about today? I’d have thought you—”
A knock rattled against the front door. Lizzie, the teenager Cara had met at the Big Dipper, stood outside the store.
Andi waved—a little too enthusiastically, as if she’d been relieved to have their conversation interrupted? Or was Cara’s paranoia about Andi and Jed really setting in?
“I was hanging out at the Dipper,” Lizzie said, “and I saw you go by and come in here. What’s going on?” She must have been one of the few people in town who hadn’t heard the news.
Andi described her plans, then explained why they were in the store now.
“Can I help?” Lizzie asked.
“How are you at cleaning windows?” Andi asked.
“Great. At home, my mom gets me to help her with everything. But she leaves the windows to me because she says I do a better job than she does.”
“Sounds good. If you can give us a couple hours of your time now, I’ll match what you’re making at the Dipper.”
“Awesome. Do you need any regular help?” Lizzie asked hopefully. “My schedule’s wide-open on weekdays after school.”
“We can discuss that, too, later,” Andi promised.
Cara opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. Once she and Andi were alone again, they would need another discussion about that budget.
“Here.” Andi tossed the teenager a clean dusting cloth. “I’m going to walk over to the L-G for some extra spray cleaner. Those windows are dirtier than I remembered. Be back in a few minutes.”
The L-G was the most-shopped grocery store in town.
Once Andi had gone, Lizzie looked around them. “Wow. Guess she really left us in the dust.”
Cara laughed, grateful to have the teenager there. Lizzie’s chatter would chase away her worries, from her reluctance to pick up Wes’s kids later to her conviction everyone in town was pushing her together with him. Jed might be uncontrollable, and Mo was probably following his directions. But Andi should realize trying to set her up with Wes was a waste of time for everyone.
Hadn’t she made it clear she was done with men for the foreseeable future? Maybe she and Andi needed to have that discussion again. Maybe they—
Lizzie waved, catching her attent
ion. “You okay? I thought you’d gone to sleep standing up.”
So much for her distraction from worry. “Sorry. My mind was wandering.” Otherwise known as making a list of suspects. “I’m going to start with cleaning off a display case.”
“Me, too. My mom says always dust first, then vacuum, because the dust falls on the floor and you have to vacuum it up, anyway.”
“That makes sense.”
“Doesn’t it? My mom and dad don’t always make sense about things, but once in a while they hit it right.” She waved the cleaning cloth. “I’d better get going so Andi can see what an excellent worker I am. I’ve been trying to get more hours at the Dipper, but we already have too many kids working there. Do you think she’ll really hire me to help in the store?”
“Well, I can’t answer for Andi. But she said you two would discuss it. That sounds promising.”
“Yeah,” Lizzie said wryly. “I hope that’s not like one of my parents’ definite maybes. But you can help. Will you give me a good reference?”
“How can I?” Cara teased. “I haven’t seen you work yet.”
“Yes, you have. I made an ice-cream cone for you. Twice.”
“That’s right, you did.” Again, Cara thought about that afternoon at the Big Dipper. Her first meeting with Lizzie. Her first sight of Mark. Her first conversation with his daddy...
“I hope Andi does hire me. I could really use the extra money. Christmas is a long way off, but there’ll be a party at school, and I’ll need a new dress. And then next year’s the prom. I have to start saving for all that now.”
She hadn’t thought the teen was old enough to go to prom. “You’re a junior?”
“A senior. So is my boyfriend, Kyle. Don’t tell anybody...” She leaned across the display case. “Kyle and I are going to get married right after graduation.”
“And...that’s a secret?”
“For now, it is. My parents probably won’t like the idea.”
“Maybe because of your age.”
“Exactly.” Lizzie shrugged. “We could hold off till after college, but we’re going to the same school, so why wait? Besides, Kyle is the one for me. And you know what the one means, right? You just know you’re a perfect fit. A forever fit. Isn’t that how you felt when you met the one?”
“I haven’t met him yet,” Cara admitted.
“Really? That’s too bad.”
Go easy. “Actually, it isn’t. I thought I’d found the right one, but it turns out I was wrong. Very wrong. Luckily, I had enough time to figure that out before...before it was too late. You don’t want to make the same mistake.”
“I won’t. I love Kyle, and he loves me. My parents just don’t get it.”
“Maybe they do, only they want you to wait until you’re sure. You really need to know a lot about a person before you make a lifetime commitment.” Cara had come so close to that mistake, too.
“Right! That’s exactly what I mean. Kyle and I know everything about each other. We’ve been friends since kindergarten and started going out in sixth grade.” Smiling, Lizzie returned to dusting the display case. “I’m glad I told you. You make sense, like my mom does with the dusting but not about me and Kyle wanting to get married.” She looked at Cara again. “You won’t tell anyone, will you? Promise.”
Maybe she shouldn’t have let the girl talk get to this point. But she wouldn’t back out on Lizzie now. “I promise.”
“Thanks.” Lizzie smiled. “You’re so easy to talk to.”
Cara nearly laughed out loud. Talk to was right, since the teenager had carried most of the conversation. Yet it was nice to know Lizzie felt comfortable with her.
And of course she would keep Lizzie’s confidences to herself.
She had spoken to Mo in confidence today, too, and only hoped the woman would honor her request not to talk to Andi. Not to repeat what she had said about how good Cara could be for Wes. But Cara suspected chances were slim Mo would keep their conversation private. If nothing else, the chief matchmaker himself would get a detailed report.
