“I do the best I can,” she whispered. “It’s all I can afford.”
“I know, sweetheart.” Chad knelt down at her feet, cupping her face with the utmost care. His blue eyes searched hers, his warmth so close she wanted to dive in and wrap herself in it.
Then, he kissed her.
Not with the pawing onslaught she had experienced from other men, but with a warm gentle mouth that sampled and rubbed and caused a flood of sweetness to seep into her heart. Then he changed the angle of the kiss, his tongue tracing the outline of her lips. When she opened her mouth, she expected him to sweep in like a conquering warrior, but his tongue grazed hers, never taking more than she gave. A molten heat spiked over her skin making her ache for a closer contact. Before she could talk herself into it or out of it, he lightened the kiss and then broke away.
She touched his face. The bandages on her hands created a barrier between them and brought her back to reality. Chad’s fingers gripped her chin and forced her eyes to his.
A loud grinding noise from outside made them both jump.
“I think Mr. Pearson started his lawn mower.” Robin expelled a breath, relieved that it wasn’t anything more serious.
“Let’s get out of here before my truck disappears from the driveway.” Chad’s expression was grim.
She managed a brief smile. “I can’t open the drawers.”
Chad made quick work of packing. He poured the contents of the dresser into pillow slips, cleared the closet rod with a single sweep of his hand, toiletries went into a second pillow slip. A cardboard box from the back porch got stuffed with the girls’ books and toys.
Chad made two quick trips to load the truck.
She wanted to help, but all she could do was sit and watch. Back in the house, he filled a glass with water and dumped the contents of the pharmacy sack. Twisting off the cap on one of the bottles, he dumped a pill out into his hand. “Open wide.”
She complied, too tired to be anything but obedient.
He stuffed a pain pill between her lips and held the glass so she could drink the water. It dawned on her then just how helpless she was going to be for the next few days.
“Come on.” He helped her stand, his hand under her elbow. “Let’s go home.”
Home. If only that were true.
Mile after mile down the winding country road Chad studied Robin’s sleeping face. He didn’t like the fear he’d seen in her eyes when she heard the noise outside her house nor the burning in his gut. He reached for his cell phone and dialed his brother’s number, needing to talk to someone.
“Applegate.”
Chad smiled slightly at the deep tenor of his brother’s voice.
“Applegate here, too. You at work?”
“Yep, but I’m between calls, so I’ve got a few. What’s up?”
Chad explained Robin’s situation to Tom and told him where she lived. He glanced at her while he talked, intrigued by her smooth, creamy skin.
His brother’s response was what he expected.
“Tell me you at least took your shot gun with you.”
“Nope. Locked up tight since the girls have been at the house.”
Tom groaned. “We had a drug bust half a mile from her house just a few nights ago.”
“Great.” Chad gripped the steering wheel, wanting to punch something. He’d been afraid it was that bad, but had hoped it wouldn’t be. Now he knew for sure.
“Can she find somewhere else to live?”
Tom’s question strengthened Chad’s resolve to convince her to move.
“It’s all she can afford and believe me, this woman is as stubborn as they come when it has to do with supporting herself, being independent and paying her debts. But, I can’t stand the thought of her and those two little girls going into that neighborhood every single day. It scares me to death and I know it scares her, she just won’t admit it.”
“You have plenty of room.”
Chad glanced at Robin. Even though she was still asleep, he lowered his voice even more. “Yeah, but talking her into that will be like asking the sun not to come up. She’s not very trusting. Yet.”
“You’ll think of something.” Tom’s radio squawked and then was turned down. “I’ll be out on Saturday to give a hand at the market.”
“Appreciate that. Meg’s working too.” Chad slowed to maneuver around debris in the road.
“I’ll be there by eight.”
Chad agreed and hung up. Robin had already sorted through the contents of two bedrooms. They were still cluttered with possessions. With help, though, it wouldn’t take long to finish and clean. Then, all he had to do was convince her to move to his house so she and the girls would be on safe ground. Nothing to it.
Yeah, and the Great Pumpkin lived in his pumpkin patch, too.
