Evergreen Springs

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Though she had seen him shoveling snow the other day at quite a distance, she still knew exactly who this man was—Cole’s father.

  He blinked a little in surprised wariness. “Oh. Hi. I was looking for Patricia.”

  Had neither sibling told their father Tricia was in the hospital on bed rest with her twins? Was the rift so great between them?

  Something else that wasn’t her business, Devin reminded herself.

  “She’s not here right now. May I help you?”

  “I...I’m not sure.” He looked taken aback and she had the distinct impression he had geared himself up to talk to Tricia and didn’t quite know how to respond now that he had learned she wasn’t home.

  Both children crowded into the doorway with her to see the newcomer and Ty spoke first.

  “Hi. You’re my grandpa. I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

  Pain flashed in the older man’s gaze. “True enough.”

  “Is that your dog?” Jazmyn asked.

  The puppy yipped again, as if he knew they were talking about him. He was really quite adorable, with big eyes and a Christmas-red shiny collar.

  “Yes. This is Buster.”

  “He’s so cute. Hi, Buster. Hi there. Hi.” She sank down onto the floor of the entryway and the dog wriggled with joy at finding a new friend and began licking her everywhere he could reach while she giggled and scooped him into her arms.

  “I want to hold him. Can I hold him?” Ty asked. He knelt down beside his sister and before Devin knew it, their grandfather and his puppy named Buster were inside the house, with the door closed behind them to keep out the cold December air, while the children laughed and wrestled the puppy with total exuberant excitement.

  Devin watched them, too caught up in their joy to summon the energy to put a stop to it, even though she knew that was probably the wisest course. After a moment, she turned to their grandfather. “Well played, sir.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man arched an eyebrow and she didn’t miss the mischievous glint in blue eyes that reminded her so much of his son’s. If Cole had it in him to be playful, he would probably look like a younger version of his father.

  She snorted. “You think a puppy is your clever way of squeezing the toe of your boot in the door. It’s tough to say no to an adorable face like that, as your grandchildren just amply demonstrated, and you think you can slip inside right along with him.”

  He gazed down at the children giggling at the dog as he jumped from one of them to the other, trying to lick them both. She didn’t miss the satisfaction there.

  “Maybe I just wanted a puppy. I needed somebody to talk to in that little cottage.”

  What was the story here? Why was the man living in the foreman’s cottage and completely estranged from his family, so much that he had to resort to this sort of desperate tactic? She thought of that little wave he had offered to Jazmyn when he was shoveling snow and the dejected set of his shoulders as he watched them and she couldn’t help a little trickle of sympathy for him.

  He obviously wanted a relationship with his son and grandchildren, but she had no idea what he had done to anger Cole.

  “Puppy or not,” she murmured, “I’m fairly certain you’re not supposed to be here.”

  “You know who I am.” He spoke as a statement, not a question.

  “Only that you’re Cole’s father. And that you’re not his favorite person.”

  He laughed without humor. “An understatement of rather epic proportions.”

  He held out a hand with a little glint in his eye. Something told her this one could be a charmer when he set his mind to it. “Stanford Barrett. My friends call me Stan.”

  The little yellow Labrador puppy had started sniffing in all the corners of the entryway as he investigated this new space, with the children following around behind him, giggling the whole way at his antics.

  Stan Barrett had gone all out, apparently, even willing to take on responsibility for a pet in an attempt to sneak into his grandchildren’s lives. So far, it was working.

  “I’m Devin Shaw. I’m a friend of the family.” It wasn’t precisely a lie. She was friends with Tricia, anyway.

  “Devin Shaw. Are you related to Haven Point’s very pretty mayor?”

  “She’s my sister. And she is. Very pretty, I mean.”

  “A few weeks back, I met your sister when I was having breakfast at the diner. She introduced herself and asked if I was a tourist or new in town. We had a good chat. She was very kind.”

  “That would be my sister.” Her sister tried her best to make everyone who came to Haven Point feel welcome.

  “You must be the doctor, then.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I’ll have you know, she highly recommended your services, if I need a physician while I’m in town to refill my meds or anything.”

  What sort of meds did he need? The man appeared in the best of health but she certainly knew looks could be misleading. “That’s good. If you can’t get a referral from your own relatives, I figure you must be doing something wrong.”

  He gave her a half smile and seemed content for a moment just to watch his grandchildren with that wistful, sad sort of look in his eyes. Again, she felt that stirring of sympathy.

  “Will Patricia be back later?” he finally asked.

  She paused, uncertain what to tell him. If Tricia or Cole wanted him to know about her early labor and her bed rest situation, wouldn’t they have told him?

  Helpful, as always, Jazmyn took the decision out of her hands. “Aunt Tricia is in the hospital.”

  The news clearly alarmed Stanford Barrett. His mouth sagged and his slightly stooped shoulders straightened. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “She was going to have the babies too early,” Jazmyn said. “They wouldn’t have been able to breathe right, my dad says, so now she has to stay in the hospital for a few more weeks so Dr. Shaw and her other doctor can keep an eye on her.”

