Navarro or Not

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“Exactly,” Navarro said.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT to eat?” Navarro asked Nina once they were outside.

“We can walk to the cafeteria, or we can eat spaghetti in Marvella’s kitchen. Those are the choices,” she told him. “Actually, I’m not as hungry as I thought I was.”

“Check it out,” Navarro said. “There’s Marvella’s sister, Delilah.”

“And Marvella.” Nina watched the two women see each other on opposite sidewalks then ignore each other and turn to go into their separate salons. “Ouch,” she said. “I never want that to happen to me and Valentine. I want us to always be friends.”

“Something went very wrong there. I don’t think they’re ever going to make up.” Navarro pulled her away from the street so they could walk down the sidewalk. “You know, one thing worries me about your sister. Maybe she has a rescue-me syndrome going on.”

Nina stopped. “What are you talking about?”

“She doesn’t have your goals or your drive. She’s content to have people take care of her.”

“That doesn’t make her a bad person,” Nina said. “Just young and somewhat immature. And maybe it’s not altogether weird, when you consider that our parents died when she was young.”

“How come you’re so different?”

“Because I had to be. And then because I wanted to be. I was the eldest. It’s just different.”

“Don’t blow a geyser here, but what if Valentine got pregnant just so that someone—Last, at that moment—would have to take care of her?”

The same thought had occurred to Nina, but she didn’t appreciate Navarro broaching it. “Then we’d have to accept that about her. I’m not saying she’s perfect, Navarro.”

“No one is.” They rounded a corner on the way to the cafeteria. “It just worries me, is all. Now that she’s going to have to be the protector, instead of the protected.”

“What are you saying? That my sister won’t make a good mother?”

“No, I’m not saying that. It’s just sort of a feeling I have. Sort of a ‘hey, grow up and think things through’ feeling.”

“What do you want her to do, Navarro?”

“Mainly take care of herself and the baby. But I’d also like to see her take more initiative with her life. Did you notice how quickly she gave up the lawsuit? That was a lot of money she was pressing us for.”

“Yes, but she said it was Marvella’s idea.”

“And how do you think Marvella’s going to react when she finds out the lawsuit is off? Especially if she was trying to squeeze my family for money by manipulating Valentine? And isn’t it funny how nice Marvella’s been to us since we got here. ‘Have a beer…make yourself at home…ride in the rodeo for me—”’

“Apparently that’s Marvella’s game. Be very nice and get what you want.” Nina looked at Navarro’s broad shoulders and then his chest, self-consciously enjoying the view. He was a very handsome man, even if he wasn’t making sense.

Navarro sighed. “She didn’t expect Valentine to tell us that she was behind the lawsuit. Which follows, because I don’t think Valentine could have come up with the idea by herself, and for such a heinous amount to boot. We thought we were going to have to sell the ranch. Or part of it, anyway.”

“What if Marvella doesn’t let Valentine terminate the lawsuit?” Nina asked, feeling somewhat ill.

“She can’t stop her, but I am thinking Marvella will be plenty unhappy. That was so much money, there’s no way she’s not going to feel cheated.” Navarro looked thoughtful. “We need a good plan. Unfortunately, I can’t plan and look at your mouth. It makes me crazy.”

“Does it really?” Nina asked.

“Really, really crazy. All I want to do is kiss you again. You know, you surprised me, crawling up in my lap like that. I was expecting a slap.”

“Maybe next time.”

“I was wondering…” Navarro said. “Is there anything between you and me besides bad feelings and some lust?”

“Lust?” Nina bent to adjust her sandal strap, then rose to meet Navarro’s eyes. “Once again we have a decided difference in terms. I just wanted to kiss you. That’s all it was.”

His eyes widened. “Knife through my heart.”

“Really.” She went ahead of him on the sidewalk.

“Nina.”

She turned around and faced him, her hands on her hips. “What, cowboy?”

He hesitated a moment, so she took the time to look into his eyes. Those eyes could make a less respectable woman toss her panties to the four corners of the earth.

“There was something—” he said.

“Maybe good. Maybe bad. But was.” Her eyes softened. “I’m in a bad spot right now, Navarro. I can’t help seeing what has happened to my sister. You and I have to get along, but—”

“Shh!” He pulled her to the side of the building. “Here comes someone.”

“So? People come by here all the time.” She tried to pull away until she heard a woman’s voice.

Marvella.

Navarro’s arms tensed around her. Nina fought the feeling of attraction so she could focus on eavesdropping.

“It’s simple,” Marvella told one of her employees. “They’re going to ride for the team I sponsor. They’ll have to, if they want to spring Valentine from her contract with me. Obviously the first thing they’re going to do is talk her out of the lawsuit. Which is fine, because I never figured I’d get that much money out of them. I’ll agree to be pleasant about the lawsuit, if they both agree to ride for me. Imagine that,” Marvella said with satisfaction. “Twin Jefferson brothers. Two rides for the price of one admission ticket. It’ll be like a circus attraction. And girls will come from everywhere, buying up tickets and memorabilia. My secret potion will sell like there’s no tomorrow. And girls will bring the boys running,” she said. Her companion laughed as they went inside the cafeteria.

