To Have And To Hold: Made for Marriage / To Wed a Rancher / The Mummy Proposal
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She dressed and made short work of a bowl of cereal topped with fruit, then grabbed her hat and headed outside. The sun was up, already warming the early October morning air. She fed Tessa then headed for the stables, where Joe waited outside Indiana’s stall.
“Are you taking the big fella out this morning?”
Callie shook her head. “Not today.” Indy’s long head swung over the top of the door and she ran her hands down his face. “‘Morning, my darling boy.” She turned back to Joe. “He did well yesterday, two firsts and a third, so he gets a day off. Give him a feed, will you, and then tack up Kirra. The English saddle please.”
Joe made a face. “What do I tell the kid?”
Callie frowned. “What kid?”
“The one who’s here for a lesson.”
Callie shook her head. “I don’t have anyone booked until eleven.”
“I know,” Joe said. “I checked the booking sheet. But she’s here.” Joe pointed to the office. “I put her in there,” he said, then more seriously, “and told her not to touch anything.”
Callie strode the twenty meters to the office and swung the half-opened door back on its hinges. She stood in the threshold and looked at the young girl sitting at her desk.
“What are you doing here?”
Lily Preston swiveled in the chair and got to her feet. “Um … I’m here for my lesson.”
Callie inhaled deeply. “You’re not having a lesson.”
“But I thought—”
Callie placed her hands on her hips. “You have to go home, Lily.” She turned on her heels and went to walk away but stopped when the teenager spoke.
“Please.”
She turned back and looked at the teenager, whose green eyes were wide open, their expression sincere. Lily was sorry. Callie could feel it. Something tugged at her heartstrings.
Callie took a deep breath. “Indiana is my horse, Lily. And as quiet as he is, you could have been badly hurt. And I would have been responsible.”
Lily’s chin lifted, half defiant. “But I can ride a bit.”
“A bit isn’t good enough for a horse like Indiana, especially in an ill-fitting bridle and without a saddle.”
Lily looked shame-faced beneath her makeup. “I really didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” she said. “I just … sometimes I just do things. I don’t know why. I do things I know are stupid, but I can’t help myself.”
The tug on Callie’s heart grew stronger. She knew exactly what Lily meant. Kindred spirits, she thought. But, oh, God … what should she do? Say yes to this girl who looked at her with such raw intensity. A girl, she suspected, who rarely showed that side of herself to anyone. But a girl whose father she couldn’t stop thinking about. Who, without even trying, was making Callie feel, imagine.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Lily said quickly, almost desperately. “Please teach me.”
Before Callie could reply Joe stuck his head around the door to tell her Kirra was ready. She thanked him, then returned her attention to the teenager. “I’ll tell you what—you stay out of trouble while I work my horse and we’ll talk after.” She stood aside for Lily to pass. “No promises, just talk.”
Callie led Lily from the stables and told her to stay put near the dressage arena. She gave her an old soda crate to sit on and then took the red bay mare into the arena. She worked her for twenty minutes, trying to concentrate on the maneuvers and transitions from trot to canter. But her mind wasn’t really on the job. Lily sat on the sidelines, watching her, masked behind her makeup.
Ten minutes later Noah Preston’s silver utility vehicle pulled up outside the stables. Callie continued with her ride, watching as he got out and opened the back door of the truck. The children stepped out. The older boy grabbed the hands of the twins and listened as his father spoke to them. Then he headed for Lily. He had a great walk, she thought. And he looked so good in jeans and a black T-shirt. Way too good.
Callie watched as the kids followed behind him. And again it stirred something inside her. An old longing. And it gave her a snapshot of a life she’d never have.
Ryan …
The longing turned into a pain—a piercing, incredible hurt that always took root behind her ribs when she thought about the beautiful baby boy she’d lost when he was just two days old.
I miss you Ryan … I miss holding you … I miss watching you grow up and become the person you could have been.
Kirra sensed her distraction and started prancing sideways at a trot. Callie got her quickly under control and eased her to a halt in the center of the arena. And she watched as Noah began talking with his daughter. Lily nodded, he shook his head. Lily said something, he replied. The conversation lasted for some minutes and the three younger Preston children stood quietly behind their father. Finally, Lily waved her arms about and stomped off toward the truck. He said something to the three kids and they sat on the soda crate. Then he headed through the gate and into the arena.