The girls stood in the driveway, waiting for him to park the truck. His grandmother sat in a wicker chair on the porch. The girls’ anxious faces tore at him. Robin didn’t even move as he slowed and parked. Placing his finger over his lips, he convinced Boo and Lindy to be real quiet.
He slipped out of the truck and squatted to their level, pulling them into a tight, reassuring hug. “She’s okay. She’s just asleep, all worn out.”
“You sure?” Boo worried her lip.
“Positive. We stopped at your house and brought some of your stuff. You’re going to be staying here.” Permanently.
“Really?” Boo’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Yep.”
Chad studied Lindy’s face as she stayed silent. “Is that okay with you, Lindy?”
“Yep, only we never meant for Mommy to get hurt.”
“Honey, Mommy had a little accident with a mirror. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Okay?”
The confusion stayed on her face as if his explanation didn’t jive with her fears, but she finally nodded her head and hugged him tighter. “Can we go kiss her booboos now?” Boo squirmed in his grasp.
“Let’s get her to bed first. Why don’t you two go into my room and turn the covers back on my big bed? We’ll let your mom sleep there.”
Boo’s face brightened. “Are you going to sleep with her?”
The question sent a sharp need through him, reminding him of their kiss and all his erotic dreams. He stifled the feelings, then cleared his throat. “I’m going to take care of her. She’s going to have a hard time doing things with the bandages on her hands ’cause she cut herself right here.”
Chad released the girls and used his hands to show where Robin had her cuts. “But the doctor fixed them. We’re going to have to be big helpers for a few days. Run in the house now and turn back the bed so we can get Mommy settled.”
Two solemn faces nodded and raced off to do his bidding. The door slammed behind them.
Chad gave his grandmother a quick hug. “Thanks.”
“How bad?” His grandmother’s don’t-lie-to-me penetrating gaze sucked the truth right out of him. “Twelve stitches in one hand, eighteen in the other. Clean slices, but no tendons were cut. I convinced her to stay here for a few days. They’ve got her bandaged up like a mummy and Doc says she’s not to do anything for awhile. He wants her back in his office on Wednesday.”
Chad went to the passenger door as he talked. He opened the door quietly and released Robin’s seatbelt. When he lifted her into his arms, she mumbled something, but never opened her eyes. Her head settled against his shoulder, her warm breath caressing his neck. He could have stayed like that forever, but his grandmother opened the back door and waited patiently for him to move through, a knowing look on her face.
He ignored the satisfaction in her eyes. So he was crazy about Robin and it showed. He’d be damned if he could find a reason to care who knew it.
Boo and Lindy were struggling to get the covers down when he entered the room. Laying Robin gently on the bed, he slipped off her tennis shoes.
Signaling the girls to his side, he showed them their mommy’s hands and then lifted each girl to kiss
her cheek.
“Let’s let her sleep now.”
“Okay.”
“We love you, Mommy. Sleep tight.” The girls gripped Chad’s hands for reassurance.
He bent and gave them a hug. “Come on. Let’s go find Grandma.”
They found Olivia in the kitchen putting together a simple dinner of sandwiches and potato salad. They sat at the table and started eating.
“Okay, what did you two do all afternoon?” Chad watched Lindy eat the edge off her sandwich first while Boo chewed out the soft middle.
“We helped Grandma clean up the mess from the mirror. I got to hold the garbage bag and Lindy held the dust pan.”
He grinned at his grandmother. She shrugged, obviously liking the fact that the girls had adopted her.
“Then we played Chutes and Ladders and watched Cinderella. The Disney one.”
“My personal favorite.” Chad studied Lindy’s serious expression.
“Is Mom breaking the mirror sorta like me breaking your clock?” Lindy pinned him with her gaze.
Chad sighed. “Yes. It was an accident. It tipped over and your mom tried to catch it.”
“And she’s bad hurt?”
“She’s going to be just fine. But she’ll be stiff and sore for a few days and the doctor told her not to do much of anything. We’ll have to make sure she lies around and takes it easy.”
