The More Mavericks, the Merrier!

by Brenda Harlen

  But maybe he hadn’t been as successful at hiding his thoughts as he’d hoped, or maybe Fallon just knew him too well, because she touched his arm. It was simply a gesture of support, but the sight of her hand on his arm made him crave her touch on other parts of his body. He wanted those fingers gliding over his skin, her nails biting into his flesh as he—

  Whoa! Not going there. Not with Fallon. No way.

  “It’s not easy for her, either,” she said gently, drawing his attention back to the issue of his sister’s wedding. “As excited as Bella is about starting a life with the man she loves, she’s going to be thinking of all the people who won’t be there on her wedding day.”

  He nodded. “I’m going to walk her down the aisle, but I’m not giving her away. Aside from it being an archaic tradition, it just doesn’t feel right, so we’re going to ask the minister to skip that part.”

  “She’d probably be happy to skip all of the parts that come before ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife,’” Fallon said, in what he recognized as a deliberate attempt to lighten the mood.

  “Because she knows I wouldn’t approve of her moving in with Hudson until he’s put the second ring on her finger.”

  “And you know she wouldn’t just abandon you and the babies,” she pointed out.

  He nodded. “She’s already put her life on hold long enough to help us out. And while I sometimes think I should have insisted that she stay at school to get her diploma, there’s no way I would have managed this past year without her.”

  “She’ll go back and finish,” Fallon assured him.

  “Even if she doesn’t, she’s got Hudson to take care of her now.”

  Fallon shook her head despairingly. “It’s not his responsibility to take care of her,” she chided. “When a man and a woman decide to join their lives together, they take care of each other.”

  She was right, of course. If he let himself think about his parents—which he rarely did—he knew that they’d enjoyed a mutually loving and supportive relationship. But his own experience with marriage had been very different.

  At first, it hadn’t been so bad. Paula had kept up the house and prepared the meals while he’d handled all of the ranch chores. And he was okay with that, because she was a city girl adjusting to life in Rust Creek Falls. But even that tentative arrangement had fallen apart after the two lines had appeared in the little window of the pregnancy test.

  And when his wife had learned that she was carrying three babies, it had been the end of any cooperation or even communication between them. There had been no give-and-take with Paula after that—just a whole lot of unhappiness and anger.

  Something beeped in the kitchen, and Fallon pushed herself up off the floor. “Are you still hungry?” she asked.

  “Does today end with a y?” Jamie asked her.

  She smiled at that. “Give me ten minutes to finish up the gravy.”

  He watched her walk out of the room, his gaze focused on the sexy curve of her butt and the gentle sway of her hips. Of course, when he realized what he was doing—ogling his best friend—he was appalled. But that brief glimpse of her mostly bare torso in the laundry room had reminded him of a simple fact that he’d denied for too long: Fallon O’Reilly wasn’t a girl anymore.

  Yes, she was his loyal friend and a dedicated caregiver to his babies, but she was also an attractive and appealing woman. Very attractive and incredibly appealing. And the acknowledgment of those simple facts made him a little uneasy, because he had no business thinking of her in those terms.

  “Fa!” Henry demanded. “Fa-fa!”

  Jamie saw that his son had made his way to the other side of the play yard and was looking toward the doorway through which Fallon had disappeared. All of his kids loved Fallon, but he’d recently begun to suspect that Henry had a little bit of a crush on his second-favorite caregiver—“Auntie Bella” being the favorite of all of them, of course, by simple virtue of the fact that she spent the most time with them.

  “Fallon’s making dinner for us,” he told his son. “Are you hungry?”

  “Fa-fa!” Henry said again.

  “Fa-fa!” Jared echoed.

  Jamie sighed. “What about you?” he asked Katie. “Are you going to join in?”

  His baby girl looked up at him with big blue eyes. “Da-da!”

  And the sweet sound made his lips curve and his heart swell. “That’s my girl,” he said, lifting her out of the play yard and into his arms.

  Jared’s little brow furrowed as he looked up at his sister, outside of the enclosure. He rocked the top rail, shaking the wall. “Da-da!”

  “You think that’s a get-out-of-jail card now, don’t you?”

  “Da-da!” Jared said again.

  “Fa-fa!” Henry continued.

  Chuckling, Jamie unlatched the gate so the boys could escape. Though all of the babies were now able to stand while holding on to something and had even begun to cruise around the furniture, none had yet attempted to take any unsupported steps. As he opened the gate, Henry and Jared dropped to their hands and knees and crawled out of the play yard and headed toward the kitchen.

  Fallon was spooning the vegetables into a serving bowl when he walked through the doorway with Katie still in his arms. Henry’s and Jared’s palms slapped against the tile floor as they hurried to keep up with his pace.

  “Perfect timing,” she said, as she set the bowl on the table beside a platter of meat. The promised gravy had already been poured into a pitcher and there was a basket of warm dinner rolls, too.