Callie dismounted and pulled the reins over Kirra’s head, collecting them in her left hand. She fought the ridiculous impulse to take off her safety hat and smooth out her hair or rub her hands down her breeches.
He stopped about two feet in front of her. “Hello,” he said.
Callie swallowed. “Hi.”
He went to say something but then stopped. He patted the horse instead. He had nice hands, she noticed. Tanned and strong looking. She quickly snapped herself out of her silly female fantasy. “I was going to call you,” she said. “You beat me to it.”
“I knew she’d be here.”
“You did? How?”
“Because you were the last thing we talked about last night. And I know Lily—when she gets her mind stuck on something, she can be impossible to deal with.”
Callie raised her brows. “Looks like you’re surrounded by impossible women.”
My God, am I flirting? That’s what it sounds like.
And he smiled. As though he liked it. “I could think of worse things.”
Everything around her suddenly felt hot—the air in her lungs, the sand beneath her boots. “Anyway—she didn’t do any harm while she was here.”
“She’s changed since her mother left.”
Not what he wanted to say, Callie was sure of it. It was too familiar, too personal, too everything. And Callie wanted to clamp her hands over her ears. She didn’t want to hear any more. She didn’t want to know him. She didn’t want to know more of him.
“No problem.” It was a pitiful attempt at sounding indifferent.
“She used to be … sweet. A real sweet kid. And then she changed almost overnight.”
Callie felt another surge of feeling for Lily. She knew all about change. She knew what grief and hurt could do to a person. “Is that the reason for the makeup and black clothes?”
He shrugged. “Something to hide behind, I guess. She still wants riding lessons.”
Callie clicked Kirra forward and began to walk from the arena. “Well, Janelle Evans is a good instructor.”
He stepped in beside her. “She’s asked for you.”
“She can’t … you can’t … I just …”
Something happened then. Her legs stopped moving. Her lungs stopped breathing as she turned and their eyes locked. For one extraordinary moment Callie knew that whatever she was feeling, he was feeling it, too. It was crazy, heady and blindingly powerful.
He spoke first. “Lily rarely asks for anything.”
Callie continued walking. “Which means?”
“Which means I’m inclined to do whatever I can to see that she gets what she wants.”
They got to the gate. Callie tied Kirra to the railing, took a deep breath. “I’m not sure I—”
“Callie,” he said “Please, reconsider.” He placed his hand on her arm. A light touch, but the electricity coursing between their skin could not be denied. He looked at his hand but didn’t remove it. Callie stood still, held in place by his touch, by the mere wisp of space that lay between them. “Lily needs you.” He paused, watching her. “And I … and I need you.”
Chapter Four
Callie moved her arm. Away from his touch. Away from temptation. Away from the realization that she liked how his hand felt against her skin.
I need you …
There was something startlingly intimate about the way he spoke the words. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had said that to her. Maybe never. Craig hadn’t needed her. And Noah Preston didn’t need her, either … not really. He just wanted her to teach his daughter to ride a horse.
“I can’t.”
He smiled. “Yes, you can.”
God, he was relentless. Callie lifted her chin. “I said I can’t.”
“She’ll be on her best behavior,” he said.
Callie expelled a heavy breath. “Even if she is, I’m not—”
“Is your unwillingness actually about Lily?” he interrupted her. “Or something else?”
Her heart quickened. “Like what?”
He looked at her. Really looked. Callie felt compelled to turn her gaze away, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. She’d never felt this kind of intensity with anyone before. She’d spent years convincing herself she didn’t want it.
“I thought that perhaps you and …” He stopped, hesitated and sort of half smiled. “I think we … I think we might have started off on the wrong foot.”
He wasn’t kidding. But she wasn’t about to admit it. She wasn’t about to admit to anything. Instead, she thought about the practical. “Why this sudden confidence in my abilities?”
“Because Lily believes in you.”
Callie didn’t break their eye contact. “Even though you don’t?”
