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“They can’t stay here,” he said, and glanced to the door as if anxious to see her back.
“It seems a perfectly suitable environment to raise two boys.”
“No,” he said, with no further explanation.
Her stomach roiled now, and she was quite anxious to leave. But she remembered her promise.
“Mr. Roach, I am aware that you have written to a relative of your sister’s husband. I fear that you are, therefore, unwilling to acquiesce to your sister’s wishes. I could help you obtain a housekeeper to see to them so they are not underfoot.”
“No,” he said, glaring now.
She fumed, lowering her chin and matching his cold stare. “Mr. Roach, is it your intention, then, to ignore your sister’s dying request?”
“They can’t stay here.”
“And why not?”
“It’s not my house.”
Chapter Five (#ulink_264bc19d-1dc0-5256-bdff-8e58602f37ca)
There. He’d said it. Dillen had told her the truth and then watched the shock take her back a step as her mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Not yours?” Alice echoed.
“I don’t own it. I never said that I did own it. I’m a hired hand working under Bill Roberts for Alan Harvey. Harvey is the owner. He’s a banker. Works in Denver and only comes up here in the summer to enjoy the mountains. All this is a second home. Can you believe that? Calls it his mountain retreat.”
“But I thought...” Her words trailed off.
“No. Not mine. That’s why they can’t stay. I don’t have permission to have children here, and even if I got it, I’ll not have them living in a bunkhouse, eating beans and bacon. No school out here and no other kids, just work—hard work.”
“I see.” Alice slipped her arms from her sleeves and extended one hand to him, clasping his wrist. “I’ve misjudged you.”
Yes, he knew she had. He didn’t know which was worse, having her think he didn’t want his own kin or having her realize he was unable to care for them.
“I’m sorry, Alice. I’m no further ahead than when I left you. I just can’t seem to get a foothold.”
“I’m sure it must be difficult, all on your own.”
Difficult didn’t begin to cover it. But he had his pride and would not detail his various financial failures.
“You know, my father was the son of a brewer. He comes from simple roots.”
What he knew was that her father was one of the most accomplished and sought-after physicians in Omaha.
“When my mother chose my father, my grandfather was less than pleased with her selection. You see, my father didn’t have his license then, just ambitions and intelligence. But she knew what he could become, and she married him against their wishes. It was only after my brother was born that my grandfather relented, paying for my father’s schooling. After my father passed the boards, my mother brought him his first patients. You see?”
Dillen had a hard time thinking when she touched him, but he could not understand what the devil she was talking about.
“I don’t follow.”
“I’m just saying that sometimes a man needs help to establish that foothold.”
His expression went sour.
“There is no shame in asking for help.”
“There is nothing but shame in it. You don’t know me at all.” He stared at her wide-eyed confusion. How could he make her understand? “I don’t take handouts.”
Alice felt his arm tense and slid her hand down until she clasped his.
“But we are not discussing you. We are discussing what is best for the boys. Perhaps you could wire Mr. Harvey and explain the changes in your domestic responsibilities. He might very well let you occupy this house until he returns.”
Dillen chewed on that for a moment. A rich woman would think nothing of such a request. But Mr. Harvey was his employer, not his friend or his social equal. But Harvey was also a father. He might allow it, and Dillen could assure him that he’d take the best of care of this place and secure a new arrangement for his family, God knew what, before his boss’s arrival. He let the possibility glimmer before him like moonlight on calm waters before the problems rushed in.
“Do it for their sakes, Dillen,” she whispered, and his pride melted away. He glanced to the boys, standing side by side, hands clasped, staring up at the buffalo head mounted above the mantel. He looked to Alice, dropping his voice.
“Even if he went for that, I can’t watch over them. I got work and they need tending.”
“So your trouble is not a lack of wanting these boys, but a fear that you are not up to the task?”
He stared at her as he wrestled with the truth. “I want them.”
Alice smiled. “This is a great relief to me.”
“A relief? How do you figure?”
“Well, for a time there, I feared you did not want them and that you were avoiding us.”
“Amounts to the same thing.”
“Would you be willing to ask Mr. Harvey’s permission?”
“Alice...the boys are young. Wanting them isn’t enough. They need a mother.”
Her eyes twinkled in a way that he recalled, and he found himself staring at her mouth again.
