“You need to be careful. Don’t take any chances. It’s hot as blue blazes out here.”
“And you’re overreacting.”
He was, he’d admit to it. “Comes with the territory. I worried a lot about...” He stopped, closed his mouth and started again. “You have to be careful during the first few months.”
She turned, her gaze roving his face. He expected her to snap at him. Instead, she said, “That’s sweet.”
Mel never failed to amaze him. “So, I didn’t mess up?”
“You’re bound to compare my pregnancy to Robin’s. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t.” The barest of smiles appeared.
Aaron thought about kissing her, a frequent preoccupation lately. First thing in the morning, last thing at night, during work, while pumping gas, images assailed him. He used to look forward to their get-togethers. Now, all he thought about was the last time they’d made love and how much he missed her.
“Who do you compare me to, Mel?”
She had mentioned a few past boyfriends. None that had seemed serious or lasted for more than a year.
“No one. My problem, lately anyway, is comparing you and me to other people.”
“Who?” He was curious.
“I hate to admit this.” She winced and drew in a breath. “My dad and Samantha’s mom.”
“Huh.” He could see how she’d come to that conclusion.
“Yeah, I feel the same way. Unsettling, isn’t it?”
Aaron set down the bucket. This would require some mulling over.
The girls squealing and giggling a short distance away had him glancing around for Kaylee. He should be checking on her, not leave her supervision entirely up to Frankie. Bad parenting on his part. Then again, the second Kaylee had seen her little friends darting in and out of the water sprinkler, she’d run toward them, forgetting her father existed.
“Do you think she’s suspicious of us?” Mel asked.
“Kaylee? Absolutely not. She’s too young.”
“Very funny. I was referring to Frankie.”
“Ah. Well, possibly. We haven’t been keeping very low profiles lately.”
Us. We. He liked them using those terms when describing each other.
“No, we haven’t,” she agreed.
“When they find out we’re having a baby, they’ll know why we’ve been talking.”
Frowning, she went back to cleaning her medical equipment in the bucket of water, sponging the implements with soapy water and rinsing them in a second bucket of clean water.
Aaron could have kicked himself for being an idiot. “Let me rephrase. We are having a baby, it’s true, but that’s not all there is between us.”
“I’m equally guilty of sending mixed signals. Because I’m confused about how I feel.” She stopped scrubbing. “You confuse me, Aaron.”
“I understand. That kiss the other night...” He chuckled. “It surprised me, too.”
“You think it was a mistake?”
“Oh, hell no!”
“But it does make things a little messy.” She resumed scrubbing.
Is that what she thought? Aaron didn’t dispute her. But messy or not, he’d kiss her again in a heartbeat.
“The thing with my family—” she dried her hands “—they can go a little overboard. Interfering and calling it helping. Except for Dolores,” Mel amended. “She manages to help without interfering. They should take lessons from her.”
Aaron thought of his sister and parents, how they were five hundred miles away and he only got to see them once or twice a year. He’d love some interference disguised as helping.
“You’re lucky to have your family close by. We can all use help now and then. I’m here today because Frankie’s daughters are a lot more fun than I am, according to my daughter.”
“She loves you.”
“And I love her. Doesn’t make me everything she needs. Children benefit from having friends their own age.” He groaned and clasped his forehead. “I believe I just quoted my mother-in-law. You have my permission to throw me out on my backside.”
Mel finished putting away her equipment. Aaron had the feeling she expected, or hoped, he’d say something else. What, he wasn’t sure.
Samantha spared him from the continuing silence by returning from taking her horse to his stall in the minibarn.
“See you tomorrow morning,” she called to Mel before joining Frankie and the girls. A moment later, she waved and headed into the house.
“What’s going on tomorrow morning?” Aaron asked.
Mel shut and locked her case. “She’s going with me on a couple of calls.”
“Wow.” Aaron gasped and grabbed a fistful of his shirtfront, pretending to have a heart attack. “Call 9-1-1.”
“Very funny.”
“You can’t deny it’s unexpected.”
“Tell me about it.” She gave a small laugh. “I barely recognize myself anymore.”
“You’re dealing with everything pretty well, if you ask me.”
“Or, I’m hiding my head in the sand and praying my troubles will disappear. I’m not sure which.”
Joking aside, she was saying more than she realized. Beneath her brave front, she was worried and scared and uncertain. Like him. He wanted to, needed to, do something to let her know he cared and that their connection was deepening. Something more than carrying heavy buckets.
He moved closer.
“Frankie’s looking,” Mel warned.
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
“What?”
“Doesn’t have to be fancy. But I want to take you out, Mel.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“We have to start making plans sometime,” he said. “Why not over dinner?”
“Are we making plans or going on a date?”
“Both. Couples combine the two all the time.”
She narrowed her gaze at him.
“Come on,” he pressed.
“Maybe.”
