Above Rubies (Rockland Ranch)

by Jaclyn Hawkes

  ****

  When Rossen got off the phone with Nick he was disgusted. The thought of Kit's foster father coming in contact with her again was horrific. The man Nick had described sickened him and made him want to take care of her with a whole new passion.

  Rossen was also somewhat troubled to find that Nick was such a likeable guy. He was deeply and honestly concerned for Kit's well being and Rossen couldn't help but appreciate him, as they discussed how to keep her safe and happy on two fronts. Of course, he just had to be a nice guy. Rossen tried to put Nick out of his mind again as he began to formulate a plan to safeguard Kit for the next three days until she was safely home in Wyoming for Thanksgiving. He'd go, but decided to stay with the baby to keep her safe, too.

  He called Joey and together they opted to see if Sean could go to Logan for a couple of days. They would try to have either Sean, or Treyne, or someone named Matt with Kit twenty-four-seven for the next couple of days.

  Kit had talked to Rossen about Matt a couple of times. He'd never gotten the impression he was anything more to her than the other guys she went out with, but Joey sounded like Matt was a much better friend than the others and now Rossen began to wonder about him too. He'd sent Kit off to school hoping she would have a good college experience, but some parts of it had become pretty hard for Rossen to deal with. Not only was he hurt or even jealous about these other guys, but he also felt guilty for wishing they'd go away and leave his Kit alone. He had to get a handle on what exactly his and her relationship was. This roller coaster was killing him.

  ****

  Kit walked in the door to their apartment and was surprised to see Sean there, hanging out with Treyne. Sean was an architect and now had a growing construction company of his own at home, and she knew he had been fairly overwhelmed with keeping up with his projects the last time she'd talked to him. To see him here, hanging out as if he had nothing better to do than visit, was quite a shift.

  She was even more surprised and pleased when both of them asked if they could come with her to her class that afternoon to hear her play. As they walked across campus and the two of them made a big deal about checking out the girls, Kit laughed and decided that was the real reason for Sean's visit and their tagging along.

  She never realized over the next three days that she was watched over religiously by the people around her who loved her. The only time she even wondered what was going on was when Matt insisted he help the two girls get packed and loaded for their trip home. Then he helped her into the car and told her goodbye with the most unusual look in his eyes. Kit wondered again if there was a chance that he thought of her as more than just a good friend.

  Kit and Joey traveled home with Sean and Treyne in the truck in front of them until they reached Evanston, where the guys pulled on ahead, driving much faster in Sean's big truck than the girls wanted to in Kit's little car. Kit was so excited to get home, but she just wasn't as comfortable on the snowy roads as these guys.

  Chapter 23

  Knowing it was the day before Thanksgiving and the whole family would be home and he wouldn't get much engineering done in the next several days, Rossen was working in his office late, trying to tie up a few loose ends. He'd almost accomplished all he wanted to, when Mimi began to fuss in earnest, standing at the edge of her playpen and holding out her hands saying, “Dah.” She finally said, “Dah epee!” in such a demanding tone that he walked over and picked her up to take her to the kitchen, feeling slightly guilty for letting her play by herself for so long this afternoon.

  He fixed her a bowl of baby cereal and put her in her highchair to feed her with one of her little spoons. He'd figured out early on to give her one of the tiny rubber coated spoons in each hand and then carefully guard the bowl of cereal. By dodging the other spoons as he gave her each bite, he managed to keep her somewhat clean and the cereal in the bowl from landing upside down on the kitchen floor.

  When she was through, he wiped off the odd smears of the porridge from her hands, face and hair and picked her back up. She laid her head on his shoulder and he was cuddling her, knowing she would soon be asleep, when his phone rang. It was another business call, and he grabbed a pen and was taking notes to himself, occasionally rubbing her back as he talked.

  She hadn't been asleep long when the doorbell rang. It scared her and startled him. He hadn't heard that doorbell ring more than a handful of times in the last four years since they'd drilled the oil wells and installed the locked gates and guard house. Nobody but family could get in very easily, so no one rang the bell.

