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All through dinner Caleb had watched Travis put the moves on Mallory and he didn’t like it, not even a little bit. He was disturbed by the feeling, because earlier he’d deliberately joined a conversation that didn’t include her, then found himself wanting to hear everything she said to his brother.
Now dinner conversation was winding down and he knew table-clearing was next. When Mallory laughed at something his brother said, Caleb couldn’t take it anymore.
“Travis, you’re on dish detail.”
“I did it last week,” he protested.
“Nope. That was me. You’re up.”
Travis gave him a back-off look. “I don’t want to neglect our guest.”
Caleb didn’t like the sound of that. Age might have its privileges usually, but this time it was every man for himself.
His mother must have sensed something because she stood up. “Let’s stack these dishes and take them to the kitchen. Travis, Anderson, it’s your turn.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The oldest of the three brothers stood and took his sisters’ plates.
“I’ll entertain our guests.” Caleb looked at his brother and dared him to argue. “I’ll give them a tour of the garden.”
“Do I have to go?” Lily was sitting between his sisters. “I’m going to play a game with Lani and Lindsay.”
“Of course you can do that.” Mallory’s voice was quiet, but her expression showed equal parts unease and confusion.
Caleb was confused, too, and didn’t get his own behavior. All he knew was that he didn’t want his brother alone with her. He stood and walked around the table, then put his hands on her chair to slide it back so she could get up. Just in case Travis was planning a play, Caleb put his hand at the small of her back and ushered her out of the dining room. He guided her to the French door in the kitchen and opened it for her to walk outside.
The sun was low in the sky and would soon disappear behind the mountain. A light breeze carried the fragrances of roses and jasmine.
Mallory looked at the brick-trimmed patio and expanse of grass, bushes and flowers outlining the yard. Her gaze settled on the white gazebo in a far corner. “This is really beautiful.”
“Yeah. The folks really like it out here.”
“I want to do this in my yard. For Lily. There hasn’t been time yet since moving. Getting her settled was the priority and it was winter. Then spring arrived, but there was so much going on at work, people picking up the pieces of their lives after the flood.”
“Now we’re facing down another winter,” he said. “But when you’re ready, I can recommend a good landscape contractor.”
“That would be great.” She looked as if his being nice was unexpected.
He probably deserved that. “No problem.”
She walked across the grass to the gazebo and looked longingly at the wooden bench that lined the interior. “Is it all right if I sit?”
“Sure.”
She did and said, “This is so lovely.”
“Yeah.” But he was looking at her face. Instinct had him wanting to sit beside her but he held back, leaned his shoulder against the solid support beam beside her.
“You didn’t know I was coming to dinner, did you?”
That was direct and he liked her for it. No beating around the bush. “I didn’t know.”
“When Ben invited me, he didn’t say that the whole family would be here.”
“If you’d known, would you have come?”
She thought for a moment, then nodded. “Your father never misses a chance to say what a good job I’m doing. He treats his employees and clients with respect, as if they really matter, and understands that real life sometimes has to come first. It would have been rude and ungrateful to turn down his invitation.”
“Are you sorry you came?”
“No.” She met his gaze. “Your family is wonderful and you’re lucky to have them.”
He thought of Travis and thought sometimes not so much. “If you say so.”
“I do.” Her voice was wistful. “I wish I’d had that kind of warmth and closeness growing up.”
Lily called her “aunt,” so she hadn’t been an only child. “But you have a sibling.”
“A sister. Mona left home as soon as she was old enough, so we weren’t that close.” Sadness filled her eyes. “She died almost a year ago. Now I feel guilty for not making more of an effort to stay in touch.”
“Lily is her daughter.” Obviously the little girl was adopted. Obviously now her aunt was her guardian.
“Mona and her husband, Bill, were college professors at NYU. They couldn’t have children, so they adopted Lily from China.”
“Not New York?” That got a small smile, as he’d hoped.
“There, too. I couldn’t believe it when I got the call that her parents were killed in a terrible accident. Hit by a taxi.”
“I’m sorry.” It was automatic, but he meant the words.
“Thank you.” She sighed. “It just occurred to me how odd that is. Thanking someone who feels sorry for you.”
“Not you,” he clarified. “I’m sorry you had to go through something so terrible. I can’t imagine losing one of my sisters or brothers. Even Travis.”
“He’s a teddy bear.”
“More like a pain in the neck. But I’m related to that pain in the neck.” He sat down on the bench beside her, not touching, but close enough to feel the heat from her body, smell the sweet scent of her skin. “I can’t imagine what it’d be like without him.”
“Cherish the closeness.” She rubbed her arms as if suddenly cold. “Now there’s no chance Mona and I can ever be that way.”
“But you’re Lily’s guardian. That has to count for something. You’re the one she trusted with her child.”
“I appreciate you saying that. It helps.”
“So, why didn’t you stay in New York?” He was curious to know everything about her and liked hearing her talk. The voice that was a little honey with a side of gravel scraped over his skin and scratched its way inside.
“For a lot of reasons. It’s expensive and there were sad memories for Lily everywhere.”
“Out of all the places you could’ve come, why Rust Creek?”
The look she gave him was wry. “I admit to reading Lissa Roarke’s blog, but I’m not here to find a man.” The tone was a little emphatic, a lot defensive. “I liked the community spirit. Everyone pulling together after the flood and during rebuilding. Lily lost so much and I thought it was important for her to feel a part of something bigger than just the two of us. Not so alone and maybe a little more secure.”
