"As you have so often told me, rumors spread quickly in a small town."
Reva pursed her lips. "There's nothing between me and the sheriff, I assure you."
"I didn't say there was. I said I heard he was sweet on you." Dean stepped away from the door. "Carries a gun, doesn't he," he said in a lowered voice.
Reva went pale.
"I don't want to scare you," Dean said quickly. "I'm just trying to understand."
When he'd come here, his business had been official. There was no way he could sleep with a woman who was under surveillance. Not if he wanted to keep his job. And he loved his job. But he wasn't official anymore. He was on vacation. If he just happened to be keeping an eye on Reva at the same time, it was purely on his own. His own time. His own risks.
He reached Reva's desk and leaned forward, placing his hands on the edge and holding himself there. "Has Miss Evelyn ever talked to you about merry-go-rounds?"
"What?"
"Merry-go-rounds. Brass rings. Slippery saddles."
"No," she said softly.
"You should ask her about it sometime. Have dinner with me?"
The abrupt dinner invitation caught her off guard. She almost jumped out of her skin. "No! I mean, I have other plans."
"What plans?"
"None of your business," she said.
"How about dessert?"
Reva shook her head. "Mr. Sinclair, I—"
"Mr. Sinclair?" he asked. "When the hell did I become Mr. Sinclair?"
She didn't answer. At least she had the decency to look him in the eye. "When are you going home?"
"I haven't decided."
"But you are leaving Somerset."
"Eventually."
She looked relieved.
"Anxious to get rid of me?"
Before she could answer, the rumble of a souped-up vehicle on the street below grabbed his attention. Reva's, too, since she rose from her chair and walked to the window. Dean was right behind her, staring over her shoulder as a white pickup pulled to the curb across the street, directly in front of the Fister house. The loud engine died abruptly and the driver's-side door opened.
Limbs and leaves were in his way, so Dean's vision was less than perfect. But he saw enough.
"Crap," he mumbled beneath his breath.
"Who is that?" Reva asked.
Dean hurried from the room. "My brother."
* * *
He ran across the street just as Clint lifted the second twin from an infant car seat. Dean's youngest brother juggled two babies and a huge diaper bag without a hitch.
"What are you doing here?" Dean asked as he stepped up on the curb.
Clint grinned. "You've never called and asked for a favor before. I wanted to make sure you got what you wanted ASAP."
"I said Fed-Ex," Dean said softly.
"The ranch is less than two hours away," Clint explained. "It was no trouble. Besides, when my straight-arrow brother asks me to overnight him a box of condoms, I get curious."
"Curiosity is a very dangerous personality trait," Dean said darkly.
"That's not the only reason I'm here. Zane and Riley wanted to see their Uncle Dean. Isn't that right, boys?"
Zane and Riley, Clint and Mary's twin boys, were both fast asleep in their father's arms.
"Where's Mary?" Dean asked.
"Someone had the poor sense to get murdered in Jackson County. Mary's working."
"And you're baby-sitting."
"Yep."
Clint's eyes focused on something over Dean's shoulder. It was the smile, though, that gave away Reva's approach. "Well, well," Clint said softly.
Dean turned around to face Reva. Why couldn't she hide from him now? If ever there was a time he'd be happy for her to ensconce herself in her office with the door closed, this was it. The expression on her face as she looked at the babies told Dean why she'd followed him to the street.
"Hello," Clint said as Reva stepped up onto the sidewalk.
"Hi." Her eyes stayed on the babies.
Reluctantly Dean introduced Reva and Clint. No good would come of this, he knew it.
"How old are they?" Reva asked when the introductions and polite hellos were done.
"Two months," Clint said, shifting the sleeping babies so that their little faces were revealed.
"Twins," Reva said unnecessarily. "Identical?"
Clint nodded.
Reva lifted her arms. "May I?"
Clint transferred one of the babies to Reva with care. "This is Zane," he said. "He's the oldest, by five and a half minutes."
"He's so beautiful," Reva said softly. She glanced at Dean. "Aren't they just beautiful?"
