“Oh, Maggie, I can’t help but be in the middle of it all,” Hallie confided with another long, heartfelt sigh. “Cody means well but he doesn’t know anything about taking care of babies.”
“Meanwhile, you’ve come to his rescue,” Maggie concluded, hoping this was not as big a mistake as it sounded.
“And then some,” Hallie confirmed.
Another silence fell.
“But not to worry, Maggie,” Hallie continued with a steadiness of purpose that was absolutely enviable. “I am still set on marrying someone sensible and dependable, like my banker friend, Tim Levine. And I think you should do so, too.” In the background, a doorbell sounded. “Maggie, can you hang on a minute?” Hallie asked. “I want to see who that is.”
“No problem,” Maggie said, reminded she still hadn’t told Hallie about Sabrina.
There was a low murmur of excited voices. A lot of static and noise on the other end as Hallie picked up the phone again. “Maggie, Cody’s here. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back later, and if not tonight, then as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone before Maggie could get a word in edgewise. Maggie stood holding the receiver.
Belatedly, she realized she had no clue if Hallie had seen Sabrina, too.
“I AM STILL SET on marrying someone sensible and dependable…and I think you should do so, too.” Halhe’s commonsense words were still ringing in Maggie’s head as she went to the kitchen for breakfast.
An extralong dish towel tied apron-style around his ample waist, Harry was busy plating eggs and bacon to Jake and the boys. The boys, looking ready for action, had their stacks of quarters next to their plates.
“When does the arcade open?” Maggie asked, sitting with them. She accepted the plate Harry handed her.
“We’re in luck.” Jake poured her some coffee. “I know one that is open twenty-four hours a day.”
“Yeah,” Rusty enthused, shoveling eggs into his mouth with more than usual gusto. “Unka Jake said we could get goin’ as soon as we finished eatin’.”
“Yep, he says no sense putting off ‘til later what you can do right now,” Wyatt parroted.
Did that include loving her, too? Maggie wondered uncertainly as she recalled their unbearably passionate, unexpectedly tender good-night kiss of the evening before. Much more of that and she might end up falling in love with him. This, when she knew for a fact that he had no desire for anything with her but a hot, passionate affair.
Unless he changed his mind…
If he changed his mind…
Oh, who was she kidding, Maggie scolded herself silently as she turned her attention to her breakfast. The odds were that was not going to happen. Jake was interested in pleasure and fun, not children and a long-term commitment.
She couldn’t let herself fall into that trap. And the only way to ensure that from happening was to put the barriers up between them and continue her search.
“HOT DOG, Unka Jake! I really kaboomed the heck out of that one!” Rusty said.
“Can I try next?” Wyatt asked, tugging on his sleeve.
Jake nodded. The two boys went to it, Rusty watching raptly and shouting encouragement as Wyatt played the game. Beside him, Maggie was strangely quiet as she had been all morning, which was odd, Jake thought, considering the way the previous evening had ended. He thought she had enjoyed their kisses as much as he had. He’d thought he was the only one harboring doubts about the wisdom of beginning a hot, tempestuous love affair.
“Do you still have your headache?” he asked, above the constant noise of the video arcade. She looked as though something was wrong.
Maggie shook her head. She took his arm and drew him to a deserted corner, where they could still keep a good eye on the boys. “No. I was wondering though—” She stopped before she could finish and drew a tremulous breath.
“What?” Jake asked.
“Who are you going to fix me up with next?”
Jake couldn’t have been more stunned and hurt had he taken a poison arrow to the heart.
“I mean, you did promise,” Maggie rushed on, her cheeks pinkening with what he could only figure as embarrassment at having to ask him to help her find suitable dates. “And you struck me as the kind of man who keeps his promises,” she finished succinctly.
He did keep his promises, Jake thought irritably. And he had promised himself he wouldn’t get involved with this husband-hungry wench from the very beginning. So if he’d had his feelings hurt here—and he admitted to himself they were a tad injured—he had only himself to blame.
