A Maverick and a Half

by Marie Ferrarella

  “You a mind reader, hot stuff?” he asked, amused, pretending that the infant’s noise was a commentary on what he’d been thinking. “It was just an observation. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  In response, Sydney made what sounded suspiciously like a cooing noise.

  The sound warmed Anderson and made him sad at the same time. He’d missed experiencing these sorts of small moments with his own son. Missed so much in those ten years that he’d been kept in the dark about Jake’s existence. He couldn’t find it in his heart to forgive Lexie for that.

  He liked to think that he would have made a decent father, if these feelings that he was now experiencing were any sort of indication of what fatherhood would have been like.

  “I won!” Jake called out to him gleefully as he approached with Marina’s daughter. “Did you see me, Dad? I won!”

  “You certainly did,” Marina confirmed with a smile. Turning toward Anderson, she held out her arms. “Give her to me. She’s got to be getting heavy for you.”

  But Anderson deliberately ignored her request. “Catch your breath first,” he told Marina. “This little charmer isn’t heavy at all. I think I can manage holding your daughter for a little while longer.”

  As a matter of fact, he thought, though he kept it to himself, he rather enjoyed it.

  “She does look cute like that,” Marina commented, referring to the pint-size cowboy hat atop her daughter’s head.

  “Can I show Ms. Laramie the big surprise now?” Jake asked excitedly, dancing from foot to foot as he looked at his father.

  “Doesn’t that boy ever tire out?” Marina asked, marveling at his energy.

  “Not to my knowledge. Okay, Jake, bring over the surprise,” he told his son. As the boy ducked into the corral and ran off to the stable just beyond, Anderson turned so that he was facing Marina. He didn’t want his son to hear. “You let him win.”

  Marina looked up at him, an innocent expression on her face. “No, I didn’t.”

  “I’m not much of an expert when it comes to a lot of things,” he told her. “But you were definitely holding back. No point in denying it, Ms. Laramie. I know what I know.”

  “Marina,” she corrected him.

  He looked at her, confused for a moment. And then he realized what she was saying. “Tell you what, you stop calling me Mr. Dalton and I’ll stop calling you Ms. Laramie. Deal?”

  “Deal,” she said, eyeing Sydney. “As long as you give me back my daughter.”

  “You drive a hard bargain, Marina,” he told her, amused. With that, he handed back the infant.

  Just in time for Jake to return and bring over his big surprise.

  The surprise was trotting right behind him on four very sturdy hooves.

  Chapter Ten

  Jake’s surprise turned out to be a beautiful, chestnut-colored mare.

  “This is Fury,” he proudly told his teacher. “She’s my horse and she’s going to give Sydney her very first horseback ride.”

  Marina knew that the boy meant well, but there was no way she was about to allow Sydney to get on the back of that horse.

  She hugged her daughter a little closer as she looked over her shoulder at her host. What was Jake’s father thinking? she silently demanded.

  As if reading her mind, Anderson told her, “Don’t let the name fool you. They don’t come any gentler than Lady Fury, here.” Leaning over the corral fence, he patted the mare’s muzzle.

  Maybe the horse was gentle, but the mare was also very big—and Sydney was very little. “Be that as it may—” Marina began only to have Anderson interrupt her as if she hadn’t said anything.

  “Since Jake seemed to think it was so important for Sydney to experience her very first horseback ride, I thought that I could hold her in my arms while I rode around the inside of the corral on Fury.”

  She supposed that was a way to appease the boy and yet keep Sydney safe.

  Marina looked at the mare, still a little skeptical about the idea. “And you’re sure that she’s gentle?”

  “No question about it,” Anderson assured her. “I give you my word.”

  “Absolutely!” Jake chimed in enthusiastically. “Dad wouldn’t let me ride on any other horse to start with. Fury’s so gentle, she’s almost poky,” the boy told her solemnly.