"Sure," Dean said uncomfortably. "I guess."
"You guess?" Reva smiled too widely. "There's nothing in the world more adorable than a baby."
"Here." Clint dropped his diaper bag to the sidewalk and dumped the other kid, Riley, into Dean's arms. Before Dean could give the kid back, Clint walked away. He let down the tail end of the truck and reached into the bed. "I brought that, uh, stuff you asked for," he said.
"Stuff?" Reva asked, looking up at Dean.
"It can wait until later," Dean said while the kid he held decided to wake up. It squirmed, wrinkled its nose and began to squall.
Clint pulled a huge box out of the bed of his truck. Dean had a flash of a nightmare: Clint tripping, the box coming open, thousands of condoms—his youngest brother's idea of a joke—spilling onto the sidewalk.
Fortunately for Dean, Clint Sinclair never tripped.
"Where should I stash this?"
"Third floor." Dean nodded toward the front door of Miss Evelyn's house.
Dean breathed a sigh of relief as Clint disappeared inside.
He watched Reva continue to smile at the baby she held. Zane. The eldest. If Clint's boys were anything like their daddy, the coming years would be interesting, to say the least. Clint had always been into something. Not maliciously, but that curiosity of his had sometimes gotten the better of him.
Reva stared down at Zane as if she was reaching back in her memory, seeing Cooper when he was small. Then again, maybe she was looking into the future, not the past.
"Shouldn't Cooper be home soon?" Dean asked, bouncing Riley lightly. When he bounced, the kid didn't cry. He hated the crying. Hated it. Wailing of any kind, from woman or child, made him feel helpless.
"Cooper had T-ball practice after school," Reva said. "He won't be home for another hour at least."
So he couldn't get rid of her that way.
Why did it bother him to watch Reva cuddle and bounce a baby? It was the expression on her face, an expression that said very clearly, I want one, that troubled him. Reva was the kind of woman who should have a houseful of kids, and she was certainly young enough to have a few more babies. Dean knew he wasn't going to be the man to give them to her. Was that what bothered him? The thought of another man fulfilling the maternal dreams that made Reva's face more beautiful than ever?
Clint came bursting through the front door too soon, Miss Evelyn in his wake and the enormous box of condoms properly secured somewhere out of sight.
"Babies!" Miss Evelyn said with glee. "Tiny ones!"
"Do you have a place I can heat up their bottles?" Clint asked.
"Of course I do," Miss Evelyn said. "And there are sugar cookies for the rest of you."
"Yeah, Clint," Dean said as he handed over Riley and then scooped up the diaper bag and draped the strap over his little brother's shoulder. "Have some cookies."
Payback time.
As they all walked toward the front door, Miss Evelyn dropped back and leaned in close to Dean. "Sonny, that is the golden ring." She pointed to Clint and the baby he carried. "Breathtaking, isn't it?"
* * *
Reva held on to Zane and followed the Sinclair men and Miss Evelyn into the house. She really should return the baby to Clint and go back to work, but no. She wanted to hang on to this sweet-smelling, beautiful baby a whil
e longer.
She would love to have another child one day. Maybe two. But she knew that would never happen. She couldn't allow herself to get that close to a man. Physically, maybe. Emotionally, to build a family and everything that came with it, no.
But she would gladly hold on to someone else's baby for a while.
The sight of a very uncomfortable Dean holding a baby had warmed her heart, more than it should. He'd been so obviously uncomfortable! Always cool, never at a loss, Dean Sinclair had been momentarily as helpless as the baby he cradled. She had a feeling babies were not in his immediate plans. To much trouble for a man like him, she imagined.
In the kitchen of the Fister house, Clint once again handed a baby to an unprepared and unwilling Dean. Miss Evelyn and Clint warmed the bottles, while Dean and Reva bounced the hungry babies. Zane, the more patient of the two, only squirmed. Riley, the child Dean held, whimpered, wriggled and then started to scream.
"Take this kid," Dean said, stalking toward his brother.
