Evergreen Springs

by RaeAnne Thayne

  “Are you sure?” Cole asked. “You’ve done more than enough.”

  “Absolutely. I only work until three and it’s no problem at all to pick them up at school. I’m looking forward to it and to be honest, I need their help.”

  “With what?”

  “Some friends and I are making some crafts to sell at the Lights on the Lake Festival next Saturday. We could use some little fingers to help us.”

  “Child labor, huh?”

  She grinned. “Not at all. We pay salaries in candy canes and hot cocoa.”

  His laugh stole out of nowhere, taking him by surprise. It had been a long time since a woman made him laugh as Devin did. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that—or about the way her gaze flickered to his mouth, then quickly away while a blush crept over her cheekbones.

  He cleared his throat. “I, um, would be very grateful for your help tomorrow. I’ve got to run to Boise and I’m not sure if I’ll be back before school gets out.”

  “Is it the horse who was having trouble yesterday?”

  “Partly,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “The farrier came out this morning and found a sneaky abscess both the vet and I missed. We’ve got a plan of treatment now. I just need to pick up some medicine in Boise. That’s one of my errands, anyway.”

  He didn’t tell her the other big item on his list. Some things were better left to himself.

  “Well, don’t worry about the kids. I’ll pick them up after school and then take them back to the ranch for you after we’re done making ornaments, when they’re all hopped up on sugar.”

  “Thanks for that,” he said with another laugh.

  “You’re welcome.”

  He tilted his head, knowing he shouldn’t enjoy looking at her so much.

  He wondered what the pair of nurses who were pretending not to pay any attention to their interchange would do if he tucked a strand of auburn hair that had slipped from her braid behind her ear, leaned forward and covered her mouth with his own, as he had been longing to do since the moment he met her.

  To keep from making that disastrous move, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. “You take care of my sister, you decorate my Christmas tree, you find me a new housekeeper, you watch over my kids after school. You can stop anytime now, or I’ll never be able to repay you.”

  “We made a deal,” she reminded him. “I’m honoring my end and I fully expect you to do the same.”

  Oh, right. His stupid agreement to let her friends use the hot spring at the ranch. He sighed, knowing he was well and truly trapped.

  Possibly in more ways than one.

  “Right. I’m planning on it.”

  “What about Wednesday afternoon? Does that work?”

  “You don’t waste time, do you?”

  She shook her head. “Life is too precious to waste a minute of it. It’s a lesson I learned a long time ago.”

  From becoming a physician or from something else? He wanted to ask but this didn’t seem the right moment, with Ty tugging at his arm, more than ready for his Happy Meal.

  “Wednesday should be fine. I’ll let the school know you have permission to pick up the kids. I guess we’ll see you tomorrow, then. Come on, kids.”

  With his children close behind, he headed for the elevator, trying to ignore the silvery anticipation curling through him like a Christmas tree garland at the idea that he would see her again soon.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THEY WERE LATE.

  Devin glanced at the clock in her SUV as she scored a good parking space along Main Street, just half a block from her sister’s store.

  “You can leave your backpacks here. We probably won’t need them inside.”

  “Ty has math homework to do,” Jazmyn informed her.

  “We’ll only be hanging out here an hour or so, then we’ll head out to the ranch. He can do his homework after we’re done here—and so can you.”

  The girl didn’t look very thrilled at the reminder that her brother wasn’t the only one with homework on the agenda.

  “What are we doing here?” Jaz asked as they reached the door. “This is a flower store.”

  “You’ll see.”

  She pushed open the door of Point Made Flowers and Gifts to a cacophony. Through the doorway into McKenzie’s workroom, Devin could see the place was packed.

  Rika, McKenzie’s standard poodle, was apparently the greeter for the day. She padded over to them and licked Devin’s hand, then turned her attention to the children. Ty giggled. “Can I pet her?”

  “Go ahead. She’s very friendly.”

  The children were busy giving Rika the love when McKenzie, with apparently supersonic hearing, came out in response to the door chimes.

  “Hey, it’s my favorite doctor—and she brought little friends.”

  “I’m not little,” Jazmyn said in a note of deep offense. “I’m eight years old. I’ll be nine in five months. Ty is six and he won’t be seven until September.”

  Her sister smiled at this information. “You’re absolutely right. My mistake. You’re not little. Hi there. I’m McKenzie. Dr. Shaw is my sister.”

  She held out a hand, which the girl shook solemnly. “I’m Jazmyn. This is my brother, Ty.”

  “Welcome to you both. Are you here to help?”

  “Help do what?” Ty asked.

  “I’ll show you. Come on back.”

  McKenzie led them all to the workroom, which looked like barely organized chaos. It wasn’t a full contingent of the Helping Hands but about a dozen women were there, busy with various craft projects. The room smelled of pinecones, hot glue and Spanish moss.

  “Hey, Devin,” Barbara Serrano said. “How did your food rescue work out the other day?”

  “It was wonderful. Thank you, everyone, for answering the call. Once he got over his shock, Cole Barrett was so very grateful.”

