Читать книгу A Rancher for Christmas - Brenda Minton - Страница 12

Chapter Three

Breezy was standing on the porch when Jake pulled up to Lawton’s house the next day. She could see two little girls in the backseat of the truck. Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. This was it. Her new life.

She’d spent the rest of yesterday and this morning wondering how she would do this. How would she stay in Martin’s Crossing? How would she know how to take care of two little girls? After cleaning a layer of dust off the furniture the previous evening, she’d sat down and tried to list the pros and cons of staying in Martin’s Crossing.

And she’d gotten stuck on Jake Martin, on the wariness in his eyes, on the way he’d questioned her, on the way his hand had touched her arm. Jake Martin had trust issues. Breezy had her own issues. She didn’t know how to settle, how to put down roots.

Sticking around now took on a lot of importance, for herself and for two little girls. She watched Jake unbuckle the girls from their car seats. Staying meant everything. She headed his way to help.

If he would let her.

It shouldn’t bother her. She’d grown up used to people giving her suspicious looks. She’d spent her life adjusting to new people, new situations. She knew how to reinvent herself. She could be the person two little girls needed her to be. Once she figured out who that person was.

She stepped close to the car, watching as he unbuckled one of the twins. Then he placed that little person in her arms. Dark hair straight, face thinner than the other little girl. “Hello, Violet.”

The little girl just stared, her eyes big and unsure. Yes, Breezy was getting used to that look. It mirrored the expression on Uncle Jake’s face. The man in question pushed the truck door closed. He held Rose in one arm against his side and the little girl patted his cheek with her tiny hand. Breezy watched the change that took place when he was in the presence of these little girls.

The twins made him human. They softened the distrust in his blue eyes.

“Are you ready for us?” he asked with a grin that surprised her.

Breezy nodded. “I’m ready.”

She walked in front of him, Violet in her arms. The little girl smelled like baby soap and fabric softener. Her arms had gone around Breezy’s neck. They reached the front door and Jake reached around her to push it open, a small touch of chivalry she hadn’t expected.

As they stepped inside, Violet struggled to be free. Breezy let the little girl down and Violet toddled as quickly as her little legs could carry her. In the center of the living room, she looked around, unsure. And then she cried.

“Momma!” Violet wailed, walking through the room. “Momma!”

Jake went after her, scooping her up with his free arm. “It’s okay, baby girl.”

By then both twins were crying and clinging to Jake.

“I’m sorry.” Breezy stood helpless and unsure of how to help. Should she reach for the twins? Maybe she didn’t have the mom gene. How could she, really? She’d never truly had a mother of her own.

Jake noticed and his expression softened although the concern remained in his eyes.

“It isn’t your fault. It’s just too soon to bring them here.”

Breezy looked around, trying to come up with something. “They have toys here. Let’s pull out the toys and let them settle down. I’m not sure that avoiding this house is what they need. They lived here. It’s familiar to them.”

“I think I know where they lived.”

“I think you should give me a chance.” She reached over and this time Rosie held her arms out and fell into Breezy’s embrace. The toddler’s arms around her neck took her by surprise.

“I’m working on it,” he said in a raspy voice.

Of course he was. She sat down on the edge of the sofa and Rose slid off her lap and headed for the guitar Breezy had left leaning against the wall. The little girl moved quickly. Breezy moved faster, getting the instrument before the child could grab it. But she held it, letting Rose pluck the strings. With a few strands of hair on top of her head in a pink bow, Rose smiled and jabbered.

“Do you want a song?” Breezy asked, settling on the sofa again. Rose rested against her knees.

Jake had moved to the nearby chair, still holding Violet. As Breezy started to play, the child slid down from his lap and joined Rose. Breezy swallowed past the lump of emotion that lodged in her throat. She managed not to cry. Instead she sang a Christmas song because it sounded like one a child would be soothed by.

As she sang, Rose clapped a few times and sounded as if she might be singing along. But it was hard to tell in the language of a two-year-old. She finished and set the guitar back on the floor. Violet had wandered back to Jake and was leaning against him, her thumb in her mouth, twirling dark curls around her finger.

He cleared his throat, and the little girl looked up at him. He scooped her into his arms. “We should feed them.”

“Yes, of course.”

If the music had soothed the girls, it seemed to have had the opposite effect on Jake. He headed off to the kitchen like a lion with a thorn in his paw. She remembered the folk tale, and knew, with certainty, that she wasn’t the mouse who would offer to remove the thorn. She wouldn’t want to get that close to the lion.

“I made soup and grilled cheese.” She walked to the stove, ignoring the man who had taken the girls to the dining room. “I have the sandwiches ready to grill and the soup is warm.”

