From Maverick to Daddy

by Teresa Southwick

  “Me, too.” She took a sip from her milk shake and looked thoughtful. “I bet Caleb likes ice cream. I wonder if he ever went to Dairy Queen.”

  “My guess is he has.”

  “I bet he would like that flower-girl dress on me.”

  “Lily—” Welcome to the roller-coaster ride called parenthood, she thought.

  “If you and Caleb got married, I could wear it to the wedding. You’re going to be my mom and Caleb could be my dad.”

  Mallory lost her appetite and put her burger down. “Lily, sweetie, you know that a man and woman need to be in love to have a wedding.”

  “And a baby. Like Carter. Although a little sister would be nice,” the girl said helpfully.

  Her face burned at the memory of that conversation in front of Caleb’s family. She’d wished the earth would open and swallow her whole. Or maybe a black hole that would let her go back in time and change the conversation.

  “Lily, I want to make sure you understand that Caleb and I are just friends.”

  “Friends can fall in love.”

  It was possible, unless the friends were Mallory and Caleb. But how did one explain that to an eight-year-old who was hoping for them to be a bride and groom?

  “I know you like Caleb, ladybug—”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Yes.” Very much. Too much. It would be so much easier if she didn’t like him at all. “But we’re not the kind of friends who are going to get serious.”

  “But it could happen.”

  “No, it can’t. Caleb and I talked about it and we’re just not going to be a couple.” When disillusionment spread over Lily’s little face, Mallory wished for another black hole and another change of conversation. But wasn’t it better to make her aware of reality than to let her go on wanting something that would never be? “I just don’t want you to get your hopes up that we’ll have a wedding. You have to stop, sweetie.”

  Lily studied her for several moments, then nodded, but so much for saving her from disappointment. Mallory felt awful, as if she’d single-handedly crushed this child’s hopes and dreams forever.

  And this was why she’d told him it was girls only. Some protective instinct had kicked in. Sooner or later he wasn’t going to be around, and the adjustment would be easier for both of them if they didn’t get used to him being around.

  * * *

  This was Mallory’s first time volunteering to get the school ready for opening in September. Mostly parents, but also some who just wanted to help out stopped by to pull books and desks out of storage and make sure everything was ready for classes to begin.

  Mallory had dropped Lily off at her friend Amelia’s house, where her mother was going to look after the girls. Now Mallory was on her way to the elementary school on South Main Street. She pulled into the lot. Then she made her way to the multipurpose room. At the door was a woman in her mid to late thirties and she recognized Vera Peterson from Crawford’s General Store. The woman had a son in Lily’s class.

  “Hi, Vera.”

  “Mallory. How are you?”

  “Good.” She looked around. “This is an impressive turnout.”

  The pretty blonde smiled. “I forgot. It’s your first time at an event like this.”

  Mallory nodded. “Lily started here in the middle of the school year. I didn’t want to move her after all she’d been through, but when Mr. Dalton offered me the paralegal job, there wasn’t a choice.”

  “That little girl has had it rough.” There was sympathy in the woman’s blue eyes. “How’s she doing now?”

  “Pretty well.” If you didn’t count her wanting Mallory and Caleb to have a wedding. “She’s made friends and is doing great in school. Adjusting. It was a good decision to bring her here.”

  “I hear you and Caleb Dalton are going out.”

  Mallory bit her lip. “In spite of what you might have heard, it’s not serious.” But still her cheeks were getting hot.

  “He’s a good guy.”

  “A very nice man.”

  Vera laughed. “Okay. You don’t want to talk about it. I don’t blame you.”

  “I appreciate that.” She looked down at the clipboard on the table. “What’s your job?”

  “Coordinating. I tell people where to go.”

  Mallory looked around. “I’m not sure what has to be done or even if I’m needed, but happy to help wherever.”

  “Amen. Folks here in Rust Creek Falls have strong opinions on things and don’t always agree on issues, but when it comes to the kids, everyone is on the same page. They’re here to assist the janitor in cleaning up the school, and the teachers are directing decorating their classrooms for the first day.”

  Mallory hadn’t lived in New York all that long, but the place seemed big and busy. There was probably a lot of volunteering, but she hadn’t seen it. But then she’d had a lot to deal with helping Lily over the loss of her parents.

  “So, tell me where to go.”

  Vera glanced around the room, assessing the pockets of volunteers with their team leaders. “Looks like Paige Traub could use another set of hands.”

  “Paige is here?”

  “Yes.”

  “With the baby?”

  “Her mom has Carter. Paige is on maternity leave but is supervising her substitute teacher in getting the classroom ready for the first day.”

  “That’s dedication.” And the way the woman had been singing her brother’s praises as the baby whisperer, Mallory was surprised the new mom hadn’t left the infant with his uncle Caleb. “I’ll be happy to join her group. Nice to see you, Vera.”

  “You, too. Don’t forget to have fun,” the other woman advised, a twinkle in her eyes.

