by Jillian Hart
"Sounds especially good to me." Frisco left his napkin on the edge of the table and folded himself back into his chair. He couldn't believe the worst thing that happened was a few food mishaps. The boys had really come through for him, doing their best, on their best behavior. And so far, not much calamity had found them.
Knock on wood that it continued. So he grinned as the boys insisted that Jada choose her dessert order first before they both opted for apple pie. He was partial to brownies. When the waiter padded away, pleased at the size of the order and his impending tip, Frisco dared to blow out a breath. Bartholomew had taken both boy's plates with him.
They'd made it safely through supper! Relief rolled through him like an enormous ocean wave.
"But I can't help it," Austin's worried whisper broke through Frisco's thoughts. "It's not my fault."
"You gotta have a better hold on your hat is all," Aiden advised. "Just grab it like so."
"Well, I tried that and it isn't working. What are we gonna do?" Austin's forehead scrunched up with deep crinkles, full of worry.
"If I were you boys, I would simply slip my hand underneath the hat brim and see if you can't calm things down a bit in there." Pure sweetness, that was Jada, as she took a sip of her tea.
"Boys!" Frisco gave his most impressive frown, narrowing his gaze so that he saw only Austin's hat and nothing more. "Tell me you haven't disobeyed me."
"No, Pa," Aiden hiccuped. "Not exactly."
"Not exactly," Austin agreed, shaking his head no.
But before Frisco could ask more, the returning waiter leaned in to grab Jada's plate, Austin's hat bobbed, and a muffled chirp distinctly came from beneath it.
Whew. At least no tragedy there. Yet. Frisco hopped out of his chair, confident he could advert tragedy and disaster, doom and chaos with a simple request. "Bartholomew, I'd like the desserts and drinks to go, please."
"Fine, I'll, uh, get your bill." The waiter's forehead wrinkled in thought. "Did I hear a bird chirp?"
"No, I'm sure it was not a bird," Frisco assured him, hoping it was true, "as the boys were not allowed to bring any animal into the hotel and swore an oath that they would not."
"We don't exactly keep every oath, Pa," Aiden whispered when Bartholomew taken the last plate and had rushed off to the kitchen. "It's not exactly our fault, though."
"We'll talk about it later." Frisco grabbed the brim of his son's hat, holding it down firmly. He gave a sniff. It definitely smelled like bird. He eyed the boys. "I don't even know what to say."
"We had to save his life, Pa. We just had to." Austin's wide-eyed look held his whole tender heart.
"Whatever happened, we'll deal with it when we get home." Frisco gave a sigh,catching Jada's eye. Their gazes met, and he felt her amused good nature, he felt her gentle high regard. He was sure glad she had a sense of humor, otherwise he would be likely to stay a single man forever.
But she smiled, and tender feelings left him absolutely, utterly helpless.
"Well, at least we made it through the meal before any real trouble." Jada rose from her chair, the chair he should be pulling out for her and taking her hand to help her stand and he regretted that he had to be in charge of Austin's hat. However, that did not stop him from drinking her in, the beautiful elegance of her as she sidestepped, lovely skirts swishing and swaying around her slim hips and long legs, a part of her he did his best not to undress with his eyes.
Good thing they were in public, or his raging desire and hunger for her would have no bounds. If he were alone with her, he might not be able to control himself to give in to the urge to press his lips against the silk-soft skin of her neck, right below her ear, and kiss her feather-soft until she moaned with need for him. If he could be that lucky.
"Pa, am I in trouble?" Austin rolled his big blue eyes upward at him, far too sweet for Frisco's own good.
Resist, he told himself, unable to fully do so. He forced his mouth into a stern line. "Trouble? You don't even know the meaning of the word. Trouble is what you're in, kid."
"Me, too?" Aiden's forehead crinkled up into deep furrows. "But it wasn't our fault."
"A likely story. I know you boys too well, so I expect polite and responsible behavior, boys, and no escaped varmint in the dining room. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," both boys chorused together. Both heads bowed down with true apology.
