Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2

by Carolyne Aarsen

  “I didn’t have much choice,” Chloe said.

  “Won’t hurt to see Grady every day,” Lucy teased.

  “It’s strictly professional,” Chloe said, trying not to let the image of Vanessa fawning over Grady get to her. “Besides, I don’t know how much one-on-one time I’ll be spending with him. He seems intent on avoiding therapy.”

  “If he’s as stubborn as his brother, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

  Lucy sighed lightly and Chloe sensed her friend’s extra stress. “You sound tired. Have there been more thefts?”

  “Another one at the Cutler ranch last night,” Lucy said. “Some ATVs and a horse. I’m getting worried that this is more organized than people think.”

  Chloe twisted a thread from the cuff of her worn blue jeans around her finger. “Do you have any leads?”

  “None. Though something has been puzzling me greatly. The Stillwater ranch is the only large ranch that doesn’t seem to have had any thefts at all. A few of the smaller ones have been avoided as well, but I’m still trying to see if there’s a connection. A pattern that I can’t find. I was hoping you could help me out.”

  “How?”

  “Just keep your eyes and ears open. Maybe get closer to Mamie. I don’t know.”

  “And report anything I might hear back to you.”

  “Please.”

  “Okay. I’ll see what I can find out.” She stifled the feeling of guilt that accompanied her statement. She was thankful for the job and she didn’t want to take advantage of that.

  Yet Lucy was her friend. And she would be helping her and the community out.

  “I should go. Mamie said that dinner was in a few minutes.”

  “Hey, thanks for doing this for me,” Lucy said. “I appreciate any help I can get.”

  Chloe said goodbye, then made quick work of changing her flannel shirt and pants for a clean pair of blue jeans and an aqua silk shirt. She brushed her hair and, giving in to an impulse, applied some blush and mascara.

  For Grady?

  Chloe lifted her chin and looked at her reflection in the mirror. For herself, she thought, clipping part of her hair back with a couple of bobby pins. She couldn’t allow herself to think of Grady. Not while she carried another man’s baby.

  Before she could give in to doing any more primping, she left. She paused at the door of the nursery, but all was silent.

  She hurried down the stairs. However, no one was in the kitchen by the table, so she followed the conversation to the formal dining room.

  Grady sat at one end of the table and as she came in, Vanessa got up from her end and sat by him. As if trying to show Chloe where things stood. Grady didn’t seem interested, however, which gave her a small encouragement. He looked up, struggling to stand.

  Vanessa frowned at Grady. “Just relax. It’s only Chloe.” Then Vanessa’s icy glance ticked over her. “That’s an interesting look.”

  Chloe’s heart turned over as she mentally compared Vanessa’s silky dress and perfect makeup with her own clothes. She had thought she looked okay, but now she felt drab and dull. She didn’t think she needed to dress for dinner.

  Vanessa gave her a wry look. “Well, I guess it’s too late to change.”

  Chloe wished she could ignore her stepsister’s dismissive attitude.

  “I think you look great,” Grady said.

  His words shouldn’t have made her feel as good as they did.

  Mamie, who wore plain dress pants and a shirt partially covered by her apron, entered and set a platter of ham beside bowls of steaming potatoes and salads and vegetables. At least she looked more casual.

  “Do you need any help?” Chloe asked her.

  Mamie waved off her offer as she removed her apron and laid it on a side table. “No, dear. This is the last plate. Please sit down.” Mamie pulled a chair away from the table, leaving the only empty spot available opposite Vanessa but beside Grady. Chloe sat down and plucked her napkin out of the ring, ignoring Vanessa’s calculating look.

  “Is Cody sleeping?” Vanessa asked, leaning close to Grady, as if staking her claim on him. Again.

  “He is.”

  “Poor baby. I think I wore him out playing with him,” Vanessa said with a smug smile.

  “Well, here we are all together,” Mamie said, but Chloe caught a strained note in her voice.