  Mallory threaded her way through the crush of volunteers and saw Paige across the room. Moving closer, she could see the sixth-grade teacher with a woman and a man. Then the crowd parted, revealing who that man was.

  Caleb.

  Her heart skipped two beats, then started racing. It truthfully had never crossed her mind that the carefree bachelor cowboy would be here, although now she vaguely remembered him mentioning the event.

  “Hi,” she said, joining the group. “Vera Peterson sent me over here.”

  “It’s good to see you, Mallory.” Paige gave her brother a funny look. “Let me introduce you. This is Beth Harmon.” The other woman was short and had on black square-framed glasses. “And you know Caleb.”

  If sleeping with him during a thunderstorm qualified, then she knew him pretty well. “Nice to meet you, Beth. I’m Mallory Franklin.”

  “Okay, let’s get to work,” Paige said briskly.

  She assigned Beth to the bulletin board just outside her classroom door and promised to supervise the message to be displayed. Then she would organize and inventory books and classroom supplies to see what, if anything, needed to be ordered.

  Finally she looked at Caleb. “I’ve saved the best job for you.”

  “I’m going to hate this, aren’t I?” He folded his arms over his chest.

  “Hate is such a strong word....” She grinned and there was evil around the edges.

  “Get out while there’s still time,” he whispered to Mallory.

  “I heard that,” his sister said.

  Mallory felt it. His breath tickled her ear and sent tingles down her neck.

  “You sound just like a sixth-grade teacher,” he grumbled.

  “I am a sixth-grade teacher. If you were one of my students, you’d spend most of your time in the principal’s office.”

  “Someone has to keep the chairs warm.”

  “And someone has to wash all the desks,” she said.

  Mallory leaned closer to him and stated in a loud whisper, “You really should quit while yo
u’re ahead, hotshot.”

  Paige grinned at her. “How much time did you spend in trouble?”

  “None.” She glanced up at Caleb and thought, Until now.

  “Okay, then you’re partnered with the detention magnet there. Keep him in line.” She pointed at her brother, then gave the other mom a grateful look. “Seriously, thank you for your time and effort. In case you didn’t get the word, there will be refreshments in the cafeteria.”

  Caleb put his hand to the small of her back. “Come with me. I know where the buckets and soap are.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as they fell into step and left the big, open room.

  “Came to help out.”

  “But why?”

  “My mom made me.”

  She snapped her fingers. “That’s right. I forgot you’re afraid of your mom, even though she’s the nicest woman in the whole world.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you would keep that our little secret.” He put a finger to his lips in a “shh” gesture that was so darn cute.

  The idea of a big man like him being afraid of anything was funny because his strength and confidence made her feel protected. He’d been a rock the night of the thunderstorm.

  “Your secret is safe with me.” She made the my-lips-are-sealed motion. “But seriously, Caleb, why? You don’t have children.”

  “It’s all about community spirit, I guess. Pride in our town and the next generation who will take over and run it. And family.” He was quiet for a moment as they passed classrooms where volunteers were mopping floors and putting up bulletin boards. “Anderson and Travis are doing their bit. They’re covering for me on the ranch so I can be here and make sure Paige has enough help.”

  “It’s nice of you.” She met his gaze. “And don’t look now, but it’s not a secret that you’re a nice guy.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Vera Peterson said so when I walked in today. She sent me over to Paige.”

  “I see.” There was an odd expression on his face.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He stopped at a door in the back of the building. “We’ll find what we need in here.”

  There was a rolling metal bucket with two compartments and they filled one side with soapy water and one with plain water for rinsing. Caleb found sponges and rags for drying, then they headed back to Paige’s classroom.

  He pushed the bucket into the room and over to the grouping of four desks by the window. There were messages in pencil. A heart with initials inside—H.R. plus T.D. Smudges. Fingerprints. “I’ll wash, you rinse.”

  “Okay.”

  They worked in silence for a while but it wasn’t the kind of quiet that needed to be filled with words. She just liked being with him, watching the muscles in his arms bunch in the most appealing, masculine way. It made her feel fluttery inside, all gooey and breathless. She’d never experienced this sensation of happiness and contentment at just being with a man.

  “So, how was shopping?” he asked.

  “Hmm?” The question pulled her right out of that place where everything was fuzzy, gold and shiny.

  “You and Lily shopping for school clothes. How did it go?”

  Not well, after she made the little girl promise to stop getting her hopes up for a wedding. “We did what we went there to do.”

  “So it was successful.”

  “Yes.” Sort of.

  “Did you miss me?” His sudden charming smile could captivate a room.

  Since she was the only other person in it, color her captivated. But no way would she tell him how much both she and Lily had missed him. “It would have been nice to have someone to carry the bags. And there were a lot of bags.”

  “Good.” He moved to the second set of desks and started washing dark marks off the surface. “Did you notice the conspiracy today?”

  “What?” She was going to get whiplash from subject-change velocity.

  “Just now. When we broke down into groups. We were thrown together.”