“If it would be of assistance, I could stay for a few weeks, help you and the boys adjust to a new situation. But I must be home with my family for Christmas Eve.”
Dillen drew back his hand and shoved it in his pocket. “No.”
She gave an exasperated sigh and flapped her arms. “Why not?”
He gave a harsh laugh and met her narrowing green eyes. Still, he told her the truth.
“Alice, you can’t run a household.”
“And why, pray tell, would you reach that conclusion?”
He knew he should hold back, but he didn’t, just charged ahead like the damned fool he was. “You’ve been pampered and coddled your whole life. You’ve never rubbed your knuckles raw on a washboard. Why, you don’t know the first thing about raising two boys.”
“I seemed to have managed until now.”
“I’m not talking about ordering room service or tucking up at a table when you are called to tea. I’m talking about real work. The kind you’ve never done. You walk around in that armor.” He motioned to her mink coat and hat and the elegant dress he glimpsed beneath. “You wear gold rings on your fingers and tortoise combs in your hair. What do you know about work?”
“I know how to run a household, Mr. Roach.”
“You know how to manage a household, not run one. There are no servants here.”
“As I am quite aware.” Her face was now flushed and her eyes glimmered as she took up the challenge. She actually raised her voice, remembered herself and lowered it to a rasping whisper, which made him straighten up and take notice. “I may lack experience, but I am here and offering you aid. If you won’t allow me to help you, then please consider what is best for them.” She motioned to Colin and Cody, both now studying the stuffed head of a pronghorn antelope mounted between the front windows.
Dillen followed the direction of her gaze and felt his conviction waver. “I can see to these boys and run this house,” she assured.
“It won’t work,” he said, but his words now lacked conviction.
She stared at him, taking his measure and, no doubt, finding him lacking. “You won’t know unless you try. I can stay here for three weeks. That will give you time to become acquainted, time for them to become familiar with you and time for you to see if this will work or if they would be better off elsewhere.”
He met the accusation in her gaze. “Aunt Alma, for instance?”
She blew out her breath like a dragon spewing fire. “Ben’s only living relation is the sister-in-law of his grandfather and her name is Ella McCrery. Ella. I discussed this with your sister, and Sylvia was of the opinion that her age—she is in her eighties—precluded her from taking on such a responsibility. You were not her only choice, Dillen, but you were her best choice. Like it or not, you now have custody of Sylvia’s children and must do what you see fit. Either way, I will have delivered them to you. That ends my duty to my dearest friend. My offer is not for her sake or for yours, but for the boys.” She tugged her gloves on more securely. “So, Mr. Roach, will you accept my help or will you not?”
The silence in the room stretched and yawned. Dillen scrubbed his face with both hands and then spoke. “I’ll wire Harvey and ask if you three can stay in the ranch house until Christmas.”
Her expression held such joy and pride that he swallowed back his trepidation as Alice launched forward into his arms.
“Oh, Mr. Roach. Thank God!”
She squeezed him so tight that he felt the soft curve of her breasts pressed to him and the ridged sheath of her corset against his middle. He didn’t know how it happened because one minute she was holding his face in both her gloved hands and the next his arms were about her and he was bending her backward over his arm as he kissed her full on the mouth. She gave a startled cry, which parted her lips and he took advantage again. His body burned as her arms went about his neck and she strained to deepen the kiss. Their tongues danced and she gave a low moan that ripped through him like a spear point. His body grew hot and hard, ready for this woman he could never forget.
He glanced, with his mouth still on Alice’s, to judge the distance to the sofa and met the stares of both Colin and Cody. Their mouths gaped and they stood as if witnessing a murder instead of a kiss. Dillen drew back.
“Yuck,” said Cody, wiping his own mouth as if he’d been kissed.
Colin repeated his brother’s words, “Yeah, yuck.”
Alice blinked up at Dillen, a lazy, satisfied smile curling her full lips. She still had one hand looped around his neck and used it to pull him closer. He set her aside and steadied her with a hand at the small of her back, feeling the soft fur of the mink. She swayed as if drunk.
She grinned at him and then turned to glance at the boys. Her eyes popped wide-open and her face flushed bright pink.
“Oh, my,” she stammered. “I...” She glanced at him and then back to the children. “I... We had better be getting back. Say goodbye to your uncle, children.”
Colin skipped forward and lifted his arms. Dillen glanced to Alice.