  “One big happy family,” Vanessa chimed in, and reached for the salad bowl. “Grady, can I serve you some salad?”

  “I thought we would pray first,” Mamie said.

  “Oh. Right.” Vanessa fluttered her hands in an “I’m silly” gesture, then gave Grady another arched look. “I always forget.”

  Just before Chloe lowered her head, however, she couldn’t help a glance Grady’s way and was disconcerted to see him looking directly at her.

  Then she felt a tinge of nausea, a remnant of what she had been struggling with the first four months of her pregnancy, a reminder, and she quickly drew her gaze away.

  Mamie prayed a blessing on the food, asking as well for some solution to the thefts, thanks for family and another request for Ben’s recovery.

  Chloe kept her head bowed a moment, adding her own prayer to stay focused on her work here and not be distracted by inappropriate feelings better left buried.

  “I heard there was another theft at the McKay spread,” Vanessa said, her voice bright, her expression holding a forced gaiety when Mamie was done.

  “I’m sure Byron was upset about that,” Mamie replied.

  “And you guys haven’t had anything stolen?” Vanessa asked, taking a tiny bite of her salad.

  “Not yet, thankfully.” Grady handed the platter of ham in front of him to Chloe. “Would you like some?”

  Chloe felt a start of surprise, her mind as much on the job Lucy had asked her to do here on the Stillwater ranch as trying not to be so aware of Grady sitting only a few feet from her. “Sure. Thank you.” As she took the plate, however, she caught Vanessa’s narrowed gaze.

  “That’s interesting,” Vanessa said, dragging out the word, larding it with innuendo. “Makes one wonder if it’s not that foster girl you’ve got working here who could be behind the thefts. Maddy something or other. She doesn’t come from the best family. Sort of like Chloe here. Having an alcoholic father can’t be easy.”

  “I think that’s enough,” Grady said, a harsh note of reprimand in his voice.

  “Well, it’s true.” Vanessa stabbed at her salad. “About Maddy anyway.”

  The supper conversation limped along after that. Vanessa picked at her food, shooting glances over at Grady, who steadfastly ignored her. All the while Chloe was far too aware of Grady’s eyes on her and of Vanessa’s occasional glower. The tension was noticeable and Chloe was thankful when the meal was finally over.

  Chloe declined dessert as she got up from the table, saying she should check on Cody.

  As she hurried up the stairs, second thoughts nipped at her heels. She shouldn’t have taken this job. How long could she put up with Vanessa and her judgmental attitude and snide comments?

  But even as those questions plagued her, she knew Grady’s presence created the tighter tension.

  She slipped into the nursery and stood by the crib, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection. She could feel a bump that she knew would start to show soon. For now, however, she could still wear her regular clothes.

  And what will you do when you can’t?

  She doubted Mamie would let her go. After all, they had taken in Vanessa, who was an unwed mother. She doubted Mamie would judge her.

  But even as that thought formulated, she thought of how Grady avoided Vanessa in spite of her flirting. She wondered if his attitude toward her had something to do with Vanessa’s situation—being an unw
ed mother.

  Cody lay on his side, arms curled up, looking utterly adorable.

  A confusing brew of emotions stirred within her as she pressed her hand to her abdomen in a protective gesture.

  “He’s sleeping?”

  Grady’s voice from the doorway made her jump. She spun around just as he joined her by the crib.

  “He looks so peaceful,” Grady said, leaning on the rail as if to get a closer look. Then Grady looked over at her and gave her a cautious smile. “I’m sorry about what Vanessa said over dinner.”

  “You don’t have to apologize,” Chloe said. “I heard a lot worse growing up.”

  “I keep forgetting you two are sisters.”

  “Stepsisters,” Chloe reminded him. “And Vanessa only lived at the ranch for a while.”

  “If I may ask, what made her mother leave?”

