Jamie dampened a cloth under the faucet, then made his way from one high chair to the next, thoroughly scrubbing all the little hands in what was obviously a pre-dining ritual. Although Fallon had only been married to the triplets’ father for about seven months, Eva knew that Jamie’s bride had been involved in caring for Henry, Jared and Katie since they were born.
After the babies’ biological mother died from complications of childbirth, several residents of Rust Creek Falls had volunteered to form a “baby chain” to help the new father care for his three premature infants. As a result of Fallon’s participation in the baby chain, she and her new husband already had well-established routines for the care of their little ones. And although the toddlers had only just met their uncle, Eva could tell that they had immediately taken a liking to Luke.
No doubt he would be a good father to his own children someday—a thought that brought to mind an image of chubby-cheeked babies with Luke’s deep blue eyes and dark blond hair. Or maybe lighter hair, more like her own.
Eva pushed the tantalizing picture to the back of her mind, ruefully acknowledging that it was a little premature to be thinking about having babies with a man who hadn’t even kissed her.
But it was going to happen.
The kiss, at least—she was sure of it.
Not that her recent dating history had given her any reason for such optimism. In fact, just the opposite was true. While it seemed as if everyone she knew was falling in love, getting married and having babies—although not always in that order—Eva was still alone.
In the past few years, she’d gone out with a few different guys—and two that seemed to have real potential. She’d dated Bobby Ray Ellis for a few months before she realized that he was still in love with his high school sweetheart—even years after she’d moved out of town and married someone else. Then Zach Dalton moved to Rust Creek Falls, and Eva had been certain that he was the one. Unfortunately, as much as she wanted the relationship to work, she had to admit there’d been zero chemistry between them. Which didn’t make it hurt any less when she was dumped—again.
But she continued to trust that she would know her soul mate when she found him—as had happened for her parents and her sisters. Her dad, a young history teacher losing a battle with the school photocopier, had been rescued by the new office administrator. According to Ray Armstrong, Marion Barr had simultaneously saved his test papers and stolen his heart. Six months later, they were married.
Both of Eva’s sisters had also been lucky in love. Calla met her husband, Patrick, when she was seventeen years old and on a high school ski trip in Thunder Canyon. Delphine met her husband, Harrison, at college.
Eva only wanted the same thing both of her sisters had—a husband, a family. But she was a twenty-five-year-old single woman who hadn’t had a date since she’d been jilted by Zach Dalton. Still, the flutters that tickled her belly whenever she saw Luke Stockton gave her hope that might change.
“Bread?” the object of her musings asked, offering the basket that Fallon had set on the table.
“Thanks.” She selected a slice and passed the basket to Jamie.
She felt something rub against her ankle and, for a moment, thought it might be Luke’s foot. Then she felt the weight of a paw on her toes and realized the dogs were under the table, no doubt hoping that someone would drop—accidentally or on purpose—scraps for them.
She wasn’t the only one aware of their presence, either, because Fallon tipped her head to peer under the table. “Andy, Molly—go lie down.”
The dogs obediently followed her command, their ears and tails drooping in response to the scolding. Henry dropped a piece of bread as the animals moved past his high chair, which one of the pups snatched up before any of the humans could do so.
“I almost forgot to ask,” Luke said to her. “How was your exam?”
“I think it went pretty well,” she said cautiously.
“Now only three more courses to go and you’ll be an accountant,” he noted.
She was surprised that he’d remembered the details of their conversation about her studies, even if he was jumping the gun a little. “I’ll have a degree,” she clarified. “There are more exams after that before I’ll actually be certified.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to be an accountant,” Fallon chimed in.
“Truthfully, I’d rather bake cookies than crunch numbers, but I’ve been told that accounting is a more marketable skill.”
“If you become a CPA, who will fill the pastry case at Daisy’s?” Luke wondered.
She shrugged. “Anyone who can read can follow a recipe.”
“Almost anyone,” Jamie said, his lips twitching as he shared a look with his wife.
“It happened once,” she said, then turned to explain to Eva. “One time I mixed up teaspoons and tablespoons.”
“What were you measuring?”
“Baking powder,” Fallon admitted.
Eva winced.
The other woman sighed. “Yeah, it was pretty bad.”
“But this stew is delicious,” Eva told her, dipping her spoon into the bowl again.
“I’ve learned to stick with what I know,” Fallon said.
For the next few minutes everyone showed their appreciation for the meal by focusing on eating.
Although there wasn’t a lot of conversation at the table, Eva did notice that Luke’s occasional questions to his brother were met by sharp and succinct responses followed by silence. She didn’t know Jamie Stockton well enough to know if he was always a man of few words or if he didn’t have much to say to his brother, but his wife’s obvious efforts to fill in the gaps made Eva suspect that it was the latter.