  “He’s that sexy rodeo cowboy, Iris Barrett’s grandson, isn’t he?” Hazel Brewer asked.

  “Er, yes.” She spoke quickly to keep Hazel and her sister from making any of their usual spicy commentary in front of the children. “He was in a bit of a bind and really needed the help. I’m so grateful you all were so willing to step up.”

  “You bet. Next time we’ll be glad to take it up there ourselves for you, won’t we, Eppie?”

  Her sister giggled and Devin refrained from rolling her eyes. She loved them dearly but sometimes they made even her blush.

  “These are his children. This is Jazmyn and this is Ty. They’re here to help us. What can we do?”

  Jazmyn was quickly put to work threading hanging ribbon through ornaments, while Barbara pulled Ty over to help her pour rice into sachet warming bags.

  These were last-minute projects for the booth the Helping Hands always had for the Lights on the Lake boat parade and festival. The annual event was a highlight of the holidays in Haven Point, when boat owners decorated their watercraft with Christmas lights and proceeded to make their way from the Haven Point marina to Shelter Springs.

  Everyone in town turned out for the event, which included food, music and a gift boutique. The proceeds from the Helping Hands booth went to various organizations throughout the town. This year they were again donating their proceeds to the library’s literacy program.

  Devin settled into an empty chair between Samantha Fremont and Megan Hamilton and started sewing closed the bags Ty was helping to fill. When finished, they could be microwaved for moist, comforting heat scented with calming lavender and chamomile. They could also be frozen for use as cold packs.

  While knitting was her Waterloo, she loved to sew and didn’t do nearly enough of it. Stitching up her patients didn’t count.

  As she worked, she sat back and listened to chatter about
the new tech facility Ben Kilpatrick and Aidan Caine were opening in town and the ripple-effect development going on everywhere. Samantha’s mother, Linda, was ecstatic that the building she rented for her clothing store was scheduled for a renovation and complete face-lift starting in the spring.

  All the while, Devin kept a careful eye on the children, who seemed to be having a wonderful time. Jazmyn was getting along like a house on fire with Linda, which Devin didn’t necessarily think was such a great thing, since Linda had a notoriously sour personality. Jazmyn was already headed that way. She didn’t need any more encouragement.

  Devin was a fast hand sewer—probably thanks to those patients—and after less than an hour, she had a nice stack of finished rice bags in front of her. She had finished so many that she was running out of work room on the crowded table.

  “Where are we putting these?” she asked.

  Samantha pointed to some boxes against the wall and Devin rose with her arms full.

  “I’ll show you,” McKenzie said.

  Her sister apparently had an ulterior motive. As soon as Devin carefully set the finished rice bags in an empty box, McKenzie cornered her.

  “Okay, Dev,” she said in an undertone. “Spill. What’s the story?”

  She straightened. “What do you mean?”

  “Is something going on with you and Cole Barrett that I should know about?”

  Devin glanced over her shoulder to where the children were busy ten feet away and not paying her any attention.

  “No!” she said in a low tone. “I barely know the man. Why would you ask?”

  McKenzie made a face. “Oh, I don’t know. First I get a call asking everybody to provide meals for him. Next thing I know—at least according to the interesting conversation I just had with his daughter—you spent all day Saturday hanging out at his ranch and helping him decorate. Now you bring his children here to help us wrap things up for the bazaar. What is this sudden involvement with the man and his family?”

  Ugh. She adored McKenzie but her sister was entirely too protective of her. She didn’t need McKenzie jumping into overdrive, thinking she had to watch out for her.

  “Nothing,” she protested. “Aren’t we supposed to be the Helping Hands? That’s what I was doing. The man was in a bind and I stepped in when I saw a need.”

  “And decorating his Christmas tree?”

  She glanced over at the children. “I feel sorry for those children. They lost their mom just a few months ago and now their aunt is in the hospital and their father seems a little bit overwhelmed. I just wanted to help. What’s wrong with that?”

  “You always care about your patients and their families,” her sister said, “but I’ve never seen you get this emotionally involved so quickly. Babysitting, Dev. Seriously? I mean, you haven’t babysat since high school.”

  “I’m not babysitting,” she protested. Exactly. “We’re just hanging out. I brought the kids here because I figured we could always use more help and I thought they might enjoy it.”

  “Are you sure it has nothing to do with their hot rodeo cowboy of a dad?”

  Devin could feel her face heat more than one of the microwaved rice bags. Darn this red hair and her light complexion. “Absolutely positive,” she insisted. “I feel sorry for the man. That’s it.”

  The words sounded hollow, even to her.

  McKenzie studied her so long that Devin squirmed. “He’s been in trouble with the law. Did you know that?”

  Shock washed over her. “I... No. In Haven Point?”

  McKenzie shook her head. “Before he came back. I don’t know any details. I only know a few years back, he came into the Mad Dog to watch a basketball game or something when I was there with Wyn. She was a little tipsy and mentioned how hot he was and that she would love to buy him a drink and see where it led, except he was on parole and she didn’t need the complications and didn’t want to have to explain herself to Chief Emmett.”