  “I was hoping that was my imagination.” She’d ignored it, but apparently Lily wasn’t the only one pushing for a hookup.

  “They can’t help themselves, I guess.” He looked up from the job. “The flip side of community goodwill is pressure to be a couple.”

  “Nothing is perfect,” she said.

  “That’s for sure.” He met her gaze and the expression in his eyes was impossible to read. “I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable since we know we’re just friends.”

  That was his way of reminding her they would never be more than that. Sometimes she forgot, but reality always returned.

  But, darn it, if the universe would just stop throwing them together, life would be so much easier.

  Chapter Twelve

  Every Monday Mallory dropped Lily off at Country Kids Day Care on North Pine Street, then went up to Cedar and left on North Broomtail Road, where Daisy’s Donuts was located. As much as she liked her boss and her job, it was still Monday, the beginning of a long week, so she treated herself to a latte.

  She parked and walked inside, deciding that it was almost impossible to be down about anything with the sweet smell of specialty coffee and doughnuts flooding your senses. The little shop had a low counter with a cash register where someone took orders and on either side of it were higher display cases with doughnuts, muffins, coffee cake and scones.

  Mallory recognized the two young women behind the counter wearing T-shirts with the Daisy’s Donuts logo on the front. Both were college students home for the summer. Carol Tobin, a tall, blue-eyed blonde, was cleaning up and refilling supplies during the morning rush. Kristie Kenmore, a curvy brunette with completely adorable freckles and big turquoise eyes, was working the register.

  She smiled. “Hi, Mallory. The usual?”

  “Good morning.” Her usual was a chocolate mocha, sugar-free, fat-free, no whipped. For some reason, today she was in the mood for everything she didn’t usually have. That probably had something to do with Caleb, although she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what was bugging her about him. But lately she’d been going with her instincts and decided to do that now. She shook her head. “Sugar, fat and whipped. And a shot of caramel for good measure.”

  “Wow.” Kristie’s eyebrows arched questioningly. “Throwing caution to the wind?”

  “Yup. Flying by the seat of my pants.”

  “Large to go?”

  As she normally got a middle-of-the-road medium and was breaking all the rules today, she said, “Yes.”

  “Coming right up.” The young woman wrote on the cup and handed it to her coworker, who started making the drink. Then she rang up the sale and Mallory gave her the money. As fate would have it, the correct change.

  “Thanks.” Kristie smiled. “Good way to start out the week.”

  “I absolutely agree.”

  Mallory would take all the good she could get. Since seeing Caleb on Saturday, she’d been out of sorts. Something was off and she was irritated, disturbed.

  Caleb hadn’t said anything to change the rules. In fact he’d noted the town conspiracy to push them together and wanted to make sure she wasn’t uncomfortable with the obvious pressure for them to be a couple. That was possibly the problem; she was conflicted about what she wanted from him. Yet she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize their friendship, for Lily’s sake as well as her own.

  The other complication was that she worked for his father. She didn’t think Ben Dalton would get involved in anything personal between his son and an employee, but why take the chance? Especially when she and Caleb had already hammered out the parameters.

  If only she could forget that single night in his arms and stop wishing for just one more.... The feeling o
f safety, security, of not being alone had been almost as seductive as the man himself. And he was awfully sexy. When she was with him, the sun was brighter, the sky bluer and the thunderstorm had lost its power to panic her. She’d never met a man like Caleb. He was the whole package—handsome, charming, smart, hardworking, loyal, honest.

  Also a risk. One she wasn’t willing to take.

  “Here you go, Mallory.” Kristie placed her cardboard coffee cup on the counter, safe in its protective sleeve.

  “Hmm?”

  “Your order is up.”

  “Oh. Thanks, Kristie.” She smiled and took her latte. “You and Carol must be getting ready to go back to college soon.”

  “Yeah. One more week and back to the books.” Kristie wrinkled her nose, drawing attention to the freckles she despised because they made her look twelve.

  Kristie didn’t realize that as one got older anything that preserved a youthful look was to be treasured. Mallory felt as if she’d never been young, except when she was with a certain charismatic cowboy.

  “Mallory?”

  “Hmm?” She met the young woman’s gaze. “What?”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  Kristie looked doubtful. “It seems like you have something on your mind.”

  “Always,” she said.

  “It wouldn’t have anything to do with Caleb Dalton, would it?”

  “Why do you ask?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew it was a stupid question.

  “The word is all over town.” Kristie leaned a hip against the low counter. “That there’s going to be a wedding.”

  Mallory had a bad feeling about this. “And who’s getting married?”

  “Funny.” Kristie’s laugh was young and carefree. “You and Caleb, of course.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “People are saying he’s really serious about you.” The young woman shrugged. “I heard you two are almost inseparable. At church, sitting together at Winona Cobbs’s lecture. According to Jessica Evanson, he drops by the law office a lot more than he ever has.”

  Mallory couldn’t deny any of the above but their relationship wasn’t what it looked like.