by Jillian Hart
“I know working on the book together is a professional partnership, but when John and I became friends, it made our partnership work so much better. We knew what the other wanted before they did.”
Like a marriage popped into Ellie’s mind. She could never say something like that to him. This man was a recluse. The idea would send him running toward a higher mountain to perch himself on.
“Maybe we could discuss the first illustration again in person, then you could try redoing it. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I won’t say another word. I’ll ride off into the sunset as Buster, the horse in my new series, would say. Deal?”
Brody sighed. “We’re stuck here together for at least the next twenty hours. I guess we can put the time to good use. I warn you, I don’t work well under pressure.”
She held up her hands. “No pressure here. You don’t have to finish it in the next twenty hours. Just start it maybe or at the least we can talk about the scene and what I was thinking when I wrote that part of the story.”
“Did you do this with John?”
“Sometimes. But like I said, we became friends and that helped. I know not all illustrators and writers do, but it worked for us.”
His lips thinned, he stared out the window behind Ellie for a long moment. “Okay. One more illustration.”
“Yippee!”
Brody pivoted toward the intercom system, mounted by the door with a full-fledged scowl.
“Shh, Alexa,” a little girl’s voice whispered.
Ellie chuckled. He glared at her, strode to the door and yanked it open.
The sound of footsteps pounding up the staircase resonated through the house. In a few short hours Ellie had gotten more material for her next book than when she visited her nephews. What if Petunia and Henry had twin kittens? And an intercom. She could think of tons of mischief for them to get into.
Brody reappeared in the entrance to his office. “They’re hiding. They don’t know I know where their latest hiding place is. I think I’ll let them stew for a while.”
“Where is it?”
“They’ve taken their toys out of a cabinet and they hide in there.”
Laughter bubbled out of her. “You must never have a dull moment with them.”
“There’s nothing wrong with dull.”
“Do we still have a deal?”
“Yes. If we did work together, I’d be my daughters’ hero.”
“I have a feeling you already are.” Ellie turned to the next drawing and burst into louder laughter. “Oh, my. You do have your hands full,” she said, pointing at an illustration of one high in a tree while the other hung from a branch about ten feet off the ground.
He glanced at it. “That drawing I did from memory because I had to get the ladder and climb up to rescue Abbey. She was stuck. Of course, that was after I saved Alexa from falling and breaking something. They were supposed to be in their rooms reading, their homework for school. Marta about had a heart attack when she looked out the window over the sink and saw them. And to think at one time I wanted four or five children.”
“You’ve changed your mind? I think three or four kids would be great.” With her biological clock ticking down, she’d be lucky to have one or two. Although she was still young. Twenty-nine was still young.
“Yes. Two children are enough for me.”
“You might change your mind when you meet the right woman.” The second she said it Ellie snapped her mouth closed. Why didn’t she censor herself better? Who was she to give him advice about his love life? Hers was all but nonexistent.
“Not likely. Don’t get me wrong. I love Abbey and Alexa so much, but it was hard raising two babies. Until Marta, I couldn’t find a housekeeper who worked well with them. The stories I could tell you about some of the women I tried out, especially since I wanted a live-in housekeeper-nanny. Don’t tell the girls that’s the way I think of Marta. They think they are way too old for a nanny. When I hired her, I made it clear to the kids she would just be a housekeeper. Somehow they bought that.”
“Or they genuinely liked Marta enough to tolerate having her as a nanny. She’s a terrific cook and seems to care about your daughters.” Although she didn’t think the woman cared for her unexpectedly dropping in to see Brody and disrupting her routine.
“She’s a jewel, but I had to go through a whole treasure chest before finding the gem.”
“I used to say I would never do a certain thing, but low and behold I was proven wrong.”
“What?” He took the chair across from her.
“I told my publisher and agent I would never do author tours or give speeches. I’m now doing both even though I hate to get up in front of an audience.”
“I have a feeling you can wrap an audience around your finger.”
His compliment warmed her, and she began to relax. “Maybe children. I don’t know so much about adults.”
“But children are your audience. My daughters were enthralled with you.” He cocked a grin. “I’m thinking they would be even if you read a telephone book.”
She laughed. “And I thought you were giving me a compliment.”
“Oh, but I am. This has been a treat for them to meet you in person. When their uncle John came to visit, they pestered him into telling them all about you. They couldn’t believe he was working with you.”
“Is that why you agreed to our partnership even though it isn’t something you usually do?”
“Yes. Why did you ask me?”
“John recommended you, and I trust his opinion. He’s never steered me wrong before.”
Brody frowned. “Until now.”
“I’m not so sure he was wrong. Like I said—” she held up the binder “—sometimes John could tell what I wanted before I even knew it.”
“We’ll see.”
“Tonight would you let me read Abbey and Alexa a bedtime story?”
“If I said no, I’d never hear the end of it.”