She wasn’t about to admit that she’d pondered for a very long time over what to feed the girls. She had no idea if they could eat a sandwich or if they were still eating baby food.

“They’ll eat that.” He settled Violet in her high chair and then reached for Rosie.

Breezy watched from the doorway but then turned to the kitchen and the job of finishing lunch. She turned the griddle on and pulled the already buttered bread out of the fridge, along with the cheese slices she would put in the middle. When she had them on the electric griddle, she found Jake Martin in the doorway watching her.

“You play well,” he said in an easy tone.

“Thank you,” she said, turning back to the griddle. “What would you like to drink?”

“I can get our drinks. The girls are buckled in and I can see them from here,” he offered as he took glasses from the cabinet.

She nodded, as if she wasn’t making a mental list of parenting dos and don’ts. One: always make sure they are buckled and within line of sight. Yes, those things seemed like common sense, but what if she forgot something? What if there was a rule that most people knew but she didn’t? She’d learned a lot of those rules when she’d moved in with Mia, but Mia’s stepson, Caleb, was almost seven now. He didn’t require safety seats or high chairs anymore.

“Are you talking to yourself?” He opened the fridge and pulled out the pitcher of tea she’d made that morning. Tea should never be instant. Mia had taught her that rule. There were other rules, too. Going to church on Sunday was another one.

Had she been talking to herself? She bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head, hoping that was the right answer. “No, of course not. I was telling you there are sippy cups here and milk in the fridge.”

“Of course. Because the word milk sounds like rules.”

“It could,” she hedged. She flipped the sandwiches off the griddle onto a plate.

He laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

She started to feel a little bubble of laughter coming to the surface. She didn’t want to laugh, not with him. Laughing with Jake would make them feel like friends and he clearly was not a friend.

“There aren’t rules, Breezy.”

“Aren’t there?”

She ladled the soup into bowls, adding just a tiny amount for the twins. How much soup would they eat?

“A little more than that,” Jake responded to her unasked question. “And I guess there are some rules.”

Great, she loved rules. She might as well ask now and get it over with before she broke them all and found herself dismissed from the lives of her nieces. He’d made it clear he had the power to do that.

“Okay, tell me the rules.”

Jake cut up the sandwiches and placed them in front of the girls. She’d forgotten to do that. Next time, sandwiches in four triangles. That was simple enough. She set the soup on the table. Jake moved it back.

“What?”

“Soup out of reach or it’ll be on the floor before we can turn around.”

“Rule one, no soup.”

He laughed, the sound a little rusty but nice. He should laugh more often.

“I didn’t say no soup,” he clarified. “I said out of reach.”

She handed him a glass of tea and he took the seat next to Violet. Breezy took that as her cue and moved to the seat next to Rose. The little girl had already reached for a triangle of sandwich and was nibbling crust.

“Next rule?” Breezy asked as she reached for her sandwich.

Jake held out his hand. “We pray before we eat.”

Of course. She let out a sigh and took the hand he offered. She ignored the fact that with one hand in his and one hand holding Rose’s, she felt connected.

And a little bit trapped. No, she couldn’t ignore that.

* * *

Jake took a bite of sandwich and nearly choked. “What in the world is that?”

Next to him Violet gagged. Rose continued to nibble as if it was the best thing she’d ever eaten.

“It’s grilled cheese.”

“That is not cheese,” he pointed out.

“No, it’s not,” she admitted. “It’s cheese substitute.”

Jake put the sandwich down on his plate and took a long drink of tea, hoping it was real tea. It was. After he washed the taste of fake cheese out of his mouth he pinned the woman across from him with a look. “Rule three, no fake cheese. That’s not even real food.”

She laughed a little and smiled at Rose, who was happily chowing down. Rose grinned up at Breezy. Drool and cheese slid down her chin.

“Rose likes it,” she informed him.

“Rose doesn’t know better.” He pushed back from the table and headed for the kitchen. “I think we’ll have more soup and crackers, if you haven’t found a substitute for those.”

When he returned to the dining room, she looked less than sure of herself. “I thought it would be healthier for them.”

“They’re two, they need to eat dairy.” He ladled more soup in the bowls and tossed a sleeve of crackers in front of Breezy. She had taken a bite of sandwich and made a face.

“It is pretty gross.”

“So you’re not really a vegetarian?”

She shook her head. “No, I just thought it sounded like the right thing for children.”

He laughed and then she laughed. Maybe this is how they would get through this mess, with laughter. Maybe they would work out a friendship and he would learn to trust her. But he wasn’t ready for that. Not right now. He sat back down and pushed the sandwich away. “I think maybe next time we’ll stick to real cheese.”

“Right,” she said. “And maybe we should go over the rest of the rules.”

