by Tina Leonard
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
Mason’s brows shot up. “So what is she?”
“Friend,” Last stated.
“A friend with two children.” Mason rocked back on his heels. “Do you think you need more? I know you’re out of sorts now that it’s just me and you at the ranch, but this may be too much.”
“They’re not actually her children. She’s their aunt. And God only knows, Mason, if I didn’t want to be alone with you, I’d just find another place on the ranch to be. I wouldn’t bring home a girlfriend to relieve the animosity.”
Mason’s lips compressed. He shook his head and sighed. “What I want to know is when it became animosity.”
“Probably about the time you came home from your own sabbatical and found yourself uncle to my unexpected child. You weren’t very supportive of me at the time.”
“I felt Valentine’s needs had to come first. She was the mother, and you were being a donkey’s hind end.”
Last shrugged. He couldn’t deny the truth. “All right. I’m only saying that’s probably when the animosity began. I’ve never liked holier-than-thou routines.”
“Well, if you’d properly employed the Condom Song—”
“Mason,” Last said, “what’s it like to be so staunch? So right all the time? So perfect?”
Mason looked at him for another long moment, then turned on his heel and went inside.
“Now that’s animosity,” Last said. He went off to find Esme, who sat forlornly on a bench under one of the many willow trees that had been planted around the pond by his brother Tex.
The fact was, Last hadn’t known how much he was willing to protect this woman and her brood until Mason decided to dog them out. Something feral and intense had stirred to life inside Last that he couldn’t yet put a name to. But he knew it wasn’t going away.
“Hey,” he said.
She looked up. “I’ve got it figured out. Your brother doesn’t want us here.”
“So? Mason’s got a stick up his butt. He always has. Forget about it.”
“How did it get there?”
Last rolled his eyes. “When he let the woman he loved slip away. Pay him no mind. None of us do.” Mason’s heavy-handedness had grated on all the brothers’ nerves, giving each one a reason to find his own path, leading away from Malfunction Junction. Last stayed behind on the ranch because of his young daughter. “Most of my brothers have left. I’d be gone, too,” he said, “but I became a father.”
“Well, that speaks very well of you,” Esme said.
He looked at her. Her dark hair gleamed in the sunlight, and she wore no makeup except lip gloss. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings the other night,” he said softly.
“You…oh, all right,” she capitulated. “I was going to deny it, but you did.”
He nodded. “I’ll probably do that a lot. It seems to be something I do.”
She gave him an even look. “Stop doing it.”
“It’s a Jefferson trait.”
Shrugging, she said, “Grow a different gene. I challenge you.”
This woman would not give him a break. He watched the kids playing on the deck, staring into the water, looking for whatever it was California kids found so fascinating about a Texas pond. “Anything for you,” he said finally, knowing he meant it.
She turned her head to watch Curtis and Amelia. “I’m sorry we got you into trouble, but thank you for bringing us here. I can tell they’re going to love Malfunction Junction.”
He hoped so. Or maybe he was just an idiot for bringing them here. Maybe Mason was partially right about Last wanting a buffer between him and his older brother.
But the real buffer he needed was between him and his wayward heart. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said sincerely. “Thanks for doing me the favor.”
She smiled at him. “Yeah.”
They sat there for a few minutes, soaking in the setting sun and the joy of the children running around the pond.
“Last?”
Turning, he saw Valentine walking toward him with Annette in her arms. “Hey, baby!” He jumped up to grab his daughter, kissing her face with joy. “You’ve grown!”
Valentine looked at Esme before returning her gaze to Last. “You were gone less than two weeks. She couldn’t have grown.”
“Then my heart grew for you,” he told Annette. “Valentine, this is…Poppy Peabody. Poppy, Valentine, wife to my brother Crockett.” Hesitating, Last decided it was time to get real; it was time to begin telling the truth with no playacting to cover it up. “Actually,” he said slowly, looking at Poppy, “her name is Esme Hastings, which I think is beautiful.”
“Hello, Esme,” Valentine said quietly. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Valentine’s reaction startled him more than Mason’s had. He couldn’t understand what the big deal was. They’d had twenty women here before, during the big storm, and women stayed over at the ranch for many other reasons, too. The Jeffersons always took care of each other and of anyone else that needed caring for. How was this different?
Crockett lumbered over, giving Last a hearty slap on the back. “So soon the prodigal son returns,” he said.
“Shut up, Crockett,” Last said. “This is Esme Hastings. Esme, meet one of the dirty dozen.”
Crockett grinned at Esme. “Welcome.”
“Well, we must be going,” Valentine said. “It’s good to meet you, Esme. Last is right. Esme is a lovely name. Very elegant.” She took Annette from Last, casting an eye toward the children playing around the pond. “Your children?” she asked.
“Niece and nephew.”
“Oh.” Valentine smiled. “Bring them to my bakery sometime after you get more settled in. Where are you staying, by the way?”
Reluctantly Last said, “In the house you moved out of.”
“Oh.” Valentine nodded after a moment. “Well, you’ll find it very comfortable. Goodbye.”