Aware she was waiting on an answer and that his patience as a matchmaker, even in jest, was exhausted, Jake replied vaguely, “I’m still thinking on it, Maggie, honey.”
Why was he angry when he’d known all along what she was after? Jake patted her on the shoulder and in an effort to lighten the moment, said, “I want the next one to be perfect for you.”
Maggie was silent, studying his face. “No more jokes?”
Jake admitted he was tempted, but he also knew continuing to tease her was a mistake. It always ended up with the two of them feeling even closer. And closer was something they were obviously not destined to be.
He shook his head. His expression became serious. His mood reluctant. “No more jokes,” he said quietly, meeting and holding her eyes. It was time they faced the truth; considering what they each wanted and expected to get out of life, the two of them were and always would be all wrong for each other. “The next one, Maggie, will be for real,” he promised.
“When?” Whatever she was thinking, was a mystery to him.
Jake paused, knowing if he was going to do right by her this time that it would take some time. “A few days?” he suggested optimistically. Maybe by then his sister Kelsey would be back, and he could send Maggie off on her date and on her way.
One thing was certain. He couldn’t stand seeing her with other men, not feeling the way he did. Because like it or not, he wanted to make Maggie his in the most intimate, elemental way. And he had a disturbing hunch that was a feeling that was just not going to go away.
Chapter Eight
“I think you’ve caught quite enough fireflies for one evening, boys.”
“Awww, Maggie!” Wyatt stamped his foot.
“Please!” Rusty begged.
Maggie held up a hand stop-sign fashion. “No wheeling and dealing tonight, guys. It’s past your bedtime already. You need to free your fireflies—so they can continue to enjoy nature—and then get upstairs, hit the shower and get that Crazy String washed out of your hair.”
The twins studied her, looking for a way to delay the inevitable bedtime. “If we cooperate, will you read us a story?” Wyatt finally asked slyly.
“A short one,” Maggie promised. She handed over the plastic jar holding their cache of fireflies. “Take the lid off and say goodbye to your fireflies.”
Wyatt and Rusty stared at the fireflies solemnly. “Goodbye,” they yelled. Rusty unscrewed the holestudded metal lid. They all three watched as the ten fireflies they’d caught took off, their bodies winking red in the darkness of the summer evening.
“You missed our fireflies, Unka Jake,” Wyatt said, as Jake came outside to join them, portable phone in hand.
“I’ll be sure to catch them next time then,” Jake said, affectionately ruffling Wyatt’s then Rusty’s hair. He lifted his hand away. “Yuk. What did you guys get in your hair? It’s all sticky.”
“Maggie bought us some Crazy String.”
Jake looked baffled.
Maggie explained, “It comes in a can, and sprays out like string. You have fights with it. It’s harmless fun. We’d show you but we’re all out of string.”
“Hmmm.” Jake nodded. He had been on the phone most of the afternoon and evening, talking nonstop to business associates. He’d been so busy, in fact, he hadn’t even joined them for dinner.
“I was getting ready to take the boys up to shower now,” Maggie said to Jake, telling herself not t
o be disappointed that Jake seemed to be avoiding her like the plague.
“I’ll do that,” Jake volunteered.
Maggie paused. Jake had been distant toward her since she had reminded him of his promise to introduce her to eligible wealthy men. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Positive.” He looked at the baseball mitts, soccer balls and practice goal, and assorted riding toys scattered across the lawn. “If you’ll gather up the toys and stuff down here, and put them away, I’ll supervise the showers,” he offered.
Maggie knew, as hyperactive as the boys were, that this was more of an undertaking than Jake seemed to realize. Hence, she was tempted to offer to help him on that score, too. On the other hand, maybe it would be better for her and Jake to spend as much time as possible apart. If they were apart there could be no more fighting, no more tension, no more unexpectedly intimate talk or kissing. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise after all.
Maggie met his eyes. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” she said.
MAGGIE HEARD the shrieks of youthful laughter and thundering footsteps from all the way downstairs. Harry Wholesome sighed, rolling his eyes, as he set the tall glass of mint tea he’d brought for Maggie beside her. “I don’t even want to imagine what those rascals are up to now,” he said.
