He frowned, but to her relief, he replaced the book without comment and followed her to the next room. She stopped to twiddle her thumbs… taking the girls through the mall was faster than touring the house with Jake. He was forever getting sidetracked when something unique caught his attention.
She gripped his arm, pulling him into the master bedroom, which was empty except for the velvet drapes, and held her finger to her lips. Silence filled the air.
“Listen.” The faint sound of scuffling feet and muffled voices echoed from the walls.
His eyes followed the sound around the room, a lazy grin capturing her attention. “A hidden passage?”
She nodded. “From here to the library.”
The laughter reached his eyes when it became apparent the voices in the wall belonged to Jeremy and Bruce.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” His soft voice teased her, but the blue eyes sparkled with whatever he had in mind.
She wanted to agree, but… “They said they were sorry.”
“Yeah, right!” His quiet laughter made her feel like the most gullible woman in the world. “Let me know when they’ve pushed your last button.”
She opened the closet door and slid the back wall panel to the left. Out tumbled the boys, knocking her backward when they rushed from the hidden passage, gasping for fresh air. Like a flash, they were gone.
Jake’s arms locked around her, preventing the loss of her dignity and igniting flames she’d thought were long gone. For such a thin man, he was strong and solid, and the longing she saw in his dark, blue eyes took her breath away. Many moons had passed since she’d felt the intensity of that particular look, and while her mind said run, her feet were frozen to the spot.
Neither spoke when his arms pulled her close. The warm hands working their way up her neck sent shock waves of desire so unexpected she gasped. Her eyes fixated on his firm lips, and her arms locked around his waist, not letting go. His long slender fingers stroked her shoulders and neck, igniting fires along her nervous system. Her breath caught in anticipation when his fingers touched her cheek to brush a tendril of hair to the side. He whispered her name and her eyes drifted shut when his lips descended toward her. Somewhere a door slammed, but Charlotte’s brain remained in a deep fog as his warm lips became more demanding. She pressed closer, wanting the kiss to last forever.
“Dad! Where are you?”
Charlotte groaned when Jake broke the kiss and stepped back. Forever was way too short. The eight-year-old skidded to a halt, colliding with her backside, propelling Charlotte into the strong arms she’d just left. To her chagrin, the pleasure was short-lived when the boy pulled his dad from the room.
“You’ve got to see this, Dad! It’s awesome!”
Her hand touched her moist lips as sanity returned. How could she respond so completely to a man she hardly knew when her heart still belonged to Mitch? What scared her even more was she wanted it to happen again.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jake went as far as the edge of the woods where the narrow tracks of an old log road were still there, hidden just beneath several layers of pine straw. Knee high saplings, as thick as grass, smothered one another for room to grow. The only sound was a squirrel chattering overhead, letting him know he was trespassing in their serene world. He couldn’t help but compare the overgrown area with the immaculate front yard. Listening closely he could just make out the sound of running water, probably the creek they’d crossed or maybe the artesian well Charlotte had told him about.
“Come on, Dad.” Bruce tugged impatiently on his arm. “We’ll never get there if you don’t hurry.”
“What’s the rush?”
“Dad!”
“Hold your horses.”
Jake was content with taking in his surroundings, but Bruce wouldn’t give up. “There’s lots of stuff, Dad. She’s got a corral with a wagon, and a tractor, and on the other side of the barn is a real pasture. But the best is down this trail. We found it all by ourselves!”
He didn’t mind the undergrowth of briars and dead limbs on the old trail half as much as the hungry mosquitoes and gnats circling relentlessly, attacking at will. The need for insect repellent was clear, and he knew he’d have to check the kids for ticks when they got home.
“Bruce, do you know where you’re going?”
The boy froze, doing a ninety-degree turn before pointing to his right. “Sure, it’s…”
Everything appeared the same to Jake, and if it was confusing for him, it had to be for the boy. Each step they took stirred the damp leaves and caused more mosquitoes to swarm.
“Over here!” The shout came from somewhere to their left, and he recognized the flash of red up in a tree as being Jeremy’s shirt. Bruce ran ahead, leaving him to follow.
Standing beneath the giant oak tree, a wide grin crossed Jake’s face when his eyes traveled upward. His boys were perched on a platform, a relic from the past. It was probably the only thing remaining of an old tree house.
“Careful,” he said, watching Bruce lean over the edge flashing a hundred-watt grin.
“This is great, huh, Dad?”
Jake circled the tree house, paying close attention to the underside of the floor. He could see why his boys were so excited, as he himself was unable to take his eyes off the construction. It appeared safe, since most of the boards had been recently replaced. The platform rested on the bottom limbs of the tree, suspended by metal cables from the higher branches. Their crisscross pattern allowed the round platform to move independently when the wind blew — sort of like a big donut with a tree in the middle. Bark had grown around the ends of the cables, making them a part of the tree, but other than that, the rusty bolts holding the frame were the only clues it had been designed many years ago by someone with engineering skills. It could be the original structure was as old as the house itself.
His thoughts returned to the master bedroom with its twelve-inch crown molding, where he’d practically thrown Charlotte from his arms. Her soft lips and wounded expression would haunt him for days if he didn’t do something about it.