“And if I said I did? Would you reconsider teaching Lily? If I apologized again for being a jerk and asked you to do this for my daughter?”
Her insides quivered. Don’t be nice to me. “You don’t give up easily.”
He shook his head. “Not when I want something.” He looked around. “I heard you’d lost some students recently.”
She stared at him. “How did you know that?”
He grinned. “Local gossip.”
Callie’s skin prickled. Just like the local gossip she’d listened to last weekend. “Yes, I did.”
He looked around, to the house, then back to her. “So, it looks like you’re not doing well financially.”
More prickles. “I’m not filing for bankruptcy just yet.”
A full smile this time. “I didn’t mean to imply you were,” he said carefully. “But I thought perhaps we could strike a deal.”
Cautious, Callie’s interest spiked. “What kind of deal?”
“Your usual fee—plus I’ll help prevent your house from ‘crumbling around your ears.’”
She stilled. “And how exactly will you do that?”
“I’ll do whatever maintenance needs to be done while Lily’s having her lessons.”
Callie looked at him suspiciously. “Do you work construction?”
“No,” he replied. “But I know my way around a toolbox.”
I’ll bet you do. Suddenly she was tempted. Very tempted. She did need the money. And as for his offer to help repair her house … that idea dangled like a juicy carrot in front of her nose. With windows that wouldn’t open, doors needing repair, fence palings hanging loose and the knowledge she needed to chase the entire house with a paintbrush, the lure of his offer teased her. Refusing would be impulsive. And foolish.
And Lily … she wanted to help Lily. Helping Lily was suddenly important to her.
Oh, hell.
“Okay,” she said quickly, before she had time to think about what it might mean to have him hanging around her house every Sunday morning. Him and his adorable kids.
Noah looked instantly pleased. “Good. Will you start today?”
She shook her head. “No. Next week. Sunday, nine o’clock.”
He stepped back, finally, and she dipped underneath Kirra’s neck, feeling safer with the horse between them. “Thank you, Callie. You won’t regret it.”
Too late … she already did.
He walked off without another word, collecting his kids along the way. Once his truck had disappeared down the driveway, Callie took off Kirra’s tack and led her to the washing bay.
Joe appeared, his hair spotted with straw from the bales he’d been lugging off the truck and into the feed room.
“So, what’s the deal with Vampira?” he asked, grimacing as he passed Callie an old towel. “Scary.” He shuddered. “Do you reckon she’s got tattoos, as well?”
Callie wasn’t about to admit that she had one herself. “That’s not nice.”
He shrugged his lanky shoulders. “If my little sister went around looking like that my parents would go ballistic.” He made a disagreeable face. “Was that her dad—Noah Preston?”
Callie stopped rubbing the towel over Kirra’s flanks. “Do you know him?”
“I met him last weekend when he was looking for you. My Uncle Frank bought one of his boats last year.”
Her interest increased tenfold. “He sells boats?”
Joe shook his head. “He designs boats,” he replied. “And builds them. Top-of-the-range stuff. He’s got a big factory in town. Uncle Frank reckons his boats are the best around.”
Noah was a boat builder. And a single dad. And too gorgeous for her peace of mind.
As she led Kirra back to her stall, Callie couldn’t stop thinking about how deeply he affected her. And how much she wished he didn’t.
The Crystal Point Twilight Fair was an annual event that raised funds for the local elementary school and volunteer Rural Fire Brigade. Callie had been invited to provide horse rides for a small fee. The money collected would go directly back to the organizing committee, but it gave her an opportunity to promote her riding school. Sunshine and Peanuts, her two quietest geldings, loved the attention and happily walked around the makeshift yard she’d put together with a little help from Joe. There was also a jumping castle, a small carousel, a baby animal pen and a variety of stalls selling homemade cakes and candies and assorted handicrafts.
“So, are you staying for the dance later?” Fiona asked as she navigated Peanuts past her.
Callie checked the child clinging to Sunshine’s saddle and smiled at her friend as they passed one another. “In this outfit?” she said, motioning a hand gesture to her worn jeans, thin sweater and riding boots. “I’ll skip it. I have to get the horses back anyhow.”