She walked away with Crockett, and Last sighed. Esme looked at him. “Guess that was awkward for you.”
“Everything about this family is awkward for me.” He sighed again, deciding to unload some of his feelings. “I’m the youngest of twelve, and even in school I was looked at as the last of the Jefferson boys. It was almost as if teachers expected me to tear things up and make mischief. Follow in the family footsteps.”
“And did you?”
“Of course,” Last said, “although much more responsibly than my brothers. But then I made one teensy little lapse in judgment—”
“And a cute thing she is,” Esme said with a smile.
“And suddenly I’m the brother everybody rags on.”
“Actually I bet it’s because all the rest of them are married now. You’re the loner, except for Mason. And because you’re his kid brother, there’s a pretty wide gulf there.”
He looked at her. “I never thought of it that way.”
“And Valentine just didn’t know what to think about another woman being around her child. I completely understand that.”
“Yeah,” Last said slowly. “I know that feeling, too.”
“They’ll settle down after they get to know me.”
Last blinked. “Make me a promise.”
“Oh, I really don’t make promises to men,” Esme said. “I don’t seem to be able to keep them very well.”
“Keep this one to me. Promise me you won’t leave me here alone with them.”
She laughed. “They’re your family. And they seem very nice.”
“Our friendship is good for me,” he said, meaning it. “You give me deeper perception.”
“Of what?”
“My life.”
She looked at him uncertainly. “You seem fine to me.”
“So promise, if I seem so fine.”
“I can’t.” She shook her head. “I have to think of the children.”
That was true. He would agree that children came f
irst, above all. “At least tell me if you decide you’re not happy here.”
“I will.” Esme smiled at him. “I’m only here for a month, at first, anyway.”
He remembered the elderly man sitting next to him at the circus. “The judge is quite conservative. We’ll have to consider your battle plan.”
She laughed. “I don’t need a battle plan. We’re here in the land of stability, right?”
He shook his head. “As you can see, it’s more Malfunction Junction.”
“So it’s always awkward?”
“It’s always…family.”
Esme nodded. “Then it’s fine with me.”
“Esme,” he said suddenly, taking her hand, “I know this is going to sound bizarre, but I think you belong here.”
She blinked. “You’re only saying that because my presence annoys your family.”
He grinned. “That certainly is a point in your favor. However, I really do think you will like Union Junction.”
“Because?”
He let his gaze roam over her face, marveling at its texture and delicate lines. “I just hope you do,” he said softly. “I think you’d make a great addition to the family.”
“Too bad all the brothers are hitched,” she said. “Except for Mason—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Last said. “As it is, I may have to protect you from any loose cowboys in town. While you’re here, you are under my protection, you know.”
She raised a brow. “Protection?”
He nodded. “Exactly. It’s the least I can do.”
“So when do you leave to go bungee jumping?”
He wondered at the abrupt question. She’d turned her head from him, showing him a profile that gave nothing away.
And that’s when he knew that his heart was going in a direction neither of them wanted. He was just like the lion tamer, the ringmaster and the man in the gorilla suit, offering something she might need but didn’t want.
“Soon,” he said. “Come on. Let me show you to your temporary digs.”
“FORBIDDEN FRUIT is not really safe to eat,” Mason said when Last went inside the main ranch house later that day.
“Forbidden?” Last looked at his eldest brother. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I have a funny feeling that woman is carrying a bit of baggage with her,” Mason said.
Last looked at his stern brother. “Doesn’t everybody we know?”
“You’re not planning on anything serious with her, are you?”
“No.” Last shook his head. “I’m not planning anything serious in my life at all.” “Damn it!” Mason thundered. “That’s your whole problem! Nothing is serious for you!”
Resenting Mason’s fatherly approach, Last turned away. “I’m serious about Annette.”
“Then don’t introduce a woman into her life you know nothing about.”
Last stiffened. Just Mason’s tone made him want to go kiss the daylights out of Esme. He was hot for her. He wanted her like crazy, though he denied it to everyone and mostly to himself. All of the questions and doubts Mason had about her had already occurred to Last, but they’d been subsumed by the magic that had come over him the moment he laid eyes on her at the beach.
“Mason, shut the hell up,” Last said suddenly. “It’s time you put your nose in your own business and kept it out of mine.”
Mason stared at him, his brows etched tightly together, but Last wasn’t worried about Mason’s thundering attitude. “I don’t care what you think.” Last said quietly. “She’s a good woman. Those are good kids. If they’re not welcome here, then they’ll go, but so will I.”
Mason’s eyes grew dark. “Then this time use protection.”
Last walked to within an inch of his brother.
“Mason, if you ever say anything like that to me again, I swear you’ll lose a brother for good.”
With those words, Last faced down Mason for the first time in his life. And Last knew he was finally starting to grow up.
Chapter Five
Poppy relaxed at Malfunction Junction over the next week. She and the children settled in and they got to know Olivia and Calhoun and their children, Minnie and Kenny. Curtis and Amelia loved riding Gypsy and couldn’t believe their new friends had a wonderful windmill in their yard.