“She’s pretty lucky to have you.”
Rays from the setting sun brought out the red in her auburn hair and made her sad smile angelic. “That’s nice of you to say.”
“Not nice. Just the truth.”
“Still...”
She looked down and her long, silky hair fell forward, hiding her face. It took every ounce of willpower not to bury his fingers in all that softness and slide it back to see the beautiful curve of her cheek.
“Caleb, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you. Here I am going on and we hardly know each other.”
The devil of it was that the more he found out, the better he wanted to know her. “For what it’s worth, Lily is a great kid. She seems to be really well-adjusted.”
“Guess I must be doing something right.” She shrugged. “Starting with finding a job at your dad’s law firm.”
“Yeah, he’s okay.”
“Trust me. Not every boss would invite an employee home to dinner.” She smiled. “You have an extraordinary family and that’s something Mona and I didn’t have. It’s the model for what I’d like to give Lily.”
“Speaking of her...” Caleb stood abruptly. “We should probably go inside and check on her.”
She blinked up at him, then nodded. “Of course.”
That could have been more smoothly done but he was acting purely on survival instinct. And he was really doing her a favor. He’d enjoyed being with her and wasn’t ready for it to end, but staying wasn’t fair to her. She might not realize it yet, but a husband would be part of the family she wanted for her niece. That was significant and he wasn’t anyone’s idea of a significant other. He was the good-time guy who didn’t do serious.
Not even when a woman was as pretty and tempting as Mallory Franklin.
Chapter Three (#ulink_e10d8676-48e8-580a-80d2-ba09aaf86a2b)
“Lily, maybe your book is at home.”
At five-fifteen on Monday Mallory picked her niece up from Country Kids Day Care. After a brutal day at work she was so ready to get home. They were buckled in the car and ready to head in that direction when the little girl had told her about the missing book.
“No, Aunt Mallory. I thought I left it at school, but it wasn’t there. The last time I remember seeing it was at your office.”
“I can look for it tomorrow.” She turned right out of the parking lot and headed north on Pine Street.
“But I want to read after dinner.”
“What about reading something else?”
“I have to finish it before I start another one.”
Of course. Mallory should have thought of that. She took a deep breath and pulled together the tattered edges of her patience. There were so many things she loved about being a single parent, but this wasn’t one of them.
“Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll stop there and we can run inside to take a look around.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie.”
When she stopped for a red light, Mallory glanced in the rearview mirror and the big smile on the little girl’s face tugged at her heart. Getting home required a series of left and right turns, basically a square that would take them to the bridge that crossed Rust Creek. The route took them close to the office and wasn’t that far out of her way. Definitely worth the minor detour to see Lily happy.
When the light changed, Mallory took Pine Street north and made a left onto Sawmill Street. One block down was a two-story wooden building with a western facade. The weathered sign on top said Dalton Law Office in bold black letters. She drove into the small paved parking lot and beside Ben’s car saw a four-door F-150 truck that she recognized. Just yesterday she’d seen it in front of her boss’s house, and since they all worked on the ranch, one of his sons was probably the owner.
Some rogue part of her brain acknowledged which of the Dalton men she was hoping for, but she chalked it up to a completely involuntary reaction.
“Let’s go find your book,” she said to Lily.
They walked into the reception area at the same time Caleb Dalton was coming through the doorway of the back office. Just the Dalton man she’d hoped to see.
“Caleb!” Lily apparently didn’t mind seeing him again, either. “What did you forget?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” His puzzled gaze lifted to Mallory’s.
“Lily can’t find her book,” she explained. “She thinks she left it here the other night when I worked late.”
“I remember.” He winked at the little girl. “When you filled in for the receptionist.”
Lily nodded. “I’ll go look for it.”
“Try the break room, sweetie. If Jessica found it on her desk, she would probably have put it there, then forgotten to say something to me.”
“Okay. Be right back.” She disappeared through the doorway.
Mallory expected Caleb to politely say Nice to see you and walk out the door. When he didn’t, she felt the awkward silence. Last night she’d told him a lot about herself, which wasn’t like her at all. He’d been understanding. Supportive even. Just when things had been most comfortable, he’d abruptly suggested they go back inside. Probably she’d shared more than she should have. TMI—too much information. Once burned made her hesitant to say anything now.
Except...she’d been working here for six months and had never seen him in the office until three days ago. Coincidence? Probably.
“So what brings you here today?” she finally asked.
“Ranch business.” He nudged his black straw Stetson a little higher on his forehead. “Anderson has a new cattle sale contract. He wanted Dad to look it over before he signs and was too busy to bring it into town. I volunteered to save Dad a trip out to the ranch.”
“I see.” What she saw was that he’d arrived in his father’s office after five, when she was supposed to be gone for the day. There was only one way to interpret that—he was avoiding her.
They looked at each other and she felt the need to say something more but everything that popped into her head sounded stupid. I had a nice time last night at dinner. It was great talking to you. Why did you go out of your way to get me away from Travis, then take off like I was on fire?
Fortunately Lily came back and all of those stupid statements stayed in Mallory’s head. Looking closer, she noticed the little girl was empty-handed.
“I don’t see your book.”
“It’s not here.” She looked up at the tall man beside her. “But at least I got to see Caleb.”
Apparently the wanting-to-see-Caleb condition was turning into a family epidemic.