  She didn’t want to come across as being overprotective—and they were both doing their best to accommodate Sydney.

  “I guess that’s good enough for me,” Marina told them. She turned toward Anderson. “Hold Sydney while I get on the horse.”

  That wasn’t what he’d just proposed. “You?” Anderson asked.

  “Me.” She saw the doubtful look in Anderson’s eyes as he took the baby. “I can ride a horse. Don’t look so surprised. After all, this is Montana. What kind of a Montanan would I be if I didn’t know how to ride?” Holding on to the saddle horn, Marina swung into the saddle, then held her arms out for her daughter. “The baby, please,” she prompted when Anderson made no attempt to hand over Sydney to her.

  After what seemed like a long moment, Anderson surrendered the baby. “I wasn’t going to drop her,” he protested, thinking that might have been the reason Marina didn’t want him to take the baby for a ride.

  “I know. I wasn’t insinuating that you were. I just wanted to be the one to give Sydney her first horseback ride,” Marina told him.

  “I can lead my horse around the corral for you,” Jake volunteered enthusiastically, his eyes shining with excitement.

  Marina was about to tell her student that she wanted to just circle the corral herself, but she saw the eagerness in his eyes and couldn’t find it in her heart to refuse Jake.

  So she didn’t.

  “I’d be honored if you led Fury around the corral for Sydney and me,” she told the boy.

  Jake beamed so hard, she thought his face was seriously in danger of cracking. And then he suddenly turned solemn, as if he was about to take on a huge responsibility.

  “I won’t go too fast,” Jake promised.

  “I have every faith in you,” Marina told the boy as he began to lead Fury around the perimeter of the corral by her bit.

  True to his word, Jake led the mare around slowly—almost too slowly.

  As they passed by Anderson, who was perched on the top rung of the corral, she noticed the amusement on his face.

  “Gentle enough for you, Marina?” he asked.

  “The point is that she’s gentle enough for Sydney,” Marina responded. “And she is.”

  Anderson inclined his head. “That’s all that matters,” he agreed.

  She glanced down at her daughter, who was cooing with delight. Jake seemed to take credit for her enjoyment, and Marina had a feeling that he would have gone on indefinitely if she’d let him. She let Jake enjoy himself for as long as she thought prudent, and then she whistled.

  When he looked at her over his shoulder, she told him, “I think that maybe Sydney’s had enough for her first time, Jake. She’s getting tired.” The little girl had grown quiet and looked as if she’d fall asleep.

  Jake reluctantly nodded his head. “Okay.”

  He led Fury back over to where his father was still sitting on the fence.

  “Had enough?” Anderson asked the taller of Fury’s two passengers.

  “Sydney has. I could go on riding,” Marina confided. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to go out riding.”

  “Maybe we can do something about that,” Anderson said casually as he took the sleepy infant from Marina.

  It sounded as if he was extending an invitation for a return visit, Marina thought, then told herself that she was reading things into his comment. He was probably just being kind, nothing more.

  It really had been a long
time since she’d gotten out, Marina thought. Maybe that was why she was guilty of being a little too eager and of reading things into Anderson’s casual conversation.

  They went back to the house and this time, they had lunch. Anderson had prepared hamburger patties ahead of time.

  “It’s our secret recipe,” Jake confided to her as his father placed several patties on an indoor grill. Within a few minutes, the air was filled with a mouthwatering, tempting aroma.

  “That smells delicious,” Marina told her host, realizing how hungry she was. She’d been too nervous to have any breakfast this morning, she recalled.

  “That’s the general idea,” Anderson replied, taking her comment in stride. “Two burgers enough for you?”

  “Oh, more than enough,” Marina assured him. “I get filled up quickly.”

  Anderson laughed, glancing at his son. “That’s not our problem, is it, Jake?”

  The boy grinned from ear to ear, eyeing the burgers’ progress. “Nope.”