“You can’t tell anyone here anything without it getting out,” Lizzie added. “But I don’t have to worry about telling you, because you’re not staying.”
Nice. A compliment and a brush-off in one breath.
Of course, Lizzie didn’t mean that the way it sounded.
The statement didn’t fall far from the truth, though. Eventually, Cara would leave this quiet little town that somehow managed to stir so many memories. She needed to go back to her world, to being the woman she was before she made the mistake of trusting her heart to the wrong man.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“WE’RE HO-OME,” MARK sang out as Cara pulled up to the ranch house.
Home. Something she no longer had. As she unbuckled Mark’s seat belt, she made a mental note to add apartment hunting online to tomorrow’s to-do list.
“Yes, we’re home,” she confirmed for his benefit, then quickly changed it to “You and Tracey are home.”
“And Daddy.” He pointed to Wes’s pickup truck.
“Yes, and Daddy.”
“And Miss Cara.”
Before she could explain this wasn’t Miss Cara’s home, he had taken off at a run toward the house. She shook her head. Such a smart little boy. And he had an answer for everything.
Between watching the road and keeping up with his conversation, she’d had no time to worry about being with Wes’s kids. No time even to think about her own baby.
And she still had Tracey to take care of. Unlike her big brother, the little girl slept the entire time. She had rested her head against the side of her infant seat and tucked one hand between the seat and her cheek. The sight of that little hand made Cara envision those small fingers tangling her hair...that tiny fist clamped around her finger... Wes’s hand brushing hers as he attempted to help...
She pushed all those memories away.
Trying not to startle the baby, Cara slowly unbuckled the seat belt. At Rhea’s, she had managed to put a wide-awake, wriggling little girl into this car seat. She didn’t expect to have any trouble taking a still-sleeping one out.
The danger came when she lifted Tracey into her arms. The little girl snuggled closer, nestling her head in the hollow of Cara’s throat. Cara froze, holding the small but solid weight securely, feeling the warmth of that weight against her, inhaling the scents of baby shampoo, clean baby clothes and just plain baby.
Of all the things she had dreaded happening in Cowboy Creek, this was the worst of them. And the best.
“Is she sleeping?”
Wes’s voice made her jump. Luckily, her instincts also made her tighten her hold on the baby, who squirmed and began to stretch. “She was asleep.”
“She usually does nod off when she’s riding in a vehicle, especially at this time of day. Here, let me have her.” He took Tracey from her arms.
Immediately, she felt the loss of the baby’s weight and warmth.
“Hey there, sleepyhead. We’ll get you upstairs to finish your nap.” He looked back at Cara. “Mark brought in his backpack. Did Rhea send Tracey’s diaper bag home?”
“Yes. And another handful of Mark’s drawings.” Cara grabbed them along with the bag. “I’ll carry these into the house since you have your hands full. And speaking of full—” she waved the drawings “—I think you may have to buy a second refrigerator.”
Wes laughed. A genuine laugh. She nearly lost her grip on the papers. Not that long ago, he’d refused even to smile at her.
“I’ll come back to get the car seats. Rhea told me she offered you a couple of loaners. Did either of the kids give you any trouble on the ride?”
“No. Tracey drifted off almost right away. Mark talked to Missy nonstop from the time we left Rhea’s. Once we dropped off Andi and Missy at the Hitching Post, he didn’t miss a
beat, just kept the conversation going with me.”
“That’s my boy. You’d think being at the sitter’s all day, he’d talk himself out with his friends. But somehow that only revs him up for coming home.”
They bypassed the front of the house and went to the kitchen entrance off the back porch. The room was less neat and tidy than the last time she’d seen it, thanks mostly to Mark, who had already covered the table with his supplies.
The countertop near the sink was cluttered with bowls and spoons and a cardboard carton. A large pot and a saucepan sat on the stove.
“Miss Cara come for supper?” Mark asked. “I help clean.” He began gathering up his crayons.
“No,” she blurted. Wasn’t his cute conversation and Tracey’s snuggle enough? She couldn’t face dinner with them, too. Judging by Wes’s blank expression, he disliked the idea as much as she did. “I’m not here for supper,” she explained to Mark.
He stared at her, his eyes wide. “But we have bacroni!”
Bacroni? She looked at Wes.
“Baked macaroni. Known by most people as baked ziti. Bacroni is Mark’s word. And his favorite food.”
He didn’t sound at all upset. Maybe her own tension had her imagining his. “Sounds great. It’s starting to smell great, too, if that’s what you have cooking in the oven. But I should get going.”
“Daddy makes lots,” Mark said.
Wes ruffled his hair. “What my son is diplomatically trying to tell you is, we have bacroni nearly every week. Even then, it doesn’t always turn out right. I’m not much of a cook.”
“I’m a big fan of simple recipes.” It didn’t matter what Wes had on the menu. She needed to leave.
As if he’d read her mind, Mark said pleadingly, “Stay for bacroni, Miss Cara? Please?”
Over his head, she exchanged a glance with Wes, who gave her a small shrug. “Once he gets an idea in his head...”
“...he doesn’t let go. I remember.” Wes had said that the first night she had come here. She didn’t want to stay tonight, but how could she say no with Mark’s hopeful face turned up to hers. “Well...” She looked at Wes. “I did lose an entire day in town. I could eat and then do some work upstairs.” He nodded, and she smiled at Mark. “Thank you. I will stay for supper.”
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