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze settling on Violet’s dark hair as she sipped soup from her spoon. “It isn’t as if I’ve made a list of rules, Breezy. I’m not trying to make this difficult. I just have to be the person who keeps them safe.”

“You think you’re on your own with this?”

He didn’t answer the question because he didn’t want to explain that having Sylvia Martin for a mother meant he’d been taking care of children since he’d been old enough to reach the stove.

He didn’t know how to let go. And in his experience, women had a tendency not to stick around. At least not the ones in his life.

“I’m not on my own,” he finally answered. “But I’m the head of this family and I will always make sure these little girls are taken care of.”

“Maybe give me the benefit of the doubt and understand that I want the same for them. I want them happy and healthy. I want to be part of their lives.” She leaned a little in his direction. “C’mon. Give me the rules. You know it’ll make you feel better.”

“I don’t know what the rules are.” Even as he said it he found himself smiling, and surprised by that. She did that, he realized. She undid his resolve with a cheerful smile and a teasing glint in her golden-brown eyes.

“You have rules,” she said. “Should I get some paper or do you think I can remember them all?”

“Okay. Church. We always attend church.”

She smiled at that. “Because it’s a law in Martin’s Crossing or because you are a man of faith?”

“What does that mean?”

She shrugged. “You made it sound like a law,” she said. “If broken, they’ll what? Stone me in the town square?”

“No, they won’t stone you in the town square and yes, I’m a man of faith.”

“Okay, Rule Number Three, church. I can do church.”

There was a hesitance to her voice that he wanted to question but he didn’t.

“We eat as a family on Sunday afternoons.”

“Am I considered family now?”

“You’re family.” He hadn’t planned this, for her to be in their lives, a part of their family, but she was. Man, she complicated his life in so many ways.

On the other hand, the rules made him smile, because he’d never intended to list them. He hadn’t even thought of them as rules until she pointed it out.

“Okay, church and Sunday dinner. That’s nice. What if I bring the tofu pizza?”

“Rule Number Five...”

She laughed. “No tofu?”

“Never.” He pushed back from the table and she did the same. “I need to check on the cattle.”

“Is checking on cattle a rule?” She grinned at him.

“No, it isn’t a rule. It’s something that has to be done.”

“Can I help you do things here? I mean, I’m going to be around, I might as well earn my keep.”

He unbuckled Violet and lifted her from the high chair. He hadn’t expected Breezy to offer her help. What was he supposed to tell her, that he’d been looking for an excuse to get away from her for a few minutes? He hadn’t expected her to tease, and he definitely hadn’t expected to enjoy her company.

“You want to help out with the cattle?”

She looked a little unsure. “Well, maybe. I mean, is there a way I can help?”

“Have you ever lived on a ranch, Breezy?”

“My sister was raised on a ranch in Oklahoma.”

“But you, have you ever lived on a ranch?”

“I’ve seen cows.” She said it with a wink.

He held Violet close but he smiled at the woman opposite him. “You’ve seen cows but thought cheese came from a plant?”

“Okay, let’s not mention that anymore, and I promise to never buy nondairy again.”

“Thank you. I can’t even believe they had such a thing at the store in town. And we still have a few rules to cover.”

“Such as?” She had Rose in her arms and the little girl’s eyes were droopy. Breezy kissed her cheek and stroked her hair, causing those droopy eyes to close and her head to nod. She’d be asleep in a few minutes. So would Violet.

He headed for the living room and she followed. “If you are here long enough to date, we don’t bring dates home, or around the girls.”

“That’s absurd. Are you planning to stay single until they’re eighteen?”

He didn’t like the question, and as he settled into a rocking chair with Violet he tried to ignore it. Bottom line was he wouldn’t let a mother walk out on Violet and Rose. The twins had already lost enough.

Violet nodded off in his arms. Rose was already on the sofa, a blanket pulled up over her. He started to get out of the rocking chair with Violet but Breezy moved to take her from him, her blond hair falling forward. The silky strands brushed his arms as she lifted his niece. Their hands touched and he looked up to meet her gaze head-on.

The strangest feelings erupted as she moved away from him with Violet in her arms. It made him want to reach out to her, to know her better, to trust her.

He shook off those thoughts because they didn’t make sense.

He watched as she carried Violet away from him, cradling her gently and then settling her on the opposite end of the sofa from her sister. He remained in the rocking chair, as she covered the little girl with a pink afghan. She kissed Violet’s cheek and brushed her hair back from her face.

If she was going to leave, he hoped she left before the twins got used to her touch, to her softness.

“I’m going to the barn,” he said, heading for the front door. She didn’t have a chance to question him. He didn’t need more tangled-up emotions to deal with. He needed fresh air and a few minutes to clear his thoughts.

And a few rules for himself when it came to Breezy Hernandez.