Maybe it wasn’t surprising that, after so many years apart, there would be some residual tension between the siblings, but she hoped they could work it out because she suspected there was little chance of Luke deciding to stay in Rust Creek Falls if they didn’t.
Chapter Six
By the time lunch was finished—including Eva’s apple pie for dessert—the little ones were practically falling asleep in their high chairs. Fallon and Jamie excused themselves to get Henry, Jared and Katie washed up and settled down for their naps, and Eva and Luke tidied the kitchen.
“Was that as awkward for you as it was for me?” Luke asked as he carried a stack of bowls from the table to the counter.
“There were a few awkward moments,” Eva acknowledged.
“At least I learned something about my youngest brother today that I didn’t know before.”
“What’s that?” she wondered, dividing the cutlery between the basket compartments in the dishwasher.
“He sure does know how to hold on to a grudge.”
“You’ve been gone for twelve years,” Eva reminded him. “You can’t expect to pick up right where you left off.”
“I didn’t have any expectations.” He squirted dish soap into the sink and began to fill it with hot water.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked, slotting the bowls on the bottom rack.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It just seems, at least to this outside observer, that you expected a less-than-warm welcome, and that’s exactly what you got.”
“A self-fulfilling prophecy?”
“Maybe,” she allowed, closing the dishwasher.
He slid the pots and pans into the soapy water. “Well, I’m glad you were here—and not just because you brought dessert, although that was a definite bonus.”
“I’m glad, too,” she said. “I like your family.”
“Tell me about yours,” he suggested. “You mentioned that you have two sisters—where do they live?”
“Calla lives in Thunder Canyon, where she helps her husband, Patrick, run his hardwar
e store. They have two kids—Fiona, who is almost ten, and Noah, who just turned seven.
“Delphine lives a little farther away, in Billings. She’s a middle school teacher, married to a financial adviser. She and Harrison have three boys—eight-year-old Tommy, six-year-old Charlie and four-year-old Freddy.”
“So you have a lot of experience with kids,” he noted.
She shook her head. “Not nearly as much as I would like. Aside from major holidays, I rarely get to see my niece and nephews.”
“But I bet you spoil them rotten when you do.”
“Absolutely,” she agreed. “Their Christmas presents are stacked almost floor to ceiling in my room.”
“You’ve started your Christmas shopping already?”
“Haven’t you?”
He shook his head. “I still haven’t decided if I’m going to be here for Christmas.”
“What does that have to do with your shopping?” she asked.
“If I’m not here, I won’t need to buy any presents,” he said logically.
Eva was taken aback. Not just by the statement but by his matter-of-fact tone. “There’s no one else you celebrate the holidays with?”
“No.”
She frowned at that. “So what do you usually do on December 25?”
“The same thing I do on the twenty-fourth and the twenty-sixth.”
“For the past twelve years, you haven’t done anything to celebrate Christmas?”
“Well, some of the bigger spreads put out a fancy meal for their hands,” he told her.
She was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. Her heart ached for him, but she knew he would balk at any expression of sympathy.
“If you decide to stay, I could help you with your shopping,” she finally said.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure even your company would make up for having to set foot in a mall.”
“I love Christmas shopping. And wrapping presents, and trimming the tree. And holiday baking, of course.”
“How is holiday baking different from regular baking?” he wondered aloud.
She smiled. “There’s a lot more of it. Cookies and squares and bars. And, of course, Christmas goodies don’t have any calories.”
“No calories, huh?”
“Nope. Not even my absolutely decadent chocolate almond macaroon bars, which means that I’m free to indulge.”
“If your chocolate almond macaroon bars are half as good as your pies, I’d want to indulge, too,” he told her. “In fact, I’m seriously considering taking a fork and eating what’s left of that apple pie directly from the dish before my brother and sister-in-law come back down.”
“I’m sure they’ll let you take the leftovers with you.”
“Then I’d have to share with Bella and Hudson,” he grumbled as he wiped off the trays of the high chairs, which had been liberally smeared with beef gravy and vanilla ice cream by toddler hands.
Eva chuckled as she picked up a towel to dry the trays after he’d finished cleaning them. “I could probably bake another one sometime.”
He returned to the sink to rinse the cloth, then began to tackle the pots and pans. “I would think, on your day off, you’d want to stay out of the kitchen.”
She shrugged. “I like baking. The rhythm of measuring and mixing is relaxing to me.”
“Do you cook, too?” he asked her, scrubbing the inside of the stew pot.
“Of course,” she said, then glanced at him over her shoulder as she slid the high chairs back against the wall. “Are you angling for a meal?”
“No,” he said quickly. Then he reconsidered, lifting one shoulder and offering her a half smile. “Maybe.”
She chuckled. “How about dinner on Tuesday?”
“Really? You would cook dinner for me?”