“Not to worry, Harry. I’ll go see what’s going on,” Maggie soothed as she put the evening paper aside.
“But you just sat down,” Harry protested. “And you’ve been entertaining those boys all day long.”
“It’s okay.” Maggie smiled wearily at Jake’s housekeeper. “I had to go up in a minute anyway. I promised to read the boys a bedtime story as soon as they’d finished their showers.” From the sound of those footsteps, Maggie was sure Rusty and Wyatt were no longer in the shower.
But they should have been, Maggie decided, a scant minute and a half later, barely able to believe the mischief the two boys had gotten into in less than fifteen minutes. Stark naked, dripping water, soap and shampoo, they were chasing each other around upstairs.
Knowing the roughhousing and mess making had to stop immediately, Maggie put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loud enough to stop a New York cab half a block away. “Freeze right where you are!” she ordered, efficiently handing them both a towel to wrap up in. As soon as they had, she demanded, “Where’s your Uncle Jake?”
Wyatt flicked the bubbles out of his eyes. “Dunno,” he said.
“Yes, we do,” Rusty corrected, looking with fascination at the soapy water puddling on the carpet beneath his feet. “He’s talking bizness on the phone whiles we get our shampoos,” Wyatt said.
“Oh, yeah,” Wyatt said. “He had to go in the other room ‘cause he couldn’t hear, we was making so much noise.”
Meanwhile, the bathroom shower in his bedroom was still running full blast. “Okay, guys, let’s go rinse you off, and get you in your pj’s,” Maggie said. She’d deal with Jake later. Boy, would she deal with Jake.
Within ten minutes Wyatt and Rusty were ensconced in their beds. “No story, hmm?” Wyatt guessed sadly.
Maggie shook her head. “Nope,” she said, as disappointed as the boys about that, as she enjoyed reading to them very much. “You guys lost that privilege when you started your water fight,” she told them firmly.
“We’re sorry, Maggie,” Rusty said around a heartfelt yawn. “Guess we got carried away, using the baby shampoo like Crazy String.”
“Yeah, sorry Maggie,” Wyatt apologized, continuing to look very sad and lonely all of a sudden.
Realizing all they’d been through, in being dumped on Jake’s doorstep while their mom set out after their runaway father, Maggie couldn’t help but feel for them, and some of her exasperation began to fade. “Listen, guys, you have to do a better job of behaving,” she told them quietly, bending to kiss them good-night and tuck them in, in turn. “’Cause I know that you know better than to make the kind of mess you made tonight.”
Neither disputed her assessment of the situation. A thoughtful silence ensued. “Are we grounded?” Wyatt asked eventually.
Maggie realized they expected to be. She nodded. “Yes. I’m afraid so, guys. No television the rest of today and all day tomorrow.”
Sighing, they accepted their punishment in stride. She kissed them again, noting they were already half asleep—no surprise, since it was after 10:00 p.m.— and headed out the door.
She still had one heck of a mess to clean up, and one very irresponsible cowboy to chasten. And this one, unlike his nephews, she determined furiously, was not going to be let off so easy.
JAKE FOLLOWED the wet footprints in the carpet all the way into the master bedroom, and the adjoining bath suite, complete with sunken whirlpool tub, separate glass shower stall, twin sinks, and sit-down vanity.
Maggie was on her hands and knees, sopping up water with a stack of towels. She did not look happy to see him as she sat back on her heels and snapped, “Your business finished?”
“Actually, no,” Jake replied. He hunkered down beside her and, picking up a towel, began blotting the puddles of water on the ceramic tile floor. He didn’t need to see the glimmering resentment in her deep blue eyes to know he was in trouble. Big trouble. “What happened here?” he asked curiously. It looked like the aftermath of an explosion of water and bubbles.
“What happened here or what should have happened here?” Maggie asked as she wiped a streak of foamy white suds off the side of the tub.
