Live-In Mom

by Paige, Laurie

  He shook his head. “I can’t imagine you being afraid of anything, not after that fracas with Hodkin.”

  “I’m not afraid of people.”

  “Maybe you should be.” He stopped when a vehicle pulled into the driveway and parked. A minute later, Jonathan came running into the house. Shane entered behind him and closed the kitchen door.

  “I picked up a hitchhiker on your driveway,” the sheriff said with an easy smile, nodding toward the boy.

  “Hi,” Jonathan called to Carly. He climbed on a bar stool at the counter and peered at the waffle sections on a plate. “Boy, do those smell good, Dad. Can I have one now?”

  “Sure. Take this plate to the table and join Carly. You two can eat before the waffle gets cold. Shane, you hungry?”

  “Well, I had cereal earlier-”

  “You better have one of these, Uncle Shane,” Jonathan advised. “Dad makes the best.”

  “In that case, you talked me into it.”

  “What are you doing up so early?” Ty asked his brother.

  “Fishing. I caught a mess of trout. I thought you might join us for an early supper.” Shane’s blue eyes cut to her. “You, too, Carly,” he said easily.

  “I may have some work to do tonight,” she said, unable to think of any excuse not to, but not certain Ty wanted her.

  Shane poured a cup of coffee, took the plate Ty handed him and seated himself at the table. He pushed the syrup pitcher toward Carly. She realized she hadn’t started eating. She picked up her fork and joined Jonathan and Shane. In a minute, Ty came over with a platter of meat and extra waffle sections. He stacked two wedges on his plate, generously covered them with syrup and dug in.

  After the first bite, she ate hungrily, too. The meal was delicious. Ty had a multitude of talents, it seemed.

  “The fog was thick last night, wasn’t it?” Shane remarked.

  She paused in the act of taking a bite.

  “Yes, it was,” Ty answered.

  She relaxed.

  “There was a bad wreck on the interstate near Ashland. The traffic was tied up for a couple of hours.” He looked from Ty to Carly. “It was a wise decision to stay here.”

  A blush started midway down her chest and climbed to her face, then rose all the way to her scalp.

  “I made the decision to bring her here,” Ty said in a casual tone. “She didn’t have a choice.”

  “Sleep-overs are fun,” Jonathan declared with an enthusiastic smile. “Did Dad make popcorn balls for you? He did the last time I had some guys over. He let us stay up practically all night and talk. Did you get to stay up late?”

  His innocent questions made Carly squirm. “Well—”

  “It was pretty late when we got in,” Ty broke in. “Carly went to bed right away.”

  “Did she sleep in your room?”

  She nearly dropped her fork. Looking at the boy, she could detect no guile in his expression. He was merely curious. Shane was seized by a coughing fit and hid his face behind his napkin.

  “She stayed in the guest room,” Ty said truthfully.

  “Yes,” Carly said, nodding several times. “I did.”

  A buzzer went off on the washing machine. Carly froze. She stared at the utility-room door as if expecting Martians to appear. Jonathan went on happily eating his breakfast.

  “I washed the sheets,” she said lamely. She rushed from the kitchen into the utility room. Behind the door, she pressed her hands to her hot cheeks and wondered how she’d gotten herself into such a ridiculous situation.

  “Carly is very conscientious,” she heard Ty say on a strangely wry note. “She likes to tidy everything up before she leaves.”

  She switched the sheets and pillowcases to the dryer, threw in a nonstatic tissue and set the timer for thirty minutes. There was nothing else to keep her from returning to the table.

  With a calming breath, she went out. Ty’s brother met her quick glance with a smile. He was enjoying the debacle; that much was obvious. What wasn’t clear were his thoughts on the subject.

  His smile was kind. More than that, his gaze seemed to be approving, as if he were encouraging her, but in what way? What did he want her to do? Help Ty over his distrust of women?

  That might be more than any woman was capable of doing. Ty had deep-seated suspicions regarding the motives of the fairer sex, and not without reason, she had to admit.