  “For a skinny kid,” Anderson told her, “Jake’s a regular bottomless pit.”

  Marina glanced at the boy. He was thin and wiry, without an ounce of fat on him.

  “A lot of people would kill to be like that,” she told both Anderson and Jake.

  Her host looked to have everything under control. Still, she wanted to pitch in. “Is there anything I can do?” she wanted to know.

  “You can eat,” Anderson told her as he flipped the first batch of hamburgers onto a plate. He set the plate down on the table, putting it next to the buns and a platter of sliced tomatoes and lettuce, and a few condiments.

  “Besides that,” she countered.

  Anderson shook his head. “Can’t think of a thing,” he answered. He arranged a second batch of hamburgers on the grill to replace the first. Glancing at the plates on the table, he gestured at the offering. “Eat!” It was definitely an order.

  Marina made no move to obey. “What about you?”

  “I’ll grab a couple from the next batch,” Anderson promised. When he glanced back at her again, he saw that Marina was breaking apart the first hamburger she’d slipped onto her plate. “Looking for something?” he asked. “I’ve got to warn you, there are no hidden prizes inside the burgers.”

  “I thought the prize was the burger,” she deadpanned.

  He looked over at the infant a little skeptically. Sydney was back in her car seat, which in turn was on a chair beside her mother. “Isn’t she too young for solid food?”

  “Not my kid,” Marina told him. “Sydney’s been eating some solid foods since she was a little old lady of four months.”

  “And she’s all right with it?” he asked, still skeptical. “I mean, there aren’t any ill effects of her eating solid food at such a young age? Or am I just showing my ignorance about what babies can and can’t do?”

  “No ignorance,” Marina told him. “You haven’t been around babies very much, so how would you know?” she asked. “For the record, baby and doctor are both fine with it, as long as the food’s pureed. Do you have a blender around? It’s okay if you don’t. I did bring a couple of jars of pureed fruit with me, but I’m pretty confident that she’d enjoy something different.”

  “Got one right there on the counter,” he pointed out. “It’s a gift from Paige, actually. She likes to mix herself these awful green smoothies when she comes by.”

  Marina got to work and had a small portion ready for her daughter within a few minutes.

  As she carefully fed the baby, Marina took a bite of her own hamburger. She paused, savoring it.

  “Hey, this is very good,” she told Anderson, surprised.

  “Told you,” Jake piped up.

  “Yes, you did,” she agreed, “but most guys like to brag about their dads. That doesn’t always mean what they’re saying is true,” she qualified.

  “I wouldn’t lie to you, Ms. Laramie,” Jake told her with solemnity.

  “And I appreciate that,” Marina assured him, trying to keep a straight face. Her eyes shifted to Anderson again. He had finished making the second batch and was just sitting down at the table opposite her. “These are very, very good.”

  Her compliment pleased him, although his expression remained impassive. “Glad you like them.”

  She took another bite. Maybe it was her imagination, but it tasted even better than the first bite. “What did you put into them?” she marveled.

  Anderson shrugged. “A little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

  She’d been a teacher long enough to know evasiveness when she heard it. “You’re not going to give me your recipe?”

  “Not a chance,” he answered with a laugh. And then he looked at his son. “And you, you’re sworn to secrecy.”

  Jake looked really surprised. “I am?”

  “Yes, you are,” Anderson told him with a straight face. The so-called secret was no big deal, but this was a way to test the boy’s loyalties, he thought. “As of right now.”

  “Oh.” Jake looked as if he was digesting this new piece of information. “I guess that means that Ms. Laramie and Sydney are just going to have to come over again if she wants to have your hamburgers, right, Dad?”

  He was putting his father on the spot, Marina thought. She didn’t want the day to turn awkward, not after they’d all been having such a nice time. She quickly came to Anderson’s rescue.

  “I don’t think you should make your dad feel like he has to invite us back, Jake. It’s up to him to extend the invitation—when he feels like it. Right now, I think he should have a chance to recover from our visit at his own pace.”