  Mimi started to cry and he rubbed her back and patted her gently as he walked to the door with his phone still to his ear. He pulled open the door and tried not to stare as he motioned for the two men standing on the porch to come in as he said into the phone, "Hey, could I call you back on Monday and we'll finalize all the figures? Something just came up." He closed the front door, shut his phone and put it in his pocket so he could extend a hand to first one and then the other.

  "Nick, Bryan. Come on in. Rossen Rockland."

  ****

  Nick was taking it all in, eyeing the tall, blonde man and looking at the baby that was without a doubt Kit's. She had Kit's rich dark hair with the same tiny nose and arched brows over thick dark lashes just now lying against her little pink cheeks. Sporting tiny pink overalls, she rested on this large man's shoulder as he ended what had obviously been a business call. The two of them stared at each other for just a second like two posturing herd stallions, with Bryan looking on. Almost immediately Joey’s dad and another man came in from a hallway, and a third appeared up a stairwell.

  Nick and Bryan looked at each other. Joey’s dad and the man with him and Rossen could all have been twins except for the differences in ages. The man who came up the stairwell was dark and certainly not related, but he acted like he lived here anyway. There was just a split second of awkward silence and then another door opened to admit a fourth and a fifth blonde twin. The younger of the two burst out with, "Hey, there's a Maserati out there in the ditch!" He looked around at the several men oblivious to the drama of the moment. "Wow! I know you! You're Nick Sartori. I've got all your CDs! And you're Bryan Cole! You were on TV just last week with Joey! What are you guys doing here?"

  They didn't have a chance to answer to his exuberance before Rossen, still holding Kit's daughter, said to him, "Treyne, mind your manners. I'm sure they're here to see Kit and Joey." He turned back to them. "I'm sorry. The girls aren't quite here yet. They're still on their way home from school in Logan. They should be just a short while behind these two." He indicated the last two to enter.

  Bryan replied, "They uh, don't actually know we're here. We thought we'd surprise them."

  Nick added forthrightly, "Actually, we came to find out what Wyoming has that California doesn't."

  Bryan glanced at the six men in front of them and he grinned as he remarked dryly, "It didn't take us long to figure that one out."

  Nick looked around at these men. All of them stood inches over six feet with heavy shoulders and long legs. They all wore jeans and even just standing there in their own home; they looked like a whole troop of the Marleboro Man. If they hadn't all appeared friendly, he would have been extremely intimidated. Knowing Kit would arrive any second, he came right out and asked, "Which one of you is the one Kit's in love with?"

  Simultaneously, five of them turned to look at the man with the baby, who looked around in surprise. He said, "Oh, come on! Be serious, you guys." At his outburst the baby startled and began to cry. He pulled her close under his chin and began to quietly talk to her and rub her tiny back to settle her down while his eyes watched Nick's.

  Nick looked across at him and shook his head. "You don't even know?"

  Rossen answered, "Of course Kit loves me. She loves us all. But she's not in love with me." To a man, all of the rest of them turned to look at him again without saying a word. Rossen looked around at them in disbelief as Nick shook his head again, a
nd Bryan grinned. The baby started to cry in earnest and Rossen took her into the kitchen and began making her a bottle, talking softly to her all the while.

  Joey’s father turned to Nick and Bryan and extended his hand to both of them in turn, "You remember me. Rob Rockland, Joey's father. It's good to see you again. Welcome to Wyoming." He hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Do you mind my asking? How did you find us?"

  Bryan grinned. "We asked in town how to get here."

  Rob seemed incredulous. "Someone in our town told you, strangers, how to get here?"

  Bryan laughed and looked slightly sheepish. "He was a fan of mine."

  "How did you get past the guys in the guard house?"

  This time it was Nick who grinned. "Uh, well, they were fans of mine."