“Good. That’s something I don’t get to do unless I’m visiting my sister. She has two boys. But they’re nine and eleven, getting too old for my books. So I started making up stories instead. That’s why I’m thinking of expanding into books for that age, too. One of my favorite books growing up was Charlotte’s Web.”
“The pig, right?”
She nodded. “And the spider.”
“So you have a sister. Any other siblings?”
“Just Kathy, and she’s five years older than me, so we weren’t close growing up. But now we are. How about you?” She didn’t want him to know she’d read all about him. Some of his childhood, mostly publicity shots with his mother and quite a bit while he lived in New York before dropping out of sight and living in Colorado on top of a mountain. But nothing recent.
“I have a few cousins. Two of them live in the area. But other than that, no immediate family.”
“Isn’t your father alive?”
Brody stiffened, clutching the arms of the chair. “Yes, somewhere in Europe. When he and Mom divorced, he left the United States. I hear from him sometimes at Christmas. Not this year, other than some presents arriving for the girls.”
His hint of vulnerability touched her. “So neither of us has a large family.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ever regret that? Quite a few of my friends had a ton of cousins. At the holidays they usually went from one family member’s house to another. Our place was always so quiet compared to theirs.”
A chuckle eased his tense features. “Living with my mother was like living in a circus with crowds looking on. People coming and going—constantly. It was rarely quiet. My mother was a whirlwind that swept everyone along as she moved through life. She needed those people around her. Up until her death I didn’t know what calm and peaceful were.�
� He swept his arm to indicate his office. “That’s why I’m living where I am.”
“Didn’t you tell me you had a tour this spring for your paintings?”
“Nothing like your schedule. But yes. I cut it down to the bare bones, though, which my agent wasn’t excited about. I know my limits and have learned to respect them. Besides, I can’t be away from Abbey and Alexa long. The spring tour will be the first time I’ve left them for longer than an overnight with Marta. I would never have been able to do the tour if she hadn’t come to work for me.”
“I do love meeting children and seeing their smiles. I love getting them excited about reading. I’ve even worked with young elementary-school students writing their own stories. It’s all the other stuff I don’t like.”
“Then don’t do it. Focus on what you like to do, but let the other events go. I’m just starting out but you’ve established yourself as a writer. The one thing I vowed when Abbey and Alexa were born was that I would be there for them. I wouldn’t let my work take me away like my mother’s did when I was growing up. Or like my long-distance dad. It hasn’t always been easy but I’ve made it work.”
“Is that a second reason why you wanted to back out of working with me—because John toured with me?”
Brody pushed to his feet and paced to the floor-to-ceiling window. His back to her, his hands clasped behind him, he stared out at the snow-blanketed landscape.
Ellie nibbled on her lower lip, wondering why Brody wasn’t answering her question. Twisting in her chair, she looked at him. “I’ll understand if it is, especially after meeting your daughters.”
He unclasped his hands and pivoted toward her. “If my style ends up working for you and your publisher, I don’t see how I can be part of your tour. I know how much the children enjoyed John drawing the characters for them, but I can’t leave Abbey and Alexa.”
A strong knock reverberated through the office.
“I wonder which one of my daughters that is.” He strode toward the door.
A few seconds later Alexa stood in the entrance, her shoulders slumped forward, her hair even wilder about her face. “Daddy, why didn’t you try to find us? I fell asleep in the cabinet.”
“Because I thought you and your sister needed time to reflect on how you listened in on a private conversation. Twice. Who flipped on the intercom in here?”
Abbey stepped into the doorway slightly behind Alexa. “I did while Marta was giving you the sugar and cream.”
“It was bad enough when you listened in at the studio, but then you did it again. This time purposefully. No accident.”
“Please don’t turn down working with Ellie because of what we did,” Abbey said, keeping her gaze glued on her father as though her look could convince him not to.
And if any expression could change her dad’s mind, it was Abbey’s sorrowful one. Ellie covered her mouth to hide her grin.
Alexa squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Yeah, Daddy, Ellie needs you.”
The fervent way the child spoke caused a blush to creep up Ellie’s face. The heat singed her cheeks. She dropped her head to hide her reaction. Maybe in a strictly professional way she needed him, but for some reason he was making it clear that even friendship might not be possible between them.
There was something about their conversation earlier that made her feel a connection to him. He was an intriguing man, and under different circumstances, she would be attracted to him. But she didn’t date to just date. She wanted to get married, have a family, so any man she dated was prospective husband material to her. She didn’t waste what time she had on men who weren’t. And Brody Kincaid didn’t want more children. That was number one on her list.
Vaguely she was aware Brody was talking to his daughters. When he said her name, it pulled her back into their conversation.
“Miss Summers and I are working on it, but if there’s any more eavesdropping, the answer will be no.”
“We’ve been so excited she’s visiting,” Abbey said in a dead-serious voice.
“Yeah, Daddy. Our excitement got the better of us.”