“He wants you to pick him up.”
“Yeah?” he said and then slid one hand under each armpit and hoisted the child up to eye level. Why, he weighed less than a sack of grain. “What’s on your mind, big man?”
Colin leaned forward and planted a kiss on Dillen’s cheek, making a popping sound on contact.
“That’s the way you’re supposta kiss.”
Dillen felt an unfamiliar squeezing sensation in his chest, as if someone had hold of his heart.
“That right?”
Dillen nodded. He set Colin’s feet on the floor and the boy skipped back to Alice’s side. Cody sidled forward with more caution, reminding Dillen of a curious but skittish horse.
Dillen dropped to one knee. “Sorry about the kissing.”
Cody made a face.
“You take care of Miss Truett until I come to fetch you.”
Cody accepted this responsibility with a nod. “Do I have to kiss you?”
“Naw. Handshake.” Dillen extended his hand and Cody seemed relieved to take it.
He watched Cody walk to Alice’s side and felt that same ache only this time his gut twisted with his heart. He stared at the threesome, wanting something but uncertain what it was.
“Will you send the telegram to Harvey if I write it out?” he asked.
She agreed and waited while he found paper and wrote to his employer. The man seemed a reasonable sort, but letting his new hand move his family into the boss’s house seemed an unlikely outcome.
His family? He stilled and glanced back to Alice. Dillen’s chest tightened. He wanted her to stay. He knew his desires didn’t mean staying was best for the boys. Lingering at the ranch would just postpone the inevitable day when she reached the conclusion that he was not father material and that she couldn’t run a household. But if he could put off that moment, keep her here with him a little longer, then he was willing to let her send the damned wire.
Chapter Six (#ulink_c7b568a0-e071-537b-93dd-20a13e8265a4)
Alice spent the ride home mulling over the meaning of Dillen’s kiss and her wild and unladylike reaction. If he had no feelings for her, why would he kiss her with such abandon? It confused her while simultaneously sparking new hope. Finally both the wintery chill and distance cooled her ardor and she took hold of herself. She wasn’t going to allow him to hurt her again, was she?
Despite her trepidation, she did send the telegram to Dillen’s employer immediately upon return to town and added one of her own, explaining who she was, who her father was and who her maternal grandfather was. Since her grandfather owned a sizable stake in the railroad and his name appeared often in the newspapers, she thought Mr. Harvey might recognize the name and this might help Dillen’s cause.
She did not wait for Mr. Harvey’s reply, as it was already past dark and she and the boys were wilting from hunger.
They went back to the hotel for a hearty meal, but worries dampened her appetite. She sipped her tea as she turned the problem over in her mind. Despite her bravado, Alice had little practical experience cleaning, though she was an excellent cook. To fill the gaps in skill, she had a secret weapon. Before her journey here, she had purchased a copy of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management and had pored over the tome at every opportunity.
Still, reading was not doing and this troubled her.
Dillen’s words played again in her mind. You don’t know the first thing about raising two boys.
She didn’t.
The next morning, Alice woke with a headache, but managed to get the boys dressed and breakfasted before setting off for services in a drafty unfamiliar church. She missed the Latin, but thought it better that the boys understood what was said and hoped they took some comfort in knowing their parents were safe in God’s hands.
After services, she was approached by Mrs. Louise Pellet, who was the niece of Mr. Harvey’s foreman, Bill Roberts. Louise Pellet was sturdy and curvy with clean clothing of a simple style, and she wore her hair drawn up in a no-nonsense bun. The woman’s demeanor shouted practicality, and her expression showed the clear-eyed gaze of intelligence. She was expecting Dillen and her uncle for Sunday supper and invited Alice and the boys to join them at her boardinghouse. Alice was happy to accept, and they walked together through the town, Mrs. Pellet’s boys quickly befriending Cody and Colin.
Once at her home, Louise ushered them into the parlor, but before Alice even had the boys out of their coats, Mrs. Pellet’s four younger children tumbled in, asking if Colin and Cody would like to see their snow fort behind the house. Alice admired Mrs. Pellet’s natural, no-nonsense style with her children as she sent them off with coats buttoned and mittens on. Her hostess had an innate warmth so absent in Alice’s own mother. Mrs. Pellet turned and caught Alice staring.
“Something wrong?” asked her hostess.