On their next passing Fiona spoke again. “I could use the company.”
“Maybe another time.’
Callie didn’t socialize much. Or at all. There seemed to be little time in her life for anything other than work. And she wasn’t exactly in the right frame of mind to be thinking about dating.
Dating? Where did that come from?
She maneuvered the pony toward the entrance and helped the child dismount. The queue had grown and about six kids were waiting in line. She took the next one in turn.
An older woman came forward with two small children. They looked familiar and she glanced at the woman, taking in her attractive features, dark hair and deep green eyes.
Noah’s children.
Callie’s breath caught in her throat. The blond-haired pair were unmistakable. They were Noah’s twins. And she was certain the striking-looking older woman was his mother.
“Is something wrong?” the woman asked.
Callie shook her head. “Of course not … It’s just that I know your … Evie,” she said quietly, suddenly self-conscious. “And Lily,” she explained. “I’ll be teaching Lily.”
The other woman smiled. “Yes, I know. My son told me.”
Callie’s skin heated. She stopped herself from looking around to see if he was close by. “Let’s get the kids up on the pony.”
“Can they go together?”
“Yes.” Callie took the little girl’s hand and helped her into the saddle. She was such a pretty child and had an adorable smile. Something uncurled inside her with a sharp, ripping intensity. She’d become so adept at covering her feelings that children didn’t normally do this to her … didn’t make her think about Ryan. But this little girl did. With her bright eyes and rosy cheeks, Noah’s daughter made her remember all she had lost.
Callie managed a smile, fought against the lump suddenly forming in her throat and helped the little boy aboard the pony. He was quieter than his sister and didn’t say a word, while the little girl chatted for the entire duration of the pony ride.
She walked the perimeter of the arena a few times and learned that the girl’s name was Hayley and her brother was Matthew. They were four and a half and couldn’t wait to start school soon. They loved their grandma and Aunt Evie and didn’t like green vegetables all that much.
By the time the ride was over Callie had a strange pain wedged behind her rib cage.
She headed for the gate, passing Fiona on another round, and was surprised to find the children’s grandmother gone.
And Noah stood in her place.
“Daddy!” Hayley exclaimed. “Look at me.”
He was smiling that mega-watt smile and Callie’s stomach rolled over. “Hello.”
She swallowed hard and tried not to think about how good he looked in jeans and a navy golf shirt. “Hi.” She glanced into his eyes, saw awareness, felt that familiar jolt of attraction. “Your mother?”
He nodded. “She’s gone back to trawling the craft stalls.” He gestured to the kids. “Did they behave themselves?”
“They were perfect little angels.”
He laughed out loud. “Angels? That doesn’t sound like my kids.”
Callie smiled back. “She’s a natural. So is Matthew.”
Both children looked pleased as could be with the praise. He hauled Hayley into his arms and then placed her onto the ground. Matthew followed soon after. The kids moved around to the front of Sunshine and began stroking his nose.
“So, can you take a break from this gig?”
“A break?” she echoed. “What for?”
He smiled. “To talk. You could let me buy you a soda.”
“I really don’t think—”
“I’d like to get to know you better.”
There it was, right out in the open. “Why—”
“You know why, Callie.”
Without anything to hide behind, Callie felt so raw, so completely exposed, she could barely draw breath. She stared at him for a moment and then looked toward the now queue of one waiting for a turn on a pony. “Um … I probably shouldn’t,” she said on a whisper. “There’s someone still—”
“We’ll wait.”
We’ll wait. Him and the children she wanted so desperately to avoid—but somehow couldn’t.
Fiona chose that moment to come up behind her and announced she’d happily take charge of the remaining child and then volunteered Joe to help with Sunshine. Before she had a chance to protest, Joe had taken the gelding and Callie found herself leaving the arena with Noah and his children.
“That was fun, Daddy,” Hayley said excitedly.
“Was it, poppet?” He looked at Callie as they walked. “Maybe the twins could have riding lessons, too.”
“Maybe,” Callie replied and almost jumped from her skin when Hayley grasped her hand. She stopped walking immediately and looked down. The little girl tugged her forward, giggled and acted as though holding her hand was the most natural thing in the world.