Lindy’s eyes filled with tears.
“What is it, honey?” Chad lightly rubbed Lindy’s arm.
“Can’t we stay here forever?” Her voice quivered.
“Don’t you like where you live?” Chad watched her face.
“No. It scares me.” She looked down at the table, toying with her sandwich.
“Me, too.” Boo dropped her crust back on her plate. “People knock on the door sometimes and Mommy locks us in the bathroom.”
“What does she do when you’re locked in the bathroom?” Chad watched Boo’s face. Her solemn expression kicked him in the gut.
“She stands at the door with the baseball bat.”
His grandmother smothered a gasp.
Chad gritted his teeth. Boo’s statement only confirmed his suspicions.
Boo took a drink of milk. “She says we’re gonna move, but sometimes Mommy cries. It’s icky.”
“Well, that’s something your mom and I will talk about, okay? Because it’s up to her.”
“But you could make her say yes. Let us stay here. I know you could.” Lindy’s small fingers gripped his arm.
“It’s not a matter of talking her into it, honey.”
It sure as hell was.
“She has to think about what would be best for all of you. But I promise I’ll discuss it with her.”
“You discuss it good, ’kay?” Lindy’s pleading twisted inside him.
Looking at his grandmother, he could tell she agreed with Lindy by the set of her face.
Olivia rose. “I’ve got to be getting home. Call me if you need anything, dear.”
She bustled to the door, picking up her purse and keys. He walked her to her car.
“Those children need to be here.” She stopped in the driveway. “Their mother needs to be here. With you.”
“Enough said, Grandma. I’m working on it.”
“Good. Don’t let go of this one. ’kay?”
Chad smiled at his grandmother’s imitation of the twins. “I’ll try.”
“Don’t try. Do.”
The evening turned chilly as soon as the sun set. The outside lights came on, casting a yellowish glow over the yard. Chad walked onto the porch and checked across the property to the shed. Bessie was tucked in for the night along with her puppies. As soon as they were old enough to be adopted, he’d have to put up a sign in town and at the market.
Grimacing in anticipation of the argument that would cause with the girls, he went inside and shut the door against the darkness. He washed the dishes left from the quick sandwich he’d fixed Robin and turned out the kitchen lights.
As he entered his room, Lindy and Boo looked up at him from their picture book. “Shh. She’s sleeping.” Boo put a finger over her lips.
“I can see that, Bunny Nose,” he whispered.
He moved the plate from the bed.
“I fed Mommy her potato salad.” Lindy grinned at him.
“Good. That’s exactly how we have to take care of her.” He gently touched Robin’s forehead, telling himself he was checking her for a fever. Truth was he couldn’t help assuring himself she was here and in his bed. He was as bad as the girls. Tucking the covers more securely around her, he helped the twins slide off the bed and set their picture book on the nightstand.
“Let’s get you two into a bathtub.”
“Do you know about giving baths, Mr. Chad?” Lindy whispered.
“Is there something special I ought to know?”
He’d bathed his nephews and niece, so two girls shouldn’t be too hard.
“Yes.” Lindy closed the book and slid off the bed at Chad’s beckoning.
“You gotta check the water so it isn’t too hot.” Boo walked to the bathroom, watching him to make sure he followed.
“And we gotta keep our eyes shut tight when you shampoo our hair.” Lindy went around him.
Grabbing his hands, they pulled him into the bathroom and shut the door.
Bath time was a real eye opener. First, Boo hadn’t been kidding. She was extremely picky about the temperature of the water. Not too hot. Not too cold. Secondly, washing their hair without getting soap in their eyes was harder than getting a pumpkin to grow during a drought. Boo tolerated his inexperience better than Lindy who kept giving him unwanted advice and ended up with soap in her mouth. They liked their towels warmed in the dryer before being wrapped in them. And brushing teeth, combing wet hair and getting pajamas on right side out was an exercise in serious patience. He was exhausted by the time they finished and was almost as wet as the girls.