A little beak peeked out from beneath Austin's hat brim. Aw, a little bird, huh? Frisco quickly slipped the hat a little to the side, effectively trapping whatever fowl creature was captured there.
Jada shook her head at him from across the table, accepted Aiden's arm and allowed him to escort her down the aisle.
"I have your food right here, Frisco." Bartholomew bounded into sight with a brown paper-wrapped bundle, and the check. "Let me put it on the podium for you. Excuse me, Jerome, while I move those stack of menus to the side. Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Mayor, did you enjoy your meal?"
"Why, yes we did," a warm, friendly woman's voice answered, and Frisco, agilely opening his billfold with one hand and extracting a ten dollar bill, didn't manage to get in a smile as he dropped the bill on the podium for Bartholomew.
"Why, hello, you are one of the women who owns the bakery and sewing shop." Mrs. Mayor gave a polite bob of a curtesy. "It's nice to meet you. I hear your pies are quite delectable. You boys, you behave now and don't think I can't see that you're up to something. Do stop by with your pony one day so I can pet him. I'm rather partial to horses. Hmm, what is that smell?"
She shrugged, gave an amused two-hands-up and followed her husband toward the archway into the lobby.
"Whew," Jerome commented. "I thought for sure something would go wrong. This is the very first time you boys have been in here and chaos and disaster have not ensued. Congratulations on your accomplishment. Keep that up and your father will not have to tip the head waiter so much to let you in."
It all happened at once. Aiden nodded in agreement, Austin grinned and gave a little hop, perhaps so glad they had not caused upset to anyone as of yet, forgetting about his hat.
It was doom. Frisco reached with his free hand to grab the food bundle, Austin moved but his hat remained grasped firmly by Frisco's other hand. The creature nesting in his dark hair looked up with a surprised squawk and a chirp, spread his little fuzzy wings and leaped off Austin's scalp.
21
"There's a bird in here!" The schoolteacher's wife's surprised cry rose above the somber notes of conversation in the dining room, drawing everyone's attention. "Look out!"
Jada had little time to respond. She held out her hand, finger up like a perch, wondering if the bird was at least friendly but the awkward flight of the baby falcon continued on, fluttering the air around her as he landed on the twig and berries decoratively adorning Mrs. Mayor's hat.
"What the...?" Evie said in wonder, hand flying up to the suddenly heavier right side of her delightful bonnet.
"Here, let me." Frisco cupped the little being in both hands. "So close and yet so far. We were almost to the doorway."
"That's too bad. Ordinarily, a miss is as good as a mile." Jada shrugged.
"I can't believe this. You boys promised." Gently, Frisco cradled the adorably awkward, be-feathered chick in his big hand, grateful for the way Jada didn't look at him with reprimand or the boys, but simply bit her bottom lip attempting not to laugh. She was contagious. He breathed her in, every bit of good, every bit of awesome until his chest ached and his groin pounded with a need he could not measure or explain, but it blinded him. He'd never wanted anyone more.
"I've never seen the like." Bartholomew's eyebrows frowned together to become one big dark, disapproving line. "The owner will have you tossed out on your ear. Quick, here's your change."
"Keep it." Frisco cradled the baby falcon in one palm, swiped the packaged desserts from the top of the podium and managed to steer both boys, one handed, through the lobby. "See what you got yourself into, Jada, by agreeing to come along w
ith us."
"Entertainment?"
"Banned from the hotel's dining room. Hoping not for life, but there's no telling how much I'll have to tip Jerome and Bartholomew to let us back in. Maybe next Friday?"
"That's a deal I'd love to accept."
Well, how about that? He followed her through the door the valet held, breathing in her sweet, soft lilac and vanilla scent even as the early summer evening air hit him.
"Hey, Frisco!" The mayor called out, helping his wife up into their buggy. "Your boys surprised us all tonight. I had a wager with my wife that an amphibian would come out from beneath that hat. Maybe a lizard this time."
"I was still betting frog," his wife confessed. "What fun it is to be raising up children. Our boys were endless amusement. Aiden and Austin, you two take good care of that baby bird, right?"