"Oh, come here, you big baby," Reva said, following Dean to the sink. "You take Zane and I'll calm Riley down."
He turned and glared at her, but seemed agreeable. They swapped babies, which wasn't all that easy a task. She and Dean stood close together, to close, while they shuffled and readjusted the children they held. The moment was as intimate as anything that had passed last night. As soon as each baby had been securely transferred, Reva and Dean each took a quick step back.
She'd always cared for Cooper on her own, and she'd never regretted her decision to keep her child. But she often wondered what it would be like to have a man around to share the responsibilities. To warm bottles and walk a baby at night and… But it was only wondering. No matter how nice that false picture might be, it was just that. False.
Her life was good now. She was happy. Painting a picture of another life she would never have wouldn't do her any good at all.
When the bottles were warm, Clint carried them to the table. "Would you mind?" he said, handing one bottle to Reva.
"Not at all." Riley, who had calmed down considerably since being handed to her, clamped on to the nipple and began to suck greedily.
It looked as though Dean was going to return Zane to Clint, but Miss Evelyn snatched the bottle from Clint's hand and pushed it at Dean. "Here. You give it a try. This young man looks like he could use some cookies and milk."
She expected Dean to protest, but he took the bottle and grinned crookedly. "Sure. Have some cookies and milk, Clint."
While the babies ate, Miss Evelyn assembled a plate of sugar cookies for Clint and poured him a big glass of milk. Undaunted, Clint sat at the table close to the babies. It was obvious from the look on his face that he adored these baby boys.
Clint took a drink of milk, then grabbed a sugar cookie and bit into it. He chewed for a moment, then took another long drink of milk.
"How do you like my sugar cookies?" Miss Evelyn asked with a smile.
Dean's grin stayed in place.
"Well," Clint began with a shake of his head, "they could use a bit more sugar."
Miss Evelyn appeared undaunted. "Do you really think so?"
Clint nodded, then took another small bite. "And is that almond flavoring I taste?"
"Yes it is," Miss Evelyn said.
"Too much," Clint said. "Cut it by half or try vanilla."
Dean's smile was gone, and he glared at his brother.
"Don't look at me that way. I'm just being honest." Clint gave Miss Evelyn a charming smile. "I hope you don't mind me being honest, ma'am. My wife is learning how to cook and having quite a time of it. I have discovered that honesty is the best policy in this as in all things." He cut his eyes to Dean. "My big brother has been trying to teach me that for years."
"You know, I think you might be right. My late husband always said he loved my sugar cookies, but personally I never cared for this recipe much."
Dean did not appear to be particularly happy at the moment, even though he'd been smiling a few moments ago and the baby in his arms was finally content.
He'd preached honesty to his little brother. Reva's stomach did a sick flip. What would he say if he knew how many secrets she'd kept, from him and everyone else?
* * *
Dean threw open the door to his room and led Clint inside. Downstairs, Reva and Miss Evelyn were burping and changing the babies. They seemed delighted to take over the chores, and Dean wasn't about to fight for the opportunity to get peed on by one of Clint's kids.
Besides, he needed a moment alone with his little brother.
The box, which was slightly more than two feet square, sat in the middle of the floor. Dean stood there for a moment and stared down. "I ask you for a simple favor…"
Clint took a knife from his pocket, dropped down and cut open the cardboard box. "When you called, you didn't specify how big a box or what brand or if you prefer plain or fancy."
"Fancy?"
Clint reached into the carton and grabbed a handful. Dean glanced down. Holy crap, the box really was full of condoms. Some packaged, some foil-wrapped and floating loose. "Flavored, colored, some with doodads—"
"Doodads?"
"And these glow in the dark." Clint waggled his eyebrows, then opened the box and took one foil wrapper out. "I think I might just keep one of these," he said, slipping the glow-in-the-dark condom into the pocket of his jeans.
"I said Fed-Ex," Dean told him again.
Clint stood and studied Dean cautiously. "Want to explain to me why you need someone to deliver your birth control to the door, these days?"
