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“Not yet.”
“The dining room’s right through the great room across the foyer. There’s a games room at the other end, and beyond the doors you’ll come to a swimming pool with a lifeguard on duty. Go ahead and look around. I’m sure he’ll be along shortly.”
“Thanks so much.”
They walked through the next room past the massive fireplace and into the dining room filled with the regular dude ranch guests, many in Western gear. One of the first things on her list was to buy them some fun cowboy stuff so they’d fit in around here.
Andy looked up. “They’ve got wagon wheels for lights!”
Her gaze went to the vaulted ceiling. “These are the kind of chandeliers I prefer any day. Pretty cool, don’t you think?” Red-and-white checkered cloths covered the tables. She liked the yellow-and-white daisy centerpieces that reminded her of their cabin’s colors.
“I guess.” Though he played it down, the fact that he’d noticed gave her hope he was starting to thaw a little at having to be here.
She found them an empty table over on one side of the room. They each took a menu and studied it. “What do you think you want, honey?”
“A hamburger?” Hamburgers weren’t on the menu at the Wentworth mansion. She had come to dread their five-course meals where the inevitable question-and-answer period lasted at least an hour. She knew Andy hated the length of time they had to stay at the table.
“That sounds good to me, too, with lots of French fries. Shall we splurge and get chocolate malts for dessert?”
“Can we?”
Why not? This was a night of celebration. “We can have anything we want here.” She eyed him with concern. “This dude ranch isn’t turning out to be such a bad place. Right?”
He looked away without answering, but when the friendly waitress came over, he gave her his order instead of just sitting there silently. This was the Andy she needed to see come back.
“How are you feeling by now? I know that medicine made you feel kind of strange.”
“I hate the way it makes me so sleepy.”
“I know, but at least it kept you from throwing up.”
Before long the waitress returned with their food. He swallowed his in no time. It was surprising to her, considering he hadn’t shown much appetite on the cruise. She was only halfway through her meal but could tell he was already restless. Who wouldn’t be after their long flights?
“While I finish eating, why don’t you go have a look around? The man at the desk mentioned a games room and swimming pool.”
“You mean you’ll let me?”
His grandparents had kept him on a short leash. “Sure.”
He eyed her in surprise. “Thanks.” Kit hadn’t heard that word from her son in a long, long time.
Kit watched him dart away with more energy than she’d noticed in ages. Relieved to see him behave like a normal boy for a few minutes, she ate some more French fries and kept an eye out for her host. Just when she decided something must have detained him, she saw him walk through the door from the kitchen.
His dark brown gaze panned the room. The male charisma oozing from him took her breath. Judging by the female guests in the room, they had the same reaction. Though there were quite a few men seated around, none of them affected her like Ross Livingston. Marine or cowboy, he seemed a breed apart.
He still hadn’t seen her and started walking through the tables. As he drew closer, she called to him. His head turned in her direction. The second their eyes met, it grew into one of those moments when the world stood still for her. It was happening again. That awareness...
Ross moved toward her. Without his cowboy hat, his head of wavy black hair and arresting male features pretty well dazed her. She wondered who the lucky woman was who’d captured this attractive man’s attention. There had to a woman, maybe a wife, even if he didn’t wear a ring, and she would be exceptional.
“I’m sorry I was too late to eat with you. Business detained me.” He sounded disappointed.
“Please don’t apologize for anything.” The pulse in her throat was throbbing so hard, she couldn’t finish the last bites of her meal.
“Where’s Andy?”
“When he was through eating, he went out exploring. I’m almost done and was about to look for him.”
“Then let’s go together.”
“What about your dinner?”
“I had a snack already and will eat later.”
* * *
ROSS WALKED HER out into the warm air. The sun wouldn’t be going down for a while. There were half a dozen people in the pool. He nodded to the lifeguard.
“Hey, Uncle Ross—over here!”
A dripping wet Johnny Lundgren stood by the diving board talking nonstop to none other than their latest guest. Johnny was a little short for his age. Andy seemed to be tall for a nine-year-old. But the difference in height and age didn’t mean a thing to Johnny. He was the friendliest kid on the planet. Ross smiled at the scene.
“That’s Carson Lundgren’s adopted son talking Andy’s ear off,” he said in an aside to Kit. “He’s already adopted me and Buck as his uncles.”
“How sweet,” she murmured with genuine tenderness. She’d just described Carson’s son. They walked to the end of the pool.
“Johnny? This is Andy’s mom, Kit. They’re from Maine.”
“Hi, Johnny,” she said with warmth.
“Hi! I just asked Andy if he wants to come riding with me and Jenny in the morning. He’s never ridden on a pony before.”
“I think that sounds fun, but we don’t know what Ross has planned for us yet.”
Johnny turned to Andy. “He’ll probably take you fishing, but I think riding is more fun. Do you want to get in the pool and swim with me?”
If anyone could make a dent in Andy’s armor, it was Johnny, who’d just given Ross an opening he’d take. “Why don’t we all swim? I’ll go inside and put on my suit. It’s the perfect temperature out here.”
“Hooray!” Johnny cried in excitement.
Andy turned to his mother. In a quiet voice he said, “I don’t want to.”
“Then you don’t have to, but after sitting on a plane for hours, I feel like a swim. I’m going to run to our cabin for my suit.”
“Mom—”
“I’ll be right back, honey.”