  Rossen was watching their exchange as Rob shook his head and laughed. "So much for homeland security. Come on in and sit down. Meet the family. After dinner we'll go out and pull your car out of the ditch." Nick and Bryan went in and sat down in the great room with Rob and Treyne, while one went back down the hall and another went back out the door. The dark one leaned against the counter next to Rossen to spectate.

  It wasn't two minutes later that the garage door opened and Joey and Kit came in. Joey set her bags down and turned to close the door while Kit came straight into the kitchen to put her arm around Rossen's waist as he held the baby. She put her face close to his neck to give her daughter a gentle kiss.

  Nick was watching all this from the couch and Rossen raised his head to see his eyes upon them as he said, "Uh, Kit. You and Joey have company." She looked up at him questioning, and he nodded toward the great room. She followed his nod and then looked back at Rossen. Their eyes met and held for a full second before she advanced into the room to greet them.

  Rossen took the baby and walked down the hall to disappear around a bend and Nick looked up into Kit's eyes as he stood to greet her. He wasn't sure what he saw there, but he knew it wasn't the same look he'd just seen her give Rossen as she came in the door. The gentle touch she'd given as she leaned in to him to give her daughter a kiss had been subtle, but she'd never once touched Nick like that in all the time he'd known her.

  What he'd suspected all along was blatantly obvious to him, even if it wasn't to Rossen, and it filleted his heart even as he realized he was glad it was someone who undoubtedly treated her the way she deserved to be treated. He hadn't missed the long look that hung between them. He didn't understand what was going on here, but he thought Rossen was a fool if he let her get away.

  Nick's silent figuring was interrupted when Joey's mother, Naomi, and two young women came in the same door the others had all come through. One of the young women was blonde and beautiful, and one was small and dark and beautiful. He had to wonder how many more people belonged to this family as Naomi walked toward them with her hands out and a welcoming smile on her face.

  Three hours later, his car was safely out of the ditch, he’d hesitantly held Kit’s baby, and they'd joined the family at the largest table he'd ever seen for an unbelievably delicious family dinner. Naomi had been flat out offended when they'd gone to leave and had insisted they stay and have Thanksgiving dinner with the family the next day.

  Nick didn't think he'd ever been quite so sweetly mothered before, and he knew he'd never been around a family like this one. He could understand now what Kit had been trying to tell him that night when she said that coming to live with the Rocklands had changed her life. The happy spirit here was almost palpable and he'd never seen anything like the friendships that were obviously so tight within this family. Rob and Naomi had been unreal and he remembered Kit saying their relationship was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. Watching them, Nick knew that Kit had been right again. He honestly could picture these two being happy and faithful to each other forever.

  One thing Nick was still somewhat confused about was the strange relationship Kit and Rossen were caught up in. They were extremely close. Anyone with half a brain could see that, but they weren't acting like a happy couple, at least not overtly.

  Later that night, when he finally had the chance to talk to Kit alone, he asked her right out about him, "So what's up with you and Rossen? Why do you even go out with me when you come to LA, when you feel the way you do about him?"

  Kit looked at him with a level gaze, not even flustered at his question. "Rossen is my best friend, but we don't date, ever. So why should I not go out with a very attractive man who asks me?"

  Nick returned her honest look, trying not to show how disappointed he was to know for sure that her heart was fully engaged with someone other than himself. "I didn't say you shouldn't accept dates. I asked why you do when you already know you're in love with someone else."

  Kit sighed. "Who has all the answers to questions like that in this life, Nick? If I didn't go out, would that change anything except that I'd be lonely and discouraged? I've never tried to lead you on. I've always been honest with you, and I do enjoy being with you. I still hope we can go out again. I can't help the way I feel about Rossen anymore than I can change the fact that he thinks that at eighteen, I'm ridiculously young. I think deep down he feels the same way about me that I feel about him, but I can still imagine myself growing old alone, because in some twisted, chivalrous way, he feels like my settling down this young, or with someone that much older than me isn't right." She looked suddenly tired and he felt guilty for asking her such a tough question.