  He stared at Devin, his expression one of shock and concern. “When did this happen? Is she all right? Are the babies okay?”

  “Friday. Yes. And yes. But I can’t tell you any more.”

  Really, she shouldn’t have even told him that much. Sometimes the privacy restrictions of her job felt heavy and cumbersome, though she understood why they were necessary.

  She gave him a stern look. “I need to inform you, just in case you were thinking about rushing down to the hospital, the last thing Tricia needs right now is a lot of drama and agitation.”

  He suddenly looked older than he had when he walked in with the puppy, his features pale and a little pinched. Was he ill, as well? she wondered. Could that explain this urge to reconnect with his son and daughter and grandchildren—both present and as yet unborn.

  “No drama. I get it.”

  “Was there a message you’d like me to pass along to her? I’ll probably be swinging past the hospital tonight before I go home. I can let her know you stopped by and she can contact you at her convenience.”

  He looked momentarily grateful at the offer but shook his head. “No. I only wanted to show her some baby pictures of her I found. I thought she might like to see them, to compare what she looked like to her babies. Maybe I’ll try to stop by the hospital tomorrow. Don’t worry. I’ll leave the drama at home.”

  That seemed a kind enough gesture, at least on the surface. He seemed like a man trying to make amends for whatever harm he had caused his children but it wasn’t her place to make that judgment call.

  She glanced at the old-fashioned grandfather clock in the foyer.

  “For what it’s worth, your son is supposed to be home in about ten minutes, on his way back from Boise.”

  She thought of the brevity of Cole’s message and alm
ost smiled. Did he work hard at being so parsimonious with his words or was it a skill that came naturally?

  “Message received,” Stan said. “I’d better take my puppy and go.”

  “The puppy really is a nice touch,” she said. “It seems to be working.”

  He shrugged. “You know what they say about desperate times.”

  “I love your dog,” Jazmyn said, as if to reinforce that his desperate measures had paid off.

  “Me, too,” Ty said. He smiled at the man with traces of his sweet shyness.

  “Can we play with him sometime or maybe take him for a walk?” Jazmyn asked.

  Stanford smiled with genuine delight and Devin had a sneaky feeling that was exactly the outcome he wanted.

  “I don’t know about that. But if I happen to see you walking past the cottage after school one day, I might just send him out at the exact same time to play in the snow for a few moments. How about that?”

  Jazmyn sent him a sly look of perfect understanding. Devin had the funny feeling the two of them were eerily similar.

  This was quite obviously a sneaky, underhanded way of getting to his grandchildren without his son’s involvement and she was quite sure Cole wouldn’t approve.

  She should stop it now, especially considering she had no idea what Stanford had done to earn his son’s enmity. While she might instinctively like the man and feel sorry for him, she didn’t know the real story and had to trust Cole had good reasons for keeping his father away from his children.

  At that moment, she heard the crunch of wheels on gravel and an approaching vehicle engine.

  “That sounds like Cole. You’d better go,” she said.

  He nodded and scooped up the dog with one arm.

  “See you later, kids.”

  “Bye. Bye, Buster.”

  “Bye, buddy,” Ty said, trying to get in one more stroke of the dog’s fur.

  Stanford gave Devin a grateful smile that made her feel uncomfortably as if they were somehow in collusion. He slipped out the front door just as she heard Cole come in through the mudroom.

  They returned to the kitchen as he was hanging his Stetson on the hook, leaving his streaky brown hair rumpled. He wore Wranglers and a Western-cut dark green shirt that made him look rough and masculine and completely gorgeous—if she were the sort of woman who went for the rugged cowboy type.

  Which she wasn’t, she reminded herself, a little weakly.

  “Hi, Dad,” Ty said.

  He looked up and smiled at his son with sheer, unadulterated love that made something inside her melt. There was something so unbelievably sweet about a tough man who adored his children.

  “Hey, kiddo. Hi, Jazmyn.”

  His gaze lifted from his children to her and she thought for a moment she saw something raw and hungry there before he blinked and it was gone. Her stomach jittered with nerves suddenly and she had to force herself to remember what McKenzie had told her. He had been in trouble with the law and had been on parole.

  The man was trouble in cowboy boots, all the way around.

  “Something smells good.”

  “We made snickerpoodles,” Ty said. “They are good.”

  “Snickerdoodles,” Devin corrected, mustering a smile. “And I took the liberty of taking out one of the casseroles I brought over the other day for dinner. A chicken and rice dish that is one of my sister’s specialties. It should be just about ready.”

  “Sounds good,” he said.

  Jazmyn held back and didn’t rush to greet her father as Ty did, though Devin sensed she wanted to.

  “Dad, I’m all done with my homework and so is Ty. Can we watch the Rudolph show tonight after dinner?”

  “I don’t know why not. We still probably need to read, don’t we?”

  “Yes. But I can do that at bedtime.”

  “We saw a puppy named Buster,” Ty informed his father. “He’s so cute.”

  “Oh, yeah?” he said as he snagged a cookie off the cooling tray. “Where did you see a puppy?”