"Right!" Both boys tromped to a stop on the boardwalk. Aiden gulped in a big breath, his voice wobbling with worry. "He fell right out of his nest and everything. It wasn't like we could let him just lay there."
"Not with coyotes and bobcats around," Austin finished.
"Good decision," Jada said quietly, giving the mayor's wife a little wave as they continued on to the buckboard behind the tethered horse standing quietly at the hitching post.
"It happened so fast, Pa," Aiden explained. "We only had time to scoop him up."
"Yeah," Austin said, gently walking on tiptoe to check on the little chick looking around curiously at his surroundings, not scared at all.
He is in safe hands with Frisco, Jada thought. Safe hands.
"What's going on down there?" Aiden wanted to know, peering down the long stretch of street, now that stores had closed up for the night.
"Looks like another shoot out." Calmly, Frisco took the boy by the shoulder and steered him toward the vehicle. "Get in both of you. Sweet lady, you wait for me to help you."
"It's a lovely evening," she said, obeying and staying on the boardwalk instead of climbing up into the vehicle. "Except for the gunfire."
"Just two shots, that's all."
She gasped as his chuckle rumbled through her. "It is the wild west."
"Yes, it is." His large hand folded around hers.
She'd never felt so light before or like this, intoxicated by the man and his closeness. Why, his body heat seemed to radiate right off him, sizzling on her skin as his hand found hers, lava-hot fire spilled into her veins at his gentle, courteous touch.
What would it be like if he'd touched her more intimately?
"Hey, Frisco!" A man's burly shout rang out from the dark street. A horse's reins rustled, spurs jangled and a bold shadow was limned by the sepia sunlight from the low-in-the-sky sun.
Jada's heart slowed as Frisco let go of her hand. As she settled on the comfortable, cushioned seat, she watched him turn toward the horse and rider, who wasn't alone on his way down the street.
"Hey, Sheriff, what's going on?" he called out.
"Got some trouble up near the bank. Any chance you can ride with us? We need an extra gun, and you are a voluntary deputy."
"Can't you see I'm on a date here?" Frisco gave Jada a wink, but it wasn't easy to ignore the gunshots pop, pop, popping down the street.
"Go on ahead," she found herself saying. "Will you be long?"
"Too long to keep you sitting here waiting for me." Frisco's gaze warmed as his eyes roamed across her face, taking her in as if he liked what he saw of her. "What do you think, Sheriff?"
"We'll be a spell, but not too bad," the lawman answered, spurs jingling as he pressed his horse into a walk. "What are you doing standing there? You're conscripted."
"Then I'd better go, Jada. Sorry about this. Duty calls." Something greater than regret shone in his eyes. Something greater than mere like rang in the soft notes of his baritone. "Would you mind driving the boys to my parent's house? They know the way."
"Of course I will."
"Don't worry, I'll come and find you. I'll be back," Frisco promised as he paced backward a few steps, looking reluctant to go. "You do know how to drive, right?"
"And I'm pretty good at it." Jada, full and content, scooted over into driving position on the seat and reached for the reins laying knotted together on the dash. "It's been a while, but I've got the know how. Have fun helping the sheriff and don't get in the way of any bullets."
"I'll do my best not to. So far, so good."
"But, Pa! You haven't seen her home yet!" Aiden leaned over the back of the seat, gave his hat brim a push up, full of concern. "Can't you go help save the town another day?"
"Yeah, another day," Austin implored using the full power of his dazzling deep, dark blue eyes.
"You boys take over for me, will you?" He winked at Jada. "Someone has to escort her around town. Someone has to treat her like a lady should be treated. You boys do a good job of standing in for me." He stopped to hold up one hand in recognition when the sheriff shouted out his name again, needing the backup of a marksmen and his gun. "I'll find you."
"That's not hard. It's a small town," Jada smiled, her voice a sweet trill of an alto above the sudden rapid fire of three more gunmen. She could have said more, but Frisco was already pacing away, blending with the night and shadows, taller in her view, better in her estimation for having spent this time getting to know him.
"Our pa is pretty important in this town." Aiden grabbed hold of the back of the seat and climbed over, one foot after another.