  Chloe’s conscience fought with a desire to tell him the bare truth. There hadn’t been enough money for Etta Vane. The ranch hadn’t been as prosperous as she had thought.

  “I don’t think ranch life suited Etta. Or Vanessa. The reality was a shock for them.”

  “Somehow she seems to like our place just fine,” Grady said.

  Because there’s money here.

  But she dismissed the thought. The little boy sleeping in the crib in front of her was her stepsister’s reason for returning. As was the man standing beside her.

  “I...I should go,” she said.

  To her dismay, she felt Grady’s hand on her shoulder as she straightened. The warmth of his fingers through her shirt sent a tingle of awareness down her spine; the glint of his eyes in the soft glow of the night-light created an unexpected and unwelcome attraction. “Don’t take to heart what Vanessa said to you.”

  “I’m used to it,” Chloe said, struggling to keep the breathless tone out of her voice.

  “Was it hard? Living with her?”

  Chloe shrugged, then gave him a faint smile. “I just wished we could have been closer. But maybe there’s time now that she’s here.”

  He held her gaze, his expression earnest. “I feel as if I need to tell you because you’re working here now, with Cody, that while I know I’m not his father, neither do I believe she’s Cody’s mother.”

  “What?” Vanessa’s screech from the doorway broke into the moment. “How dare you say things like that? I’m his mother, Grady Stillwater.” She rounded on Chloe. “You were feeding him some lies, weren’t you? You always were jealous of me. You’re so plain and dumpy. You could never compete with me. You and your useless father. I can’t believe my mother even married him. He was a lousy rancher and a crippled drunk.”

  Chloe fought her inborn urge to defend her father. It wasn’t his fault his grandfather hadn’t left as much money as Etta had hoped. It wasn’t his fault he’d been injured when he had his ATV accident.

  “Vanessa, that’s enough,” Grady snapped.

  “Enough of what?” Vanessa said, rounding on him. “You don’t need to stand up for her. You need to face the truth.”

  “If we’re talking about truth, it should be an easy matter to get a DNA test done on you,” Cody said, his voice surprisingly calm. “That should give us the truth about who Cody’s biological mother is.”

  Vanessa paled at that, glancing from Chloe to Grady, her eyes wide. “I can’t believe you doubt me. I can’t believe you think I’m not his mother...” Her voice drifted off and with another accusing glare at Chloe, Vanessa spun around and strode away.

  Grady blew out a sigh as he shoved his hands through his hair. “Again. Sorry about that,” he said. “I shouldn’t have confronted her. Made her say those things about you and your father.”

  Chloe looked down at Cody, who lay fast asleep and blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding in his nursery. “I’m just glad he didn’t wake up” was all she could manage.

  Grady touched her again and she turned to him.

  “You always were a pure, sweet person,” he said.

  Once again her former attraction to him bubbled to the surface.

  Then Chloe felt another flicker of nausea.

  She pulled back, turned away from him, the feeling a stark reminder of the main reason she couldn’t encourage him. Couldn’t be with him.

  The child she carried. The child conceived with her ex-husband.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “Have you seen Vanessa this morning?” Mamie asked, beating some eggs in a bowl.

  Grady looked up from the laptop he had propped on the eating bar of the kitchen. Ben had all the livestock records, all the bookkeeping, all the information on the Future Ranchers in files on the computer, and Grady had been poring over them in an attempt to get up to speed.

  “No. I thought she was sleeping in.”

  “I had to get something from the closet in her room and knocked on the door but when I opened it, there was no one in the room. Her bed was empty.” Mamie beat the eggs, the frown on her face clearly expressing her concern. “I’m glad we hired Chloe to help us.”

  “I am, too.” Grady’s thoughts skipped back to that moment last night in the nursery. Seeing Chloe standing by the crib, smiling down at Cody, had created a mixture of emotions he had a hard time processing. He knew he was attracted to her. And he sensed something building between them.