“Sure.”
He set the clean pot in the dish drainer and turned to face her. “I don’t have any specific plans this week, so Tuesday works for me,” he finally said. “But I have to admit that I’m curious.”
“About what?”
“Why you’d offer to feed a man you barely know.”
“Because sharing a meal will give us the opportunity to get to know one another better,” she pointed out.
“That it would,” he agreed cautiously.
“How’s six o’clock?” she suggested.
“Six is fine, but...”
She looked up, waiting for him to complete what was obviously an unfinished thought.
“But?” she prompted when he remained silent.
“I’m not looking for any kind of romantic entanglement while I’m in town,” he finally responded. “And I feel really stupid even saying that because maybe your offer to cook dinner is nothing more than that, but I just want to be sure there’s no misunderstanding.”
“I appreciate that,” she said, picking up the pot to dry it. “Are you involved with somebody in Cheyenne?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Somewhere else?”
“No,” he said again. “I don’t do relationships.”
She took a minute to consider that response before she said, “I have just one more question.”
“What’s that?” he asked warily.
“Do you like pot roast?”
He grinned. “Does a cowboy wear a hat?”
She smiled back. “Then I’ll see you at six on Tuesday.”
* * *
As Luke stood at the door, hand poised to knock, it belatedly occurred to him that he should have brought something. Flowers or a bottle of wine, maybe. As he honestly couldn’t remember the last time a woman had offered to cook a meal for him, he was unfamiliar with the usual procedures and protocols. And if he’d brought flowers or wine, it might have seemed too much like a date, and it wasn’t. He was looking forward to sharing a meal with Eva, but he wasn’t looking for anything more than that.
That conviction flew right out of his head when she greeted him with a genuine and warm smile on her face, and he suddenly realized that he wanted to kiss her more than he’d wanted anything else in a very long time.
“Good—you’re on time,” she said.
“You said six,” he reminded her, his gaze lingering on the sweet curve of her mouth.
“And you heard,” she noted, stepping back from the door so that he could enter.
He barely had a moment to look at her—the long, flowing skirt that swirled around her calves and soft pink sweater that hugged her feminine curves—before she was moving away again.
“Hang up your coat there—” she gestured to a row of hooks on the wall beside the door “—then come on into the kitchen. I was just about to start slicing the beef.”
He inhaled the scent of savory roasted meat and his stomach immediately rumbled. He unzipped his jacket and hung it on one of the empty hooks on the wall, then put his Stetson on top of it. There was a bench seat beneath the row of hooks, and he sat down to remove his snowy boots before following the path Eva had taken through the foyer and into the kitchen.
He would have guessed—based on the design and the neighborhood—that the house was close to forty years old, but this room had recently been updated. With white shaker-style cabinets, dark gray granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances, it was sleek and modern and spotlessly clean.
The farmhouse table was already set with dark blue placemats and linen napkins that contrasted against simple white dinnerware. There was a bottle of wine on the table, already open, and two glasses waiting.
Not a date, he reminded himself, though the setting suggested otherwise. The only things missing were candles and flowers. Or maybe he was reading too much into her preparations.
“This is your place?” he asked, surpr
ised that a young, single woman would choose to rent a house rather than an apartment—and that she could afford such accommodations.
Eva shook her head. “It’s my parents’ house.”
“Where do they live?” he wondered.
“Here.”
“You still live with your parents?”
Her gaze dropped away and her cheeks flushed. “For now.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that there’s anything wrong with that,” he said.
“I moved out a few years ago, when I went to college,” she confided.
“But you came back when your dad was diagnosed,” he remembered. Which was almost the same thing Bella had done, putting her education on hold to help Jamie with his triplets after the death of his first wife.
Eva nodded.
“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling as if he’d stuck one of his enormous feet into his mouth. And despite the two place settings on the table, he had to ask, “Is this a...family dinner?”
She laughed softly. “No. I wouldn’t do that to you—to anyone,” she assured him.
He exhaled, immeasurably relieved by her response. A homemade meal with a pretty woman was one thing—meeting the parents of a girl he wasn’t even dating was something entirely different.
“My parents are out tonight. In fact, they’re out every Tuesday and Thursday night.”
Which, he suspected, was why she’d chosen to invite him for dinner tonight.
“Since my dad finished his treatments, he and my mom decided they weren’t going to take anything for granted or put off doing something they wanted to do for another day, because there are no guarantees of other days.”
That was a lesson Luke had learned, too, the night his parents were killed.
He pushed the past aside to focus on the present.
“So they joined a couples’ bowling league in Kalispell, they take ballroom dance lessons at the community center and they have regular date nights. Tonight is one of those dates, and they’ve gone to Kalispell for dinner and a movie.”
The Maverick's Midnight Proposal Page 7