“Otherwise, we’ll have to wait until Sunday.” And it would be harder for him to get away. He tried to spend free weekends with Kaylee, and Nancy would question any change in those plans.
This, however, was important and worth risking any repercussions from Nancy.
“Where?” Mel asked.
“Wherever you want. Rio Verde. Scottsdale. Fountain Hills.”
She took a long moment to respond. “Vito’s Old Country.”
The Italian family eatery in Rio Verde. He’d taken Kaylee there once, and she’d made a terrible mess with her spaghetti. Aaron had tipped the server extra and apologized on the way out. Would they recognize him and remember?
“Sounds good. What time?”
“Not too late.” Mel checked her phone. “I have an early-morning appointment. A goat with an ear infection.”
“Six thirty okay? I’d like to give Kaylee another hour at least to play with her friends.”
He’d also have plenty of time to shower and change and sit with Kaylee while she ate supper.
“I’ll meet you there,” Mel said.
“No way. This is a date, remember? I’ll pick you up.”
She relented with a nod and a huff he thought might have just been for show. “I’d better hurry. Who knows what’s clean in my closet.”
A dress, please, Aaron thought. As much as he liked her in jeans—her curvy figure did them justice—he really wanted her to wear the dress he’d seen her in last month at the community potluck. The tiny straps and low-cut back had shown off lots of lovely bare skin.
“Daddy!” Kaylee squealed. “I want my towel.”
It was right where she’d left it, folded on the lawn chair. But Kaylee was notorious for having short-term memory loss.
“Hang on a sec, kidd
o.”
When he swung back around, Mel was already carrying a load toward the driveway where her truck was parked. If Aaron went after her, there’d be no hiding their relationship from Frankie. From the entire Hartman clan, really, because Mel’s sister would report what she’d seen at the first available opportunity.
Then again, Aaron and Mel weren’t doing anything wrong.
He hesitated for a good ten seconds before grabbing her medical case and sprinting after her. Even at a distance, he could sense the heat of Frankie’s stare boring a hole in his back. Too late now.
* * *
MEL SAT BESIDE Aaron in his family SUV as they traveled the road to Rio Verde and Vito’s Old Country. A dozen concerns flitted through her head, circling like hawks and making it hard for her to concentrate.
This was a bad idea. What if they ran into someone they knew at the restaurant? Thank goodness Ronnie was still practicing with Samantha when Aaron had arrived at the house to pick up Mel. This wasn’t a date, she told herself, merely a strategy meeting.
Uh-huh. As if she’d wear a yellow dress and three-inch heels to a meeting. And speaking of heels, this pair was killing her. She could already feel the sharp pinch in her toes and heels.
That was what she got for always wearing boots or going barefoot. Maybe she’d kick her shoes off under the table once they were seated.
“Sorry.” She turned to Aaron. “What did you say?”
He lowered the volume on the radio, as if that was the problem. “I hear the stuffed eggplant is really good.”
“I figured you for a beef man.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m a person of varied tastes.”
He would have to grin and trigger that stupid chain reaction inside her, starting with the catch in her throat and ending with the tingle that reached all the way to her toes. He would also have to wear a turquoise cowboy shirt that matched his vivid blue eyes. Perhaps if she looked out the window...
“What’s your favorite Italian dish?” he asked, sounding an awful lot like they really were on a date.
She abandoned the window to face him. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen the local landscape a few hundred, make that a thousand, times.
“Linguini. With cream sauce. And caprese salad. But I like to try new dishes, too.”
“You drink wine? When you’re not pregnant, that is.”
“On occasion. Chianti with Italian.”
What did they usually talk about when they were together? Clearly not favorite foods or dining out. She tried to think. They’d discussed their personal situations, specifically why they couldn’t date. A little bit about their pasts. Growing up in Mustang Valley and Queen Creek respectively.
Nothing meaningful, not that one’s wine of choice was particularly meaningful. But there was something nice about casual conversation. Just like a regular couple.
At the restaurant, Aaron parked. Mel reached for her door handle, intending to open it.
“Hold on. I’ll get that.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
Pleased by this show of gallantry, she sat until he came around the SUV to her side and opened the door. Men in these parts tended to treat her like one of them. Especially when she was trudging through cow manure.
“Thanks.” She accepted the hand he extended.
At the hostess station, she learned he’d called ahead and made a reservation. For a booth. There was a candle in the center of the table and dim lighting.
Not special. She noticed all the tables had candles. Yet, Mel felt special all the same, proving she was a secret romantic.
“I thought this was a family restaurant.”
Aaron remained standing until she’d slid into the booth. “It is.”
She surveyed the large room, observing mostly couples but also several parents with their children, and decided her imagination was working overtime.
Soon enough, the server left them alone, their drink and appetizer order in hand. Iced tea for Aaron, plain water for Mel and a caprese salad to share.
“What made you decide to become a vet?” he asked after their drinks arrived.