  She got up and came over to him to hug him as he stood by the fireplace. "I'm sorry for not falling in love with you, Nick. It's just not something you consciously decide. Please forgive me. Maybe someday when I'm older and wiser, I'll have a better handle on all this. Right now, I'm a hopeless failure in the romance department.” She yawned and said, “If you don't mind, I'm going to bed. It's been a bit of a hectic week. Do you have everything you need?"

  He hugged her back, with his cheek against her hair. "You always apologize when it's me who should be sorry. I have everything I need. Go to bed and I'll see you in the morning." He kissed her gently on the forehead and pushed her away.

  Ten minutes later, when Rossen came in and sat down in the recliner across from him, Nick was surprised that he honestly kind of liked this guy. He knew Rossen had Kit's heart, but he was just such a good guy he was hard to even be jealous of. They sat in relatively comfortable silence for a few minutes, until finally Nick said, "She's a lot of woman to keep pushing away."

  Rossen leaned his head back and closed his eyes. His voice was tired when he answered, "She's an eighteen year old girl, Nick."

  His quiet answer made Nick feel a bit like an old letch for just a moment, until he thought about Kit and how mature and strong and talented she was. "She is young, but she's not a child, Rossen. She’s strong and smart and incredibly well grounded. She’s all woman and no one has the right to make her life's big decisions for her, not even when we think we're meddling for her own good."

  ****

  Nick got up and walked out of the room to leave Rossen behind him wrestling with the huge weight of the bombshell that had been dropped in his lap. Was that what he’d been doing? Taking away the agency of a grown woman?

  On his way to bed a few minutes later, Rossen stopped at Kit's bedroom door. He'd brought Mimi's crib up and put it in Kit's room for the long weekend and he missed the baby as well as being completely mixed up emotionally about Kit. The door was ajar and he pushed it open silently, just wanting to check on the two of them before he retired for the night, but Kit wasn't in bed. She was standing in the dark in her white robe looking out the window at the snowy mountains. He walked into the room to stand beside her.

  Neither of them said a word, and after a second or two, she took a half step to lean her head against his shoulder. Maybe they didn't have all the answers, but just for tonight, this was enough.

  Nick and Bryan left on Friday afternoon. Nick had sought Rossen out that morning to double check on Kit’s security, and had been a
bsolutely forthright when he told Rossen he wanted to marry her and adopt Mimi and move them to LA to stay. He'd ended with, "You need to understand that I'm going to do everything in my power to make her want to be with me and forget she’s in love with you. I have to be honest."

  Rossen hadn't known whether to smile or hit him as he replied, "I can understand that." They shook hands and Nick walked away. You had to admire the guy.

  He was in his office when they loaded their bags out to the little black sports car, and was looking out the window when Kit walked Nick out and gave him a hug. Slade came in and was standing beside him as he watched Nick bend to kiss her goodbye. It was like a one two punch when Slade turned to him and said, "I hope you get over this white knight thing you have before he's raising your daughter seven hundred miles away."

  Rossen turned to look at him and Slade continued, "Come on Rossen, your theory of letting her finish growing up was commendable, but you don't have the right to force her to do anything. And if you don't soon let her make some of the big choices she wants to make, you're going to regret it for the rest of eternity. The old adage, ‘If you love something set it free, and if it comes back to you it's yours, and if it doesn't, it never was.’ doesn't have an addendum just for you that says ‘and even if it does, you can't have it.’ She's eighteen, not seven and she's had far more than her fair share of walking those hard miles. Cut her some slack. I'm telling you, if you don't, you're gonna regret it more bitterly than you've ever imagined, for the rest of forever."

  "What are you saying, Slade?"

  Slade made a disgusted sound. "I'm saying your girl just kissed a guy she doesn't particularly care about, just before he climbed into a Maserati to drive away. And if I don't miss my guess, that was just after he’d asked her to marry him. Again. Rossen, what she really wants is to stay here and be with you. Are you honestly too much of a bonehead to see that in her eyes?"