"I have no doubt about that," Jada gave a scoot to make more room for him and gave the air a sniff. "What is that odor?"
"We don't smell anything." Austin dropped into the seat beside her with a squeak of the seat springs and a bounce on the cushion. "Here's something you should know about Pa."
"Are you sure about that?" Jada couldn't help the humor bubbling up as she watched Aiden take the bundle of a baby bird of prey his twin handed him over the back of the seat.
"Oh, absolutely completely entirely one hundred percent sure," Aiden assured her as his brother's boot swung over the back of the seat.
That is definitely a suspicious odor, she told herself, giving a delicate sniff before scooting over on the bench seat one more time.
Austin tumbled onto the seat with an "oof!" and took charge of the baby chick, stealing it out of his brother's hands. "Pa is a man with very, very good traits. Now that you know us a little better after our conversations, you can trust what we have to say."
"According to Grandpop. He said that was the best way."
"Grandmama said it was doom either way, but to give it a good, old-fashioned try."
"But be honest, he said, just tell it like it is. So here it is." Aiden knuckled back his hat, holding on as the horse took off down the street in the opposite way from the kerfuffle in front of the closed bank.
"Wow!" the boys breathed together. "Was that dynamite?"
"Definitely dynamite, just laying around," Austin confirmed. "Too bad they didn't get a chance to use it."
"That would be a lot of excitement, all that noise," Jada agreed, holding on tight to the reins, thrilled as she was every time she held a pair of leather straps in her hands, feeling the life of the horse, feeling the freedom of being able to go anywhere she wanted to.
Curiosity had her looking over her shoulder to glance down the street. She drew in a startled breath when she spotted Frisco. His wide shouldered stance, his masculine power, the powerful silhouette he made outlined against the low-slung sun. She saw only the back of him in that instant as she turned the horse down an intersecting street and had a perfect view all the way down Front Street where the approaching posse had gained the attention of the thwarted thieves.
"Look at that! It's an outlaw gang!" Aiden gave a bounce on the seat.
"And Pa's posse's nearly's got 'em surrounded!" Austin added. "He's real good with a gun."
"And he's real hard working," Aiden chimed in.
"Grandmama calls him honest to a fault."
"And he's a real good pa."
"I'm sure he is." Jada bit her bottom lip, determined not to be even more charmed. "You boys don't need to start listing all of your pa's good traits. I can see he's a good man."
"You can?" Aiden collapsed against the seat back. "Whew. Good."
Austin blew out a sigh. "Yeah, because this courting and trying to convince you not to notice all his faults can wear a person out."
"I'm exhausted," Aiden added.
Jada couldn't stop the chuckle that bubbled up. She let the soft warm breeze fan her face and tangle the tendrils of her bangs curling down from her careful chignon, and savored the moment, wishing she could freeze it in time. The pleasant rhythm of the horse hooves plinking like musical notes in perfect rhythm, the musical jangle of the harness and rigging as they rolled down Third Street where the residential district started. The sheen of the first light of sunset, mauve and iridescent rose-gold, glossed the landscape lighting the way. And the pleasant companionship of the little boys, so endearing that her heart could not take the heft of it.
"What's your favorite color, Jada?" Aiden asked.
"I love blue, but why are you asking?"
"Because now you know so much about Pa, but we don't know enough abut you."
"Yeah," Austin chimed in, still carefully cradling the baby bird. "That's what Grandmama said courting was all about. Getting to know one another. That's her house right up there. The gray one."
"On the corner?" Jada nosed the horse toward the edge of the street and drew back on the reins. Ka-boom! A big explosion shattered the silence, seemed to shake the trees and startled the horse, who jumped in his traces but came to a stop none the less.
"Frisco, is that you?" A slash of light opened, the golden swatch falling across a wedge of the gingerbread-style front porch, and a woman's slender elegant figure filled the light. "I recognize that horse."
"It's just us, Grandmama!" Aiden bounced forward on the seat.
"Oh, my favorite boys. I'm so glad you're here," the woman's kind voice answered, trilling through the bright slants of dying sunlight like a lullaby. "How did the big date go?"