Читать книгу Beauty and The Beastly Rancher - Judy Christenberry, Judy Christenberry - Страница 11

Julie stayed by the window, anxiously watching for Joe’s arrival. Normally, they not only didn’t have visitors, but they also didn’t go anywhere.

“Mommy! I think he’s here. It’s a big red truck. Is that what Mr. Crawford drives?”

“I’m not sure. It was dark last night.” When she saw Joe get out of the truck, she said, “What a smart little girl you are.”

“Can I go out on the porch?”

“Yes, of course, but don’t get dirty.” Anna went into the baby’s room and packed his bag for the day. Lots of diapers and several changes of clothing. “You be good, too, Henry. Okay?” She smiled at the baby and tickled his chin. The little boy cooed and then repeated da-da-da.

“Well, no, not exactly,” she whispered as she picked him up. Great. If Joe Crawford heard Henry’s only word, he’d hightail it out of there. She came into the living room just as Julie led Joe inside.

“Mommy, I told Mr. Crawford I liked the cake.”

“Good, honey. It was very good, Joe.”

“Glad you liked it. Be sure to tell my mom.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Here’s the lease with my and Pete’s signatures. Let me hold the baby while you sign it.”

“I can put him back in his bed or in the carrier.”

“I’ll hold him. Julie and I can talk to him, right, Julie?”

“Yes, Mr. Crawford,” she agreed, staring at him, as if afraid he might disappear.

He sat down on the couch and whispered something to Julie. She burst into giggles.

“What?” Anna asked, frowning.

“Mommy, he says I can call him Joe!”

“You don’t mind?” she asked her guest.

“Nope. I’d prefer it. Where we’re going, there are a lot of Mr. Crawfords. We’d get all confused.”

Julie gave him a puzzled look. “Why are there lots of Mr. Crawfords?”

“Well, one is my dad. Then I have two more brothers at home and they are Mr. Crawfords, too.”

Julie was carefully counting her fingers. “That’s four Mr. Crawfords!”

“Wow! I didn’t know you were old enough to count. Wait until Drew finds out.”

“Who is Drew?” she asked, watching in fascination.

“He’s my nephew. He’s four, too.”

“The same as me!”

“That’s right. You’re going to play with him today.”

Anna had been watching the exchange of words. “Uh, Julie hasn’t had anyone to play with. She might not—”

“Don’t worry. My mom knows all about breaking up fights. We used to give each other bloody noses all the time.” He laughed when Anna stared at him horror-stricken. “Not that Drew and Julie will fight. Don’t worry.”

Anna was a little apprehensive about Julie spending the afternoon without her supervision. She wasn’t used to turning Julie over to someone else. “Of course,” she finally said.

Joe actually winked at her. “Stop worrying, Mom. Everything is going to be fine. Oh, by the way, did I mention that my mom makes good cookies?”

“What kind?” Julie asked. “My mom makes good cookies, too.”

“Sugar cookies. I think cookie-making’s a requirement for all moms. Ready to go?” he asked Anna. Anna knew Joe would never make it in Hollywood as a hero-type, but when he laughed with Julie, he was almost impossible to resist. Foolish thought. He had nothing like that in mind.

“Yes, we’re ready. Here’s the lease. Give me Henry and I’ll put him in his carrier.”

“He’s a big boy. I’ll put him in. He weighs too much for you.” He promptly followed his words, as if what he said was true.

“He’s not too big for me. I can—”

“Help Julie into the truck. Then you get in and I’ll hand you Henry.”

Somehow, Anna found herself doing as he ordered. Joe handed in the carrier, grinning at the baby. When Henry broke out into da-da-da, Anna hurriedly said, “That’s all he knows how to say.”

Joe grinned. “I figured.”

Her cheeks flamed.

“Julie, did you bring your storybook? But remember, Mrs. Crawford may not be able to read it to you.” She hoped it distracted Joe.

“I bet she will, Julie. That’s something my mom likes better than anything. She made sure we all loved to read, too,” Joe said.

“Do you have a favorite book?” Julie asked, her eyes wide. “I didn’t know Daddies could read.”

Joe appeared a bit surprised by Julie’s comment. “What?”

“Of course some daddies read, honey. It was just that your daddy was busy.”

“What is your favorite storybook?” Julie repeated.

“Peter Pan,” Joe said. “I always wanted to fly.”

“Me, too!” Julie agreed. “But—but it scared me a little. I didn’t want to leave Mommy behind.”

“I know what you mean,” Joe said, which made Julie happy. It worried Anna. It wouldn’t take long for Julie to grow attached to Joe. The poor baby hadn’t spent time with her father.

Joe turned off the road to the drive that led to the Crawford homestead. The house was big and well tended.

Before the car stopped, a little boy came out on the front porch.