  She had some serious doubts about the man-woman relationship herself. Neither of them had had great experiences with the opposite sex. Would the sheriff help her over her distrust, too?

  Against her own advice, she’d gotten involved in another person’s life, a thing she’d vowed not to do. She gazed at Ty, wondering about his thoughts on this, the morning after the most shattering experience she’d ever had.

  She had considered a month-long fling, but this promised to be more. Suddenly, she couldn’t imagine a future without him in it….

  “This is fun, isn’t it, Carly?” Jonathan commented.

  She was perched on top of a horse that Ty said was very well behaved. She wasn’t so sure. He seemed awfully frisky to her, tossing his head and cocking one ear back toward her. Somehow they’d talked her into spending the day and going for a ride.

  “He’ll calm down once we start climbing,” Ty said behind her.

  The three of them were going into the mountains. The idea was to reach some waterfall and have a picnic. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long. Already, her rear was protesting the hardness of the saddle. The sheepskin saddle blanket should go on top of the darned thing. She needed the padding more than the horse.

  When she glanced over her shoulder, Ty gave her a wicked grin. The rat! He knew what she was going through.

  She faced the front and mused on why he’d agreed to the trip when the child had suggested it. Shane had urged her to accept the invitation. “The view is worth it,” he’d told her with a twinkle in his eyes. She couldn’t figure him out. It was almost as if he were pushing her and Ty together.

  Squirming on the hard leather, she sent mental daggers his way. However, honesty forced her to admit she’d wanted to come and had jumped at the chance to spend the day with Ty and his son.

  “Here’s where the trail gets hard,” Jonathan advised.

  “Do tell,” she murmured.

  Behind her, she heard a quiet chuckle, then she didn’t have time to attend to anything but staying in her seat as the gelding perkily lunged over a fat, squat boulder on the path. She grabbed the saddle horn and held on.

  “Pull him in a bit,” Ty advised. “Tighten the reins.”

  She gathered the leather straps more securely in her hand the way he’d shown her to hold them. Both he and Jonathan had been amazed that she’d never ridden a horse.

  “It may come as a surprise, but I’d venture to guess that the great majority of people in America haven’t ridden a horse,” she’d informed them when they’d commented on her deprived childhood.

  “A person who can milk a cow can ride a horse,” Ty had assured her. “I have great confidence in you.”

  “Famous last words,” she muttered now to herself. She tried to move from the waist as he’d told her and keep her shoulders level. It wasn’t as easy as he’d made it sound.

  They moved on up into the hills, the trail wrapping around the slope and climbing higher and higher. The horses plodded along, puffing with the effort of walking uphill. She began to relax.

  Everything was fine while they were in the trees. It was when they came out on a cliff that she nearly had a heart attack.

  “Look, that’s our house way down there.” Jonathan pointed.

  She peered over the edge and swallowed hard. It was a long way down.

  Her horse was interested, too. He swung his head over the cliff and stared into the valley like John Muir discovering Yosemite. He took a step closer to the drop-off. Was he nearsighted or something? she wondered rather desperately.

  “Whoa,” she said. She pulled back on
the reins.

  The gelding tossed his head and pranced a bit.

  “Easy,” Ty said. He came up beside her, caught the reins in his big hand and held them firmly. “Easy, now. Relax.”

  She realized he was talking to her. Her temper flared. “It’s the horse that needs talking to, not me.”

  Ty grinned. “The horse knows what he’s doing.”

  “Meaning I don’t?” She glared at him.

  He chuckled. Jonathan gave her a big, encouraging smile. “Don’t be afraid. Bandit’s been up here lots of times.”

  Ty let go the reins and laid his hand on her leg. Heat ran through her thigh to her stomach. She darted a look at him.

  His expression was sympathetic, his manner gentle. “It’ll be worth the ride, once we get to the waterfall.”

  The tension rolled right out of her. “I’ll let you know about that when we get back home,” she informed him.