  Jamie buckled the kids into their high chairs and washed their hands while Fallon finished cutting up their meat and vegetables into bite-sized pieces. As he sat down across from her at the table, he realized that he was glad she was there. He’d invited her to stay because it seemed like the polite thing to do, but he was sincerely pleased that she’d agreed. Not just because he appreciated an extra set of hands to help with HJK, but because it was nice to have someone to talk to at the end of the day. A friend, he reminded himself firmly.

  For a long time, it had been just him and his sister—and the three babies, of course, but they didn’t yet add much to a dinner conversation. He was happy for Bella, that she’d met Hudson and fallen in love. And even if—according to Fallon—it wasn’t Hudson’s job to take care of Bella, Jamie knew that he would. Just as he knew that Bella would take care of Hudson, too.

  If he had any concerns, they weren’t about the upcoming nuptials but the practicalities of managing the triplets every day without his sister living under the same roof. He knew that she would continue to help in any way that she could, but he didn’t want her to. She needed to focus on her own life, her own future, and her own happiness. The successful management and operation of the baby chain had allowed him to become complacent, but it was time for him to stop dragging his heels and make other arrangements for the care of his children.

  But for now, he had different concerns. “So when do you want to get the tree?” he asked, as he sliced into a piece of roast beef. “Saturday?”

  Fallon shook her head. “I promised to go wedding dress shopping with Bella on Saturday.”

  “They just got engaged. I didn’t think she’d be rushing into that already,” he commented.

  “They’re planning a June wedding,” she reminded him. “And that’s only six months away.”

  “Still, dress shopping won’t take all day, will it?”

  “A woman’s wedding day is one of the most important days of her life,” she pointed out to him. “And considering that all of the attention is on the bride and what she’s wearing, I’m not going to rush your sister into making a decision.”

  “Okay, so Saturday’s out,” he conceded. “How about Sunday?”

  “Attendance at my parents’ house for Sunday dinner is mandato
ry, but I could maybe come by in the afternoon,” she suggested.

  “That sounds good,” he agreed. “Plus it gives me a few days to haul the decorations down from the attic.”

  “You haven’t said anything about the other items on my list,” she noted.

  He speared a chunk of potato with his fork. “Isn’t it enough that I’m agreeing to put up a tree?”

  Fallon shook her head despairingly as she chewed on a carrot. “Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?”

  “Bella’s picked up a few things for me to give to the kids.”

  “What about S-A-N-T-A?”

  He lifted his glass to his mouth to hide his smile. “Santa?”

  She scowled at him as she jerked her head toward the trio of high chairs, where Henry, Jared and Katie were intently focused on shoving food into their mouths and not paying the least bit of attention to the adults’ conversation.

  “Maybe you should clarify what you’re asking,” he suggested.

  “I’m asking you who’s going to help Saint Nicholas with his shopping,” she told him.

  “I’ll figure it out.” He slid another piece of the tender meat between his lips.

  Of course, Fallon wasn’t satisfied with that vague response. “When?” she pressed.

  He shook his head. “You’re relentless, aren’t you?”

  “I know a lot of guys take pride in doing all of their shopping on Christmas Eve, but you can’t do that when you have kids,” she told him.

  “Maybe not in a few years,” he acknowledged. “But right now, they don’t even know what Christmas is. Whatever Santa brings, they’ll probably be more interested in the boxes than the toys.”

  Before she could dispute his point, the back door was flung open and Bella stomped in, kicking snow off of her boots. “It’s really coming down out there,” she said, as she pulled a knit hat off of her head and unfastened her coat.

  Fallon turned to look out the window, her eyes widening as she noticed the thick, fluffy flakes illuminated by the porch lights. “When did the snow start?”

  “About half an hour ago,” Bella said, hanging her coat on an empty hook. Having taken off her boots, she now stuffed her feet inside a pair of fuzzy slippers. “A couple of inches have fallen already and we’re supposed to get another eight to ten before morning.”

  “That’s my cue to be heading home,” Fallon decided, pushing away from the table.

  “Do you want me to give you a lift?” Jamie offered.

  She rolled her eyes as she dropped quick kisses on top of each of the babies’ heads. “I’ve been driving in Montana for as long as I’ve been driving,” she reminded him. “I’m not afraid of a little snow.”

  “Eight to ten inches is more than a little snow,” he pointed out.

  “Which is why I’m heading out now.” She reached for her coat and turned to Bella, “Let me know what time you want to leave Saturday morning.”

  His sister nodded. “I will.”

  “And I’ll see you guys Sunday,” she said to Jamie, encompassing the triplets with her remark and adding a wave for their benefit.

  Henry lifted a hand, covered with the remnants of smushed potato and gravy, and waved back.

  “Bu-bu-bu,” Katie said, which was one of her favorite sounds and used to mean “bye-bye,” “bottle,” “ball” and “Bella.”

  “What’s Sunday?” Bella asked, when Fallon had gone.

  “We’re going to get the Christmas tree on Sunday,” Jamie told her.