  But all it took was one shift of his weight on his leg, one look at the crutch to remind him of the foolishness of letting these feelings take over. He wasn’t the man he once was.

  No. She deserved better than this.

  Just as he made this resolution, she came into the kitchen, Cody cuddled up against her. The baby still wore his sleeper. He was rubbing his eyes, his rosy cheeks holding the imprint of one of his chubby hands, his blanket tucked under one arm.

  Grady felt a warmth kindle in him at the sight.

  Trouble was he knew it wasn’t the sight of Cody that caused it, but the woman holding him.

  “Good morning, Chloe,” he said, giving her a wary smile.

  She just nodded at him, suddenly impersonal. Clearly he had stepped over some line she had drawn last night.

  “Hey, sweetie.” Mamie reached for the boy, beaming at the sight of Cody holding out his arms to her in answer. “Did you have a good sleep?”

  “He woke up once early this morning,” Chloe said. “I went to see what was wrong and Vanessa was in the nursery. I thought she was picking him up, but she just stood by his crib and then left. I found this on his night table when I got Cody this morning.” She tugged an envelope out of the back pocket of her blue jeans and handed it to him.

  Grady frowned as he slit it open and pulled a single piece of paper out.

  “Dear Stillwaters,” he read aloud. “I decided to leave. You were right. Cody’s not my kid. But I’m guessing he is Grady’s, because that’s what you Stillwaters are like. Love ’em and leave ’em. Have a good life. Vanessa.”

  “So why did she write that now?” Mamie asked, her fingers pressed against her lips.

  Grady folded up the letter and put it in the envelope. “I told her that a simple DNA test could easily prove if she was the mother or not. I’m guessing she knew we would find out the truth.” He thought of the cruel things Vanessa had thrown at Chloe as she’d left, yet was thankful Chloe wouldn’t have lingering doubts about his relationship with Vanessa.

  But Chloe was filling up a bottle with formula for Cody and not paying attention to him. Clearly that moment he thought they had shared was over.

  Not that he blamed her.

  “When Cody is down for his morning nap, I thought we could start doing some therapy,” Chloe said to Grady, her entire focus on getting the milk into the bottle. Obviously the job required intense concentration.

  “I need to talk to the kids this morning. Maddy Cole
s is coming to do some work with our horse trainer.”

  Chloe gave him a sharp look. “Is Maddy the girl who Vanessa referred to?”

  “Yes.” Grady ground out the single word, still angry at Vanessa’s insinuations.

  “Vanessa can be thoughtless,” Chloe said, screwing the lid on the baby bottle. “I don’t think she always realizes what she is saying.”

  “I can’t believe you can defend her,” Grady said. “Especially after what she said about your father. Her comments were uncalled for and unkind.”

  Chloe’s gaze shot to his, the surprise in her eyes shifting to gratitude as she took Cody from his grandmother. “Thanks for that. Dad was... He had his difficulties.”

  One of them being Vanessa’s mother, Grady was sure. “Your father was a good man who had some bad things happen to him. And I should know. My father had his own issues after his injuries.”

  “Thanks for understanding.” Chloe’s smile wormed its way past his defenses.

  “Did you want some breakfast, Chloe?” Mamie asked, dipping bread into the egg mixture. “I’m making French toast.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Chloe said. “I’ll feed Cody and then I can help you.”

  “You just sit down and take care of that little boy,” Mamie said, patting Cody on his cheek and giving Chloe a warm smile. “I’ll take care of breakfast.”

  Wasn’t too hard to see that his grandmother liked Chloe, Grady thought. Most likely one of the reasons she’d hired her.

  Against his will his mind returned to last night. To that brief connection he and Chloe had shared. And then to her sudden turn away from him. It was a vivid reminder of his situation.

  He finished his breakfast and got up.

  “I’m going out to the barn,” he said, balancing his plate and mug in one hand as he maneuvered past the table to the kitchen counter.