“Okay, now I intensely dislike her,” Nina said. “Manipulating your family was her idea all along. Valentine’s such a wimp, although I hate to say it. She’s got to grow a spine. You know, I really want to see her become a vertebrate.”

“Hey!” He turned her to face him. “Be nice to your sis.”

“I always am. But Marvella was going to gouge you by using Valentine, and Valentine should have stood up and said, ‘No, thanks—have a party without me.”’

“She’s pregnant,” Navarro reminded her. “We Jeffersons do have some responsibility here.”

She looked at him.

“I mean, I’m not exactly trying to be all honorable or anything,” Navarro said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to look good to you. We’re going to be related, I guess, by baby. So,” he said with a shrug, “I’ll probably see you every Thanksgiving or so. Maybe at Christmas I can catch you under the mistletoe.”

“Well, you’re being more honest than me.” She looked down the street. “Let’s go before we run into Marvella. I need to ponder Valentine’s next action. And mine.”

He pulled her to him so that he could lift her chin and look into her eyes. “You’re not listening to me. You’re making me want to read a new kind of book.”

“I’ve had enough of reading,” she said, knowing he wasn’t talking about books at all. “For now, I’ve got to think. And the first thing that comes to mind is getting Valentine away from Marvella.”

“So you two should come to the ranch.”

She stared at him. “Ranch?”

“Union Junction Ranch—Malfunction Junction. You’ll be safe there with my family. And we can plot our course.”

“What do you think Last would say about that?”

Navarro shrugged. “Whether he likes it or not, we’re one big happy family. Provided, of course, that the baby is Last’s. And I don’t say that to be mean, but—”

“Valentine says it is.”

He nodded. “Come to the ranch with me. Tonight. We’ll leave Marvella a congenial kiss-my-grits note. Very congenial, for the sake of future relations. Namely, coming back to get your charmed bed.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to go to the ranch. I want to live my own life. Actually, I wouldn’t be averse to Valentine letting me raise her baby back in Delaware.”

“What?”

She could tell that thought had never crossed this cowboy’s mind.

“That’s Jefferson flesh and blood you’re talking about,” he said on a growl. “Come on, Nina, don’t make my head pop off my shoulders here.”

“It’s also Cakes flesh and blood. And I’m going to do what’s best for Valentine. Maybe she doesn’t want to live forever at your ranch. Perhaps it would be good for her to grow up and not always have someone rescue her. And, anyway, Last may not want her around.”

“It doesn’t matter what Last wants.” His fingers tightened just a bit on her arms. “Nina, you moving away with the baby would be very hard on us Jeffersons. Let’s smoke on this some more, okay? There’s a way to work this out. We probably need a librarian in town.”

She looked at him. “What town?”

“Union Junction.”

“Why do I need to know that?”

“Won’t you want a job?”

“I have a job in Dannon. I took vacation to come down here and help my sister fend off your brother.”

“Fend off my…wait a minute. Last isn’t exactly bothering your sister. She was the one seeking money from us.”

“This whole business of taking Valentine to the ranch with you is just a way to get around talking about custody in the courts, isn’t it?”

“Now hold on—”

“Anyway, you said yourself, Last wouldn’t care if the whole problem disappeared. I want a child. If Valentine decides to return home to Dannon with me, I’d at least get to raise my sister’s baby. I’m even prepared to get married so a court of law would look upon me as a model of stability. Which shouldn’t be a problem because librarians are not exactly known to be wacky.” She pulled peach lip gloss from her purse and applied it with a brush—all, he was certain, to make his blood boil.

“Although there may be some wacky librarians. I’m not saying there aren’t,” Nina continued. “But you know?” She pulled her blond hair up onto her head in a sweet rubber-banded ponytail, then put on black cat’s-eye glasses that should have been awful but that looked funky and sexy as hell on her heart-shaped face. “It’s just not the profession women go into for a good time. ‘How’s your Dewey decimal system today?’ isn’t a line men use.”

“Oh, boy,” Navarro said. “You are trouble with a capital T.”

“And you can spell.” She gave him a droll look and lightly tapped his arm. “I wear these to read to the children for story time. They also like the pointy black boots I wear and the red-and-white-striped socks. I dress like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, not that I expect you to know who that is. I suppose I should dress more like a muggle or a hobbit to keep current with the times, but I find that the younger children particularly enjoy the comfort and familiarity of a grandmotherly type reading them books.”

“And do you read from an upside-down house?” Navarro murmured.

“Oh, you have read the books!”

“Well,” Navarro said uncomfortably, not wanting to dim the excitement in her voice because he liked it. “I haven’t read them personally. Dad used to read to us as kids, at night, to give Mom a break from taking care of us. It wasn’t easy raising twelve boys, and her joy was a bubble bath at night while Dad read. But then, he tired out when…” He hesitated, thinking about the past. He and his brothers had enjoyed their childhoods, he couldn’t deny that. But after their mother died, the reading—and a lot more—had stopped. “I haven’t read a book in a while.”