Jeremy swung out from the far side, holding onto the metal cable. “This is awesome… I can even see Charlotte from up here. Oh man — what a rack!”
Her ample curves flashed before Jake’s eyes as the younger boy stretched his neck to see for himself.
“Wow! I’ll bet it’s a twelve pointer.”
A buck… he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Can we go hunting, Dad?”
Jake flexed his shoulders to ease the crick he’d gotten from looking up too long. He was beginning to see how a man could succumb to a place like this, especially if he’d been raised here and knew every nook and cranny.
“It doesn’t belong to us, son.”
Bruce’s feet dangled overhead. “This place is totally awesome. I’ll bet you could buy it real cheap, and we could go hunt’n and fish’n all the time.”
“Real cheap, huh?”
“Yeah, or maybe we could all live here and…”
“Hold it!” he said, putting an end to the boy’s plans before they had a chance to go haywire. “To start with, Charlotte can’t sell it cheap… she owes too much. And as for us all living together, we won’t even discuss it. Okay?”
Bruce swung his feet, tilting his head to the side. “Don’t you like Charlotte?”
It caught him off guard, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know where it was going. “Of course, I like her. She’s nice.”
“I know. You were kissing her, and I bet you want to do it again, too.”
Tension mounted in his shoulders and neck. At least he knew what the boy had seen wasn’t x-rated. Next time he’d make sure they had some privacy.
“She’s our neighbor,” he said in hopes of explaining his way out of it. “I was just being neighborly.”
Bruce’s feet swung back and forth, stirring the warm fall air. “You don’t kiss our other neighbors ‘cause they’re
old prunes, but Charlotte’s hot. I’ll bet she even likes kiss’n.”
“Get down, both of you.” He hadn’t meant to be so gruff. Lord, give me patience. If he could just manage to hang on and not let Bruce know he’d hit a touchy spot, then he might have a chance to win Charlotte over before the little rascals could run her off.
Bruce landed with a thump in the leaves near Jake’s feet, but Jeremy flipped over the ledge, powering his way through seven chin-ups before touching the ground. The boy was gaining upper body strength now that he’d started lifting weights in gym class. It was another of the many reminders Jeremy was now in his teens. Where had the time gone?
Lost in thought, he didn’t realize Charlotte was anywhere around until he heard a low whistle. Her eyes were focused on his legs, or rather on the bloody welts and scratches making them look like he’d been in a cat fight.
“What happened to you?”
“Me?”
Her lips twitched. “Looks like you found the old trail.”
“Old trail?”
She motioned toward the way she’d come. “This is the new path. We keep it clean with the lawnmower.”
“Wipe the smirk off your face.” A dozen or so mosquito bites on his legs were already dealing him misery. The path was in plain sight, but he’d been so fascinated with the tree house, he hadn’t even noticed.
Charlotte laughed out loud before walking off, leaving him scratching behind his knee like a dog digging for fleas. By the time he caught up, she’d already made it halfway to the barn.
“I promised to show Bruce my fishing hole,” she said. “But it’s getting late.”
Jake fell into step beside her. “I’m in no hurry if you’re not.”
She glanced at her watch as if she had somewhere she had to be. Did she have a date? He thought about the kiss, not liking the idea of her responding to another man. “About what happened back at the house…”
“It won’t happen again.”
His brow shot up in surprise. “What makes you so sure?”
She waited for the boys to pass. “I’ve got more than enough problems without getting involved.”
“Who said anything about getting involved?”
Charlotte’s head snapped up. “I’ve never been a one-night stand, and I’m not about to start now!”
The glare alone was enough for him to know he was skating on thin ice, but the razored edge to her voice was a real eye-opener. After all this time, he’d finally met a woman who didn’t play silly games.
“So you want to get married again?”
“No.”
Jake could see his options dwindling away. All that remained was the Good Neighbor Award, and he’d never been one to settle.
She reached a clearing not far from the backside of the corral fence and pressed two slender fingers against her lower lip. A shrill whistle reverberated throughout the woods. The ear-splitting noise was by far the most unladylike thing he’d ever heard, and certainly something he’d never imagined he would hear coming from a graceful creature like Charlotte.
“What?” she asked, seeing him shake his head in disbelief.
“Nothing.”
“You got a better way of getting their attention?”
The response from his boys was instantaneous, with Maggie gingerly pulling a dead briar limb from the hem of her blouse. The kids circled Charlotte as if she was a stick of candy, each wanting their share of attention.
He was the only one to notice when Becky arrived with her arms locked around the toddler riding on her hip. Winking at the girl, he lifted Andy onto his shoulders.
A little seed of doubt popped into his mind as he listened to the kids talking with Charlotte. They seemed to be bonding, and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing. He’d hate to see little hearts get broken.
His boys took to the idea of the creek with the same wild enthusiasm they’d shown for the tree house. It was a kid’s dream come true to run free on a place like this, and after seeing it for himself, he had a better understanding of why Mitch had been willing to move heaven and earth to keep it.
Becky ran ahead, ducking into the barn and returning with an old garden hoe for her mother. Then they were off in a single line with Jake and Andy bringing up the rear.