  When they moved on, she didn’t worry about the long drop to her right. However, she did keep her eyes to the - front.

  A short time after that, they turned off the trail and en tered a small glen. Water tumbled out of a rock face from several points and formed a tiny creek that rushed headlong down the mountain.

  She dismounted when the two males did. Strong hands were suddenly there to hold her weight when she slid to the ground. It was a good thing. She found her legs were shaky.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Ty said.

  “Yeah, it takes a while, but you’ll toughen up,” Jonathan said with the voice of experience.

  Ty removed the saddle, spread the blanket on the ground, using the saddle as a backrest. “The seat of honor.” He gestured for her to be seated.

  She sank down gratefully. Ty had taken her home long enough to change into jeans and a blue T-shirt. She wore a long-sleeved shirt tied by the sleeves over her shoulders. She also had on her ragged sneakers and a hat.

  “This is really lovely,” she admitted while they ate peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and drank warm lemonade from cans.

  “Worth the trip?” Ty asked.

  “Yes.” Her gaze met his and lingered. She wondered why he’d seconded Jonathan’s request that she come with them. It was almost as if he were testing her, seeing if she could fit into their life.

  A nervous thrill went over her, and she looked away. She liked the ranch. Her time in the area had convinced her she could run a successful business there. She could be happy….

  She looked around at Ty to give him a radiant smile, but he was studying the valley, which could be seen beyond the thin trunks of the evergreen trees hugging the side of the mountain. He looked troubled. She wondered what he was thinking.

  It came to her that he must have been like Jonathan at one time, eager for adventure, a smile on his face as he rushed through the days, his heart open in trust and friendship. Like her, he’d learned to be more cautious in his approach to life. So would Jonathan. With time. With heartbreak.

  After polishing off her meal with an apple, she settled back on the saddle and closed her eyes. She heard Ty and Jonathan move off, their voices quiet as they explored the waterfall and creek.

  When they returned, it was time for the trip home. Ty woke her with a tug on her hair. He had the other two horses saddled.

  When they reached the meadow, Jonathan raced ahead of them. Ty let his horse mosey alongside hers. “Did you have fun?”

  “Yes. It was wonderful.”

  “Good,” he said in deepened tones.

  She knew he was thinking of last night, as well as today. So much had changed between them in the past twelve hours, but she wasn’t sure what any of it meant.

  Or what she wanted it to mean. Falling in love wasn’t in her work plan.

  “Here, let me help you with that,” Carly volunteered. She took the platter from Tina and carried it to the table.

  “Thanks. That should do it. We can call the fellows now.”

  Carly went to the door and told the three blond-haired, blue-eyed males that the fish dinner was ready. When they trooped into the dining room, she felt an overwhelming surge of emotion. She turned back to the table to hide the tender feelings while the men went to other parts of the house to wash up.

  Tina was watching her with an odd little smile on her face. When she realized Carly was looking at her, her smile widened. “Let’s sit. I’m tired.”

  “Perhaps this was too much, cooking for extra people.”

  “Shane would have been crushed if we hadn’t had the fish fry tonight. Besides, I love fresh fish. It’s one of my favorite foods. Oh, put the pitcher of tea on the table, would you, please?” Tina took a chair at the end of the table.

  Carly was worried about the other woman. Her hostess had caught her breath sharply several times while they prepared the meal. Once she’d had to stop and press her hands to her back.

  “False labor,” she’d explained. “It’s nothing.”

  Carly hoped that was true. If the baby came that night and the fog crept up the river the way it had the previous night, Shane might have a hard time getting his wife to the hospital.

  The three Macklin males came to the table. Carly poured tea for the adults and lemonade for Jonathan. Ty passed the platter of fish and hush puppies, which were fritters made with corn meal, a Southern dish that Tina had prepared from a recipe given to her by Genny Barrett. Tina had let Carly have the recipe, too.