An hour later, he’d changed clothes and held two freshly bathed girls wearing flowered nighties in his lap. With a pile of books stacked next to him, Chad began to read. Chad figured they’d be asleep before they were part way through the stack. The leather recliner barely held the three of them, but they squeezed in. Chad picked up the first book, But No Elephants, and began to read.
The girls giggled as they followed the story and snuggled closer. By the fifth book, their eyes started to droop. He heaved a deep sigh and kept a quiet rhythm in his tone while he began the last book, Green Eggs and Ham. Their eyelids finally sagged shut. By the final words, they were asleep. Chad laid the book aside and closed his eyes.
This was what evenings were meant for. Children in his lap and a beautiful woman in his bed. The only thing better would be if he was in that bed with her, soothing her aches, holding her close. Shutting off those thoughts, Chad clumsily levered himself out of the chair, leaving Lindy and taking Boo to the sofa where he tucked her into the sleeping bag and kissed her forehead. Tomorrow he would finish Robin’s job on the front bedroom and get a bed set up with fresh sheets for them to sleep in. Tonight, they’d make do. After doing the same with Lindy on the opposite end of the sofa, he turned off the lights and went to check on Robin.
He stood over the bed and studied her as she slept. Her silk brown hair spilled over his pillow.
She’d changed to one of his T-shirts during her waking moments and the white fabric molded her breasts. He could see her nipples beneath the fabric. Her breath came in and out, gently moving the soft mounds.
Desire like a blaze raced across his skin like a blaze. Great, Applegate. Get yourself all worked up over a woman who needs care, not lust. Not hot sex. Not even sex with someone whose intentions were honorable. She needed rest. Breathing slowly through his nose, Chad curbed his desire and bent down to tenderly kiss each bandaged hand before grabbing a pillow and blanket from the closet. He settled in the recliner to stop himself from snuggling in next to her and holding her all night long.
&nb
sp; Robin came awake, disoriented for a moment.
Finally realizing where she was, she arched her back in a long stretch. Morning light seeped through the window and the tantalizing aroma of rich coffee filled the air. Letting the covers fall off, she examined the white bandages. Her fingers were swollen and tender. Worse, the bandages were awkward and restricting. They would have to go.
Pushing back the covers, Robin stared disconcerted at the fit of the T-shirt she had put on the night before. The extra-large shirt hugged her breasts and came to an end mid-thigh. Vaguely she recalled changing out of her clothes into this shirt, kissing her girls and eating part of a sandwich, but not much else.
Mindful of her hands, she rose and used the bathroom. On the back of the bathroom door she found her blue cotton robe. Chad must have found it in her things and hung it there after she’d fallen asleep. She donned it and went in search of the coffee. Reaching the kitchen, she paused in the doorway.
Chad sat at the kitchen table, the paper spread out in front of him, a coffee cup and an empty bowl at his elbow. The opened box of Trix and the milk jug were evidence of what he’d had for breakfast. He wore a blue plaid shirt over a navy blue T-shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. His long fingers casually gripped the paper. Her unruly heart thumped in her chest and she self-consciously tugged the lapels of her robe closer together. Maybe she should have struggled into some clothes instead. She considered doing just that, but then Chad looked up and smiled—a slow, sweet, I’m-glad-you’re-mine smile.
Robin silently groaned. She’d relived that kiss a hundred times in the few seconds she’d stood here drooling over him.
“Good morning.” He crossed his finger over his mouth in a shushing motion.
“Good morning. Are they still asleep?” Robin followed his lead.
“Yep, on the sofa curled together like a couple of shrimp on a plate. Are you okay?”
Robin nodded and eased into the family room to check the sleeping twins. Their little bodies were tangled together almost in a hug. Boo’s daisy cow and Lindy’s pink blanket were crushed between them. Satisfied, she returned to the kitchen and seated herself at the table. Chad poured her a cup of coffee. Her brow puckered when he added the two sugars to the cup, making her coffee just the way she liked it. How did he know? Her composure crumbling, she fidgeted with the robe again.
Pumpkins, Cowboys & Guitars Page 9