“What’s the hoe for?” He raised his voice to be heard.
Charlotte lifted her weapon. “Protection. You never know when a moccasin might appear.”
“No self-respecting snake would mess with us. We’re making too much racket.”
Instead of crossing the yard, she took another cleared path in the trees. It wound through a grove of red maples and poplars, back to the edge of the pasture fence, and then dipped deeper into the woods. Maggie’s hard cast brushed against his leg when she dropped back to hold his hand.
“Are we there yet?”
The small palm was as moist as the ringlets curling on her damp forehead. “Tired?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, wiping sweat away in a dramatic gesture with her free hand. “It’s a long way to the creek, and me and Becky always get tired.”
“Becky and I,” he corrected.
Maggie frowned. “Are you tired, too?”
“Never mind.”
Charlotte raised the hoe like a banner. “Look alert, kids. We’re almost there.”
Jake was certain they’d been walking in circles when she stopped at a large, familiar rock and pushed back the limbs of a wild evergreen shrub. The only thing separating them from the water was a thicket of mountain laurels and some underbrush. With shrieks of delight, the kids raced to the creek bank where they stopped long enough to remove shoes before jumping into the ankle-deep water. Pea gravel and sand lined the bottom, making an ideal play area for the little ones, and Jake didn’t think twice before turning Andy loose. After soaking the girls, Bruce and Jeremy waded upstream to explore the larger rocks around the next bend.
“This is nice.” He sat beside her on a thick patch of moss where she was taking in the golden rays of sun filtering through the overhead canopy of leaves. “But why did we take such a long hike to get here when the house is just up the hill?”
She nodded toward her girls splashing and rolling around in the water with Andy. “Do you think I could have kept them out of the creek if they’d known how close it was?”
“I see your point.”
They sat in silence, watching their children play. It was peaceful. He liked this woman, and it was more than just her looks. He felt a harmonious accord with her as well as with this place. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she looked away, as if taking in one last panoramic view of her surroundings.
“Mitch and I used to bring the girls here when they were small. I’m going to miss this place more than I’ll ever miss the house.”
There was nothing he could say to ease her pain, so he lay back and closed his eyes. The relaxing sound of running water was drowned by squeals and giggles. His boys laughed, but Charlotte’s girls giggled — constantly. Soon he was dozing, knowing they’d scream if they got into trouble. An occasional splash of cold water landed on his face, reminding him of where he was.
Charlotte nudged him awake with her elbow. “Look, coming down the creek.”
Jake sat up, propping his arm behind her. The wind caught her hair, lifting it gently toward him until he could smell the sweet perfume of her shampoo. It was a short-lived moment as the soft breeze moved on, stirring the wild ferns along the far side of the creek.
He blinked, coming fully awake to see her pointing. Wide grins covered the faces of his older boys when they came wandering into view. Their clothes were plastered to their skin with mud and grass stains, a tribute to the fun they’d had. It was getting late, and someone had to be the bad guy.
“It’s time to go.”
“But, Dad!”
“You heard me.”
“But we ain’t found Charlotte’s fish’n hole yet,” Bruce said, skimming a rock downstream. “There’s no fish here, just a bunch
of minnows.”
She glanced at her watch. “I’m afraid we’ve spent more time exploring than I’d planned. It’s after four, and my fishing hole is actually Mr. Drenfield’s pond. If we followed the trail, it’d take a good hour to walk there and back.”
“But you promised.”
“I said if we had time. What part of the afternoon would you have skipped? The tree house? The trails? Or maybe the creek?”
The boy seemed to consider her question before tossing the last of his rocks on the ground in grudging defeat. His shoulders shrugged. “Guess it’s okay. We don’t have our fish’n poles no how.”
“I’m impressed.” Jake grinned at Charlotte’s blank expression. “He gave in with just one little sulk. Next time you can be the bad guy.”
A few minutes later, they’d hiked along the same pathway up to the yard at the back of the house. The children were barefooted, and he and Charlotte had somehow managed to carry all the shoes.
“This was a good idea,” he said, leaning the hoe against the porch. “My boys haven’t had this much fun in ages.”
“Nor my girls.”
“What do we do about Maggie’s cast?” He watched her sling the heavy plaster from side to side. “It’s bound to be soaked.”
She stacked her load of shoes with his. “Not to worry, we’re going to see Mark tonight.”
“You have a date?”
Her expression gave nothing away when she unlocked the door. “Mark’s my brother-in-law and the kid’s pediatrician. If you must know, I haven’t had a real date in a long time, but I do have a specific time I have to meet him.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
Her nose wrinkled. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t like competition.”
She shook her head. “You never stop trying, do you?”
“Not when it’s something I want.” He walked on, letting her come to her own conclusion.
****
The sun glistened off the glass greenhouse located near the back porch. Jake’s boys ran through the entrance, plundering in the potting materials and grabbing hand tools for a sword fight. Charlotte followed, relieving the boys of their weapons. She soon had everyone focused by pointing to which plants she intended to keep. Jeremy’s legs staggered beneath the weight of a large, healthy plant.
Hidden Hills Page 10