“Who’s that?” Julie asked.

“That’s my nephew, Drew. Remember? He’s four, too. And he has a little sister about Henry’s age.”

“A girl baby?”

“Yep. The best kind,” Joe assured her.

“Stop trying to charm my little girl,” Anna muttered.

Again Joe looked surprised. She said nothing else, unbuckling Henry’s carrier.

Mrs. Crawford joined Drew on the porch. Then she stepped down and came toward the truck. “Hello, Anna. Welcome.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Crawford. I appreciate your looking after my children this afternoon, but I can take them with me if it will be too much.”

“Why no, child. We’ll be fine. Drew and Alexandra came over to play with them. We’re going to make cookies.”

Julie clapped her hands and smiled. “I like cookies.”

“I’m glad you do. Come along and I’ll introduce you to Drew.”

Anna stood there holding her breath, but Julie took Mrs. Crawford’s hand and skipped along beside her. The little boy didn’t seem nearly as pleased about their plans.

“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine,” Joe whispered in her ear, startling her.

“Come on. I’ll carry Henry into the house,” he said, grabbing the diaper bag, too.

When they were back in the truck, heading for town, Joe reminded her of her tension. “Why are you so worried about Julie? She’s well behaved.”

“She’s just not used to playing with other children.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t—I don’t have any friends with little kids.”

“Your friends don’t believe in marriage and children?”

“When I moved here, it was after I married Derek. He didn’t run around with married men. So I never met any wives.”

“I see.”

“I know she’ll be fine,” she said quietly.

They reached town and Joe took Anna to his lawyer’s office. After she signed it, the man said he would copy the agreement and mail her copy. Then, much to her relief, they took the two checks to her bank. She still couldn’t believe Joe had made the deposit possible.

“Thank you again, Joe. This is such a relief.”

“Good. Oh, my sister and sister-in-law asked us to stop by their store. Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” How could she object after all he’d done for her?

When he parked on the main street in front of a big store with the name Oklahoma Chic, she offered to wait in the truck.

“Heck, no. It’s you they want to meet, not me. Come on. I won’t make you buy anything.”

She hoped she could stop herself from shopping. It had been so long since she’d even been in a nice store, much less purchased anything.

When Joe opened the door, cool air conditioning enveloped them. Even though it was only April, Oklahoma warmed up early. There were three ladies in the store, two of them about her age, beautifully dressed, with every hair in place. The other woman was older.

Anna tucked a strand of hair back, hoping she looked even half as nice as those two. She figured they were Joe’s sister and sister-in-law.

Joe called to them. “Lindsay, Kelly.”

“Joe, you came!” The blond rushed across the store to kiss her brother’s cheek, followed by the brunette.

“Lindsay, Kelly, I want you to meet Anna Pointer. She’s the one Pete and I are renting land from.”

Both ladies smiled, and Kelly offered a hand.

“Come in, Anna. Welcome.”

“Thank you,” Anna said, feeling awkward. She’d avoided social situations for so long, she’d almost forgotten how to act. “Your store is lovely.”

“Well, it’s a lot bigger than when we first started,” Kelly said.

“That’s because we’ve added children’s clothes,” Lindsay said with a chuckle. “That way we can buy our kids’ clothes at wholesale.”

Anna smiled. “That’s a good thing, since they go through them so quickly.”

Lindsay nodded and added, “We do consignment here, too. That way you can buy good secondhand clothes at a reduced rate. It saves a lot of money.” She led the way to the area where the children’s clothes were displayed.

“Some of these clothes come in looking like they’ve never been worn. I can assure you they’re not Drew’s,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I told him to be a gentleman today.”

Anna frowned. “Julie’s not used to playing with other children.”

Kelly patted her arm. “Don’t worry. I talked to Mother Crawford half an hour ago. They’re getting along wonderfully well. She’s just now putting them down for a nap, so she said don’t come back for two hours. We thought maybe you’d join us for lunch.”

Anna was startled by Mrs. Crawford’s message. “I—I couldn’t leave them that long.”

Lindsay asked, “Doesn’t Julie take a nap every day?”

“Well, yes, of course, but…”

Joe stepped forward. “Anna, if Mom said don’t come back for two hours, I’m not brave enough to take you back any sooner. Let’s go have lunch.”

“We’ll just go to the pizza place across the street,” Lindsay said.

“But can you leave the store?”

“Oh, we didn’t introduce you to Mrs. Carter. She’s our manager, and she lives upstairs.”

After they performed the introductions, they headed across the street, leaving Mrs. Carter in charge of the store.

Anna couldn’t believe what was happening. Her genie had worked another miracle. She hadn’t been out to eat with anyone since her marriage. And not anywhere without the kids. One day with Joe, and here she was.