Dean took a step closer and lowered his voice, just in case someone might be listening. Sound did carry in these old houses. "This is a small town. If I walk to the drugstore and buy so much as one condom, word will be all over Somerset before sundown."
"So? What do you care? It's no one's business but your own. You are an adult. Besides, you're not going to be here forever, are you?"
"No."
"So who cares?"
"It's not my reputation I'm worried about," Dean said in an even lower voice.
"Oh," Clint said, realization dawning. "I get it. Very considerate of you." He shifted his booted feet. "But why not drive to another town and make your purchases there?"
"No car," Dean said. "Long story."
"No car?" Clint looked horrified. "You're stranded here. Stuck. Oh, man, that just won't do. Are there cornfields? Kids with strange, eerie eyes?"
"No," Dean said, in no mood for his brother's warped sense of humor at the moment.
"This trip of yours is business, right?" Clint asked.
"Not anymore," Dean said. "Started out that way, but right now I'm officially on vacation." The lines between official and unofficial had become blurred. The lines were never blurred, not for Dean. Not until he'd come to Somerset.
Clint nodded his head. "I tell you what. I'll leave you my truck. Mary can drive up tonight and collect me and the kids."
"Thanks, but that would be way to much trouble."
"After everything you've done for me? It's nothing. Really." Again he waggled his eyebrows. "Besides, the boys always sleep well after a long ride in the car." He glanced into the box again. "Ooh, doodads. May I?" he gestured toward the box.
"Be my guest," Dean said, shaking his head. "There's more than enough."
He wasn't even sure that he'd need one.
* * *
Chapter 9
« ^ »
The five- and six-year-olds T-ball team was small, and when the team from nearby Cross City came in for a game, they always got pummeled.
But the Somerset Tigers did have fun.
Reva was lost in the game, watching Cooper play. Badly. He tried and he had a good time, but her son was not a natural athlete. She didn't care. She liked watching him have fun. He was so openly and exuberantly joyous at times it was as if the joy traveled from him to her and lifted her spirits. Cooper looked toward the stands and grinned, waving almo
st frantically. Reva waved back—and then realized that her son was not signaling her but Dean, who had just arrived and was making his way toward her.
She'd managed to avoid Dean all day, after the previous night's visit with his brother and family. She'd only gotten to spend a few minutes with Mary, but she'd liked the woman immediately. Clint's face had lit up when his wife stepped out of the car.
Like Tewanda and her husband, it seemed they had everything.
Dean sat next to her on the metal bleachers. She wanted to shoo him away, but that would cause more talk than allowing him to sit beside her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in a soft voice.
"Cooper asked me to come to the game," Dean explained.
Dean turned his attention to the ball game. Reva wished she could do the same. Having him right beside her, so close his arm almost brushed hers, distressed her. Darn his hide, she didn't even have to look at him to be distracted. Just knowing he was there ruined her moment of peace.
Not that Dean did anything to call attention to himself. He didn't ask her to dinner, didn't try to make idle chitchat or mention the break-in or anything else that had happened that night. He shouted encouragement at all the right places, watching Cooper the way Reva usually did.
She could not ignore him; that kind of strength wasn't in her. "You have a nice family," she said, searching for something safe to say.
He snorted.
Even though she was nervous and stirred up and just a little bit inside out, she laughed. "Not a very flattering response."
"You don't know my family all that well. Yeah, they can look normal on first meeting, but trust me, nothing about my family is normal."
"It's nice, though," she said. She'd listened closely to Dean and Clint last night, eavesdropping shamelessly. "To have brothers and a sister and all the family that comes with them, that's really nice. They're all married?"
"Yep. I'm the only holdout."
Reva relaxed a little and leaned back on the metal bleachers. "Don't ever take them for granted. I wish I had a family."
He turned to her. "No brothers or sisters or parents?"
She shook her head. "It's always been just me and Cooper. And we've done just fine," she added quickly. "Not all families are as nice as yours." Her own had certainly never been.
ON DEAN'S WATCH Page 10