Jake winced at the asperity in her tone. “I told the boys to get their showers while I made a quick call. Don’t look at me like that. It isn’t anything they haven’t done before. I turn on the water and adjust the temperature. They hop in, shampoo their hair and wash with soap, rinse and get back out.”
Maggie regarded him with a disbelieving smirk. “Well, they did all of the above and more.”
Jake paused, aware his heart had taken on a slow and heavy beat. “Was that what that racket was?”
“Yes.” Maggie slapped a towel on the floor and surged to her feet.
Knowing they were on the verge of a showdown, he followed her lead.
Her cute chin tilted at him pugnaciously, she placed her hands on her slender hips and squared off with him like a gunfighter at the OK Corral. “If you heard all that, why didn’t you come and see what was going on?” she demanded.
Jake frowned. He hadn’t misbehaved here, his nephews had, and he was damned if he was going to take the blame for it. “Because I was in the middle of a conversation. One that was critical to my business.”
“Right.” Her mood still sharply disapproving, she shoved a towel at his middle. “Well, now that you’re done with your critical business, you can finish this.” She started to step by him.
Jake’s jaw dropped in stunned amazement as he studied the riot of color sweeping into her cheeks. “You’re leaving this to me?”
Spine stiff, Maggie flashed him a lofty smile and marched past him. “Neither Harry nor I should have to do it since you were the one responsible for supervising their showers tonight,” she said sweetly.
Not about to let this deteriorate into an all-out war between them, Jake caught her arm as she passed and dragged her back to face him. “What burr is under your saddle?” he demanded, irated.
She narrowed her eyes at him smugly. “As if you don’t know!”
“I don’t!” Jake said in utter frustration.
Maggie merely folded her arms in front of her and faced him in stormy silence.
“So I screwed up—” Jake said, after a moment, dropping his grip on her arm.
“You seem to do that a lot,” Maggie agreed. “Especially when it comes to people and commitments.”
“Excuse me?”
Leaning closer, she spelled it out for him. “You don’t have any problem committing yourself to a business deal or this ranch, but when it comes to handson responsibility to another person or family, you’re not really the person to count on, are you?”
She�
��d hit the nail on the head, more than she knew. Jake had been running from closeness with others for years now. And unable to bear the thought of getting hurt again the way he had been, he was still running.
“You should have stayed with those boys, Jake,” Maggie continued. “Just like you should be taking care of them, at least the majority of the time when you are home, instead of shifting the responsibility to Harry and me.”
Jake swallowed. Much as he was loath to admit it, he knew that was true, too. He had kept his emotional distance from everyone, including his sister Kelsey, since he’d lost Louellen. It didn’t mean he didn’t love Kelsey and her boys, and maybe in a way, even her husband Clint. It did mean he couldn’t confide in them, couldn’t spend time with them. Couldn’t let himself come to count on their continued presence in his life.
But Maggie didn’t need to know that. She’d dissed him enough already.
Uncomfortable talking about himself, he steered the subject back to the problem at hand. “What exactly were Wyatt and Rusty doing in here tonight?”
“They were having a shampoo fight with their baby shampoo. They were smearing it all over each other.”
Jake regarded the half dozen aerosol cans of baby shampoo scattered around them. “Sort of like they did with that Crazy String you bought ‘em.”
Maggie continued restlessly tapping her sneakerclad foot. “Right. What were they doing with six cans of For Kids Only shampoo anyway?”
Jake regarded Maggie meditatively and tried not to notice the way her damp khaki walking shorts and cropped T-shirt were clinging to her. Or the fact there was a smear of soap just below her ribs. “There was a two-for-one sale on it earlier in the week. Harry knew it was the kind Kelsey liked to use on the boys, so he bought half a dozen cans and stuck them in the cabinet under the sink. Of course, Harry didn’t anticipate the boys doing this, and neither did I.”
Jake picked up one of the cans, shook it, pressed the dispenser and watched a ball of foamy mousse shampoo fill his palm. “But then, that was also before they had learned the joys of Crazy String,” he said with mock solemnness.
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