Instinct kicked in and she went to pull her hand away … but something stopped her. Maybe it was the lovely, infectious laugh coming from the little girl. Or perhaps it was that Noah was watching her with such blistering intensity she knew that if she moved, if she rejected the child’s hand, he’d see it. And he’d see more than that. He’d see through her and into the parts of herself she kept so fiercely guarded.
“Anything wrong, Callie?”
Already suspicious, she thought. Already figuring her out. “Not a thing,” she lied and allowed herself to be led toward a refreshments stall.
He bought drinks all round and Callie had just cranked the cap off her soda when Hayley announced she wanted her face painted.
“Can we, Daddy, please?” she pleaded and skipped toward the face-painting tent.
He nodded and they all followed. He passed the colorfully decorated painter a couple of notes from his wallet. Hayley insisted on going first while Matthew waited patiently behind his more flamboyant sister.
Callie stood to the side. “Where’s your other son?” she asked. “And Lily?”
“Jamie’s with Evie. And Lily doesn’t do fairs.”
Callie half smiled. “Too cool, huh?”
“Or stubborn.”
“She’s headstrong,” Callie said. “And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
He crossed his arms and she couldn’t help looking at his chest. He was remarkably fit and broad shouldered and her awareness of him spiked. It had been eons since she’d been this attracted to someone. Maybe never. She’d been with Craig for so many years, and any true desire they’d felt for one another had faded long before his death. But Noah had kickstarted her libido with a resounding thud.
“Speaking from experience?” he asked quietly while keeping a watch on his kids.
Callie got her feelings back on track. “I’m sure my parents thought me willful. I liked to do things my own way.”
“And still do, I imagine.”
She wasn’t about to deny it. “She’ll come around,” Callie assured him, sensing it was true, although she had no idea why she thought so. “Raising a teenage girl wouldn’t be easy—especially alone.”
“Sometimes … no. But they’re all pretty well behaved most of the time. Even Lily.”
“Do they see their mother much?” she asked before she could stop herself. She wondered why on earth she was so interested in this man and his children. She wasn’t usually so inquisitive. Who was she kidding? She was never inquisitive.
“No,” he replied. “They don’t.”
Callie’s tongue tingled with another question, but she held back. The more she knew about him, the more he’d want to know about her … and she wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t sure she ever would be. But despite her reticence, she suddenly had the image of his four motherless children burned deep in her heart.
Heaven help me … I’m actually in danger of falling for this man.
Noah felt her pain. She’d done a great job of building a big wall around whatever it was that haunted the depths of her blue eyes. But not quite good enough.
“Will I see you tonight?” he asked, determined to keep her talking.
“For the dance?” She shook her head. “No. I have to take the horses back home.”
He pressed on. “You could come later.”
She stepped back. “I don’t … I don’t … it’s just that I don’t …”
“You don’t what?” he asked, picking up her trailing words.
“I don’t date,” she said bluntly.
Noah half smiled. So they had something in common. “Neither do I,” he admitted and when she looked surprised, he explained what he meant. “Four kids make dating … difficult.” He raised his brows. “What’s your excuse?”
She shrugged and took a deep breath. “I don’t have one.”
Not exactly the truth and they both knew it. “Are you nursing a broken heart?”
She crossed her arms and dangled the soda bottle between her fingertips. “Not the kind you might be imagining,” she said softly.
Noah’s curiosity soared. He wanted to know all about her. Everything. She’d been hurt in the past, that much was obvious. But by whom? “Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head again and stepped back fractionally, as if she was looking for an escape. “I should go.” She tapped the soda bottle. “Thank you for the drink.”
She said goodbye to the kids and walked away, leaving him staring after her.
Callie sat on the edge of her bed and examined the contents of her open wardrobe.
She’d arrived home an hour earlier. The horses were fed, the dog was asleep in the kitchen and she was left wondering why she was actually considering dressing up and heading back to the fair. But Fiona had called and begged her to go. So, her friend needed her. That was as good a reason as any. It wasn’t because there was a band playing and that there would be dancing. It wasn’t because Noah would be there.