There was much about the ranch that fit Poppy and the children just fine, but there was just as much that was uncomfortable. Poppy laid out clothes for the children to wear to their first day of school, wanting them to look their best. She had enrolled them as quickly as possible, deciding that it was time for them to enjoy a different type of education than they had heretofore.
It was also time for her to seek employment. Dressing herself with care—and trying to look as little like the seductress Mason clearly thought she was—Poppy went to the high school and applied for a job teaching English grammar and the classics.
To her surprise, the principal was more than happy to hire her, on the condition that she got her Texas teaching certificate. “It’s not often we get a double major with a master’s degree applying here,” the principal said. “Your life experience is textured and unique, and I’m interested in your doctoral project.”
Poppy shook her head. “I don’t know that I’ll ever finish.”
The principal nodded. “It will be a challenge with the parenting role you’ve undertaken. However, I have no doubt that one day I will address you as Dr. Hastings.”
Poppy walked out into the sunlight of the waning August day, feeling as if she floated on air without benefit of pulleys and circus equipment. “Dr. Esmerelda Hastings,” she murmured, liking her name for the first time in her life. “Esme.”
In fact, she really liked the person she was becoming.
She was changing, and a lot of the positive change was due to Last. He’d been the first one to call her Esme, and she was beginning to feel as if the exotic, beautiful name fit her. When she reached the truck she’d borrowed from the Jeffersons’ ranch, Curtis and Amelia hopped out of the back.
“How did it go?” Amelia asked.
“Believe it or not, I have a job. I’ll be working in a school very close to yours.” Esme smiled. “I can hardly believe it!”
The children clapped, their joy obvious.
“I like it here,” Curtis said. “Let’s stay for always!”
Amelia grew serious. “Did you tell the principal that we have to go back to California in a month?”
Poppy…Esme nodded. “She has a substitute already. It will take time for me to get my teaching certificate renewed and updated for Texas education anyway. There’s a great deal of work I have to do and training to go through. I won’t actually put in my first day of school until December, although I can substitute once I get my certification.”
“That’s wonderful, Aunt Poppy,” Amelia said.
“Aunt Esme now,” she said with a smile.
“Why?” Curtis asked.
“Last thinks we should all be who we really are.” She smiled as she got into the driver’s side, the children getting in the passenger side. “I have to say there’s something very relaxing about being who I really am.”
Curtis looked at her as he put on his seat belt. “Are you going to marry Last?”
Esme shook her head as she started the truck. “No. But he’s a good friend.”
“We wouldn’t mind if you did,” Amelia said.
“We’ve never had a father before,” Curtis said. “Not a real father, anyway.”
Amelia nodded. “He’s spent more time with us than—”
“It’s okay,” Esme said. “Don’t think about the past. Just be happy.”
“We do worry,” Amelia said. “It’s not as easy as waving a wand.”
Esme stopped the truck, turning to look at the kids’ worried faces.
“We really like it here,” Curtis said softly, his slightly freckled face earnest and hopeful.
“I know you do. We’ll try to make it w
ork as best we can.” Esme touched both of their faces for an instant. “Be brave. I know it’s hard, but I’m positive it will all work out for the best.”
“There’s no magic in Malfunction Junction,” Amelia said. “It’s like you’re a superhero who can’t use your powers.”
“Which is scary,” Curtis added.
“Hmm,” Esme said. “You’re right. Definitely no sleight of hand and no illusion will work here. However, we’ll just have to be ourselves and let that be magic enough.”
The kids nodded, sitting back in their seats. Okay, she was scared, too, but it would do no good to voice her worries. They had to make the most of this wonderful opportunity Last had given them.
He’d asked her not to leave and so had the children. She would try her hardest to make it work—for all of them.
“YOU’VE GOT TO LET GO,” Mimi told Mason. “All that anger isn’t healthy.”
Mason gazed at his best friend, the biggest source of trouble, heartbreak and joy in his life. “I want to kick his tail.”
Mimi put the final touches on an apple pie for her father, the former sheriff of Union Junction, and took off her apron. “Mason, Last had to grow up one day. Only Peter Pan remained a boy forever, and I’m not so sure that was healthy.”
“At least he could fly.” Mason was disgruntled and determined to gripe about everything.
“Apparently so could Esme. The circus must have been an interesting place to live.”
“I have always hated the circus. Clowns bother me.”
Mimi laughed. “Oh, please. You always spent so much time around the rodeo. Calhoun married a rodeo clown’s daughter. And let us not forget, the Jefferson boys had some clownish moments of their own.” She looked at him. “Mason, you’re going to have to accept that your baby brother has grown up.”
Mason pursed his lips. Only Mimi dared to reveal the naked truth to him. He appreciated it—and it made him mad as hell. She was sass and good sense. She bent over to look at something in the oven, and his gaze settled on her sexy rear end for a split second before he forced himself to look away.
“I just don’t like her,” he said. “She’s odd.”
“She’s exotic,” Mimi said, standing. “And would you expect anything less from one of your brothers? I don’t think any of them have married a boring girl.”