“No big secret there. I grew up in a ranching community.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She sat back against the vinyl seat. “We had a bunch of barn cats when I was a kid. A house cat, too, but also all these half-feral ones. A mama birthed a litter of kittens in the hay trough and then a week later disappeared. I was about ten or eleven. Not long after my mom died. Dad was going to humanely euthanize the kittens. What other choice did he have? I carried on until he let me bottle raise the litter. It was a lot of work. Like 24/7 work. Luckily, it was during summer when I didn’t have school.”
“Did the kittens survive?”
“Yes. To everyone’s surprise, including mine.” She laughed softly, then sobered. “I loved it. I’d been utterly miserable and missing my mom. Suddenly, I was less miserable. Of course, Dad made me find homes for the entire litter and a few of the barn cats.”
“Unexpected deaths. They’re rough.” Aaron covered her hand with his. Despite their size and strength, his touch was gentle and caring.
Two decades had passed, but Mel remembered every detail from those months following her mother’s death. “She went riding alone all the time. She was an expert horsewoman. For whatever reason, on that ride, the horse spooked or slipped, and she fell. Hit her head on the only rock within eight feet in any direction. When the horse came galloping home without my mom, Dad figured she wasn’t far behind. Two hours later, he went out looking for her. Four hours later, he reported her missing, and the authorities sent out a search party.” Mel lowered her voice. “They found her the next morning. The medical examiner’s report said she’d died instantly.”
“I’m sure you heard this before,” Aaron squeezed her fingers, “but at least she didn’t suffer.”
“I’m sorry that Robin did. Truly. It must have been horrible for you. But at least you got to say goodbye to her. My mom’s last words to me were, ‘Clean your room or we aren’t going out for pizza tonight.’”
“Robin’s last words were, ‘It’s on the bathroom shelf.’”
“What was?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. She was on high doses of pain meds, fighting a massive brain tumor and in and out of consciousness. That didn’t stop me from tearing the bathroom apart after she died, searching for some secret item she left behind for me.”
“That’s a sad story.” Mel’s heart ached for him.
He released her hand when the server arrived with their salad and didn’t attempt to take it again. Mel picked up her fork. Aaron, too.
“She constantly worried I’d be killed in the line of duty. Neither of us figured on her dying first. We thought we’d be together until we were old and feeble and living in a nursing home.”
He spoke with such tenderness and love, Mel couldn’t help being affected. They must have been incredibly happy together. Had the kind of relationship her dad did with Dolores. The kind she dreamed of but didn’t think possible.
“What made you choose law enforcement?”
The agony he clearly still felt over Robin’s death receded a little. “No cute story, I’m afraid. When I started college, I majored in marketing.”
“A salesman! You?”
“My dad’s in the business. I took a class on introduction to criminal justice just for fun and because I needed some extra credits. Next thing I knew, I’d changed over to the Police Academy Preparation Program.”
Mel didn’t ask what had brought him to Mustang Valley. She already knew he’d wanted a less dangerous job for Kaylee’s sake.
“Did you ever have any close calls when you worked for the Phoenix Police Department?” The salad was delicious. Mel, however, only picked at it.<
br />
“A few.”
“Been shot at?”
“Yeah.” He paused as if to reflect. “My partner took a bullet my first year on the force. A flesh wound. He was back on the job a month later. Six months after that, his wife divorced him. Said she couldn’t take the stress.”
“Robin must’ve been a very strong person.”
“I’m convinced another reason she fought so hard to have Kaylee was she didn’t want both of us to die. If I was left with a child to raise, she thought—hoped, I’m sure—I might take a less dangerous position or quit law enforcement altogether.” He glanced up as their entrées arrived. “Mustang Valley’s just the right speed for me. Quiet. Close-knit. Low crime rate.”
Normally, Mel would savor her first bite of linguini. Their somber discussion had taken away the enjoyment of their beautifully prepared food.
Then again, there was something uplifting in sharing how they’d both learned to cope with loss.
“Speaking of crime,” she said, “any new developments with the horse rustling?”
“Nothing so far. I’m going to the barrel-racing event this coming weekend at the Silver Spur Arena.”
“Really? Why?”
“Wherever horse people gather, there’s bound to be talk. I thought I might learn something of interest. And it’ll be fun for Kaylee.”
“We’re going, too. Samantha’s competing.”
“I heard.” His voice took on an intimate quality.
Was her being at the event part of his reason for going?
“Not sure how much information I’ll get,” he said, “but I have to try. The thieves are from this area, I’m sure of it, or at least in partnership with someone who is.”
“Someone like whom?”
Aaron stabbed at his stuffed eggplant. “This person, if there is one, would have pretty intimate knowledge of the horse setups around the valley.”
She laughed. “You’re describing me.”
“Maybe I should check you out. Thoroughly.” His eyes darkened and dipped to her neck, igniting that stupid chain reaction again.
“Maybe you should.”
Was she actually flirting? This was crazy. They hadn’t even flirted when they first met.
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