  Jazmyn pinched him hard. Ty opened his mouth to yell at her, then seemed to realize what he had done and a look of horrified guilt crossed over his adorable features.

  “Um. Somebody brought it. I forget who.”

  Jazmyn huffed out a disgusted sound while she rolled her eyes and Devin stepped forward.

  “You should tell your dad. Neither of you did anything wrong. You don’t need to hide anything.”

  “But we’re not supposed to talk to...someone who has a puppy.”

  “He came to the house. You couldn’t ignore him,” she said. She turned to Cole. “Your father was just here. He has a very cute yellow Lab puppy named Buster. The children loved playing with him for only a moment. The puppy, I mean. Not your father.”

  As she would have expected, his jaw hardened and he glared at her. “You let him in?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a steady look. “I must have missed the note by the door listing everyone who should be barred entry.”

  “My father would be at the top of that list,” he said. “In fact, his name would probably be the only one on it. And serial killers. Stan Barrett and serial killers.”

  At least his father wasn’t a serial killer. She could scratch that worry off the list. “I’ll keep that in mind next time,” she answered.

  “What did he want?”

  “He was looking for Tricia. Apparently he has some of her baby pictures and thought she might like them before she has her own babies.”

  He glowered. “Did you tell him she’s in the hospital?”

  She hadn’t exactly told him, Jazmyn had, but she wasn’t about to throw his daughter under the bus.

  “He knows, yes. I did tell him she doesn’t need drama right now. I don’t know if that will keep him away from the hospital, though.”

  “Thanks for that, at least.”

  She wanted to ask him what the antagonism was between him and his father, but not with his children looking on.

  “Your dinner is just about ready,” she said. “I’ll just get out of your hair so you can get to it.”

  “You’re leaving?” Jazmyn said.

  “You should stay and have dinner with us,” Ty said. He slipped his hand in hers and she felt another chunk of her heart crumble for this sweet little boy who had so much love to give.

  “We’ve kept Dr. Shaw long enough,” Cole said. “She’s a busy woman and has things to do.”

  She had plenty to do, but nothing as appealing as spending time with them.

  “Please, can you stay?” Jazmyn asked, a surprising plea in her voice. While Ty had been affectionate from the start, Devin hadn’t been sure at all if Jazmyn had warmed to her.

  Cole also looked startled by Jazmyn’s eagerness. He gazed from Devin to his daughter and back again. “You’re welcome to stay, if you’ve got a little time to spare,” he said.

  “That casserole of McKenzie’s is my favorite and I am starving,” she said. “I would love to stay.”

  Maybe she would have the chance to ask him all the questions racing through her brain about his past and his tangled relationship with his father.

  Or maybe she could just indulge this ridiculous little crush she had going on for a few moments longer, before she put it to rest once and for all.

  CHAPTER TEN

  DR. SHAW COMPLETELY baffled him.

  He appreciated her help—heaven knew, he couldn’t do everything on his own right now and would have been lost without her—but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why she had taken such an interest in his family.

  She had to be a very busy woman, with an active medical practice and what he gathered was a big social circle in Haven Point. What incentive did she have to help a man she
barely knew?

  He didn’t like mysteries and Devin Shaw seemed like one big tangled ball of unanswered questions. Every once in a while, he caught a glimpse of something in her gaze, a shadow of something he didn’t understand.

  Maybe he would have an easier time figuring her out if his stupid brain could fire on more than one or two cylinders in her presence. He felt tongue-tied and stupid, just a big, dumb cowboy.

  This crazy lust sizzling through him didn’t help the situation at all. When he walked into his kitchen earlier and had seen her standing there, all soft and pretty and big-eyed, desire had kicked and bucked through him, just like a mad bronc through the gate.

  He had never hungered for a woman with this raw force before.

  Good thing his kids were there as a buffer between them, to remind him that he had far too many problems right now anyway and didn’t need to add unrequited lust to the mix.

  Casserole wasn’t his favorite thing—yeah, he was a bit of a Neanderthal and preferred a big, juicy steak to anything where the bits were all jumbled together—but he had to admit, this one was pretty good. It had some kind of crusty, herby topping and a creamy, silky sauce that wasn’t half-bad.

  He was on his second helping, listening to Jazmyn and Devin talk about some town festival coming up that weekend and some craft thingy they must have worked on together for it when Devin suddenly set down her fork and turned to Ty.

  “Are you feeling okay?” she asked, her brow furrowed with concern. “You’re not eating. Don’t you like the casserole?”

  “I’m not hungry,” Ty said in a small voice.

  Cole frowned. Maybe it was just the low light over the table but he thought the boy looked a little pasty.

  Devin must have agreed. She placed a slim hand on the boy’s forehead. “You feel a little warm. Does your head hurt?”

  “No. Just my stomach.”

  “Do you feel like you need to throw up?”

  “Oooh. Gross!” Jazmyn exclaimed.

  Ty shook his head but in midshake he switched to a nod. An instant later, he gagged a little, looking definitely green around the gills.

  “Oooh! That’s disgusting!” Jazmyn shrieked. “Don’t throw up, or I will, too.”