  Wynonna Bailey was a police officer in Haven Point. She wasn’t the sort to make up a story like that.

  On parole. She couldn’t seem to think around the words.

  He had struck her as a dangerous man but not in the sort of way that might get him in trouble with the law. Was that why his wife had kept his children away from him?

  What had he done?

  And was this the reason he kept himself so isolated up at the ranch? He had lived in Haven Point for at least a couple of years but kept to himself for the most part. Did it have anything to do with his criminal past?

  Tricia hadn’t said a word, but then Devin supposed that wasn’t something a person just shared in casual conversation. Oh, by the way, my brother is on parole. Isn’t that interesting?

  What had he done?

  “Is Wyn coming this afternoon?” she asked, trying for a casual tone.

  “Don’t think so. She’s on duty.”

  Rats. She suddenly wanted to pin down her friend and see if she could shed a little light on the mystery that was Cole Barrett.

  Maybe she would have to go track her down after her shift was over...

  Devin caught herself when she realized the direction of her thoughts. His history with the law wasn’t her business. He was still a struggling single father with two grieving children who needed all the attention and love they could find.

  “Just be careful, sis,” McKenzie said.

  “I appreciate the warning but it’s not necessary. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”

  “I worry about you. You know I do.”

  On impulse, she reached out and hugged her sister. “I’m fine. The scare this summer was just that. A scare. Everything checked out. The cancer hasn’t come back and it won’t. The doctors are quite sure of it. I can’t live my life in fear, Kenz. I’ve done too much of that.”

  “It’s one thing to let go and live a little. It’s completely another to buddy up to an ex-con when we don’t know anything about the man. Maybe I’ll have Ben do a little digging around and see what kind of digital footprint the man has out there.”

  “You will not.” She frowned. “Seriously, Kenz. Back off. I’m helping Cole out because he’s going through a tough time right now. That’s as far as it goes. Whether he has a...questionable past or not, he and his children need help. I won’t turn my back on him.”

  McKenzie opened her mouth to argue but Megan Hamilton came over with an armload of ornaments.

  “Where are we putting these?”

  “Right here,” McKenzie said, pointing to one of the empty boxes.

  Devin took the chance to escape her sister’s interrogation, though as she returned to sewing up the rice bags, she couldn’t help feeling that her life seemed as tangled as the thorniest knot of thread.

  * * *

  “WHAT TIME IS my dad going to be back?” Jazmyn asked a few hours later from her spot at the kitchen table at Evergreen Springs.

  The kitchen smelled delicious—cinnamon from the cookies they had made mingling with the savory scents of the chicken casserole she had put in a few minutes earlier.

  “He texted me about an hour ago and said he was leaving Boise. I would imagine he’ll be here soon. Let’s see if you can both surprise him by having your homework done before he gets here.”

  “Mine’s almost finished.” Ty beamed at her.

  “That’s because you have easy subtraction problems that even a baby can do,” Jazmyn retorted. “Mine is multiplication, which is so hard.”

  Ty didn’t say anything, simply returned to his homework, and Devin tried to figure out whether she had the right to call Jazmyn out on her mean behavior. Ty adored his sister and she said such hurtful things, always demeaning his efforts or trying to make her own seem more grandiose.

  Devin understood she was lashing out in
her pain and confusion over losing her mother. Ty had lost his mother, too, and deserved compassion and encouragement from his beloved older sister, not this constant barrage of criticism.

  Devin wanted to pull her aside privately and talk to her about the harm she could be doing to her brother through this constant comparison she did between the two of them but she didn’t think that was quite her place. Her only role here was to help Cole out in return for using his hot spring, not to offer parenting help—especially when she had no actual experience to draw from, only instinct.

  She would have been a good mother.

  The thought pushed its way into her consciousness, more harsh and nagging than Jazmyn could ever be.

  She tried to ignore the familiar pinch of pain, the ache in her chest at unrealized dreams. Most of the time she didn’t think about it these days but sometimes the hard reality sneaked out of nowhere and smacked her hard.

  At those times, she wanted to shake herself and add in a good face slap or two, along with an order to snap out of it and stop the pity party.

  Just because she lacked the necessary equipment to bear a child didn’t mean she couldn’t ever be a mother. Maybe she couldn’t have children in the traditional way but she could always adopt or foster a child.

  “I’m done!” Ty said five minutes later.

  “Oh!” his sister exclaimed. “Not fair! I was almost there. I only had one problem left.”

  “Hurry and finish and then we can find a game to play while we wait for your father,” Devin said.

  Jazmyn was writing the last number down when the doorbell rang.

  “Somebody’s here,” Ty said, eyes wide.

  “I wonder who it is,” Jazmyn said. “Maybe it’s a delivery. I love deliveries.”

  “Who doesn’t?” Devin smiled as she headed for the door.

  But it wasn’t a familiar brown truck or an express delivery. Instead, a tall older gentleman with silver hair and a rugged face very similar to Cole’s stood in the doorway.

  He had a little pudgy yellow Labrador puppy next to him on a leash and the dog yipped in greeting.