  Friends were like ripples in a pond, Carly mused while she ate. Each one touched another, which touched another and another and so on down the line. New ripples formed, their circles overlapping those of other ripples until everything was connected.

  Glancing from one to another, she felt their lives touching hers and knew she’d like to be a part of them. Listening to Shane and Ty talk, she realized there was a close bond between the brothers that extended to Jonathan.

  Both men listened to the boy tell his aunt of the day’s adventures. “We showed Carly how to clean her horse. She got horse hair in her nose and sneezed and sneezed. Then Dad and I fished in the river. That’s how we got two more fish for dinner.” He beamed with pride.

  Carly felt a tightening in her chest. It would be so easy to get drawn into this family. They were warm and loving. Even Ty was relaxed in a way she’d never before seen.

  Once in a while, their eyes met, and she felt the questions that neither had dared ask fill the air between them. Sometimes, his arm brushed hers, and she would feel all the wonder she’d felt during the night, of being able to snuggle close and touch him to her heart’s content.

  When Tina insisted they go to the family room for dessert rather than clearing the table, Ty caught Carly’s hand and tugged her along to the other room. Then he, Shane and Jonathan went back to clean up the dishes and serve the banana pudding.

  “I haven’t seen Ty so relaxed in ages,” Tina remarked when they were alone.

  “It was a fun day.” She grinned ruefully. “I may have overdone it a little with the horseback riding.”

  Tina gave her sympathetic smile. “You’re good for Ty.”

  Carly didn’t know what to say to that.

  “You don’t pander to his ego or seem to want him for his name or money.”

  Carly’s head snapped up. “Of course I don’t!”

  Tina reached over and patted her hand. “Don’t let his manner put you off. The Macklin men are the most hardheaded creatures I’ve ever met. Once they get an idea, they just don’t let go. Shane was sure I came back here just to nab Ty when his marriage was falling apart.” She laughed softly. “Which just goes to show how far wrong a person can be.”

  “Right,” Carly agreed. “Obviously, you came back to nab him.”

  They laughed together. Tina caught her breath again and. laid a hand on her tummy. “Quiet in there, buster,” she muttered when she breathed easy once more.

  “You’re making me nervous,” Carly told her. “How do you know these aren’t the real thing?”

  “Well, I
don’t, but unless something else happens, I’m going to assume all is well.”

  Carly held her breath when Tina gave a little gasp and bent forward a bit. “After we boil the water, what do we do?” she asked, keeping her tone light.

  “I think Shane and Ty know. They’ve both had paramedic training as part of the sheriff’s department.”

  “Ty is part of the department?”

  “He’s a volunteer deputy. In case of a disaster or unusual emergency,” Tina explained. She bent forward again. “Oh,” she said in a thin moan. “Getting harder.”

  Carly rose. “What is? Your pains? What should I do?”

  Tina relaxed with a sigh. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  When Ty came out with five plates and spoons, she gave him a worried frown and tried to warn him with her eyes to notice Tina.

  He frowned and watched her warily as he put the plates down. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  Couldn’t he see that something was happening to Tina? The mother-to-be was bent over again, her hands braced on her knees, her head hanging forward as if she were studying the threads of the carpet.

  Shane entered with Jonathan. The man had a big bowl of banana pudding. Jonathan carried the serving spoon.

  The treat was eaten in near-silence as they listened to the muted sounds of evening. Carly suppressed a yawn. It was too peaceful. She was going to fall asleep.

  “What’s wrong?” Shane’s deep voice broke the quiet.

  Jonathan, Ty and Carly looked at him. His gaze was on his wife. They all looked at Tina. She had her teeth clamped into her lower lip and was bracing herself again.

  “I think… it’s for real this time,” she said.

  Shane jumped to his feet. “Let’s go to the hospital.”

  “Not yet. It’s far too early.” Tina laughed as she relaxed, the sound reassuring to the others.

  “Are you gonna have the baby, Aunt Tina?” Jonathan demanded.