“That seems to be a problem for you two.”
Abbey shrugged. “What can I say? We get excited.” Leaning to the side, she peeked around her father and said to Ellie, “We’re sorry, Miss Summers.”
A few seconds passed while she tried to come up with something solemn to say. “Remember in future not to listen in on others’ conversations. You might hear something you don’t want to hear.”
“Oh, like Calvin did when Buster and Zoey were gossiping?”
Ellie snapped her fingers. “Exactly.”
“I need to work for a few hours. Can I count on you to behave and keep Miss Summers entertained?”
A pout turned Alexa’s mouth down. “Work? But this is the day before New Year’s Eve.”
“I promised Miss Summers I would try something with one of the illustrations—” he paused, then added “—to see if we can work together going in a new direction.”
“Great. Daddy, you need to hurry up. We’ll take care of Miss Summers. Don’t you worry at all.” Abbey hurried toward Ellie and grasped her hand, tugging her out of the chair. “Tell us all about Petunia. We can help you with her. We love cats. Too bad Daddy is allergic or we would have several.”
Ellie glanced back at Brody as his daughters, each one taking a hand, pulled her into the hallway. “If you have any questions about that first scene, you know where to find me, especially if you want to show me what you’ve done so far.”
“I will when I’m finished.”
As she followed Abbey and Alexa up the stairs, she already missed the lively exchange she’d had with Brody. She liked him, but he was used to being alone—raising his children, working. She wanted more of a partnership.
A partnership like the one she’d had with John.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I’VE GOT A FRESH POT of coffee for you,” Ellie said when she came into Brody’s studio hours later, “and a sandwich for dinner.”
Seeing Ellie brought a smile to Brody’s lips. It had been several hours since he’d holed up in his studio to work on the illustration. The first hour all he’d done was stare at the paper. And then an idea had sparked him. “Thanks. I’m starved. What are Abbey and Alexa doing?”
“Playing.”
“Behaving?” She’d changed back into her own clothes and handed him back his sweatpants. He lay them in a chair by the door. Suddenly his eyes were drawn to them. Very distracting.
“They’re being little angels.”
With her short auburn hair framing her face, her gray eyes big and expressive, her mouth full with a hint of dark maroon lipstick, she appealed to him. For a few seconds he couldn’t look away from those luscious lips. Finally he returned his gaze to hers, scrambling to come up with something coherent to say. She was definitely becoming a distraction all round. “I’m surprised they haven’t come out here to see what’s going on.”
Ellie averted her gaze.
He put his brush down. “What happened?”
“Oh, nothing. Really.”
“Your tone of voice doesn’t imply nothing.”
“It wasn’t anything. I caught them whispering about getting us alone. They have quite creative minds.”
“I’m afraid to ask what they came up with.”
“Abbey was going to have me come to your office while Alexa told you I needed to talk to you in your office. Then when we were in the room, they were going to lock the door. They know where the key is to that room.”
“You’re kidding.” Alexa and Abbey wanted a mom, but they were going to have to be satisfied with their single dad and Marta. He wouldn’t go through what he went through with Irene’s death ever again. Losing her put him in a dark place that he was only
now beginning to come out of. But even now the guilt still plagued him. If only he hadn’t wanted children, she would be alive today.
“No. I pointed out to them that would only make a situation worse. That forcing us together wouldn’t cause us to work together. Most likely the opposite would happen. They immediately scratched that off their list.”
“They had more schemes? A list of them?” Brody took a gulp of the warm coffee, needing the caffeine to keep alert—obviously to stay one step ahead of his daughters and their matchmaking.
“A couple. They talked about running away so both of us would come looking for them, but Abbey thought they better not do that. It was too cold outside and dark.”
Brody shook his head. “I should be used to this by now, but they continually amaze me. They’re each other’s best friends.”
“Abbey suggested hiding inside and only making it appear as if they went outside, but Alexa said that wouldn’t work. You’d figure it out and when you came back you’d find them because you know all their hiding places.”
“And they’re alone right now. Probably hatching some other kind of plot as we speak. Maybe I need something stronger than coffee.”
“They’re quietly sitting at the kitchen table drawing me illustrations of Winter’s Folly. They thought if you didn’t work out, they might.”
He was in the process of sipping his coffee and nearly spewed it all over the illustration he’d been working on for hours.
Taking one of the napkins she’d brought him, she dabbed it across the drawing table. “I did ask them why they needed to get us alone.” Ellie pulled a stool toward the drawing board, then sat. “They thought if we became friends we would do things for each other because that’s what friends do. That you’ll draw the pictures for my books as a friend. They think you need a friend.”
They want someone to be much more than friends. He still shuddered when he thought of the incident with Kelly’s mother, not to mention their couple other attempts to get him to date. Six years old and they were thinking about dating. What was next?
“Yep. Then they started telling me about all their friends. They sure have a lot.”