Ross could see and feel Andy’s frustration as she disappeared. The fact that she’d taken Ross up on the idea meant she wasn’t about to coddle her son. Again he gave her marks for expecting Andy to deal with this new situation despite his unhappiness.
“Don’t you guys have fun without me!” he said to the two of them.
Johnny laughed. “You’re funny, Uncle Ross.”
No sound came out of Andy. He just looked at him in bewilderment before Ross took off. At least that was a change from the scowl he’d worn during the drive from the airport.
Ross reached his room and changed into his black trunks. After grabbing a towel, he hurried back down and belly flopped next to Johnny on purpose, causing him to laugh. Ross noticed Andy sitting in a deck chair by himself.
“Come on, Johnny. Let’s go talk to him.” As he hoisted him on his shoulders, he saw Kit come out on the patio carrying a rolled-up towel.
“Hi, everybody!” In seconds she removed her wrap. Ross’s breath caught to see her shapely body clad in a light blue bikini dive into the deep end of the pool from the side. When she surfaced, she swam over to her son. “I brought your suit in the towel. If you change your mind, use the cabana.”
When he didn’t respond, Ross said, “We’re going to play sharks and minnows.”
Johnny’s head jerked around. “Hey—I haven’t played that game before.”
“It’s a new one I’ve been waiting to teach you. I’m the shark and you guys are the minnows. I’ll be at the end of the pool. You and Kit get up on the side of the deck. I’ll call out, sharks and minnows, one two three, fishies, fishies swim to me. That’s when you’ll dive in and swim to the other side. If I don’t catch you, then you’ll be the shark for the next round. If I do, then you’ll stay a minnow.”
Johnny giggled. “That sounds silly.”
He grinned. “You think? Just wait until I come after you.” His gaze swerved to Kit who’d climbed up on the deck ready to play. Ross had a devil of a time concentrating when he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Come on, Johnny. Let’s see if we can beat this big shark at his own game.” The way she’d said it heightened Ross’s anticipation.
“Yeah!” Johnny got out of the water and walked over by her.
“Sharks and minnows—” Ross called out after coughing. The game was on. They must have played six rounds, but Ross beat them every time. Both she and Johnny came up laughing and spurting.
“How come you guys can’t catch me?” Ross baited them. “I thought you said this was a silly game, Johnny.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Andy, who’d come out of the cabana in his suit and was watching. Well, what do you know. Nothing like a little healthy competition.
“Come on, Andy,” Johnny shouted when he saw him. “Help us win!”
Once again they lined up along the side, but this time Andy had joined them. “Sharks and minnows—” Ross called out. There was plenty of splashing as everyone dived into the pool. Ross went after the other two first so he would barely miss tagging Andy.
“Hey—now Andy’s a shark!”
“He sure is, Johnny.” Ross smiled at Kit’s son. “How did you learn to swim so fast?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re good!” Ross climbed up next to Johnny and Kit. She thanked him with her eyes. While he was still staring into them Andy shouted, “Sharks and minnows—” The boy was a quick study.
By Ross losing his concentration, Andy tagged him and Kit with no problem. That made Johnny the winner.
“Bravo!” another voice called out.
“Mom!” Johnny cried. Tracy had just come out to the pool. “Uncle Ross taught us a new game and I won this time! Put your suit on and get in.”
“Honey, it’s late. The pool is closed now. Time to get out.”
“Oh, heck.”
“Your mom’s right, Johnny. But there’s always tomorrow.”
He scrambled out of the pool to his mother who wrapped him in a towel. After kissing him, she said, “It looks like we have some new guests.”
“Yup. That’s Andy and his mom, Kit. They’re from Maine.”
Ross took over. “Kit Wentworth? Meet Carson’s wife, Tracy.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Lundgren. Andy and I are thrilled to be here.”
“We’ve all been looking forward to your arrival, haven’t we, Johnny.”
“Yeah. Please, will you come riding with us in the morning?”
Andy shrugged. “I guess.”
“Goody! We’ll let you pick out one of the ponies to ride, but I think you’ll like Raindrop. She’s a dappled gray. You’re older than we are and she’s a little bigger than the others. She likes apple nuggets for a treat.”
Ross chuckled. “She does love those.”
Kit smiled. “I can’t wait to see her. With that settled, we’d better get out of the pool and change. After our long flight we’re about ready for bed and will see all of you tomorrow. Come on, Andy.”
“Bye, Andy. See ya later.” Johnny walked away with his mother.
“Bye.”
Ross turned to his guests. “I’ll meet you in the foyer in five minutes to drive you back to the cabin.”
“We’ll hurry,” she assured him.
Before long the three of them met by the front desk where there were a few guests checking in. Ross was pleased to see their normal dude ranch business was continuing to grow.
Willy looked up. “Hey, Ross—I see they found you.” But his eyes were so focused on Kit, Ross would have laughed if the situation weren’t so precarious. Her dark hair still had natural curl when it was damp. She looked good. Too good. He had to remember they were honoring her husband’s memory.
“We did,” Kit spoke up. She appeared oblivious to Willy’s gawking. “Thank you.”
Ross walked them through the front door to the parking area on the side of the ranch house. “We’ll go in the truck.” He opened the rear passenger door for them, and they climbed inside.
Once on their way, he heard Andy talking to his mother in the back. “That Johnny’s funny.”
“He’s very cute. I think it will be fun to go riding with him.”
“Ponies are for babies.”
“Johnny didn’t look like a baby to me.”