  His sister held a washcloth under the faucet, then wrung it out and wiped the triplets’ hands and faces. “I thought you were planning to do that today.”

  “Plans changed.”

  Bella cleared away the babies’ plates, then filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil. “So what did I miss?”

  Jamie mopped up the leftover gravy on his plate with a piece of roll. “Roast beef.”

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t talking about that.”

  “What were you talking about?”

  “I got the impression that I walked into the middle of something.”

  “Just dinner,” he told her.

  “Hmm,” she said, clearly unconvinced.

  “Did you eat?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Hudson and I grabbed a bite at the Ace.”

  He frowned at that. “You know I don’t like you hanging out there.”

  “I wasn’t hanging out,” she chided. “I was having a meal in the company of my fiancé on a Thursday night. And you’re changing the subject.”

  “What subject?” he asked.

  “Fallon.”

  He carried his empty plate and cutlery to the dishwasher. “I didn’t realize she was a subject.”

  “Neither did I, but there was a definite vibe between the two of you when I walked in,” she told him.

  “What kind of vibe?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” she admitted.

  “Well, while you’re doing that, I’m going to get HJK washed up and ready for bed,” he said, and made his escape before his sister asked more questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.

  As he led the babies toward the stairs—because it was a lot easier to let them crawl than attempt to carry all of them—he wondered if she’d actually picked up on some kind of “vibe” between him and Fallon or was just toying with him.

  Since Bella had accepted Hudson’s proposal, she’d suddenly decided that he needed to find someone to share his life, too. More important, she believed that his children needed a mother. Jamie knew that she didn’t mean to be insensitive—that she genuinely wanted what was best for his family. He also suspected that she knew more about the issues behind the scenes in his marriage than he’d ever admitted to her.

  But he wasn’t looking for anyone to share his life. In fact, as much as he appreciated the baby chain, he sometimes resented the presence of other people in his home and taking care of his children. Which was completely unreasonable, of course, but true nonetheless.

  And yet, when he had the opportunity to share a meal alone with his children, he’d invited Fallon to stay. But Fallon wasn’t just a link in the baby chain. She was one of his best friends.

  And now he’d seen her half-naked.

  He hadn’t been joking when he’d told her that he didn’t know if he could forget seeing her topless in the laundry room. The tantalizing image seemed to be indelibly imprinted on his memory.

  After the triplets were settled into their respective cribs and sleeping soundly, he spent some time in the main floor office paying bills and ordering supplies. He loved being a rancher—he didn’t love the financial instability that came with the title. And he didn’t love being dependent on other people to take care of his babies while he was busy with the numerous tasks required to keep the ranch running.

  He wouldn’t have made it through this past year without the baby chain, and especially without his sister. And while putting the triplets into day care would ease his reliance on community help, it wouldn’t affect his daily routine very much—if at all. He would still be the one who fed them their dinner—even if the meals would likely be prepared by volunteers—bathe them and put them to bed.

  But he knew the whole dynamic in the house would change when Bella married Hudson. And Jamie suspected it might not be too long after that before they’d want to start their own family. His sister deserved to be a mother to her own children, but he knew that her absence would leave an enormous hole in his life and the lives of his children.

  Maybe he should think about finding a new mother for his children, but aside from the fact that he had no energy to get dressed up and go out when he finally finished his chores at the end of the day, he had less than zero interest in datin
g. Even if he had the time, he didn’t know that he was willing to put himself out there again.

  He’d made a major error in judgment with Paula. On his own for the first time, away from Rust Creek Falls and the rules and responsibilities that had been such an integral part of his life, he’d relished the freedom. And when he’d met Paula, he’d been blinded by her beauty and seduced by her charm.

  They’d been together for almost three years and heading toward graduation when he asked her to marry him. They were both young, maybe too young to be thinking about lifetime commitments, but the alternative—going their separate ways—had been unthinkable to him.

  His sister hadn’t been thrilled when he’d told her about his imminent wedding plans. He’d thought Bella was just feeling out of sorts, or was still mad at him for going away to school and abandoning her in the care of their cold grandparents. Whatever her motivation, she’d warned him that Paula wouldn’t enjoy ranch life. In fact, she’d questioned whether the Seattle native would be able to stick it out through a single Montana winter.

  He should have listened to his sister. Because although Paula had endured three long and frigid winters, she hadn’t been happy in Rust Creek Falls. She didn’t like the weather or the isolation or even, by the end, the man she’d married.

  If Jamie ever did decide to marry again—or even start dating again—he would choose a local girl. Someone who knew what it meant to live on a ranch, someone who loved the land—and especially someone who loved his children.

  Someone like Fallon.

  He shook his head, as if that might dislodge the thought from his mind. Fallon O’Reilly might be the perfect woman for him in a lot of ways, but she was also completely wrong for just one reason: she was his best friend. And that was a line he wasn’t going to cross. Ever. No matter how much he was tempted by the image of her in white lace.