  She was trying to get him off the hook, Anderson realized. That made it easier for him to say yes to his son—and himself in the bargain.

  “Well, if you ask me, I think that Jake’s got a very good idea—unless, of course, you and Sydney have a lot of plans for the next few weeks,” he added, not wanting Marina to think he was pressuring her into anything.

  Jake turned his soulful eyes on his teacher and said, “You don’t have any plans for the next few weeks, do you, Ms. Laramie?”

  Marina looked from the son to the father, a smile budding and blooming on her lips. “Well, apparently I do now.”

  “Then you’ll come?” Jake asked excitedly, grinning in total, unabashed glee.

  “Yes.” Her answer was given not just to Jake but to his father, as well. Maybe even foremost.

  “When?” Jake was asking her, his wide blue eyes trained on her.

  She gave him a completely innocent look. “That’s entirely up your dad,” she told him.

  She didn’t have to wonder long, because Anderson spoke up. “How about next Saturday?” he asked.

  “Saturday sounds fine,” she answered, delighted. Sydney made a funny little noise. Marina put her own spin on it. “Saturday’s fine with Sydney, too,” she told the Dalton men.

  “Saturday it is,” Anderson confirmed, allowing himself a very infectious smile.

  * * *

  “Want any more?” Anderson asked her after she had wound up consuming a second burger with as much enthusiasm as she had spent on the first.

  “Only if you want to watch me explode,” Marina protested. “I am really, really full.” She glanced over at her daughter, who was dozing once again in her car seat. “And so is Sydney, from the looks of it.”

  Rising to her feet, Marina began gathering the plates.

  Watching her for a moment, Anderson asked, “What are you doing?”

  It wasn’t exactly a mystery, she thought. Still, she answered politely, “I’m clearing the table.”

  “You don’t have to,” Anderson protested.

  “I know,” she answered matter-of-factly. “But I want to. It’s the least I can do in appreciation for your ho
spitality.” She looked over at Jake. “Want to help clean the plates?”

  Jake jumped to his feet as if he was a jack-in-the-box in training. “Sure,” he responded. The single word throbbed with verve.

  Anderson continued observing her. He couldn’t help admiring the way Marina could get his son to all but trip over himself in an effort to do her bidding.

  She made it all look so effortless, he thought. Of course, the fact that Jake had a crush on her the size of Texas didn’t exactly hurt her cause.

  Still, it wasn’t so much her face—which was damn pretty, he thought—as her personality that motivated his son. He was certain of it. Marina had a way about her that just seemed to pull a guy in, no matter what the age.

  He was going to have to watch that himself, Anderson thought.

  Although, after what he’d been through with Jake’s mother, Lexie, he felt rather confident that when it came to matters that concerned women, he was rather savvy in that department. He wasn’t about to be smitten, or led blindly around because of some sort of a surface attraction. The days of his being a gullible sucker who could be taken in by a pretty face were definitely over.

  He had become a man who was suspicious of everyone and everything. Including sexy fifth-grade teachers.

  * * *

  “We had a wonderful time,” Marina told Anderson later that evening as she stopped at her front door. Anderson was right beside her, his arms full of Sydney’s car seat—and Sydney. Turning around, she smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  The day had turned out to be far more pleasant than he’d anticipated when he’d initially given Jake the go-ahead.

  “It was our pleasure, right, Jake?” He looked at the boy, who was right beside him.

  “Right!” Jake declared with feeling. He looked up at Marina hopefully. “And you are coming next Saturday, like you said, right?”

  Marina solemnly drew a cross over her heart. “I never go back on my word.”

  Anderson noticed that she hadn’t directly answered his son’s question. Looking at the sleeping infant in his arms, he made use of an excuse that had suddenly occurred to him,

  “Jake, Sydney left her hat in the car. Do me a favor and get it for her.”